December 1st, 2008
Holiday Gift Guide 2008: Feature phones
I’ve now given you a Holiday Guide for smartphones and free cellphones so this Guide presents the best of the devices that are commonly called feature phones. With the power of today’s feature phones, the line between a feature phone and smartphone is getting blurred so most people won’t see much of a difference between the two categories of devices and I imagine there will soon be no distinction at all.
The feature phone market is probably the most popular in the US due to the price, ease of use, major marketing campaigns, and performance of most of these devices as a phone first. I actually plan to try to review more of these types of devices here on my Smartphones and Cell Phones blog so please do let me know which ones you want to hear more about.
The marketing campaigns for devices like the Samsung Instinct and LG Voyager were pretty amazing and smartphone manufacturers could take a lesson or two to help them get the word out in the future. Like I did with the free cell phone Guide, I’ll break down this Guide into the four major US wireless carriers since many of the feature phones are provided on a single carrier. As you can see in the Guide I included three of the best feature phones from each carrier for you to consider.
T-Mobile
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 and offer some unique services other carriers do not support (T-Mobile HotSpot @Home UMA service). They also seem to take the prize for best customer service and as a subscriber myself for over 6 years I can attest to their excellent service.
The Motorola ZN5 ZINE is the latest feature phone to hits the streets for T-Mobile and its main claim to fame is the 5 megapixel camera with Kodak Imaging Technology and Xenon flash. The ZINE also includes a Bluetooth radio with A2DP stereo support and WiFi. Photos taken with the ZINE can be easily uploaded to your Kodak Gallery via the WiFi radio and then shared with family and friends.
A microSD memory card slot is present and you can load it with music files to listen to on your phone. The ZINE also includes a FM radio for listening to your favorite stations on the go.
Price: $99.99 after rebates and contract
[Read the review]
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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.
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