(Source: McClatchy/Tribune)
Both touch-screen and messaging phones have caught on in popularity in recent years. The touch-screen phone appeals to those who want a display large enough to browse the Web and watch video clips, while the messaging phone attracts those who need a physical keyboard for typing out text messages. So it makes sense that there are some phones out there that combine both a touch screen and a keyboard for the best of both worlds. We'll only address normal feature phones for this article; you can check out our articles on smartphones with QWERTY keyboards and touch-screen smartphones for the smartphone angle.
Compare reviews: http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6454_7-6663137.html
___
AT&T Quickfire
_ CNET rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)
_ The good: The AT&T Quickfire has both a touch screen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It also has multimedia features, HSDPA speed, stereo Bluetooth, A-GPS, and a full HTML browser.
_ The bad: The AT&T Quickfire suffers from a slightly finicky touch-screen interface, especially when it comes to the browser.
_ The cost: $99.99
_ The bottom line: Though it has a few design quirks, the AT&T Quickfire's impressive feature set and intuitive controls make it one of the better messaging phones out there.
_ Full review: http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/at-t-quickfire-silver/4505-6454_7-33375127.html
___
LG Xenon
_ CNET rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)
_ The good: The LG Xenon has an attractive touch-screen display, a great QWERTY keyboard, customizable standby screens, plenty of shortcuts, and lots of features like 3G speeds, quad-band support, a 2-megapixel camera, GPS, and more.
_ The bad: The LG Xenon suffers from the lack of POP or IMAP e-mail support, the touch screen suffers from a slight learning curve, the Web browser feels a little clunky, and you're limited to only six widgets to customize the home screen.
_ The cost: $99.99
_ The bottom line: Despite a few problems, the LG Xenon is one of the better messaging phones we've seen, plus it has a cool touch-screen interface and plenty of features.
_ Full review: http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/lg-xenon-blue-at/4505-6454_7-33603848.html
___
LG Versa
_ CNET rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)
_ The good: The LG Versa is an attractive touch-screen handset with an animated user interface, plus it has options for additional modules. The Versa also has a full HTML browser with Flash Lite support, EV-DO, GPS, a 2.0-megapixel camera, and a music player. It comes with a QWERTY keyboard module, which doubles as a case.
