Skip to main content

AT&T Offers Budget Phones, Cloud Services for the Rest of Us

Samsung Strive Image used with permission by copyright holder


You don’t need a smartphone to harness the cloud. That’s the message AT&T is pushing with its latest batch of sub-$50 messaging phones and a slate of new Web-based services to go with them.

The so-called “Quick Messaging Devices” offer full QWERTY keyboards without the processing power – and price – of a full-fledged smartphone. Although this class of device typically doesn’t run the powerful mobile operating systems that make many advanced features possible, AT&T will add them with a new basket of address book, messaging and media features.

Both the enhanced address book and messaging features will be available free of charge. AT&T Address Book will allow users to store their contacts in the cloud, accessing them either from the phone or the Web, and making it possible to import contacts from services like e-mail. Next Generation Messaging will emulate the threaded conversation style of smartphones, as well as adding features like “reply all” and group messaging.

For $10 a month, AT&T Mobile Share will let users quickly move images and videos from their phones to the Web, and store them on a 250MB “AT&T Locker” to share with friends. The company will offer pay-per-use pricing of 35 cents per transfer, and an additional 10GB of storage space for $5 monthly.

Two of the new messaging phones come from Samsung, and the two from Pantech. The Samsung Strive and Sunburst, priced at $20 and $40 respectively, both offer vertical sliding designs and full QWERTY keyboards, with the Sunburst adding GPS, a touch screen, and a customizable widget bar. Both will arrive March 21. Pantech’s Link adopts a slim and lightweight candybar design, while the Pantech Pursuit will offer a sliding keyboard, touch screen, and even face recognition and geotagging for photos. Both will be available in the coming weeks with prices yet to be announced.

Samsung Sunburst Image used with permission by copyright holder
Nick Mokey
As Digital Trends’ Managing Editor, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team delivering definitive reviews, enlightening…
AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone
AT&T Storefront with logo.

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.

Read more
Motorola is selling unlocked smartphones for just $150 today
Someone holding the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024).

Have you been looking for phone deals but don’t want to spend a ton of money on flagship devices from Apple and Samsung? Have you ever considered investing in an unlocked Motorola? For a limited time, the company is offering a $100 markdown on the Motorola Moto G 5G. It can be yours for just $150, and your days and nights of phone-shopping will finally be over!

Why you should buy the Motorola Moto G 5G
Powered by the Snapdragon 480+ 5G CPU and 4GB of RAM, the Moto G delivers exceptional performance across the board. From UI navigation to apps, games, and camera functions, you can expect fast load times, next to no buffering, and smooth animations. You’ll also get up to 128GB of internal storage that you’ll be able to use for photos, videos, music, and any other mobile content you can store locally. 

Read more
The Nokia 3210 is the worst phone I’ve used in 2024
A person holding the Nokia 3210, showing the screen.

Where do I even start with the Nokia 3210? Not the original, which was one of the coolest phones to own back in a time when Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace wasn’t even a thing, but the latest 2024 reissue that has come along to save us all from digital overload, the horror of social media, and the endless distraction that is the modern smartphone.

Except behind this facade of marketing-friendly do-goodery hides a weapon of torture, a device so foul that I’d rather sit through multiple showings of Jar Jar Binks and the gang hopelessly trying to bring back the magic of A New Hope than use it.
The Nokia 3210 really is that bad

Read more