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| Samsung Rugby |
| Full review » Scoreboard » Features » Gallery » |
 The Samsung Rugby occupies a prime spot in AT&T's Push-to-Talk lineup. Unlike every other major PTT provider (Sprint, of course, and also Verizon Wireless), AT&T has focused primarily on smartphones for walkie-talkie use, including the Palm Centro, the AT&T Tilt and every model of BlackBerry device. The Samsung Rugby is the carrier's only real rugged phone, and this phone is indeed quite rugged. We washed the Samsung Rugby under a faucet, hit it with a motorcycle (check out our video of the incident, filmed up close and in slow motion with the Casio Exilim EX-FH20), and obnoxiously abused it, and the phone held on like a champ, though our small bike did dent and scratch it a bit. We were surprised to find the phone runs nearly the same multimedia interface as the Samsung Propel we recently reviewed, and we think it could use more of a corporate or workforce update to focus on features that walkie-talkie users prefer, like contact list with synchronization and corporate e-mail support. Instead, the phone has AT&T Music and a few e-mail presets, and even these are buried under the aging menus. It's a fine phone for calling and walkie-talkie use, but we think its time for AT&T to re-imagine their interface as they branch out into new phone categories. Release: October 2008. Price: $130.
Pros: Very rugged. PTT offers unique calling features. Good GPS service, surprisingly adequate Web browser.
Cons: We'd like to see more corporate and on-site features, like corporate e-mail and contacts sync. Multimedia features so buried, why bother?
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61%
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| LG Lotus |
| Full review » Scoreboard » Features » Gallery » |
 The LG Lotus is about as smart as a phone gets before we call it a smartphone, thanks mostly to Sprint's excellent new One Touch menu application. Despite its haunting resemblance to a compact makeup mirror, we even like the form factor, as it provides a nice, comfortable QWERTY keyboard and keeps a classy look. The external screen is unfortunately an afterthought, even with the dedicated music keys, and call quality could have been much better. But for dedicated messaging fans, even those with corporate e-mail to read, this phone provides an interesting alternative to the more complicated smartphone set. Plus, with access to Google Docs, a capable (though not desktop-grade) Web browser and tethered modem support, maybe this phone is even smarter than we thought. Knock $100 off the price, and we'll take two. Release: October 2008. Price: $100.
Pros: One Touch is great looking and convenient. Keyboard is tall and comfortable. Capable Web browser. Surprisingly good (and corporate) messaging options.
Cons: Call quality isn't great. Interface could react more quickly to navigation. Camera is lousy. Phone is pricey.
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69%
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| Samsung Sway |
| Full review » Scoreboard » Features » Gallery » |
 The Samsung Sway continues Samsung's newest tradition of stealing phone designs from LG. The phone looks decidedly like the LG Shine, especially the slider version on AT&T. If you like the look of this phone, more power to you, because its shiny, brushed metal look and thin shell are this phone's upside. What really disappointed us, however, was an inefficient menu structure and less than great call quality. Furthermore, the phone didn't allow us to multi-task at all, denying us access to for instance text messaging while listening to music. The camera and Verizon Wireless' GPS navigation showed some signs of decent performance at advanced tasks, but with the lack of high-speed networking there are no other multimedia features of significance to be found, other than a mobile browser. Release: October 2008. Price: $70.
Pros: Nice design. Slim, tight slider shell. Camera was better than we expected.
Cons: Call quality suffered. Inefficient menu structure.
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49%
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| Pantech Matrix |
| Full review » Scoreboard » Features » Gallery » |
 The Pantech Matrix is a familiar design, in fact it's almost exactly the same size and shape as the Pantech Duo, a Windows Mobile phone with a similar, dual-slide design. That's good and bad, as we definitely like the compact shape and slide-out keys on this phone, but the design could use an update, both in terms of the shell, which could be a bit thinner with easier-to-use buttons, and in terms of the interface. While the standard AT&T menus might be more accessible than Windows Mobile, they don't do this phone justice as a messaging competitor. The lack of messaging options, like the ability to set our own POP or IMAP e-mail accounts (so no Gmail for this phone) also hurt the device significantly. Music playback was fine, and the Web browser was surprisingly robust, but we're waiting for a carrier to find a middle-ground user interface for these messaging phones, instead of just stacking on the same old tired designs. Release: October 2008. Price: $80.
Pros: Dual-slide design is still unique. Great call quality. Capable, if sluggish, Web browser.
Cons: Interface nothing special. Lacks many messaging features, where this phone should excel. Mediocre music experience with no headphone options.
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57%
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| Palm Treo Pro |
| Full review » Scoreboard » Features » Gallery » |
 The Palm Treo Pro is aiming squarely at its target audience - Palm devotees who need a serious upgrade. We can't see anyone else falling for the rather dull, underperforming Palm Treo Pro, though owners of Palm's previous generations of Treos might ooh and ahh at the GPS and Wi-Fi, and will certainly marvel at the slick, yet classy shell. Palm's best innovations are really in buttons and hardware shortcuts, but Windows Mobile limits how much Palm can accomplish with this device, and unlike more popular Windows Mobile manufacturers like HTC and Samsung, Palm has done little to nothing to improve the basic Windows Mobile experience. Overall, the Palm Treo Pro is a generally likeably, basic Windows Mobile Pro phone, but without carrier support it seems to lack many of our favorite services, and it isn't nearly enough to keep us from wondering when we'll see the next big thing from Palm. Release: September 2008. Price: $500.
Pros: A new, thinner look with great hardware improvements for the Treo line. Good GPS options. Strong Windows Mobile performance.
Cons: Only Treo owners will fall for this one. To everyone else, this is another mid-range, unlocked smartphone with few additional features or services.
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64%
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