Back to School Phones for Kids & Parents

With school just around the corner, both kids and adults are looking for the latest and greatest in cell phones to keep in touch.

More Back-to-School storiesMany parents, Del Conte pointed out, are relying on texting to keep in touch, so each of her picks comes with a full keyboard to make communicating easier than ever. Editor's Note: All phone prices are with a two-year contract. Phones cost up to $300 more without contracts. Samsung Reclaim
Carrier: Sprint
Cost: $49.99
- Phone is made from recycled material and so is the box
- Phone charger is Energy Star approved
- Manual is printed with soy ink
- Uses Sprint's one-click interface to customize the phone
- 2 megapixel camera
- Full spacious QWERTY keyboard

BlackBerry Curve 8520
Carrier: T-Mobile
Cost: $129 at T-Mobile or $49 at Wal-Mart
- Entry-level BlackBerry, so not all the bells and whistles of the Tour or the Bold
- 2G phone, not a 3G phone so not the fastest BlackBerry around but T-Mobile has pretty reliable service
- Trackball navigator has been replaced with an optical track pad, which is easy to get used to and works well
- There is also a dedicated media control along the top
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
- Great call quality, even over speakerphone

Samsung Impression
Carrier: AT&T
Cost: $199
- Was a CNET's Editor's Choice for touch screen phones at this year's CTIA Wireless Conference
- Really sharp graphics, colors are brilliant, beautiful screen
- Haptic feedback
- 3 megapixel camera but no flash
- Full slide up keyboard
- A lot of multimedia features
- 3G

T-Mobile myTouch 3G
Carrier: T-Mobile
Cost: $199
- The second Google Android phone for T-Mobile, which means it is running Google's mobile operating system
- Thinner than the first model but has no slide-out keyboard
- Familiar Android marketplace but a new better design

LG enV Touch
Carrier: Verizon Wireless
Cost: $149
- Successor to the LG Voyager
- Full touch screen phone with flip open full QWERTY keyboard
- Customizable shortcut menu
- 3 inch display on inside and outside
- 3.2 megapixel camera and camcorder with autofocus, flash, and an image editor
- Music player, stereo Bluetooth, and EVDO Rev-A, which is one of the fastest 3G networks in the country