Home › News ›

Holiday Gift Guide 2011

Intro Reaching Out Targeted Tech Budget Comments 18

Voice Voice + Text Voice + Text + Web No Commitments

This selection of phones offers good voice performance, plus the all-important QWERTY keyboard for messaging plans.

If you have a teenager at home, or if you're trying to stay connected to your kids, you're going to need a phone that can handle text messaging. Kids send a ridiculous amount of texts every month, so you'll want a plan that offers plenty of messages, and of course some minutes if you can actually get them on the phone. Web browsing isn't so important, but you'll need a modern phone that will appease their sense of style, without emptying your wallet. These phones all offer a slide-out keyboard design, cameras and Bluetooth, and you can find most of them free, or for bargain prices if you buy them refurbished.

AT&T
Pantech Pursuit II
buy it

Sprint
Kyocera Brio
buy it

T-Mobile
Samsung T359
buy it

Verizon
LG Cosmos 2
buy it

Next page: Voice + Text + Web

Related

Hands On with the Motorola edge (2022)

Motorola has a new $500 phone and it's kind of a big deal. While Motorola has been successful with more affordable phones lately, not since 2017 have all of the big three US carriers offered a Motorola phone over $400.

iPhone 14 Plus Offers a Big Screen For Less

Sep 7, 2022
Apple has revealed the iPhone 14 series, with new features, improved specs, and new size options. In place of a Mini option, the iPhone 14 will come in the same 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch screen size options as the Pro models.

Hands On with Xplora Kids Smartwatches

A really important segment of the mobile market is devices for young kids. Mobile technology provides communication and safety features that feel essential, but how young is too young for a phone?

Sony's New $1,600 Flagship Sports Seamless True Optical Zoom

May 11, 2022
Sony has revealed its latest flagship phone, the Xperia 1 IV. It's the world's first phone with a true optical zoom lens that can adjust seamlessly from 85 to 125mm.

Auracast is the New Name for Bluetooth's New Broadcast Audio Feature

Jun 8, 2022
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has created a new brand for the broadcast audio feature of LE Audio: Auracast. LE Audio is a complete revamp of the audio component of Bluetooth, enabling better performance and many new features.