The pace of new phones coming to the market is relentless.
To
keep up, sometimes carriers and manufacturers let a few duds
slip through.
In this episode, we're counting down the Top 5 phones to avoid,
selected by CNET Senior Editor Jessica Dolcourt.
Phones so
bad, they make the Microsoft Kin seem like a good idea.
Starting off at #5, the Sony Xperia Ion on AT&T.
Sony isn't
known for making inexpensive products, so the $99 price tag is a
hint that all is not as it seems.
The OS is stale, the processor
limps along, and somehow Sony found a way to make a 12
megapixel camera take bland photos.
Next up at #4, the Samsung Brightside, as in "Look on the bright
side, at least this phone was cheap." Verizon should actually be
paying you to take this monster off their hands.
The interface
looks like it was designed on a Commodore 64.
Feature phones
like this are a dying breed, and that's something to be thankful
for.
At #3, the Pantech Swift on AT&T.
This $69 messaging phone is
the perfect gift for a teenager, if you hate them.
It's heavy, it
doesn't even run Android, and the camera on the back doesn't
have a flash.
I mean, it�s not like teeneagers are known for taking
pictures with their phone ...all the time.
Also, charging $8 for a
game of Tetris.
That is criminal.
Coming in at #2, the Pantech Hotshot on Verizon.
[*pew-pew*]
The combination of slow processor and a cheap touch screen
make typing and navigation so bad, you kinda have to laugh.
Unless you bought one, in which case you're probably enrolling
in anger management classes.
Now before we get to the worst phone of the bunch, let�s
remind ourselves what good phones look like.
Here's CNET's
current list of the best 5 phones for the Summer of 2012.
You
can always check out phones.cnet.com for the latest
recommendations and reviews.
A two-year contract is a long
time to suffer with a bad phone, so let us help.
Finally, our #1 phone to avoid in 2012 is: the ZTE Score M on
Metro PCS.
The name is so full of win!
Unfortunately, the phone
is not.
It's full of bloatware, trapped under a really bad screen.
The call quality was so bad, it actually hurt.
There you go, now you know what phones to avoid.
A special
thanks to Jessica Dolcourt for putting this list together.
For more
Top 5's like this, including our Top 5 Android Smartphones and
Top 5 smartphones under $50, head over to Top5.cnet.com.
I'm Donald Bell, thanks for watching.
