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Panasonic X400: The return of Neo's phone

By Guy Cocker on 1 July 2005, 10:52am

Remember those Nokia phones from The Matrix, the ones that slid open and made you look cool? Well, that was way back in 1999, and now they're about as cool as wearing socks with sandals. If the Wachowskis were crazy enough to make another Matrix film, the Panasonic's X400 could take the Nokia's place -- it's much smaller and snaps open at the touch of a button. It's also really slim, has a glossy black finish, an integrated camera, and costs £80 on Vodafone pre-pay.

Then again, don't expect anything that compares to the Motorola Razr V3. It feels cheap and plasticky, the black cover is a fingerprint-magnet to match our Sony PSP and the LCD screen is small with simple graphics. It may look much better than Pre-Pay phones of old, but you're not going to trick anyone into thinking that this costs more than the asking price.

If you're after a camera and a thin mobile for under £100, you could do much worse. -GC