Verizon Wireless Casio G’zOne Ravine Pro Reviews

It's hard not to like a phone that is equally comfortable hiking through a saltwater bog as it is working hard in a desert war zone. There are just enough customization options to keep your favorite features close at hand, and the rugged design has been refined to an attractive clamshell that feels more polished than durable, even though it's both.

The Ravine is phone to get if you need something you don't have to worry about dropping by accident. Also in a similar vein, the Casio Exilim C721 (Free, 4 stars) looks good and is waterproof, the Motorola Barrage ($129.99, 3 stars) sounds good but isn't quite as rugged, and the Casio G'zOne Brigade has a full keyboard, but costs more than the Ravine. Our previous Editors' Choice for Verizon feature phones was the LG EnV Touch ($99.99, 4 stars), a very different style of device. But the Touch, as a pseudo-smartphone, is becoming less relevant with the rise of low-cost smartphones; there's really nothing to replace the Ravine. Of course, we love smartphones, so don't discount the idea of putting a Motorola Droid X ($199.99, 4.5 stars) in a hard case. But for a straightforward rugged calling experience, the Casio G'zOne Ravine is unparalleled.

Overall, the Casio G’zOne Ravine is a nice upgrade to the Rock that came out last year. We are glad that it retains Military specs for durability, and its rugged design means that it should hold-up to almost anything you can through at it. But most importantly we’re glad that the PTT quality is quite good, since that is one of the Ravine’s primary functions, with loud and clear voices on both ends. If you need a good quality PTT device, the Casio Ravine is an excellent choice, but if you message a lot and require a QWERTY keyboard, then we’d still recommend the Casio Brigade.