Best Virgin Mobile Smartphone

Virgin Mobile is quickly reasserting itself as a cell mobile giant with a new lineup of affordable premium phones and excellent data and voice plans. The new Virgin Mobile phone lineup was released on May 23, 2010 and features some industry best phones such as the BlackBerry Curve 8530, LG Rumor2, Rumor Touch, and Loft. This article will examine the features and benefits of each phone as well as the new calling and data rates available from Virgin Mobile.

BlackBerry Curve 8530 ($300)

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 is the 3G version of the popular Curve 8500 series, which is an entry level BlackBerry from Research in Motion. The 8530 features a 2.0MP digital camera, Bluetooth, excellent media player, 3G, excellent SMS, MMS, and email capabilities, MS office viewing and editing, and more. The full QWERTY keyboard makes sending text and email messages easy and fast, which is great for constant texters. The trackpad featured on the 8530 is an update from the previous trackball, and is welcomed by BlackBerry users as it makes navigating much easier than the trackball. Overall, the Curve 8530 on the Virgin Mobile network is packed with premium features, is incredibly easy to use, and has one of the least expensive voice and data plans from a cell phone provider.

Rumor Touch ($149)

The Rumor Touch features a touch screen keyboard, full QWERTY keyboard, 3G data speeds, 2.0MP digital camera, Bluetooth technology, excellent media player, and more. We liked the slide out QWERTY keyboard because it complimented the touch screen by making sending texts and typing in internet URLs much faster than a touch screen keyboard. The 3G speeds on the Virgin Mobile network are quick and fully utilized on the Rumor Touch. Overall, the Rumor Touch is a great upgrade from the Rumor2, and comes with very inexpensive data plans from Virgin Mobile.

Loft ($70)

The Loft beats out the Rumor2 for our top three list, because it does not feature as many hardware glitches as the Rumor2 has had. This smartphone is loaded with the basics, such as a 1.3MP digital camera, internet surfing, social networking, and a full QWERTY keyboard for quick texting. The loft is the most basic out of the three phones listed, but at a price of $69.99, it is a great entry-level smartphone.

Virgin Mobile Data and Talk plans

I have been following Virgin Mobile and blogging about them for some time because they have always offered the lowest in industry voice plans. Recently, VM added a new set of no contract plans for their new lineup of smartphones. Below are the current data, text, web, email, and voice plans available for the previously listed smartphones.

$25-Unlimited data, email, text, web, and 300 anytime minutes.

$40-Unlimited data, email, text, web and 1200 anytime minutes.

$60-Unlimited data, email, text, web and unlimited anytime minutes.

$10-Additional cost for all BlackBerry users in addition to one of the previously listed plans.

Sources:

www.virginmobile.com

Personal experience