Compare 527 Black Deals

Vodafone’s 527 Rainbow in dramatic black is a straightforward solid bar phone that proves good things often come in small packages. Part of the “catwalk collection” the 527 aims to match stylish appearance with affordable handset features and delivers a surprising number of them. It weighs just 80g and measures 107mm x 47mm x 11.8 mm: tiny enough, then, for all bar the smallest of pockets.

The screen is undeniably small – about 1.8 inches diagonally. The back of the phone has a tactile, indented texture - like a golf ball, but less deep - and there is a smooth silver edge that distinguishes between the front and the back sections. The buttons are smooth but give a satisfying “click” when you press them.

It is a dual-band handset with wireless Bluetooth for short-range data transfer and GPRS for email and other data access, but no 3G. With such a small display, email is never going to be a big deal on the 527.

There is a camera with 4 x zoom and a timer, an MP3 player (but this does need a 1GB memory card) and an FM radio. Internal memory is only 10 Mbytes but is expandable via a microSD card. Oh, and it also comes in five other colours!