Boost's Motorola i465 Clutch getting redone in graphite, available next Tuesday

If you're feeling the need to text your face off on Boost Mobile but the original i465 Clutch's maroon shade wasn't your cup of tea, fret not -- there's a new shade in town. "Graphite," which is really just a fancy way of saying "black," is going to end up being the second color option for Motorola's first QWERTY iDEN set when it launches next Tuesday for $129.99. Sounds expensive, but when you consider that Boost is commitment-free, it's not that bad.

[Demo22 Posted Jul 23rd 2009 7:34PM]

Besides being fugly, this phone works pretty well from the time I've spent with it. The keys aren't the most comfortable (see LG Lotus for a comfortable to use keyboard in a smallish space) but they do the job and it's nice to have the keyboard for the unlimited texting you get with the 50 dollar plan.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 25th 2009 10:12PM]

This phone is garbage I picked it up at best buy for the advertised 129.99 at the beginning of the week and by the end of the week it was traded in for an iphone 3gs. I was looking for a new phone and wanted a plan with unlimited data so it seemed like a good deal. Well I should have investigated the phone and Boosts network before I wasted money I didnt care about being in a contract or not. So the first time I turned it on it reminded me of my first color phone resolution was horrible and the settings and menu structure was a joke. To get a decent web interface I had to bastardize Opera mini V3 it cant even run the newer version cause the phone is garbage. The pyramid qwerty key board is nice if you are a woodland ferry but if you have normal size hands then its a jumble of mishit keys and no predictive text because the phones 1mhz processor cant handle that. The camera is a VGA camera is junk and Ive seen better quality out of a civil war camera. Stats of the phone says it has the ability to do POP3 well not on Boosts network, and speaking of that there network speed is a joke and with simple mobile pages (just test no pictures) it takes at least 15 seconds to pull up. Gps receiver was slow and if you combine that with a Navigation Software makes for a disappointing experience of missed turns and frequent cussing probably why they made the phone ruggedized so it would stand up to people throwing it because of crappy interface. Unacceptable internet service, unacceptable phone.
The good things about the phone are, its ruggedized and mil-spec, speakerphone quality is awesome, boost unlimited everything plan for $50 a month.

Final thoughts- glad I returned it and bought an Iphone 3GS yeah I am locked down to a two year contract but for $60 extra I have an awesome phone that has a quick network and decent GPS and great user interface. Boost has a lot of work to do before they catch up to the big boys but I quess when you piggy back on sprints network you have to follow their rules. But sprint offers this phone too for 39.99 w/two year contract, I didnt last a week with this phone I couldnt even imagine trying to last two years thats painful and a weird sort of torture.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 27th 2009 2:34PM]

@ Robert:

This phone isn't an iPhone... it isn't a Blackberry... it isn't a Smartphone... and it's not trying to be. It's a basic QWERTY messaging phone on a prepaid network. The broad appeal is by far the $50 unlimited plan along with a QWERTY keyboard. It's not geared towards enterprise email users and it's not marketed as media player or MID. It's meant to make calls, send texts, PTT, and do very basic web tasks... and in that order of importance. You can't expect it to be an iPhone, Blackberry, or WinMo phone with 3G data for $130 unsubsidized and $50/month unlimited.

All that my wife and I have moved to the i465 from a Blackjack II and Blackberry Curve, respectively, and given the cost of the devices and cost of the service, we have been pleased. It's a basic phone and screen resolution is probably its biggest drawback (especially for data-centric apps), but so far there are no tasks we can't replicate. I've loaded several Java apps through an online OTA JAR/JAD loader... gmail 1.5, opera 3, and LifeInPocket have expanded this phone's functionality in spades. It's still not a Smartphone and won't replace one for hardcore enterprise users, but for basic tasks it does the job and the cost service makes it well worth We've replaced a $190/month family plan (2100min + 2 data plans + unlimited text) with two $50/month accounts.

So far the only thing I miss enough to complain about is 3G data tethering, but a seperate $40 3G capable phone on a TMobile prepaid plan along with their $1/day Sidekick data plan (enable the days you use it, disable when you're done) should take care of that need on the cheap for the days I'm traveling on business.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 18th 2009 5:14AM]

I've found the reviews helpful and decided to buy one but can anyone tell me how I can get those Java apps that were mentioned?