February 16, 2006 --

Ben Swann-KFOX Morning News Anchor/Reporter

If you are someone who carries your MP3 player, everywhere you go, there are two new cell phones that may be just the thing. These phones have full MP3 players in them so that you can make calls and listen to music. In this Consumer Watch Report, our electronics experts test the phones to see if they measure up to the hype.

The $150 Motorola Rokr which works with Cingular wireless service, and the $500 Sony Ericsson which works with both Cingular and T-Mobile, were both tested by Consumer Reports. The testers found both cell-phone-slash-MP3 players have pros and cons.

Chris Bucsko with Consumer Reports says with the Rokr, when you answer a call it is harder to get back to your music.

"When I hang up the phone, the music doesn't start again automatically, said" Bucsko.

On the other hand, with the Sony Ericsson phone, when you end a call the music kicks right back in.

When it comes to music storage, Consumer Reports says the Rokr comes up short.

"The Motorola Rokr is limited to a hundred songs only. Even if you upgrade the memory card, you can still only put 100 songs on it," said Bucsko.

With the Sony Ericsson, if you upgrade the memory card, you can easily put as many as 500 songs on it. But the Sony Ericsson won't play music downloaded from most online stores. The Rokr, on the other hand, works with Apple's popular iTunes.

So which one is better? Consumer Reports says it depends. If you use Cingular, get the Rokr, you will get much better cell coverage for your calls. But if you're a T-Mobile customer, the Sony Ericsson is easier to navigate and can store more music.

Our testers say more companies will be offering these new MP3 phones before long. So if you can hold off on getting one, there'll be more phones to choose from, and the prices could come down, too.

For more helpful consumer information, visit Consumer Reports on the web.

http://www.consumerreports.org/

Consumer Reports is a fee-based Web site. Many of the articles require a subscription.