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After visiting our local Verizon store and checking out their handset and smartphone offerings, I’m convinced that yesterday’s blog – concerning Tuesday’s announcement of Verizon’s open-network certification process – is more apropos than ever. What a sorry crop of phones.

Kelly and I spent the better part of an hour perusing the Verizon store – and to their credit, they never harassed (or even spoke to) us once – but unfortunately there wasn’t that much to see. We started out with the Blackberrys and Palm Treos, which were disappointing at best.

The Windows Mobile version of the Treo (unsurprisingly) wouldn’t even function, while the PalmOS version is a decided step down from the 2001-era Sony Clie that I pocket daily (and that’s still running like a champ). And for all the hype that Blackberry devices have received, they still have a pretty terrible interface. The icons are tiny and a perfect example of one of my strongest techie pet-peeves: mystery meat navigation. Despite trying several of the built-in fonts at various sizes, I was unable to find a display setting that didn’t cause eyestrain – and eventually I left the store with a headache.

While I have plenty of other complaints about the Blackberry and Treo devices, I’ll stop here in hopes of dodging the ire of their near-religious (and, apparently, entirely irrational) following. Perhaps their popularity is borne of the lack of anything better? Oh, wait, can’t make that claim either – or I might find myself confronted by an angry mob of iPhone aficionados.

On to the phones. After playing with the “smart” phones for a half-hour or so, Kelly and I moved on to the more traditional handsets, perched around the perimeter of the store. I’ve got to give Verizon credit for bringing back live demos – little irked me more about phone shopping in 2004-2006 than taking the time out of my day to visit the store, only to be confronted by a room full of dummy phones. But that’s about where the good vibes ended.

For the last 2 years (nearly to the day), I’ve carried a LG VX8300 phone. It’s not exactly sexy, slim or svelte, but it’s reliable, it works well, it has the features I like, and I can’t remember a single time when it’s crashed. The 8300 feels well-built and sturdy, and despite having an all-plastic shell, the materials have a quality feel to them. Not so with the current crop of phones from Verizon. Nearly every phone we picked up – no matter the manufacturer or the price – felt cheap and flimsy. Those that were working had slow, clumsy interfaces with poorly-placed pushbuttons. The mechanisms – whether they were slide-style, flip-style or rotators, felt as if they’d break after a few weeks of use. There was one lone exception – a beefed-up but consummately unattractive ruggedized model from Casio. In all, the selection motivated me to take even better care of my VX8300, since it doesn’t look like I’m going to be replacing it any time soon!

Verizon, let’s hope your new “any apps, any device” push brings in some new blood. While the smartphones we test-drove yesterday might appeal to corporate execs with no other option or gotta-have types seeking a status symbol at the price of usability, they won’t cut the mustard with customers who truly demand excellence. And while the handsets we gingerly tried out yesterday might appeal to teenagers (or preteens?!) whose quick-to-break hardware will just be instantly replaced by overprotective parents anyway, they’re not going to hold water with people who want (or need) a simple, reliable, attractive phone that doesn’t trade usability or dependability for a trendy opening mechanism.

At this rate, the Android handsets can’t arrive fast enough!