Jesse Oguntimhin was a new name to me, but he's a long time N8 owner (among many other smartphones) and blogger and he's been road testing the new budget Nokia 603, with Belle Feature Pack 1 - in view of the fact that we at AAS have yet to get hands on with a production 603 (we're working on it), you might like to get Jesse's opinion instead? It's safe to say that he was impressed, especially at the price (typically well under £200 SIM-free).

From Jesse's review:

10. The battery life is impressive. It last a whole day with constant connection over an EDGE network. I connect it to 3G+ only when I have to download. For me, EDGE works just fine, when I am not streaming videos or downloading stuff.

11. Music player is awesome and the speakers have superb output... It has a TFT-LCD Clear-Black display with IPS technology for improved contrast and viewing angles. Plus the screen is scratch resistant. How is that for a low budget phone?

12. The 512 RAM and 1Ghz processor make it snappier than the Nokia N8. After updating to Nokia Belle FP1, I noticed that the transition from Landscape to portrait is snappier and acts like the normal iPhone would act

Testing the Nokia 603 display in full, direct sunlight. 'ClearBlack Display' at work!

A nice mini-review, Jesse. Personally, I'd still opt for the more beautiful 701, if available, with better camera, faster processor, FM transmitter, and so on.... but I can see that the 603 is still a lot of smartphone for not a lot of money.

PS. Interesting to see Gravity, Whatsapp and Podcatcher all on Jesse's home screen. Isn't it about time Nokia just licensed these apps and shipped them by default?