If you are addicted to mobile phone games like I am (my favorite is JellyPop, which unfortunately one cannot export to the N96 — it’s on the N95), then the Nokia N96 is your kind of phone. Not only does it deliver stunning video and crisp sound, it is basically their N-Gage within a mobile phone. You can download (for a fee) games such as Tetris and spend mindless hours glued to the screen.

Given how horribly addicted I am to certain mobile games, to the point where I miss getting off at my metro stop because I’m too busy playing, the N96 will ensure that I end up at the end of the metro line with a puzzled conductor wondering what on earth I’m still doing in the subway car.

The N96 has a terrific 5 megapixel camera, so you can leave your digital camera at home and it takes (and plays) great video. The phone is thin, very portable in a tiny handbag and simply gorgeous. Since it’s the holidays, this phone will make a a terrific present for any gadget freak.

It sells for about £460 unlocked in the UK.