Best Messaging Phones 2010: Mostly Affordable Texting and Messenging QWERTY Phones

BlackBerry Torch 9800 RIM's latest BlackBerry dares to be different, and that's a good thing. The Torch 9800 has both a capacitive touch screen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. There's a new OS to go with that multi-touch display and it brings the BlackBerry into the 21st century. It's intuitive, enjoyable and quite powerful, yet veteran BlackBerry users won't find it unfamiliar. The Torch has a new Webkit web browser, a 3.2" display, the usual excellent hardware keyboard, push email galore and a heap of multimedia. Other amenities include a 5 megapixel camera, 4 gigs of storage, a GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth. The Torch is certainly good enough to keep Berry addicts loyal, but is it enough fight off Android and iOS?	AT&T	Aug. 2010		$199
Samsung Epic 4G Sprint's second 4G superphone is here. The Epic 4G dares to be different with its large QWERTY keyboard that strays from the more common slate design. And it's a great keyboard with a dedicated number row, Android buttons and arrow keys. If you're a Sprint customer who lusted for the HTC EVO 4G but cringed at its on-screen keyboard, Samsung has your number. The Epic 4G is a Galaxy S family phone and it has that series' 4" Super AMOLED 800 x 480 display, 1GHz Hummingbird CPU with GPU acceleration, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. Improvements include a 5 megapixel camera with flash and a front-facing VGA camera and a notification LED. The Epic runs Android OS 2.1 with Samsung's TouchWiz 3.0 UI.	Sprint	Aug. 2010		$249
T-Mobile G2 The T-Mobile G2 is one of the best Android QWERTY phones on the market. It runs vanilla Android OS 2.2 Froyo, still a rarity on Android phones, and it's fast. Not just in terms of CPU speed, though the 800MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with GPU really impresses us, but because it has 4G in the form of HSPA+. The G2 is made by HTC and it has a 3.7" multi-touch LCD, one of the best hardware keyboards in the business, WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth, a GPS, a microSD card slot with an 8 gig card pre-loaded and a 5 megapixel camera that can shoot 720p video. The T-Mobile G2 comes with the full suite of Google Android applications, and we mean everything Google makes.	T-Mobile	Oct. 2010		$199
Motorola Droid 2 The Droid is back and it's better. With a faster CPU, an improved keyboard and Android OS 2.2 Froyo, the 1GHz Droid 2 can compete with the big boys. It doesn't stray far from the original Droid formula when it comes to size and design: the Droid 2 is still a slim, modern QWERTY slider with a 3.7" capacitive multi-touch display. The corners are now chrome-clad and rounded, and the design is a bit more conformist, but we doubt anyone will dislike the look. The Droid 2 has a full hardware QWERTY keyboard that's rare among Android superphones, 8 gigs of storage plus an 8 gig microSD card, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS that works with Google Maps and VZ Navigator and 3G Mobile Hotspot WiFi Internet connection sharing.	Verizon	Aug. 2010		$199
Palm Pixi (also Palm Pixi Plus on Verizon and Palm Pixi Plus on AT&T) Palm's second webOS smartphone is available now on Sprint. The Pixi at first glance looks like a reborn Palm Centro with it's QWERTY bar design and tiny rubbery keys. But it runs the thoroughly modern webOS and features a capacitive multi-touch display just like its big brother the Palm Pre. The Pixi costs less than the Pre but it has some good specs including a 600MHz CPU, a GPS, EV-DO Rev. A and 8 gigs of flash storage. The Sprint version comes with Sprint TV, Sprint Navigation and the rest of Sprint's services and it offers the same great cloud syncing to Exchange, Facebook and Google as the Pre. The Verizon version has VZ Navigator but no V Cast Video or V Cast Music. Is it worth saving $50 to get the Pixi instead of the Pre? Read our review to find out.	Sprint, AT&T and Verizon	Dec. 2009, June 2010 on AT&T		Free to $49, price varies by carrier
LG Ally The LG Ally is the latest Android smartphone to join Verizon's lineup and we suspect it will trounce the similarly designed but more expensive Motorola Devour. Though the LG has fairly high end specs, it doesn't get the Droid designation (we're not sure what's up with that Droid thing). It has a 3.2", 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen with multi-touch pinch zooming, an accelerometer and Android OS 2.1 Eclair. The slide-out QWERTY keyboard is roomy and better than the Moto Droid's and call quality is tops. The phone has WiFi, Bluetooth, a GPS that works with Google Maps (no VZ Navigator here) and a 3.2 megapixel camera that takes good photos. Definitely worth a look if you're craving a reasonably priced Android smartphone with a keyboard.	Verizon	May 2010		$99
Palm Pre Plus The third time around, the Palm Pre is really hitting its stride. The Pre Plus on AT&T, like the Verizon Palm Pre Plus, features 16 gigs of storage and double the RAM of the Pre on Sprint. With a 3.1" capacitive multi-touch display, a fresh yet maturing webOS, full multi-tasking and a growing app catalog, this Palm breathes life into AT&T's ailing smartphone touch screen line. Other features include an improved slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a GPS that works with Google Maps and AT&T Navigator, 3G HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth and a solid camera that can shoot VGA video. Well worth a look if the iPhone doesn't float your boat. Heck, it's worth a look even if it does.	AT&T and Verizon	May 2010		$149
BlackBerry Bold 9700 The baby Bold is here for those of you who found the original BlackBerry Bold 9000 too large and heavy. The Bold 9700 is narrower and lighter, while sporting the same impressive build quality as the 9000 (OK, it's a tiny bit less luxurious). It features an even higher resolution display than the first Bold, WiFi with WiFi calling on the T-Mobile version, a GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. This is the first 3G BlackBerry on T-Mobile. The 9700 is available on both T-Mobile and AT&T in the US.	T-Mobile and AT&T	Nov. 2009		$149
Motorola Charm Got square? Motorola's Charm sure does, and we like the distinctive look. The Charm is a very affordable Android smartphone with an excellent QWERTY keyboard that requires no sliding, flipping or twirling. Like a BlackBerry, the keyboard is ever-ready and calls to you messaging and social networking types. Motorola's MOTOBLUR software is on board with its usual social focus, and it all runs on top of Android OS 2.1. The Motorola Charm has 3G, a not so wonderful QVGA display, a 3 megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth. The phone has a few unexpected goodies for the budget segment like Motorola's Backtrack rear trackpad, an accelerometer than handles both screen rotation and turning the phone over to ignore a call.	T-Mobile	Sept. 2010		$49
Samsung Restore Not into the touch screen craze? Just want a solid 3G messaging phone? The eco-friendly Samsung Restore is a full-featured messaging phone with EV-DO, Sprint TV, Sprint Navigation, the Netfront web browser and a solid music player that handles MP3 and AAC iTunes format music. The Restore has a roomy slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but when closed it looks like a normal candy bar phone with a standard number pad. It has a GPS, 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth with stereo support and an SDHC microSD card slot. A nice mid-tier offering from Sprint and Samsung.	Sprint	July 2010		$49
LG Lotus Elite The LG Lotus Elite is a significant upgrade to the very popular LG Lotus. This wide body QWERTY flips dares to look difference, just like the original model. But the Elite is more rounded, more solidly built and it adds two cool new features: an external QVGA touchscreen and the latest version of Sprint's OneClick UI. It supports Sprint's many services including EV-DO data, Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV and Sprint Music. It has a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, an SDHC microSD card slot and a GPS. It's available in red and black is coming. This review includes a video review.	Sprint	Jan. 2010		$99