BenQ-Siemens' EF61 Mia Special Edition - 'the ultimate make-up phone'

Last night I went a-schmoozing at beauty mecca Pout's 5th birthday party, which also saw launch of BenQ-Siemens' new EF61 Mia Special Edition, aka 'the ultimate make-up phone'.

In between eyelash extensions and lip gloss top-ups, I got to fondle and admire the girliest of girlie phones. In powder blue with a feathery petal design and matching fringed leather charm, the sleek clamshell is a nice change from the usual bubblegum pink ladyphones, and borrows all the best bits from Siemens successful CL75 Poppy model.

The 'beauty' gimmick is that it comes with an integrated compact mirror and is pre-loaded with Pout's '5 minutes to fabulous' java application. With scrolling text, photos and even a zoom feature, it'll show you how to do your makeup in five easy steps (with makeup artist Adam Dargan to help you). It might not be for everyone, but it's a nice change from snake or sudoku.

It's not all about looks and lipgloss, though. The phone packs a decent punch tech-wise with a 1.3 megapixel camera, a micro SD slot (you'll find a 64mb card to start you off in the boutique-style packaging) and an MP3 player. There's also a matching powder blue headset and data cable for easy file transfers.

It's been designed by an all-female team with women in mind, but it's nice to see that  there are plenty of great features to back up the gimmicks. All in all, it's a great piece if kit if you value style as well as substance. [Gemma]

The phone goes on sale in September from £99.99 on pay-as-you-go from selected stockists and at the BenQ-Siemens shop

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