Cell phones may not seem like backcountry gear at first blush, but the reality is that we all carry them for both convenience and safety when in out in the sticks. Heck, you can even get cell signal on the summit of Denali if the wind is right. If you're going to carry, the Samsung Reclaim with Sprint service is worth a look for it's green credentials.
Green is more than skin deep for the pack-of-cards-sized Reclaim. It starts with the packaging, including a fact sheet made from a piece of paper you can plant to grow wildflowers. OK, maybe that's skin deep, but the fact that Sprint is ranked #20 on the EPA's Green Power Partnership Fortune 500 list is significant, and so is $2 of every purchase going to the Nature Conservancy's Adopt an Acre program. The phone itself is made from 40% corn-based bio-plastic free of the more noxious chemicals. The 2.6 inch 320×240 screen is bright and sharp, displaying mostly helpful green tips like, "unplug your charger when not in use." Don't worry, you can turn off the guilt once you've internalized it.
The phone is well-equipped as a smartphone, with a fairly intuitive interface, EVDO high-speed data connectivity, streaming media, decent 2MP camera/camcorder, Sprint Mobile Email and the now-usual array of GPS and digital music functionality with standard headphone jack, which is to say more features than you can shake a stick at. Some of this stuff asks you to register, which dissuaded us from using it. There are also plenty of opportunities to integrate it with social networking features like MySpace and Facebook if you're so inclined. There's even a postage-paid mailer to recycle your old phone. They save a bit of paper by only including a quick-start guide, and you can download the full manual.
95% of our use is as a phone, and voice quality was good to great. If you're big on texting the keyboard is just OK; it could use more tactile separation between keys. The included charger uses a micro USB connector – not a mini – and you'll need to buy a cable of that type if you don't already own one to connect to a computer. A 512MB Micro SD card is included, along with a normal SD card adapter (nice!). All in all it's a pretty good deal, and encouraging to see a green-focused phone that treats the environment a lot better than most electronic gadgets.