That familiar chirp is back! And it's certainly been long enough. Nextel phones are known for their durability, incredibly loud speakers, and speedy, chirping push-to-talk buttons. We're happy to say that the first "new Nextel" phones from Sprint, the Sanyo PRO 200 and PRO 700, carry on that tradition. In fact, the PRO 200 wins our Editors' Choice for the top voice phone for Sprint.

It's been a long time since we've reviewed a Nextel—uh, we mean Sprint push-to-talk—phone, with good reason. After the Sprint and Nextel merger, Nextel's iDEN network became the unloved stepchild of the new Sprint, left wheezing on life support with only a trickle of new phones. Sprint had to keep iDEN alive, since it was the only push-to-talk system that really worked. While other carriers (including Sprint itself) offer push-to-talk, it's more push-to-wait, without the instantaneous connections we've come to expect from Nextel. Meanwhile, Sprint started working on a new Nextel-quality push-to-talk environment that would run on its EV-DO Rev A high-speed network. The company found it in QChat, provided by Qualcomm. At the CTIA trade show this spring, Sprint announced six QChat phones. The Sanyo PRO 200 and PRO 700 are the first to come to market.

First things first. Yes, these phones feel and work like Nextel phones. When you push the ridged push-to-talk button on the side of the PRO 200, with the phone either open or closed, you can pick a Direct Connect number from your contacts (in either the traditional Nextel or standard phone-number format) and—be-dee-bip!—you're connected. The first connection after a reboot seems to take 2 to 3 seconds, while subsequent connections take only a fraction of that.

QChat push-to-talk works wherever Sprint has EV-DO Rev A coverage. That isn't Sprint's entire network, but it's most major cities. Outside that network, it's an ordinary Sprint phone without the push-to-talk capability. Nextel network coverage is irrelevant, though the QChat phones can Direct Connect to Nextel phones without a problem.

The PRO 200 is no-nonsense, no-guff, no-extra-stuff—exactly what we want in a Sprint voice phone. A silver-and-black flip model, the phone is reasonably sized at 4 by 1.7 by 0.7 (HWD) inches and 3.4 ounces, with a very clear, high-contrast, black-and-white display on the front that shows time and caller ID information in a big, easily readable font.

Flip it open and you get a tight but very sharp 320-by-240-pixel screen and a keypad of smallish but well-separated keys. They're easier to press than the PRO 700's, which are even smaller. The phone has a standard 2.5mm headset jack and supports Bluetooth headsets.

On a phone like this, voice is everything. And the PRO 200's speakerphone is a powerful audio weapon—it might be loud enough to wake the dead. This is a joyous thing. Better yet, it works with the flip open or closed. The earpiece is also loud, and slightly louder than the PRO 700's, though it had a bit of a volume wobble, as did the speakerphone. The microphone and speakerphone transmit some background noise, but it's not really an issue.

Ringtones are either piercing chimes or low-quality, for-pay music tones. The vibrate alert is quite powerful. Voice dialing, unfortunately, is the old-school trained-voice-tag type. Reception was great, and battery life was downright excellent at 6 hours 15 minutes of talk time.

You also get messaging and Web browsing capabilities here, but no multimedia, camera, or video, and while you get a few demo games, Java gaming support is pretty weak; the phone failed several of our Java benchmark tests. The built-in Access NetFront Web browser handles basic pages, or you can install the superior Opera Mini. Sprint's e-mail program from Seven Networks handles AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, POP, or IMAP mail in an attractive tabbed interface. Instant messaging, as with most inexpensive Sprint phones, is a weak point—you have to pay $2.99 a month for a skimpy AIM client.

The PRO 200 also runs Sprint's TeleNav-powered GPS navigation software, which locked on to our position quickly and delivered directions with loud voice prompts. The screen is rather small for viewing maps on, though.

There's also an EV-DO Rev A modem hiding in here, which you can use with Sprint's free SmartView software and a standard micro USB cable (not included) to connect a PC or Mac to the Internet. I got rather slow EV-DO speeds, only around 400 Kbps down, but it will work in a pinch.

That really doesn't matter so much, anyway. The Sanyo PRO 200 is an easy-to-use, no-nonsense voice phone that focuses on talking and delivers excellent call quality and battery life. The PRO 700 is more rugged, but the 200 looks more like your typical flip-style handset. It's our Editors' Choice for a voice-centric phone on Sprint. The handset is currently available in only a few cities, but Sprint plans to roll it out nationwide by the end of 2008.

Benchmark Test Results
Continuous talk time: 6 hours 15 minutes

Compare the Sanyo PRO 200 with several other mobile phones side by side.