Huawei Ascend

The Huawei Ascend is a terrific bargain on Cricket’s lineup. It’s a full-fledged Android smartphone, available without a contract, for about the same price you’d pay for a carrier-subsidized smartphone on one of the big four networks. Sure, it can’t match a Droid in specs, but is it still a smart buy?

The Huawei Ascend on Cricket reaches an odd mix of cheap and classy. Most of the phone is swathed in glossy, piano black plastic, with brushed metal accents up front and a sanded steel band around the sides. It’s like an old school magician in a tuxedo. From a short distance, the phone looks slick and polished, assuming you’ve wiped your fingerprints off that glossy shell. Hold it in your hand, however, and the illusion starts to fade. The plastic feels a bit cheap. The buttons up front, all hidden beneath a continuous strip of brushed metal, are a bit too hard to press, and have a sharp click to them. 

The phone is fairly thick, and the back bulges a bit, making it feel even bigger. It’s still quite comfortable in the hand, but this isn’t a svelte Samsung Galaxy S phone. Still, it was easy to slip into the pocket of a pair of comfortable pants, and it’s not a heavy phone, so the weight didn’t drag me down. 

Up front, the Huawei Ascend uses a unique button layout, among Android devices. The phone has real Send and End keys, a luxury on today’s touchscreen phones. That End key can be programmed to act as a Home key as well, when you’re not in a call, or it can put the phone to sleep. There is also a Menu key and a Back key on both sides of the Ascend’s trackball. The phone lacks the familiar Search key you’ll find on most Android phones, but I didn’t mind the trade-off. 

Samsung Flight II

The Samsung Flight II updates the original Flight with a higher resolution screen and a larger, side-sliding QWERTY keyboard. It's a quick messaging device with Samsung's TouchWIZ interface on board. So does this compact messager soar, or is it headed for a crash landing?

The Samsung Flight II is a compact messaging phone, rounded on all corners. It's a little thick at a half inch, but it's actually shorter than the original Flight, and a bit thinner than the Pantech Pursuit, a comparable phone in AT&T's quick messaging lineup. The phone features a 2.8-inch, capacitive touchscreen up front, with Send, End and Back buttons just beneath the screen. A fairly generous, 4-row QWERTY keyboard slides out to the left. The phone is mostly grey plastic all over, with a few polished metal circles that ring the back button, the headset port and the camera. It's nondescript and unexciting, but it still looks modern. The rounded corners make the phone easy to hold during conversations. It might not fit into a tight pair of pants, but the Flight II has lost some weight since its predecessor, more than an ounce shaved off, so it didn't weigh me down. 

The keyboard is nice for a simple messaging device. Each key has a slight hump and a small bit of space to separate them from the next letter. The layout is balanced with no funky breaks in the familiar QWERTY design. Letters take up the top three rows and the bottom row is devoted to symbols, which means you won't have to use the Fn key too much, even while entering Web and email addresses. The @ symbol is somewhat hidden, buried in the lower right corner, but it's paired with a .com key, a wise choice, and once I memorized their placement, I actually found this arrangement convenient. Still, I type @ more than I use an exclamation point, so maybe the ! doesn't need its own key. The keyboard has a shortcut key to create a new text message. Unfortunately, this key only works when you're looking at the home screen panels, not while you're browsing the menus or using a different feature on the phone. If I have to take multiple steps to use a shortcut, it isn't much of a shortcut, is it? Another minor complaint: the B key is too close to the 8 key. At a quick glance, I often mixed up the two. 

LG Octane

The Octane is the latest messaging phone from LG that offers the messaging-minded user a full QWERTY keyboard on the inside, with a standard numeric dialpad on the outside. The Octane includes some definite improvements over the discontinued enV line, such as a larger external display with added functionality. LG also managed to carry forward the same missteps to what is now the fifth generation of this form factor. Do the new benefits outweigh the lingering problems?
The Octane has what I'd term an average length and height for a messaging phone, but it suffers from the enV family's old faults: it's thick. Gone are the brick-shaped corners from the enV2 and enV3. LG has rounded off the edges of the Octane, giving it a friendlier feel in the hand and in the pocket. The tapered edges on the back surface let it sit firmly in you hand. It's made from plastics, with a soft touch battery cover. It feels solid, well made, and approachable. 

LG has taken the evolutionary approach to this form factor to the next level. The outer display is larger than those of its predecessors, and the keypad is now what I'd call a "normal" size. The keys are nice and large enough, and have perfect travel and feedback. Sandwiched in between the dialpad and display, LG has adjusted the navigation controls. There is a standard D-pad with a large center button. The Send and Contacts keys are to the left of the D-pad, and the Clear and End keys are to the right. All of these keys have excellent travel and feedback to them. 

There are two keys along the left side of the Octane. The topmost is the camera key. With the phone unlocked, it will launch the camera and also serve as the shutter release button. Below that is the dual-purpose volume toggle / camera zoom key. It is a decent size and is easily found and used. Feedback was good. 

T-Mobile myTouch 4G Review

Introduction:

Fresh out of the oven and still cooling down in time to be absorbed by customers, T-Mobile has been on the roll with the recent acquisition of the T-Mobile G2 which is going toe-to-toe with the Samsung Vibrantfor the supreme title of best handset on T-Mobile's lineup. Strengthening their high-end selection of Android powered smartphones, the T-Mobile myTouch 4G is aiming to complete the trifecta of high-end offerings available to customers this holiday season. Being one of the few devices on the market to be sprinkled with the love for HSPA+ connectivity, it quickly follows up as being one of the very few handsets on T-Mobile's lineup to sport a front-facing camera for video calls. Set to the customary price of $199.99 with a contract, the T-Mobile myTouch 4G will really need to step up to the plate if it intends on keeping up with the likes of the Samsung Vibrant and T-Mobile G2 as the biggest handset with the most bang.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Review

Introduction:

Without a doubt, the Apple iPad is one of the most intriguing and successful consumer electronic products released this year. Its success has naturally caused a wave of announcements by various manufacturers, each revealing its own plans for upcoming tablet/s. As of now, the most serious contender seems to be Samsung with itsGalaxy Tab, which is to make an appearance with every single major U.S. carrier. Now, here's the deal about the Samsung Galaxy Tab. At first glance, it is very similar to the iPad; in reality though, it's nothing like it. "So, is that a good thing or a bad thing?", one would ask. If this question is tickling your fancy, then look no further, as you'll find all the answers you seek in this review!

T-Mobile G2 Review

Introduction:

Almost without flinching, two years are already in the books since the original T-Mobile G1 landed on the scene and stirring things up in the mobile landscape. Looking back at its humble beginnings, the handset ushered in a new era in the mobile community with Google's open platform – thus bringing Google into the thick of things alongside up and coming handset maker HTC. Two forces joined together in attempting to break the mold of what was then still the early days of today's modern smartphone wars, but as fate would have it, the long lasting partnership between the two would come around full circle once again. In a race to be the biggest, the fastest, and the best out of the bunch, the T-Mobile G2 follows up to the original's pride and glory as it boasts some high-end specs that are tastefully complemented with an industrial design that only HTC can concoct. Not stopping there just yet, this $199.99 on-contract handset might seem like any flagship device out there, but its one striking uniqueness is found with its branding of being the first HSPA+ enabled smartphone in the market.