Welcome to the third annual Holiday Gift Guide here on the ZDNet Smartphones and Cell Phones blog. The mobile phone selection on every major US wireless carrier is extensive and we cannot cover all of them here in the Holiday Gift Guide. Our Guide this year will feature two of the most popular cell phone choices from each of the four major US wireless carriers.
My teen daughters use standard cell phones, as do most of their friends, and I have tried out several of them to see if I could give up my smartphones. While I can never go back to a feature phone, they are still very popular for those who are focused on phone calls, text messaging, and basic phone usage without the desire to pay for expensive data plans. Most of these phones will require a messaging plan, but some can be purchased with no data plan or a lower cost non-smartphone data plan.
AT&T
The Samsung Flight II gives you a feature phone with both touch screen and QWERTY keyboard interfaces. The camera is only 2 megapixel resolution so you won’t be capturing any print ready shots with it. However, it is focused on messaging with the keyboard, predictive text, 3G support, Bluetooth radio, and 2.8 inch 240×400 pixel display.
You will find an HTML web browser and support for AT&T services like AT&T Music, AT&T Maps, Instant Messaging, and more.
Price: $99.99 after rebate and service contract
[Check out the ZDNet Reviews page.]
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz has an 8.1 megapixel camera with support for 720p video recording and is a device focused on the media experience. It has a 3.2 inch 360×640 resolution display with touch screen QWERTY keyboard for text entry. The Vivaz runs the Symbian S60 5th Edition OS so in reality it is a smartphone in a feature phone package. It has a powerful 720 MHz processor and offers some high end functionality with WiFi, Bluetooth, microSD card, FM radio, and GPS receiver.
Not all of us are text message fans so something like the Vivaz with its larger touch screen and higher end camera may be appealing to many. The Vivaz is available in Venus Ruby and Galaxy Blue at a reasonable price.
Price: $79.99 with 2-year contract
[Check out the ZDNet Reviews page.]
