Sprint Phone Reviews

Before AT&T bought T-Mobile for $39 billion recently, Sprint was the third largest cell phone service provider (with 50 million users) in the United States. Now, it is firmly behind AT&T and Verizon in the subscriber base, and many people are speculating that Verizon and Sprint will soon merge together to compete against the AT&T and T-Mobile amalgamation. Whether this happens or not remains to be seen, but for the time being there are several phones that are doing the rounds in the market that are worth reviewing and reporting on.

Sprint also offers phones on the WiMAX 4G network today, so the choices of smartphones available on this carrier are pretty large in number. The latest wave of Android smartphones have also been adopted by them so there is something here for lovers of all the major operating systems in the US (with the exception of iOS of course).

Best Sprint Phones of 2011

HTC Arrive
This phone was previously known as HTC 7 Pro CDMA and it has been released earlier this month. It runs on the new Windows Phone 7 OS and it has a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard, which makes it an excellent buy for people who like to chat and text a lot. Since Sprint functions only on CDMA networks, this phone will not work on GSM networks anywhere. There is a 1GHz Scorpion processor on board, and along with the Adreno 200 GPU it makes the device very snappy and responsive. The touchscreen size is 3.6" and the resolution is a satisfactory 480 x 800 pixels. You also get 576MB of RAM and a 5 MP camera. The downside to this phone is a collection of all the disadvantages of Windows Phone 7 OS, even though the OS offers a new and innovative interface altogether.

HTC EVO Shift 4G
This phone was released in January 2011 and it runs on the impressive Android 2.2 (Froyo) OS. An update to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) will also be available soon. All the advantages of Android are present here, and this includes the impressive mobile hotspot feature. The device also has a QWERTY keyboard and it comes engrained with the impressive HTC Sense UI which comes with all their Android phones. You also get a 800MHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, a 5 MP camera, 512MB RAM, a 3.6" touchscreen with 480 x 800 resolution and access to the WiMAX 4G network. The lack of a HDMI port is a feature that would have added to the appeal of this device immensely.

BlackBerry Curve 3G 9330
This device was released in September 2010 and it has been doing well because it is one of the better BlackBerry devices that works on Sprints CDMA network. This is your typical BlackBerry with a 2.46" screen and 320 x 240 resolution. The QWERTY keyboard is optimized for typing and chatting and the touch-sensitive optical trackpad is the best of its kind in the market. You also get a disappointing 2 MP camera, 512MB RAM and BlackBerry OS 5.0 which is upgradeable to the next version. This is basically an economical BlackBerry for lovers of this brand, but to be honest, there is nothing extraordinary about this device.

LG Optimus S
LG phones are admittedly not very popular, but this CDMA LG phone for Sprint certainly performs well over expectations. It was released in December 2010 and it has a 3.2" touchscreen with 320 x 480 resolution. It runs on Android 2.2 but it has a rather slow 600MHz processor, which means an upgrade to Android 2.3 will not be feasible. The camera shoots pictures at 3.15 MP and the phone can connect to 3G networks as well. This is basically one of the low cost Android handsets that comprise the Android army, and it is a good buy for people who do not wish to splurge too much on their smartphones but still want a decent experience.

Samsung M920 Transform
Released in October 2010 this device will offer you all the benefits that any other low cost Android smartphone brings to the table. It has a 3.5" touchscreen and a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. You also get a gorilla glass display and a QWERTY keyboard for typing enthusiasts. The phone was initially sold with Android 2.1 (Eclair) but it is upgradeable to Android 2.2. An 800MHz Samsung processor and 256MB RAM gives this device a respectable response time. You also get a 3.15 MP camera and a secondary front-facing camera as well.

Samsung Galaxy Tab CDMA
Though this is a tablet and not a smartphone, the fact that you can make calls from the Samsung Galaxy Tab make it a worthy candidate on this list. The Galaxy Tab was the first proper iPad competitor and it offers a pretty good Android experience. You can enjoy your tasks on a 7.0" touchscreen with a great resolution of 600 x 1024 pixels. Samsung's TouchWiz 3.0 UI is pretty impressive too, and the 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor and PowerVR SGX540 GPU keeps the device ticking. Unlike the iPad, you also get a 3.15 MP camera and a secondary front-facing camera as well. You also get Adobe Flash 10.1 support and the intuitive SWYPE text input as well. The Tab was released in September 2010 and the only downside back then was that it ran on Android 2.2 (Froyo). This is now upgradeable to Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) which is optimized for tablets specifically.

Samsung Epic 4G
This phone was released in September 2010 and it is perhaps the best selling and most recognized Sprint phone. It is also known as the Samsung Galaxy S Pro and it is part of the highly successful and widely acclaimed Samsung Galaxy S series. You get a magnificent 4.0" touchscreen that works on the Super AMOLED technology and the resolution is an impressive 480 x 800 pixels. The 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor and PowerVR SGX450 offer great performance and Google integration for this device is excellent. You also get a 5 MP camera, a secondary camera, Android 2.1 (upgradeable to Android 2.2 and now Android 2.3), 512MB RAM, Gorilla glass display, a QWERTY keyboard, WiMAX 4G connectivity and TouchWiz 3.0 UI. Sprint subscribers looking for a good CDMA device should look no further than this one.

These reviews should help you make a better decision about which Sprint Nextel CDMA phone you should purchase. There are plenty of choices to pick from, and the ability to connect to WiMAX 4G is something that is very attractive about some of these devices.