Review: Pantech Crux
Like any other modern feature phone, messaging options are a mixed bag of good and bad on the Crux. Sure, it offers email, IM, SMS/MMS and even social networking, but are any of these apps any good?
Starting with email, the answer depends on how you feel about spending an extra $5 per month. Unless you subscribe to the right data package, using a full-feature email application costs you more out-of-pocket. The email app in question works with POP3, IMAP4 and Exchange email accounts. It is a bit clunky, but it works. Email is pushed/pulled somewhat inconsistently, though, and most of the time fails to alert the user to new messages. The free alternative is mobile email via the browser. That's a painful alternative.
Text and picture messaging is this device's forte when it comes to keeping in contact with your friends and family. Composing messages is a breeze. Users can choose between standard triple-tapping, T9, or a landscape QWERTY keyboard for text entry. The keys are spaced well enough that mistakes are mostly avoidable. One thing I love, the default sound for typing in QWERTY mode is an old-school mechanical typewriter "clack clack clack clack clack DING!" (Yes, this can be silenced.)
The IM application is the same dreary software that Verizon has been using for ages. It supports Windows Live, AIM, and Yahoo IM networks. Google Talk is nowhere to be found.
I like that the Crux offers visual voicemail, but cringe at the extra $2.99 per month it costs.
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Pantech Crux
