Verizon Wireless announced the release and imminent availability (in stores and online this Thursday, October 13th) of the first 4G LTE QWERTY slider for the US market from Samsung, It’s going by the name of  Stratosphere.

For $149.99 (after $50 mail-in rebate), or half the price of a Droid BIONIC, the current flagship LTE model, you get:

• Galaxy S – class device
• 4G LTE radio: 5-12Mb/s advertised downstream, 2-5 Mb/s advertised upstream
• 1GHz single core Hummingbird proc
• 4GB onboard storage, 4GB microSD card preinstalled, 32GB max microSD capacity
• 4″ 800×480 WVGA Super AMOLED display
• 5-row QWERTY physical keyboard
• 5MP rear shooter, 1.3MP FFC
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread

While this device is being positioned as a mid-level option, at this point in time, keeping in mind all the currently available and very-nearly available alternatives, is the compromise of all this yesterday’s tech worth saving $100-$150? It really all comes down to how badly one wants a physical keyboard. We all know people who absolutely just have to have them, and certainly for those people, there aren’t (m)any LTE choices, either now or on the near horizon. (Droid4?)

Source: Verizon Wireless, DroidLife

Share This Article....

About the Author

Gene Chang

Gene has always been a gadgethead, whether it was cars (since 1980ish), computers (1985), motorcycles (1988), cell phones (1992), laptop computers (1993), or any number of random electronic devices that held his borderline ADHD short attention span at the moment. However, it wasn't until late 2009 that the terminal case of Android fever was contracted from his inauspicious Droid 1. These days, this closet English major just wants to evangelize the Church of Andy and spread the green love. Wait, what? That came out wrong.

More articles by Gene Chang+ »