The iPhone has sold 17 million phones since its debut in 2007.  Smart phones make up 28% of all cell phone purchases.  But there are still a good chunk of people out there who don’t want to mix their phone calls and their data.  I’m one of these people.  Call me old-fashioned or behind the times — I don’t care.  Data plans are still hella expensive and I just can’t stomach a phone bill over $100.

That, however, doesn’t mean that I want to be totally sans email on the go.  When I’m running around during the nine to five, playing connect the dots on the NYC grid, having access to email (and text messaging) is sometimes a necessity.

I first noticed the Peek when my friend Nichelle pulled hers out one night during dinner.  Since I, like most people, love fiddling with any new gadget that comes my way, I picked it up and started poking around on it.  And I immediately took a liking to it.

The Peek is pretty ingenious in its simplicity.  The idea being to focus on one capability and perfect it, while ditching the bells and whistles to seamlessly deliver a product quickly and easily.  No more, no less.

Who Does this Work for?

Tech fiends probably won’t like this device due to the fact that email and texting are the only things that it does.  There’s no fancy menu screen.  It doesn’t support apps (sans the recent development of Peek Maps and its partnership with the addicting FourSquare game) and won’t allow you to surf the internet.  But, it delivers your emails via a simple interface, and far more importantly — it delivers it way cheaper than the phone companies.   If you have a smart phone, pay $30 or over for a data plan and don’t surf the web often, you’ll likely love this device.

What Does it Cost?

There are two versions of the Peek.  The latest came out this year and retails at $59.95.  The first version, the Peek Classic, rings up at a mere $19.95; however, it does not support text messaging — only email.  Monthly plans including email (up to 5 accounts) and unlimited text messaging capabilities will run you $15 a month.  That is still $15 less per month than Sprint, who boasts the cheapest data plan for a major carrier.  Plus, there’s no contract.  It’s all on a month to month basis.

I recently switched over, after ditching my PDA for a run of the mill Samsung phone, and coupled with the Peek plan I’m paying $70 each month (including taxes from my T-mobile bill).  Compared to my previous plan which included phone and data, and totaled close to $100 a month, I’m saving $350 a year now — just on my phone plan.  That may not seem like a ton of money annually, but just imagine if you cut out $20 – $30 a month on all of your utilities.  You’d have a decent little emergency fund without having to do much of anything.

The Nitty Gritty

The Peek Classic ($20)

• Email refreshed every 2-5 minutes
• Supports up to 2 email accounts
• Allows you to open picture files

The Peek Pronto ($60)

• Email is downloaded instantly
• Supports up to 5 email accounts
• Unlimited text messaging
• Search capabilities on device
• Allows you to open pictures, PDF and DOC files

The Bottom Line

The Peek is a super simple device that does one thing really well.  If you’re looking to cut corners each month and you’re currently paying in the $100 range for a smart phone with a data plan, you can save some serious coin by switching to a regular phone plan and employing the Peek as your go-to email device.

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