If you can't appreciate the low-end with the elite, you'll probably find it impossible to respect Samsung's latest duo. The "classic" E1110 keeps it real simple with a 1.3-inch 128 x 128 resolution display, GSM 900 / 1,800 support, a 500 number contact book, MP3 ringtone compatibility, Bluetooth, 1.5MB of internal memory, USB 2.0 and a battery good for 8-hours of talk time (or 20 days in standby). Up next is the E2510 clamshell, which actually doesn't look too drab for a basic cellie. Features wise, it's rockin' a 1.9-inch 160 x 128 internal display, quad-band GSM support, Bluetooth / USB 2.0, 15MB of memory, a microSD card slot, FM tuner and talk time of 7-hours. There's no mention of price or global availability, so we'll just toss you a "good luck" on your hunt to find your next backup.

Samsung's SGH-T109 waltzed on through the FCC's database in mid-summer, and now it's available on T-Mobile for those looking for the bare necessities. Selling for the low, low price of $0.00 on contract, this green / black clamshell arrives with no camera, no Bluetooth and no real fun to speak of. It's a step or two above the Jitterbug, but don't buy this one expecting to show it off. Oh, and it makes / receives calls, so that's a plus.

[Via CellphoneSignal]

They may not turn any heads, but UTStarcom's new low-end fleet led the company's somewhat quiet presence at CTIA last week. The CDM7026 and CDM7076 flips are nearly dead ringers for one another, though the 7076 ups the ante with a black and white external display, TFT primary display (as opposed to the 7026's CSTN), and a VGA cam; features common to both models include 8MB of RAM, 32MB of Flash, MP3 ringtones, and a 3.7 x 1.9 x 0.7-inch outline. Next up, the presently-unnamed "Ultra-Thin, Bar-Style Camera Phone" here comes equipped with Virgin Mobile branding, suggesting it'll follow up the Slice. At just over 10 millimeters thick, the candybar is reasonably well-equipped with 64MB of onboard storage, Bluetooth, speakerphone, voice dialing, and a VGA cam. No word on a release (or what carriers will get the flips, for that matter), but we reckon Virgin and UTStarcom have to look into naming this one before they can be thinking about dropping it.

We know that the cellphone makin' game can be rough, Sony Ericsson; we really do. Sometimes you've just gotta take a load off. Heck, your fellow European in the Big Five, Nokia, washed its hands of much of its CDMA responsibilities through a deal with Korea's Pantech, so we can totally understand wanting to offload your low-end R&D and manufacturing duties to SAFRAN Group's Sagem. Of course, Sagem is a little closer to home -- France, to be exact -- than those Korean folks, so you should have a pretty easy go of it keeping your rebranded stuff in check. In fact, you're so uptight about it that you've decided to open a new office right in Sagem's hometown of Cergy, France, dedicated to the low-end segment. We look forward to seeing what y'all come up with -- let's just try to make them a little more believable than the "Nokia" 6315i, mkay?

Once in a great while, it's refreshing to take a step back from the madness of modern phone tech and take a look at the simpler side of mobility -- a segment of the industry where the ability to reliably place and receive calls is the priority, not which mobile TV standard or memory expansion format such-and-such device is supporting. Such is the Samsung C140: a candybar with no camera, no QVGA display (128 x 128 suffices here), and no "world's firsts," just a GSM 900 / 1800 radio with 700KB of memory, MMS, a WAP browser, Java support, and an unwavering desire to be sold contract-free for peanuts. Looks like it's already available in some parts of the world for under €50 (about $65) unsubsidized, which squarely pits this thing against the MOTOFONE. Small color display or e-ink? Decisions, decisions...

[Via Unwired View, thanks Staska]

Never mind the MOTOFONE -- this is how you do simplicity in style. "Eclipse," a concept for an ultra-basic handset shown on Product Design Forums, would stand 9 centimeters tall when open and collapse down to an eminently pocketable 5.5 centimeters. Besides SMS support and a phone book, the trick display -- which relies on a pair of side buttons to triggers its pop-up action -- is the only "feature" to speak of. Package these suckers for prepaid accounts at $10 a pop (aw, what the heck... $15, even) and we think they've got some takers.

[Via textually.org]

Nokia seems to be on its own campaign trail, releasing a few new phones each time it makes a stop in a new country. Not too long after taking the wraps off four new handsets over in Amsterdam, the firm is unveiling two new low-end handsets that are getting ready to hit the international front. At the 3G World Congress in Hong Kong, Nokia announced the forthcoming availability of two new candybar-styled CDMA mobiles, stripped down and ready to rock. The 2.5-ounce 1325 features a 64k color screen, wallpaper / ringtone customization, speakerphone, 90-second voice recorder, 3.5 hours of talk time, and up to 6.5 days of standby time. The 1265 goes way back, by offering up a monochrome screen, 60-second voice recorder, predictive text software, speakerphone, alarm clock, and the same battery life on both fronts as the slightly more luxurious 1325. Both of this units are slated to hit "select markets" within China, Asia-Pacific, Middle-East Africa and Latin America during "Q1 2007," but the presumably low prices still remain a mystery.

[Via I4U]

In a move that has to have the MOTOFONE's product manager grinning from ear to ear, it seems Samsung has decided that the fight for India's low- and ultra-low-end market isn't worth fighting anymore. If Telecom Korea's unnamed sources are to be trusted, the increasing introduction of smartphones to the country (combined with ever-increasing demand for them) is apparently pushing prices on basic handsets down to the point where the Korean company is ready to take its ball and go home. Don't worry, though, India; Samsung's not leaving you -- not by a long shot. Besides the recent introduction of the SGH-P310 credit card phone there, the company apparently intends to continue launching "color and camera phones" to satisfy Indians' rising demand for upscale products.

[Via Mobile Magazine]

It took a good while, but Nokia's bottom-of-the-barrel 6030 candybar has finally found its way onto T-Mobile. We don't have much to say about the simple handset; T-Mobile's offering it on contract for a big, round goose egg, but by modern standards, we almost feel like "free" is too much to pay for a phone whose banner feature is its speakerphone. Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to go back to staring in awe at the N95's spec sheet.

[Thanks, Steve T.]

Handset announcements from the floor of this fall's CTIA have come surprisingly few and far between, but Kyocera took the opportunity to show off two new entry-level handsets targeted primarily at international CDMA markets. The K132 clamshell is the "premium" device of the two -- and we use that term very loosely here -- featuring a color display, speakerphone, support for the 800 and 1900MHz bands, and a "soft touch" finish. The bare bones K122 strips away virtually every nonessential feature, leaving a basic, single-band candybar with a grayscale display. In this whole emerging markets game, we'd take a MOTOFONE any day over the K122, though we suspect the latter will find its way into consumer's hands sooner; expect both the K122 and its K132 sibling to drop before winter sets in.

We've finally reached a stage where we're comfortable throwing the term "low-end" at a phone with Bluetooth -- and as such, we give you LG's AX355 for Alltel. The modest flip lacks EV-DO, but offers a speakerphone, 1.3-megapixel camera, and a black & white external display for $69.99 on a 2-year contract. Joining the AX355 is the AX390, another LG handset that also lacks EV-DO. The 390 drops the camera but shaves 10 bucks off the out-the-door price, coming in at $59.99 with contract. Both phones support Alltel's "Touch2Talk" PTT service and are available immediately.

[Via phoneArena and Mobilewhack]

Moto sure is giving its iDEN-only product line a healthy sendoff before CDMA hybrid handsets start to drop later this year. Besides the upcoming high-end i880 and the virtually indestructible (we'll eat those words, we're sure) i580, Nextel looks to shore up their low end by adding the i670, a basic clamshell whose main selling point appears to be its "color display." Of course, no-frills is a big selling point among some Nextel clientele, so the phone should find its niche. Other features include Direct Talk (off-network walkie talkie) support, speakerphone, and a reasonable $49.99 price tag on two-year contract.

[Via phoneArena]

There are definitely LGs we'd rather see appear in Cingular's shipping lineup, but hey, the quad-band CG225 is free on contract after online rebate, has a VGA camera, dual color displays, and a speakerphone. The stub antenna is unfortunate, but all told the little clamshell doesn't look half bad -- and it's hard to complain about the price. Cheap backup phone, anyone?

[Via MobileTracker]

Update: Several readers have pointed out that the CG225's external display is not actually color, but rather black and white with a deceptive colored background. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]