Holiday Gift Guide 2014
Voice
For users who need to make voice calls only and don't need data or apps.Everyone knows someone who eschews smartphones and other connected devices. They'll carry a mobile phone, but have little interest in using it for anything other than making phone calls when necessary. They don't need apps, YouTube, or high-tech cameras. They'd also rather avoid paying high monthly fees for services they don't need or want. That's why a simple voice phone is best. The suggestions below are some simple flip and bar phones that cover the basics and not much else. These days voice phones are cheap, and the service for them is even cheaper.
Messaging
Reserved for those who like to type on real buttons.Serial texters aren't who or what they used to be. The Quick Messaging Device has come and gone, replaced mostly by inexpensive smartphones with Swype or Swiftkey. Still, there are people out there who want to be able to press real keys when they compose a message. There are no smartphones in this category, except for the BlackBerry Classic and the BlackBerry Passport. Neither of those is sold by a major U.S. network operator yet; instead, you have to pony up full price and buy from BlackBerry directly. The devices below are glorified feature phones. They have keyboards, don't necessarily require expensive data plans, and run proprietary operating systems. They might not be exciting, but at least they're inexpensive messaging machines.