Live look at Samsung's new M540 Rant for Sprint

Samsung SPH-M540 Rant

Samsung SPH-M540 Rant

Samsung SPH-M540 Rant

Samsung's new SPH-M540 Rant is the company's latest QWERTY keyboard equipped feature phone for U.S. carrier Sprint. It's not light or small, but it has a large battery that can keep its users messaging for a fair amount of time. We had the chance to spend a few moments with it yesterday while meeting up with Samsung at the Fall 2008 CTIA Wireless show in San Francisco.

The first thing that we noticed about the Rant is that it is pretty heavy. 130g (4.6oz), to be exact. But it also feels pretty solidly constructed. The sliding mechanism for the QWERTY keyboard felt particularly well designed to us. The keyboard itself is quite large, and the 4 rows of keys are all nicely spaced out. It should work well for basic messaging tasks.

It seems likely that people who are impressed by LG's Rumor, also from Sprint, will probably like the Samsung Rant as well - especially since it has that 4th row of keys on its keyboard that allows the space bar and other key buttons to be placed in their proper positions.

Sprint will be offering red and black versions of the Rant, while Best Buy will have an exclusive on a purple version. The Rant will be available in October for US$49.99 with a 2 year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate.

Samsung SPH-M540 Rant

Samsung SPH-M540 Rant

Samsung SPH-M540 Rant

Samsung SPH-M540 Rant

Samsung SPH-M540 Rant