Tell me about your tiny GSM phone

January 4, 2010 9:18 AM

What's a great small GSM phone?

My trusty old T-219 is pretty beat up and needs a new battery, so I figure it's time for a new phone. I mostly make short calls and send simple text messages, so I'm really just looking for something that's comfortable in my pocket.

My requirements (in approximate priority order):

• GSM (T-Mobile prepaid in the USA if it matters)
• Small (thickness is the most important dimension)
• T9 text messaging
• Under $200, but let's aim for less?

If it has a camera or video recording or bluetooth or MP3 playback or a jetpack that's fine, I just don't care. A qwerty keyboard is a dealbreaker, though - anything big enough to type on is too big for my pocket.

posted by 0xFCAF to Shopping (13 answers total)

The Nokia 1202 is going for $50-60 on eBay. It's like, a BASIC phone, no frills at all. 13.1mm thick.
posted by msittig at 9:45 AM on January 4, 2010

The Nokia 5130 and it's slightly older but similar cousin the 5310 is about as thin as you're getting in the real world. Pretty nice phone in general as well.
posted by ConstantineXVI at 9:49 AM on January 4, 2010

What if there were a site that rated all of the GSM phones, and was searchable on a variety of criteria? www.gsmarena.com
posted by No New Diamonds Please at 10:31 AM on January 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Is there anything similar (small & cheap) to the above but with bluetooth?
posted by wcfields at 10:32 AM on January 4, 2010

Motorola F3 is only 9mm thick (0.35 inches). $25. I love mine, but I rarely use the awkward SMS.
posted by spasm at 10:35 AM on January 4, 2010

I've enjoyed my Sony Ericsson S500i. It's good-looking, pretty simple and 14mm thick. You can buy them unlocked for about $130.
posted by Cogito at 10:36 AM on January 4, 2010

The Samsung Trace is really really thin.
posted by kickingtheground at 11:07 AM on January 4, 2010

I'm fond of my Motorola RAZR, a.k.a. The "It" Phone Of 2004.

The specs I found say it's 98 x 53 x 13.9 mm, and weighs 95 grams. I see that they offer them in a T-Mobile prepaid version, and that you can buy one at a certain Evil Megastore for $97.66.

It fits nicely in my pocket, camera quality is acceptable to me, and I like the sound and feel of the "snap" when you shut it.
posted by ErikaB at 11:19 AM on January 4, 2010

The Panasonic GD55 is tiny, like how everyone in 2000 thought cell phones would be in the future. Since then the world has moved on to wanting thin phones with a big screen and keyboard, but the keypad is surprisingly good on the GD55. The one built in game is great too.
posted by ChrisHartley at 12:17 PM on January 4, 2010

I have an unlocked quad-band Moto v195 that I can't kill. Amazing battery life too. And no camera!
posted by ethnomethodologist at 1:07 PM on January 4, 2010

Googling "smallest GSM cellphone" brings up this. Looks like they sell for about $179 (unlocked) on ebay.
posted by delmoi at 5:30 PM on January 4, 2010

Oh and then there's this cellphone watch, but i don't know if it's for sale anywhere.
posted by delmoi at 5:36 PM on January 4, 2010

I used to have this Pantech. It was an OK phone, real small.
posted by spacefire at 9:55 PM on January 4, 2010