If you’re looking to dodge a carrier contract and have AU$200 to spend on a phone, we highly recommend the Samsung Galaxy Gio.

It’s 3.2-inch display is better than its rivals, and the performance of this system is outstanding. Battery life is good. The handset’s 1350mAh capacity battery is generous for a phone of this size, but, with regular use of the Internet, email and social networks, you have to charge the Gio every second day.

There’s also a 3-megapixel camera included in this package, with auto-focus software and a range of scene modes, smile detection and a panorama shooting mode.

However, without a flash for illuminating dark scenes, you’ll want to avoid nightclubs with the Gio Otherwise the photos are reasonably good.

It runs an older version of the Android OS than most other phones in the market at this time, but this doesn’t hold it back in any way that we could find. The Galaxy Gio is outstanding value for money.