Well, so far I’ve provided one economical solution to the simple phone problem. However, I can already hear you say: “But Christine, I don’t have Verizon, and I don’t particularly feel like changing my company over a phone!”
The good news: you don’t have to. Almost every carrier (the exception might be Sprint, we’ll talk about that later) has a good solution to this problem. Today, I’m going to talk about AT&T’s simple phone.
The Pantech Breeze. I have to say, this is the best name out of any of the phones I’ll mention. Breeze. It says, “I’m simple, I’m mellow, I hang out at the beach.” Catching on is a ‘Breeze.’ Whereas the Knack doesn’t make much sense–maybe one could have “the Knack” to using the Knack? And the Jitterbug? The name is obviously meant to play upon one’s sentimentality and emphasize the shape of the phone (ladybug-like), probably its least important feature. But I like the Breeze.
Actually, I like a lot of things about the Breeze. While my store does not carry this particular phone, I had the opportunity to play with a live demo version at the local AT&T store. This is probably a good opportunity to say “Thank-you” to the kind employees who not only answered my questions knowing that I worked for their competitior, but also kept smiling when I set off their theft alarms repeatedly in my attempts to get to know the phone.
The feature that I found most fascinating, and therefore, caused me to set off the alarm most often as I played with it, was the magnifying glass. That’s right–the MAGNIFYING GLASS.
How, you might be thinking, did they fit that in the phone? Actually, there’s not a physical magnifying glass as much as a program on the phone that acts as one, but it achieves the same results. Pantech takes advantage of the camera installed on the phone to play live feed of whatever it’s pointed at, only magnified. Therefore, if you were asked to read some tiny print like, let’s say, what might be on a cell phone contract for example, you could whip out your brand-new Pantech Breeze and use it to read the fine print. (“$18 upgrade fee? We didn’t discuss that!”)
Besides the magnifying glass, the Breeze comes with the standard features you’d require in a simple cell phone: the large buttons, large text, and hearing aid compatibility. It also has three pre-programmable speed-dial buttons labeled “1,” “2,” and “3.” Therefore, I would suggest you rank your children by favoritism, so it’s easy to remember who’s who. (Just kidding, we know you love them all equally, right?) It also has a loud speakerphone, Bluetooth capability, and the ability to text with T9.
On the downside, this phone does not have a charging cradle like the Knack or an operator like the Jitterbug. Reviewers on AT&T’s website complain that the first few numbers in the phone book are AT&T pre-programed and can’t be removed. Still, I think it’s a very worthy phone and would be a “Breeze” to pick up. Even better, this phone is great for a transition into using the internet on your phone. The browser is easy to reach and navigation is familiar to those used to using a computer to surf the internet. This is a multi-function phone in disguise.
All in all, a very capable little phone.
