Samsung Rant: An Affordable Messaging Phone

If I were a teenager, I'd love the Samsung Rant. Its roomy keyboard makes texting a breeze, it comes with access to Sprint's mobile TV and music services, and its case comes in red or black. But anyone looking for a business-friendly smartphone with lots of productivity applications will be sorely disappointed.

When closed, the Rant looks like a slightly thick cell phone, with a 2.1-inch screen and a numeric keypad. The reason for its thickness is the hidden QWERTY keyboard, which slides out from beneath the phone.

PROS: The Rant is an attractive phone and the keyboard is a joy to use: Its keys are nicely spaced and have a rubbery feel that makes for easy typing. The Rant's display automatically switches from vertical to horizontal orientation when you open the keyboard.

CONS: The numeric keypad on the front of the phone is not as well designed as the keyboard. The number keys are small and slippery.

Making Calls

PROS: Overall, the Rant's voice quality and volume were very good.

CONS: Despite its small size, the Rant actually felt quite heavy to hold. It weighs 4.6 ounces, which is a bit heavier than many cell phones and smartphones.

Browsing the Web

PROS: The Rant supports Sprint's 3G EVDO network, which offers speedy access to most Web sites.

CONS: The Web browser is no match for the excellent desktop-like browsers you'll find on smartphones like the iPhone and the T-Mobile G1. Many pages are so stripped down that they're unreadable. You also don't get Wi-Fi support, so you'll have to rely on EVDO availability for speedy surfing.

PROS: The Rant's messaging features are easy to access, thanks to Sprint's handy One Click interface. Setting up the Rant's email client was a snap: You can access many common e-mail services (including AOL's AIM Mail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, and Gmail) by entering only your username and password. The Rant also supports POP3 and IMAP account, and can be configured to access a business email accounts.

CONS: The phone was unable to display e-mail messages with HTML formatting; instead of displaying them as text only, I got a message saying an error had occurred and the messages were unreadable.

PROS: Like the LG Lotus, the Rant features Sprint's new One Click interface. A bar runs across the bottom of the home screen; you can add shortcuts to applications and phone features to the bar for easy access. The Rant also supports Sprint Navigation, which delivers turn-by-turn directions to your phone.

CONS: You won't find much--or any--true business applications on the Rant. Sprint offers a several applications that you can download to the phone using the "Get it Now" menu option, but most of them are strictly for fun and are aimed more at tweens than at businesspeople.

PROS: The Rant offers lots of multimedia features, including a 2-megapixel camera that captures still photos and videos; a music and video player; and support for Sprint's TV service, which delivers both live TV and pre-packaged video clips to your phone. You also get access to Sprint's music store, which lets you buy songs from your phone, and have them downloaded right to your handset.

The Rant is not the device for you if you're looking for a full-fledged business smartphone. But it does offer some excellent messaging and multimedia features at a very low price: Sprint is offering the phone for $50 after a rebate when you sign a new two-year contract.