If you’re not into the whole iPhone craze, you might want to turn your sights to the HTC Wildfire S. This phone is nowhere near as snazzy as the iPhone, but it is a ridiculously inexpensive phone and it does offer some basic features that many will enjoy. As with any phone out there (yes, even the iPhone 4S), there are some drawbacks to the Wildfire S.

One of the main drawbacks is that this phone is rather small. This is fine if you don’t surf the net a lot of if you have small fingers. Otherwise, you might want to look for a full touchscreen phone that offers more finger movement. Size aside, there are plenty of things that you’ll find appealing and refreshing about the Wildfire S. Here’s why you may want to consider this phone over all the others in its price range.

First, the Price

As mentioned, the Wildfire S is inexpensive. How inexpensive? Well, how does the word “free” suit you? With a $100 mail-in rebate, this phone is entirely free. It’s hard to beat that free price tag, isn’t it? For a free phone then, the Wildfire S can’t really be beat. Then again, the iPhone 3 is also free at the moment, but it doesn’t come with the newest and best features, so the Wildfire S might actually beat out the iPhone 3 if you don’t consider screen size.

Specs

With the Wildfire S, you’ll get texting options, 3G support, Bluetooth, voice commands, speakerphone, and many other options. This phone also comes with a 3.2-inch touchscreen, which is on the small side, but is fine if you aren’t on the Internet all day long. You’ll also find a back-facing camera (no front camera) that functions decently. Sure, it’s no iPhone camera, but it is a good camera all the same.

If you want to listen to music, this phone does come with a headphone jack, and the sound coming from the Wildfire is decent (as you might expect from a standard smartphone). The touchscreen on this camera is responsive and bright, but, again, the keyboard is somewhat small due to the small screen size. If you have a hard time typing on an iPhone keyboard, this is not the phone for you. If you have no problem with a smaller keypad, this phone will work just fine.

Style and Feel

The Wildfire S might beat out the iPhone when it comes to the feel of the phone. This phone is wrapped in a rubber coating, which makes the phone sturdy and easy to grip (you don’t have to worry about dropping this one). If you want to purchase a phone for a teenager, this is certainly a phone that you might consider looking at.

The Wildfire S performs well, is stylish, and it doesn’t cost a fortune, so you won’t have to worry about your teen breaking it. Overall, the Wildfire S is a surprisingly good and solid phone choice. Again, it’s not the latest smartphone and the screen is on t