Although there seems to be more hot phones in the pipeline (Samsung Omnia 2 and LG Chocolate 4), Verizon Wireless has done a good job revamping parts of its cell phone and smartphone lineups this year (click here to add last year's models to the mix).
For a while, it looked like the carrier's release department had taken a year off, but as always, fashionably late is early enough for Verizon Wireless. To be honest, we skipped reviewing the HTC Touch Diamond for Verizon Wireless this spring though. It's not like they couldn't wait and release the Diamond 2 in stead. The good news is that there's still one brand new WinMo phone on our list below, the HTC Ozone.
We had also expected the BlackBerry Tour to be released much sooner, and with Wi-Fi on board. As stupid as it was to release it without, the carrier has at least recently announced that this nonsense will soon be history, and a BlackBerry Tour with Wi-Fi is already rumored to be released at some point. Anyway, here are the most significant 2009 releases by Verizon Wireless:
The BlackBerry Tour is a solid business smartphone with loads of messaging options. Thanks to diligent work by RIM building some very useful apps to connect to the major social networking and instant messaging services, the BlackBerry Tour isn't too buttoned up for business, and it makes a solid all-around choice. In fact, the phone has solid multimedia features with good music hardware and one of the best video players we've used on a smartphone. The screen is also fantastic, perhaps the best we've seen on a business device like this. Still, more and more the BlackBerry platform is showing its age. The Web browser is nearly useless compared to the desktop quality browsers you'll find on other advanced smartphones, even on new Windows Mobile devices. The calendar and messaging apps, while powerful enough, were downright ugly to use, and the phone still relies heavily on long, confusing, textual menus for settings and advanced features. At the end of the day, it's still the most exciting and capable QWERTY BlackBerry on The Network to date. Oh, and did we mention that rumors are suggesting a Wi-Fi version could be on its way? Don't expect it to happen this year though.
The BlackBerry Pearl Flip is an impressive, compact smartphone. Though the form, along with the keyboard, has been condensed and folded for a clamshell, RIM hasn't skimped on the messaging and productivity options that make BlackBerry phones a hit with business users. With its slick interface, easy multimedia options and impressive Web browsers, we think this would make a great first smartphone for buyers stepping up from a lesser device. Still, experienced users will lament the struggling performance, which slowed down every feature on the phone, and experienced BlackBerry users will long for the battery life of larger devices. Even so, with a low starting point and a full complement of advanced smartphone features, it's a great choice for buyers looking for a small and light, yet capable device.
The HTC Ozone on Verizon Wireless is a solid little messaging phone, especially considering the solid, low price. For a launch price of $50, buyers get a small, fast Windows Mobile smartphone, and if you've been turned off by WinMo in the past, the improved Web browsing and Interface design on this new Windows Mobile 6.1 device might win you back. BlackBerry fans will have to spend a lot more money to compete with this phone, which can keep up with the best of RIM's offerings in terms of battery life, Web browsing and productivity options. We weren't impressed by the selection of software onboard, and call quality lagged behind a bit, but for the price, the HTC Ozone is a great choice for buyers looking for a compact, capable device.
The LG enV Touch is certainly a superior device compared to the LG Voyager, even though the new phone lacks V Cast Mobile TV. Instead, the enV Touch gets 2 high-resolution displays (hint: one's still better than the other), a slew of multimedia and messaging features, and enough power to show off those big displays with fancy video playback and Web browsing with Flash Lite. We'd have liked to see some new ideas from Verizon Wireless for this phone to give it advanced access to the online social networking services that are most popular with this phone's potential audience. Still, if you're looking for something different, a solid phone all around with a great screen (or two), the LG enV Touch gets the job done nicely.
The LG Versa is a very nice phone, both unique and well-designed. The interface is snazzy and modern, with plenty of cool ideas and useful shortcuts that make it a pleasure to use. It's a definite step up from the problematic LG Dare. Unfortunately, it seems that while LG was doing so much work to create a great phone, Verizon Wireless sat on their laurels, and the phone is saddled with some of the worst messaging, navigation and music apps in the industry. It's too bad, as there is so much potential for the cool modular design. We're excited to see how far LG and Verizon Wireless can extend the selection of modules, and we're hoping for unique ideas that add value to the phone and push it beyond its competitors. But based on the Verizon apps we found on the phone, its more likely The Network will take the easy way out and end up disappointing early adopters. Our verdict: wait and see if this platform takes off or if VZW treats it like the magical phone that lives under the stairs.
Of all the compact QWERTY phone designs, we like the LG enV model the best, with its small but useful external screen and its roomy internal keyboard and display. The phone was a bit thick and chunky but it was so comfortable to use, with large keys inside and out, that we hardly noticed its size. The new LG enV3 is even better than its predecessors, with its ability to download and sync corporate e-mail and contacts, its improved call quality and multimedia experience, especially in video. It isn't perfect, as the Web browser and the 3-megapixel camera left us disappointed, but there are more advanced phones for those features. The messaging apps could also use an update to bring SMS into the modern age, but overall this is a very likeable phone, and easy to recommend to folks who want a compact texting machine with a few clever extras onboard.
The Nokia 7205 is a stylish, beautiful clamshell with an impressive set of features and even some real innovative ideas, especially the dymanic Habitat standby screens. Unfortunately, nothing on the phone worked quite as well as it should have. We liked the external OLED display, but we've seen better on other Nokia phones, like the Nokia 7510 on T-Mobile. The Habitat idea is an interesting way to keep recently used contacts and messages close at hand, but the system wasn't very intuitive, even though it looked very cool. Like most Nokia phones, the Nokia 7205 uses a brilliant, colorful display, but this was mostly wasted on a clumsy menu system and poor video performance, not to mention a Web browser that can hardly handle a mobile Web page, let alone a full HTML site. Music controls were limited, video was disappointing. The phone is saved by its style and great call quality. Calls sounded very good, and the phone has all of our favorite calling features. As a slim, simple phone, the Nokia would be a great choice. But as an advanced, somewhat pricey multimedia powerhouse, it comes up short.
There are very few waterproof phones on the market right now, so if you're looking for the one that takes the best pictures, stop searching and buy the Casio Exilim C721. We've seen better cameraphones, but none this sturdy, and certainly none that were waterproof. We wish Casio had done a better job with the camera interface, which was sluggish and difficult to use, but we still managed to squeeze out some great shots. Getting those shots onto our PCs was a big pain, and this needs an immediate fix before Mac users can apply. Beyond the durability and the 5-megapixel, 3X zoom camera, there isn't much to recommend on this phone. Messaging was barely adequate. For music and multimedia, the Casio Exilim C721 got the job done, but not very well. GPS navigation worked nicely, thanks to the VZ Navigator app on board. For most buyers considering the Exilim C721, though, these features won't matter as much as the military spec housing and the high-end camera. For those folks, there's nothing else on the market worth considering.
A few improved apps and a magical keyboard are all it takes to make the Samsung Alias 2 a much more desirable phone than its predecessors, and one of the coolest consumer QWERTY phones around. That e-ink keyboard is very snazzy, and we hope the technology shows up on more phones, and more features on those phones, in the future. For now, while we're pleased with the addition of Microsoft Exchange e-mail, contacts and calendar support, we still think Samsung could have gone farther, especially with that adaptive keyboard. Call quality was very good, so folks who just want to make calls and send messages will be pleased with what they find in the Alias 2. But if you're looking for advanced features, like Web browsing, GPS navigation and multimedia playback, the Samsung Alias 2 can be something of a letdown. Still, none of that will matter when you pull it out of your pocket at parties and begin to wow the crowd with a bit of magic.
The Samsung Trance proves that, once again, branding can't save a mediocre product, and also that Bang & Olufsen should probably stay away from the phone market. This isn't a bad music phone, and it does have a few nice features like a 3.5mm headphone jack, 1GB of onboard memory and the ability to send music to 2 stereo Bluetooth devices at once. But seriously, if Samsung and B&O can't nail the sound quality, why bother branding the phone a B&O ICEpower device? In our listening tests, the Samsung Trance failed to wow us. The music player was also too confusing to use regularly, with inconsistent navigation and a lack of playback control on the home screen. Last year's LG Chocolate 3 would sipmly be a better purchase. It has good music options and better features all around.
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