Pantech Laser shoots its way to the top spot in PhoneDog's "Best Messaging Phones" rankings

Teen Lifestyle Editor

| October 26, 2010

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It's official. The Sharp FX is no longer the number one messaging phone on AT&T. The Sharp FX had a good reign and is still a great phone, but it simply can't beat the Laser's AMOLED display, super-thin profile, fresh and interesting UI, and downright awesome keyboard. The Laser isn't perfect. It has a resistive touchscreen which, in the eyes of some, is a lesser performer than the Sharp FX's capacitive touchscreen. Not only that, but its camera lacks an autofocus and a flash, something the LG Vu Plus, at number three in our standings, is equipped with. Nevertheless, as a messaging phone, the Laser is an overall winner.

This was a tough decision, but the Laser is worthy of taking the crown. Check out the updated list below, and let us know what you think!

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1. Pantech Laser

Pros

Beautiful AMOLED display
Super-thin profile. The phone is only .4-inches thick.
Fresh and fun UI with great customization features
Awesome keyboard. One of the best, simply put
Great battery life

Cons

Resistive touchscreen
No 3.5 mm headphone jack. Because the phone is so thin, the only port or jack it has is a microUSB port
Though it does have a 3 MP camera, it is not equipped with an autofocus or a flash

Summary

The Laser is the thinnest full-sliding QWERTY keyboard phone ever offered on AT&T. Yes, you will have to make a few sacrifices in order to have such a thin phone, but it looks awesome and has a UI that offers a lot of fun features and very useful features for reaching the things that matter most to you. Not only that, but no other messaging phone on AT&T has a display that can compare to the Laser's 3.1-inch AMOLED display.

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2. Sharp FX

Pros

    •    Capacitive touchscreen display is rare for a messaging phone
    •    Speaking of the screen, the Sharp FX has a WQVGA display that shows colors crisp and vibrantly. In a word, it looks beautiful.
    •    3.5 mm headphone jack
    •    Memory is expandable up to 32 GB

Cons

    •    Though it ships with a 1240 mAh battery, you'll only get about 1.5-2 days of normal use
    •    For the price, we would expect something better than a 2 MP camera with no flash
    •    Though the phone looks very sleek, the sliding mechanism on the keyboard is a bit loose

Summary

The Sharp FX is one of those phones that just looks cool. The design of the phone and the buttons give it a sleek, smartphone-esque feel to it. Not only that, it has a great QWERTY keyboard and plenty of additional features for social networking. Top it off with the beautiful display and we have a solid device.

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3. LG Vu Plus

Pros

    •    The Vu Plus also has a capacitive touchscreen, which is, again, nice to see on a messaging phone
    •    Wonderful 3 MP camera with a flash that takes great photos
    •    Great build quality and stylish design

Cons

• An underpowered 950 mAh battery that lasts only about two days on standby
• No 3.5 mm headphone jack. Not even 2.5 mm. You'll have to find a set of proprietary headphones.

Summary

The Vu Plus has a lot to offer and its QWERTY keyboard is solid and well-designed. The touchscreen lagged a bit when sliding through menus, but with it's great camera and numerous social media features, it's a solid second place winner.