The affordable, QWERTY-toting Kyocera Contact

As Virgin Mobile's version of the Kyocera Verve, the Contact is a feature handset equipped with a four-row slide-out keyboard, a basic Web browser, and a handful of software tools. It is currently available without a contract for $39.99.

The device has a 2.4-inch QVGA display with a 320x240-pixel resolution. Below the screen are an alphanumeric keypad, complete with its own set of two soft keys, and a silver rectangular navigation control with a menu/OK button in the middle.

Powering the handset is a 1,100mAh battery. It has a reported talk time of 6 hours, which is about how long the Sprint variant took to fully drain.

The phone is ultra-pocketable, measuring 4.53 inches tall, 2.13 inches wide, and 0.59 inch thick. With its compact frame and reasonable weight of 4.7 ounces, it's very comfortable to hold as well.

The main draw of the Contact is its sliding four-row keyboard underneath, which includes four direction buttons for navigation, plus a function key for secondary entry input.

The keyboard's buttons lie flat against the surface of the phone, making it a little difficult to feel for specific buttons on touch alone. In addition, even though the spacebar is wider than the other keys, you'll need to press it at a specific spot (someplace in the middle) to get it to register.

The decent 2-megapixel camera doesn't have a flash and cannot record video. However it has a few tools like five picture modes (such as night/dark and mirror image), a 12x digital zoom, and a self-timer.

A few other goodies include the ability to transfer media files through a USB connection, Bluetooth 2.1, Spanish language mode, and airplane mode.

Read CNET's full review of the Kyocera Contact.