Kyocera X-tc

I’ve been a Virgin Mobile customer for about six years now, and as such, I’ve owned a series of phones that were either glitchy, bricklike, or (my favorite) both. Just as I was about to consider overcoming my fear of cellular commitment and ditching prepaid for a contract service in order to obtain a phone that was at least somewhat classy, I took a gander at Virgin Mobile’s website and realized that they had new phones. And damn if they weren’t actually kind of sexy!

Virgin Mobile’s freshest phones are the LG Rumor2 ($129.99), Kyocera X-tc ($99.99), and Samsung Mantra ($59.99). The Rumor2 and X-tc are both slider messaging phones with a full QWERTY keypad, and the Mantra is a slim flip phone. The X-tc is probably the sleekest looking of all of these, as it has a large screen – but it’s manufactured by Kyocera, whose phones are usually slow and buggy.  And the name is pretty stupid too. Rumor2, on the other hand, is produced by a far more reliable company, LG. I’m not really a fan of the design of the phone, though, as it’s a little too bricklike. Samsung’s Mantra , however, definitely floats my boat. It’s thin, sturdy, and has all the features you’d want in a phone – camera, Bluetooth, music, instant messaging, and mobile web.

These new phones still aren’t as awesome as iPhone or Blackberry models, but not everybody needs a hefty data plan or a phone that essentially functions as a miniature laptop. And now, thanks to whoever is in charge of contracting phone manufacturers at Virgin Mobile, people who don’t like long-term commitment can have hot phones too.  

If you’re thinking about buying a phone from Virgin Mobile, make sure to check out their website before heading to the store (Meijer and Target have Virgin Mobile phones in stock), as they often have special deals and lower prices.