Connectivity

The Tour allows users to connect to a PC and sync music and files, store items on a built-in memory card, and use Bluetooth accessories.

Bluetooth options section on the phone allows users to customize their Bluetooth service. Options include connecting to a Bluetooth device as soon as the phone powers up, selecting a security level, transferring contact, allowing outgoing calls and turning an LED indicator on or off.

The handset can be used with a headset or handsfree Bluetooth device, and allows for data transfer via Bluetooth, connecting a computer to the phone via Bluetooth, selecting an audio source remotely, remote control of audio and video function, the ability to remotely dial contacts and allows users to listen to music on a headset.

The Tour is as connected as most smartphones, with PC sync and Bluetooth options to spare.

Conclusion

The Tour boasts high-speed Internet service across the continents, a lightweight and compact design with grooved keys that allow for nearly mistake-free typing, and the ability to instantly review messages sent to up to 10 personal and/or work email accounts.

Email users can also read a variety of document and photo file attachments and edit Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents right on the phone.

The Tour can easily double as a personal music player, too. Users can organize playlists, shuffle songs and find tunes by artist, title or genre, listen to songs on the phone's headset or a Bluetooth headset, and play tracks in booming, clear audio from the phone's side speaker.

VCAST with Rhapsody music offers a variety of downloads, but anyone looking to save money can take advantage of the Tour's ability to connect to a PC and upload the computer's music library. And luckily even the larger libraries fit well on the Tour, given it has lots of free memory out of the box plus a built-in microSD card -- something that would otherwise have to be purchased and would likely connect to the outside of a phone. On the Tour, the card goes next to the battery behind the back plate.

Still, there's room for improvement. A speaker on the other side of the phone to create a dual-stereo sound effect would best compliment that side speaker. The design is ideal for people looking to get a big, high-resolution screen without adding length to the frame, but a little height might allow the phone to become thinner.

The 3.2-megapixel camera may foster high hopes for great pictures because it's top-of-the-line, and it does usually deliver vibrant shots. But it takes dark, pixilated video that does not record audio well, and there are few post-shot editing features and the ones that exist are sometimes confusing to use.

Also confusing is the Internet browser, which takes some sleuthing to even find, since it does not appear in an icon on the main menu or expanded menu.

Multimedia and text messaging and email are solid on the Tour, but the phone would benefit from offering more instant messenger choices, especially since the BlackBerry Messenger is so phone-specific.

The Verizon version of the phone also doesn't take advantage of the top-notch screen because VCAST Video's news and sports clips don't offer as much variety as Sprint TV, which has shows and movies.

The screen also goes dark a bit too fast for people that get distracted easily.

The Tour is a great phone for playing music, staying in touch and watching video. Unfortunately, the video options are few, the Web browser can be hard to find, and the camcorder doesn't have the quality it should for the strength it should have.

It's best-suited for someone looking to send, receive and edit a lot of documents, store plenty of files, listen to music on the go and take advantage of high-speed, readily-available Internet service. People that travel to areas that rely on Wi-Fi more than 3G connection or want more video options may want to skip the Tour.

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