In fact, the sound quality of the E680 is comparable to an iPod -- better considering it ships with earphones far superior to Apple's little white ear buds.
The E680 uses a stylus in lieu of a keypad, making it a two-handed phone. It' s also fairly heavy, but at NT$13,000 its price is much lighter than the V3's.
There is another model rapidly networking its way into Taiwan's cool set, according to cellphone sales clerks -- Nokia's 2650. The reason for this are simple. Clamshell-style phones have long been the preferred model among Taiwanese; Nokia has held the number two spot in Taiwan's cellphone market, and the 2650 is among the company's first clamshell offerings.
"I used to sell Motorola exclusively," said Fu Jia-wei (傅家瑋), who owns a west-side cellphone dealership, "but I began selling Nokia shortly after they began offering a line of clamshell phones. The 2650 is probably my best-seller right now."
But the reasons for the phone's popularity are also a matter of simple math: It costs just NT$4,200. At that price, and given Nokia's famed easy-to-use interface, it's destined to be the company's next workhorse model.
One last note about upgrading phones -- or buying a second model to accommodate your business phone line: If you're unhappy with your current phone because of poor reception, remember that this usually has more to do with your carrier than with the phone itself, particularly if your phone is a newer model.
In Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom has more transmission towers than any other carrier and is often the only service that will give you a signal in remote spots of the island's interior. Climb to the top of Jade Mountain with your Chunghwa Telecom-serviced phone and you'll be popular among fellow travelers who have no reception.
For this reason, picking a good cellular service is actually the first step to picking a good cellphone. A NT$20,000 Motorola V3 with all its fancy functions becomes an anodized aluminum paperweight outside your coverage area.
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