We’ll admit we weren’t entirely convinced when we first saw shots of the Motorola DEVOUR, but having played with the Android handset this week at MWC 2010 the extruded-aluminum chassis has won us over. What looks blocky and awkward in photos turns out to have a truly premium feel in the hand, and the DEVOUR’s sliding keyboard mechanism is solid and reassuring.
The unit we were looking at was functional, but hadn’t been set up on Verizon’s CDMA network yet; that meant we couldn’t get to the Android homescreen (since there’s no CDMA coverage in Barcelona). Still, we’re expecting performance to be pretty much on a par with Motorola’s other recent MOTOBLUR devices. As for the keyboard, the hard keys are slightly domed and pretty easy to hit, and concerns that the overall shape would leave it tricky to comfortably type on seem to have been unfounded.
According to the latest rumors, Best Buy are planning to begin selling the DEVOUR from $149.99 with a two-year agreement, or $549.99 contract-free. Last we heard the Android smartphone would hit shelves on February 25th.
