The Cricket TXTM8 3G is an average phone with normal messaging capabilities and a number of nice features. Whatever it is, it is surely worth enough the price paid for it. The good facets of the Cricket TXTM8 3G include a thin and light design, a functional QWERTY keyboard, a music player, mobile e-mail, a 2.0 megapixel camera and EV-DO on availability. However, the poor aspects of the phone include that it has a cheap feeling when taken in the hand. Other than that its navigation is quite slow and lazy, it does not come with integrated mobile e-mail applications and they have to be downloaded in it.

Design

The design of the TXTM8 3G is not similar to the square shaped design of the original model, in fact it has a candy bar design which makes it look slender and simple. It also consists of straight flat lines on both of its sides and minor arcs at its top and the bottom. It is covered in silver and black and consists of streaks of copper on the front side. Its measures include a length of 4.5 inches, a width of 2.36 inches, a thickness of 0.55 inches and a weight of 3.58 ounces.

The display of the phone is 2.2 inches and it provides a support to 262,000 colors along with a QVGA resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. The appearance of the screen is vibrant and colorful consisting of bold and explicit graphics. The left side of the Home screen consists of a number of options for Cricket’s MyHomeScreen display. Below the display is the directional series which has two lax keys, a Back key, a speakerphone key, a Send and End/Power key, a circular navigation toggle and the Select key in the center.

Underneath that is the QWERTY keyboard which highlights the number keys in copper and orange. Although the keyboard is a small one comparatively, it is raised from its surface that makes it easier to type. The left side of the phone has a volume rocker and a Micro-USB charging port and the right side of the phone has the headset jack and the camera button whereas the lens of the camera and the external speaker are situated on the back of the phone.

Features and Performance

The phone features a number of options including a speakerphone, a tip calculator, a calculator, an alarm clock, an organizer, a world clock, a memo pad, a countdown timer, a stopwatch and a unit converter. The phonebook of the TXTM 3G has room for 100 entries where you can store five numbers for each contact along with their e-mail address, their birth date and a memo. You can also pair your contacts into caller groups; assign an image and ringtone to them. Amongst its advanced features are the voice commands stereo Bluetooth, a Polaris empowered Web browser and GPS with the Cricket Navigator support. For messaging purpose the phone has both SMS and MMS facilities along with the mobile e-mail.

On testing the Cricket TXTM8 3G, the Cricket Wireless roaming network showed a result of an average call quality with a clear and loud incoming call and just a little disturbance in the background. The rated battery life of the phone is 5 hours talk time and 13.75 days standby time. The phone has a digital SAR of 1.13 watts per kilogram according to the FCC.