Virgin Mobile opened on Monday nominations for individuals who want to be part of the Virgin Mobile Testing Team. Successful team participants who are nominated through a Facebook-dedicated page will be sent a latest handset to test drive and asked for reviews that must include pros and cons in a two-minute video.

The review video will be uploaded to Virgin Mobile's YouTube page and the tester's own social media channels. The successful team participants get to keep the handset.

The review trend often begins from uploading video of the testers, unboxing the devices, showing the moments of the newly purchased item, and discussing technology details of the device. The review may contain even destructive testing like smashing and scratching but Virgin's terms and conditions may not allow this.

Virgin Mobile said it decided to launch the video review search since studies said that online consumer reviews are the second most trusted source of product information after endorsements from friends and family.

"The customer experience has always been at the core of everything we do at Virgin Mobile. We are about what our customers think, so who better to review our products than those who use them. By asking real people - our customers - to review handsets openly means people are getting a fair and honest review by everyday people, not just technology pros," ITWire quoted Virgin Mobile Marketing Director David Scribner.

Virgin Mobile said it has one million customers who are actually handset experts.

"The Virgin Mobile Tester Team is just one way that Virgin Mobile is putting control in our customers' hands, providing reviews that reflect how our customers actually use their phones on a daily basis," Mr Scribner said.

However, for mobile phone consumers who prefer the reviews of pros, there are a handful of reliable reviewers, including these three sites.

GSM Arena

This is one of the famous gadget review Web sites found in the Internet. The portal features tech news at the center of the page, lists of brands on the left side, and other stuff on the right, including blogs and latest additions. GSM Arena makes reviews in full descriptive details of devices with photos and videos. It also has summarized review which focuses more on the technical specifications and allows comparative view with another device in the same page.

Phone Arena

The main page of Phone Arena displays latest news and reviews, but a user may select the tab menus for phones, tablets, news reviews, and discussions pages. As part of the review, Phone Arena gives out descriptive text about the device with introduction, design, interface, functionality, camera, multimedia, software and conclusion. The review page has also a navigating index for the specific part of the review being looked for with technical specifications, photos and comments included. Phone Arena displays offer a lot of photos with different angles.

CNET Reviews

CNET Review pages start with the summary of the devices describing the pros, cons, and the bottom line then goes all the way down with the full review. The page includes links to other pages like user reviews, technical specifications, check coverage, compare, and shop. The review pages of CNET features a quick summary of the most essential possibly needed information about the device like the video for actual visualizations, prices among several sources online, quick specs with camera MP and service provider.