It looks like Boost Mobile subscribers won’t be the only ones enjoying this homely entry-level messaging handset. We first saw the Motorola Clutch i465 get official late last month on Boost, becoming the Sprint-owned carrier’s first QWERTY handset. Sprint already has a viable QWERTY option in its Nextel line of course with the BlackBerry 8350i, but two is never a crowd — especially when one is dirt cheap. Yep, the most appealing i465 feature beyond the keypad will likely be an extremely low price point of $39.99 out the door after rebates. That price will get you threaded SMS and MMS, POP3 email support, Bluetooth, a VGA camera, Direct Connect and not much else. As for when you can get your mitts on one, “Summer” is all we’ve got for the time being.

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Ok, so it’s probably not the most exciting phone you’ll see here on BGR today but Boost Mobile users may be happy to learn they finally have a QWERTY option. The uniquely styled Motorola i465 Clutch is now available to the masses and the price point is more than fair — $129.99 out the door. As far as specs go; Push to Talk / Walkie Talkie, threaded SMS and MMS, POP3 email support, Bluetooth and a VGA camera are the highlights. Oh, and did we mention the QWERTY keypad? It’s easy to dismiss this little ugly duckling of a handset but if you’re a Boost customer who has been waiting for a real messaging option, the Clutch is going to be… Umm… Pretty clutch.

[Via Phone Arena]

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It won’t be winning any beauty pageants any time soon but Boost Mobile users waiting for a relatively rugged QWERTY handset will soon have a new option in the Motorola Clutch i465. Sprint and Boost obviously recognize that messaging is a bit of a hot topic these days and as such, we can expect the carrier to start rolling out a few QWERTY handsets to ensure its text-hungry customers are covered. First up, for better or worse, is the Clutch. It’s styling is certainly polarizing but love it or hate it, Moto managed to pack in a fairly decent feature set (relatively speaking). Highlights include Push to Talk of course, threaded SMS and MMS, POP3 email support, Bluetooth and a VGA camera. No, it’s not going to knock your socks off but relative to the rest of Boost’s lineup, this new Moto is an ok option if it’s released at a decent price point. The Clutch i465 will be available in Q2 of this year.

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Motorola’s upcoming i465, its first full-QWERTY iDEN phone, is one of those “special” phones that manages to get uglier each and every time that we see it — even in sexed up press shots. But ugly or not, the FCC has given its blessings after the handset successfully satisfied all federal telecommunications requirements. For those interested and intrigued by this device, a user manual was included alongside quite a few photographs. Given that these are the first really detailed shots of the i465, we were quite shocked when we saw its battery cover which looks a bit too much like a piece of plastic that was poorly cut by a drunk person with a circular saw. In fairness however, the battery cover does look rather grip-tastic, something that the iDEN folk tend to like. The only other note — in an image below we can finally see the surface of the keypad buttons and it doesn’t look quite as horrible and pointy as it does from the front. Anyway, hit the jump for more shots (if you can stomach it).

[Via Phone Arena]

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