Mobile phones: How we test
Ease of use
We score each phone on a series of tasks. For everyday use this includes making a call, storing numbers in the address book and handling missed calls. The ease of reading and writing SMS text messages as-well as sending and receiving MMS picture messages are also scored on the same fifty point scale.
We've also recently added specific ease-of-use tests for models with built-in music players. Basic operation, using and creating play-lists, setting the volume and transferring music files are all assessed.
Finally our five-person expert testing panel get to carry out a number of basic tasks like switching the phone on and off and storing a contact. After completing the allotted tasks the experts provide us with written comments on their overall impressions - from the layout of the keypad to the size of the display .
How long will my battery last?
Our head and torso simulator measures noise and distortion
Modern phones usually offer longer battery life between charges than most people need – if you make a few minutes of calls every hour, they'll typically give at least 40 hours of use, and the best more than 100 hours.
Since many mobiles have large colour screens, we also assess how well the batteries coped with playing games, taking pictures and using diary functions – all of which drain power quicker. Most batteries coped well with these tough new tests.
But some phones take a lot longer to charge than others. And their low-battery warnings differ to in their usefulness: some give too much notice, others too little. Our battery life and charge rating takes account of all these aspects.
How good is the music player?
Assessing the sound quality of a music player
Our expert panel listens to the same three tracks on each phone to test the sound quality of its music player. We chose the tracks ‘By the way’ by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, ‘Mariengesänge’ by Handel and Pink Floyd’s ‘Another brick in the wall part II’ to check how the players cope with a wide range of music.
Our experts listen both with the headphones supplied and, if they can be connected, with a second set that we supply. These are either the Sony MDR-EX81 or the Sony MDR605. The panel checks for overall sound and for flaws such as distortion.
Does it take good pictures?
We test out the cameras on the phones by taking pictures of test charts in three simulated light conditions: daylight, office light and home/pub light.
The charts include a rotating image to test how the camera copes with movement, and a scene which has elements of different resolution, colour and brightness.
We then transfer the photos to a computer to rate the file size and print them out to assess the overall quality of the image.