Bonnie Cha,
Senior Associate Editor
April 28, 2009
Finally, all that hard work is paying off; you're moving up the corporate ladder, but with that comes more responsibilities and obligations. A typical workday could have you dashing from status meetings to client visits and back to your desk. And while a PDA and a cell phone might do a nice job of keeping you on track and connected to the office, wouldn't it be great not to have to carry both around? The solution may be a smartphone. If you've been hesitant to graduate to a smartphone because it seems too advanced or excessive, think again. These smartphones are good starters, offering ease of use and the essential tools for messaging, voice calls, and productivity. Read our reviews to see if one is right for you.
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| Price | $99.00 | Check Prices | Check Prices | $199.99 to $299.99 | Check Prices | $199.99 |
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| Review date | February 22, 2008 | January 28, 2009 | July 11, 2008 | September 12, 2008 | November 30, 2007 | March 31, 2009 |
| The Bottom Line | Despite a few misses, the Palm Centro for AT&T is a solid, easy-to-use, and affordable smartphone for first-time buyers. | The T-Mobile Shadow isn't a particularly impressive upgrade over its predecessor, but it's a good starter device for anyone making the jump from a regular cell phone to a smartphone. | The iPhone 3G delivers on its promises by adding critical features and sharper call quality. The iTunes App Store is pretty amazing, and the 3G support is more than welcome. Critical features still are missing, and the battery depletes quickly under heavy use, but the iPhone 3G is a big improvement over the original model. | The HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint brings some nice additions and improvements over the unlocked GSM version--most notably to performance. It's best suited for first-time smartphone buyers or light users, while business customers should wait for the Touch Pro. | The RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 improves on an already-impressive smartphone with the addition of GPS, video recording, and 3G support. | The Nokia E63 offers a more wallet-friendly price tag compared to other unlocked smartphones and does so without sacrificing too many features; we just we wish the call quality and camera were better. |
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| Features | ||||||
| Weight | 4.4 oz | 5.3 oz | 4.7 oz | 0.3 lbs | 3.4 oz | 4.4 oz |
| Talk time | Up to 240 min | Up to 420 min | Up to 600 min | Up to 252 min | 220 min | Up to 660 min |
| OS provided | Palm OS 5.4.9 | Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard Edition | Apple MacOS X | Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 | BlackBerry Handheld Software | Info unavailable |
| Band / mode | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) | WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 | GSM 900/1800/1900 | Dual-band CDMA2000 EvDO | WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 |
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