Latest In-Depth Expert Cell Phone Reviews

LG eXpo

Overview What's Good: Nice keyboard; good display; fast thanks to 1 GHz Snapdragon processor.  What's Bad: Touchscreen was challenging to use at times. Introduction When you look at the LG eXpo, the first thought that comes to mind may be "c'mon, it's just another Windows Mobile phone." Yes, the device runs Windows Mobile (6.5, to be exact),...

LG Lotus Elite

Overview The good: Sprint’s One Click interface gives you quick access to the tools and apps that you use the most; the new front panel touch screen allows you to access messages, photos, etc. without having to open up the phone.The bad: The keyboard is not the greatest, actually a step down from the previous Lotus, and the web browser needs...

Palm Pixi Plus

Introduction If we had one disappointment with the Palm Pixi it was that it didn’t support WiFi. Not only does the Palm Pixi Plus support WiFi it also lets you turn the cell phone into a Mobile HotSpot so that you can share your data connection with up to 5 WiFi-enabled devices. A pretty neat trick, but it will cost an additional $40 a...

Palm Pre Plus

Introduction The Palm Pre Plus has a few noteworthy upgrades over its predecessor the Palm Pre. First, it doubles its storage capacity from 8GB to 16GB. That’s plenty of room for music, pictures, and applications. The QWERTY keyboard got a bit of a facelift making it easier to use. It comes with the rubberized backing instead of the plastic...

Samsung Mythic SGH-A897

Overview What's Good: TouchWiz 2.0 offers improvements over previous versions. What's Bad: Battery life not great, and coverage is spotty at times. Introduction Despite the smartphone push by carriers, featurephones remain an important element in the wireless industry. To that end, the Samsung Mythic is a great addition to the field, offering...

Motorola Barrage

Overview What's Good: Durable design makes it perfect for construction workers and people that are hard on phones; fantastic reception; nice external display. What's Bad: The Barrage is slightly bulky. Introduction The push-to-talk market seems to be an "on again, off again" thing (or so it seems) for most of the nationwide carriers. One day,...

Google Nexus One

Overview What's Good: Huge, beautiful 3.7" AMOLED touchscreen; Sleek, thin hardware with fast Snapdragon processor; Android 2.1 adds Voice Input and is most user-friendly Android release to date.  What's Bad: 3G data only available on T-Mobile; Android UI still isn't as easy to use as iPhone and webOS; Android App Catalog is bigger than ever...

BlackBerry Curve 8530 Black

Overview What's Good: Optical trackpad; 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity What's Bad: 3G cuts down on battery life; build quality difference between high-end BlackBerry Introduction Much like the Curve 8520, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 is the "BudgetBerry" of the group. Sporting a few design changes, 3G connectivity and OS 5.0, it represents a continued...

PCD Razzle

Overview What's Good: Battery life; keyboard is relatively easy to type on.  What's Bad: No 3G; 2.5mm headphone jack. Introduction Though most wireless manufacturers prefer to stay within set design boundaries, it's nice to see a different phone every now and again. That being said, the PCD Razzle (branded as the Verizon Wireless Razzle) fits...

HTC Droid Eris

Overview What's Good: Sense UI, great reception, and responsive touchscreen. What's Bad: Laggy performance at times, and battery life could be better. Introduction Google's Android OS has made significant progress since the days of the G1. Thanks to the rapid adoption of the OS, Android has morphed into a consumer-friendly option. The HTC Droid...

Palm Pixi

Overview What's Good: Thin form factor is incredibly appealing. The Pixi holds a slight battery advantage to the Pre, and the keyboard is a bit more tactile. What's Bad: The Pixi's screen real estate is smaller, and the lag is greater than the Pre's. Introduction Six months ago, Palm launched the Pre, the first device running webOS. Offering the...

Motorola Droid

Overview What's Good: Gorgeous 3.7-inch display and Android 2.0.  What's Bad: Battery life is quite poor, and physical keyboard needs improvement. Introduction Despite being a die-hard BlackBerry user, the Motorola DROID excites me. With a large screen, Android 2.0, and a durable form factor, it seems to be a good option, and a welcome...

Nokia Shade 2705

Overview What's Good: Small size, good reception. What's Bad: Battery cover is flimsy, and the Shade doesn't offer 3G connectivity. Introduction Despite the seemingly endless talk about smartphones, there's still a market for regular, reliable, entry-level cell phones. Quite frankly, I doubt that grandpa, the texting teenager, or those...

Nokia N900

Overview What's Good: Large 3.5-inch touchscreen, OS has a great deal of potential, good battery life for a smartphone.  What's Bad: Earpiece volume is low and user interface needs work before it reaches mainstream appeal. Introduction Though not prevalent in the retail space just yet, Nokia's Maemo operating system has serious potential....

Motorola Droid

Overview What's good: Android 2.0 with Google Navigation; 3.7" WVGA capacitive display at 480 X 854 is visually stunning and sensitive to the touch; 5 MP cam has dual LED flash; 3.5 mm audio jack;  browser handles HTML5 and ships ready for Flash 10.1.What's bad: Physical keyboard is difficult to use; sliding mechanism not spring-loaded;...

Palm Pixi

Introduction The Palm Pixi sports many of the features found on its predecessor the Palm Pre including Palm’s latest webOS, 8GB internal hard drive, and access to many of Sprint’s premium services. The Palm Pixi also has an updated version of the webOS and a slightly easier to use QWERTY keyboard all in a slimmer package. The only...

LG Chocolate Touch

Overview What's Good: Great music device; decent touchscreen.  What's Bad: Battery life slightly lower than expectations. Introduction As the fourth family member to the Chocolate line, the Chocolate Touch VX8575 shifts to a Dare-like form factor. Those familiar with the situation are aware that LG released two versions of the Chocolate; the...

LG Glance

Overview What's Good: Durable device with good call quality and strong battery life. What's Bad: No 3G; gold battery cover may be a bit of an overkill. Introduction What happened to candybar devices? We've seen twisting devices, sliding QWERTY keyboards, flip phones, and more, but the age-old bar phone seemed to fade into the sunset. Not so...

BlackBerry Bold 9700

Overview What's Good: Significantly improved design over the original Bold, fantastic keyboard, great battery life, and admirable call quality. What's Bad: The web browser, though improved, is still no comparison to competing smartphones on the market. Introduction Yes, it's a love or hate characteristic, but RIM is a historically...

BlackBerry Storm2 9550

Overview What's Good: Screen is far easier to use thanks to the addition of electronic sensors; OS 5.0 improves overall device functions dramatically.  What's Bad: Despite improvements, SurePress is still harder to use than similar industry competitors.  Additionally, the browser still needs work. Introduction Almost one full year later,...