August 31st, 2009
Back to school special: QWERTY messaging phones
It’s that time of year when kids go back to school and people start to think of ways to stay connected and in touch. If your kids are like mine, text messaging is used 90% of the time compared to voice calls on mobile phones and they are all about the QWERTY keyboard for easier, faster texting than a phone keypad. Every carrier realizes this too and has a lineup of QWERTY phones to meet these texting needs. Let’s take a look at two of the best QWERTY phones available from each of the four major wireless carriers.
I personally have tried several times to move away from a QWERTY keyboard device, but realized it is time to give up on that idea as the QWERTY keeps drawing me back and I am just more comfortable using them for messaging purposes.
While there are several BlackBerry and other smartphone QWERTY devices available (check out my recent King of the QWERTYs articles), we are going to take a quick look at the feature phone set since they are less expensive, more likely to be purchased for school aged children, and are heavily focused on text messaging. As I have talked about before, the lines are actually getting quite blurry between smartphone and feature phones as feature phones offer people more and more.
T-Mobile
Samsung Gravity 2
T-Mobile is the smallest of the four major U.S. carriers in terms of subscribers, but they also have the best rates for the included number of minutes. T-Mobile regularly takes the prize for best customer service and as a subscriber myself for over 7 years I can attest to their excellent service.
The Samsung Gravity 2 brings an upgrade to the popular Gravity device with redesigned keyboard that gives the owner four rows instead of three, upgrades from a 1.3 megapixel camera to a 2 megapixel camera, adds a GPS receiver, and 3G wireless data radio. I am working on a review of the Metallic Pumpkin Gravity 2 and there is also a Berry Mauve model to choose from.
The QWERTY keyboard is very functional and is accessed by sliding the upper part of the phone to the right (up in landscape orientation). The Gravity 2 keyboard has the two phone soft keys at the extreme ends of the keyboard centered vertically for very easy usage. The number row is along the top and accessed with a function key since there is a full phone keypad on the front part of the phone. There are directional arrows to help with navigation in keyboard mode and the buttons are well defined with good feedback.
Price: $29.99 after instant discount, rebate and contract
[Read the review (Berry-Mauve) and (Metallic Pumpkin)]
Samsung Comeback
The newest QWERTY messaging phone from T-Mobile is the Samsung Comeback in both Frost Silver Cherry and Pearl White Plum. The Comeback has more of a Sidekick-like design with a flip up middle section that reveals a full QWERTY keyboard. The keys are quite small and close together with a straight layout and small space bar. There is a directional pad on the right and phone hardware buttons to control the phone.
There is both a front outer display and inner display as the from transforms from phone mode to keyboard mode. The Comeback has a 2 megapixel camera, integrated GPS receiver, and 3G wireless data radio. A microSD card is supported, along with stereo Bluetooth capability.
Price: $74.99 after instant discount, rebate and contract
[Read the review (Pearl White Plum) and (Frost Silver Cherry)]
Let’s check out AT&T’s offerings ยช
Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
Subscribe to Smartphones and Cell Phones via Email alerts or RSS.
| 08/31/09
