We've already listed our top cell phones and smartphones of the year, but we think the messaging phone has emerged as a strong enough category in 2009 that we think it deserves a top-10 list of its very own. Not quite smartphones, these handsets have full QWERTY keyboards and are made mostly for sending text messages. They come in all different shapes and sizes, some with touch screens with plenty of multimedia features, and others with just a basic feature set.
In picking our top-10 list, we chose the ones with the highest ratings that fit within our messaging phone category. The two most obvious are the Samsung Rogue and the LG enV Touch, which both won our Editors' Choice this year. In fact, Samsung and LG dominated this list in general, with stand-outs like the Samsung Impression and the LG Xenon. There were a couple of phones that aren't from those two manufacturers, but you'll have to take a look at our slideshow to find out.
AT&T has officially launched the Pantech Reveal this Wednesday, and even though we already published the review over the weekend, we wanted to mention it again. The Reveal is Pantech's first "single-slider" messaging phone, since all of its previous slider handsets have been of the dual-slider variety, like the Pantech Matrix and the Helio Ocean. The Reveal is also probably the first-ever phone we've seen with both a number keypad and a vertical sliding QWERTY keyboard. Both keypads remain active at the same time, probably so it's easier to switch between the letters and numbers.
The Reveal is also one of AT&T's first midrange messaging phones to offer a new HTML browser based on Opera. There are three different welcome screens for the browser: one for simple Web surfing, another for more local interests, and a third that focuses on popular news stories. You can choose to view Web pages in the mobile or full desktop versions, and we like that you can zoom in and out of Web pages. However, the screen size is so small to begin with that there's a lot of scrolling around involved. Also, you have to keep going back to the initial Web welcome screen to enter in URL addresses.
Aside from that, the Reveal is a decent midrange phone. We're not crazy about the vertical keyboard, because the keys do feel a little cramped, but we're otherwise pleased with features like GPS, the music player, and the 3G support. The Pantech Reveal is $79.99 with a two-year service agreement with AT&T. Read our full review of the Pantech Reveal for more information.
The Pantech Reveal has a vertical slider QWERTY keyboard.
(Credit: Pantech)AT&T is on a messaging-phone craze lately, and Pantech has joined the effort with two new texting handsets, the Pantech Reveal and the Pantech Impact.
The Pantech Reveal looks like a regular, fat, candy bar phone at first glance, but it actually slides vertically to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard underneath. Interestingly, both keypads stay active when you slide the handset out. You get the typical text and multimedia messaging features, of course, plus GPS with AT&T Navigator, 3G, and a music player. It will be available in both red and blue starting October 18.
The Impact, on the other hand, has an unusual OLED touch screen on the outside with what looks like touch-sensitive number keys. It opens up to a secondary display plus a full QWERTY keyboard. We know that it'll feature a music player and tri-band 3G. It'll be available in both pink and blue.
Both phones will come with a new proprietary AT&T mobile browser that promises a full HTML experience "similar to your PC browser at home." AT&T describes it as having three windows: one where you can assign bookmarks and shortcuts, another where you can get localized results for news, weather, nearby restaurants and so forth, and a third that just feeds in the latest news headlines. If you want, you can customize your mobile.att.net homepage by hitting the "Send to Mobile" feature. This whole browser thing sounds a bit odd, but we'll have to wait and see what it looks like.
The sneaky Pantech Aladdin is hiding a slide-down keyboard.
(Credit: AT&T by way of Engadget Mobile)Pantech seems to have a thing for slider phones, if the Matrix, Matrix Pro, and the Helio Ocean 2 are any indication. The latest Pantech Aladdin continues that trend with a candy-bar form factor and a number keypad that actually hides a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Unlike its other slider handsets, though, this QWERTY keyboard slides downward instead of sideways.
Other features of the Aladdin include threaded SMS conversations, a 1.3-megapixel camera, A-GPS, stereo Bluetooth, and 3G. The Aladdin is slated to come out later this year (by the end of summer, it seems), but there's no real confirmation yet.
(Via Engadget Mobile)
The Samsung SGH-T349 is a messaging phone, but with a twist.
(Credit: Samsung)Bonnie Cha, CNET's smartphone reviewer, has not hidden her disdain for the SureType keyboard. So, call it a hunch, but I'm guessing that she won't be thrilled with Samsung's newest messaging phone for T-Mobile.
Instead of a full QWERTY keyboard, the SGH-T349 features a "partial keyboard" with two letters of the alphabet sharing the same button. It's not exactly a SureType keyboard (that's Blackberry's domain), but you won't notice any differences apart from the name. The candy-bar design is standard silver with a touch of lime green.
Besides the obvious messaging capabilities, the SGH-T349 offers a 1.3-megapixel camera with video recording, a personal organizer, stereo Bluetooth, an MP3 player, a speakerphone, and a microSD card slot. But in a disappointing move, the SGH-T349 is only tri-band (GSM 850/1800/1900) compatible and data support is limited to EDGE networks.
The handset is available now for an affordable $14.99 with a two-year contract. We'll have a review when we can get our eager hands on a model.
On Sale Now: $9.99 - $89.99
View the latest prices for Samsung SGH-T349 (T-Mobile)
The Samsung A177 on a poster promoting AT&T's new GoPhone Unlimited plan.
(Credit: Engadget Mobile)Just 'cause you're on a budget doesn't mean you can't get a messaging phone, as this Samsung A177 indicates. Made primarily for AT&T's prepaid GoPhone plans, the A177 is decidedly low-end, with only EDGE, probably a VGA camera, and not much else. But if you can only afford to go prepaid and you need a full QWERTY keyboard for texting, the A177 may be right for you. We don't know the pricing and availability just yet, but it'll probably be cheap, and available soon.
(Via Engadget Mobile)
TXT8020, a new messaging phone, spotted at the PCD booth
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CBS Interactive)PCD didn't have much to show off at CES 2009, but it did give us a brief sneak peek at one of its upcoming texting phones, dubbed the TXT8020 for now. It looks suspiciously like the Verizon Wireless Blitz, but with a swivel screen instead. It is a dual-mode 800/1900 CDMA phone, and ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
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