As of December of 2010, Casio makes two G'zone cell phones -- the Ravine and the Brigade. Both feature a rugged design and are manufactured to hold up under a great deal of abuse. In addition, both work on the Verizon Wireless CDMA voice network with support for EVDO data, as well. Although the phones have many similarities, they also have unique features.
Ravine Dimensions
The Casio G'Zone Ravine is a 4.6 ounce flip phone. It measures 4.3 inches tall, 2.1 inches wide and 0.8 inches thick. A 2.2-inch diagonal TFT LCD screen with a resolution of 240 by 320 pixels serves as its main screen, although it also features a 1.35-inch external LCD which is 96 pixels square.
Ravine Features
Although the Ravine may seem to be the perfect device for those who need a tough work phone, thanks to its traditional flip phone form factor and support for "push-to-talk" direct connections, it is also a capable multimedia phone. Not only does it feature a media player with support for MP3s, videos and Verizon V-Cast music, but it even has a slot for a microSD expansion card. It has a 3.2-megapixel camera with a flash and support for video recording. This phone also features support for a number of different Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR profiles, including the A2DP profile for use with advanced audio devices.
Brigade Dimensions
The Casio G'Zone Brigade, on the other hand, is a larger and heavier sideways clamshell phone weighing 5.9 ounces. Although it has an external display measuring 1.2 inches with a resolution of 120 by 96 pixels, it opens up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard as well as a 2.9-inch widescreen color display which is 400 by 240 pixels. This phone measures 4.44 inches long, 2.21 inches wide and 0.97 inches thick.
Brigade Features
The Brigade lacks support for push-to-talk communication, but adds a large keyboard and display, suitable for both texting and multimedia activities. It features a 3.2-megapixel camera, but adds an autofocus lens as well as a number of digital image processing features, such as a macro mode and perspective adjustment feature. Another unique tool on the Brigade is its text-to-speech feature which reads text messages to you.
Outdoor Use and "Ruggedization"
Both G'Zone phones have been through MIL-STD-810F testing, meaning that they have met the United States Military's standards for withstanding adverse conditions, including temperature extremes, high altitudes, dust, and even immersion in water. They also include Casio's G'zgear applications, which are a suite of tools geared towards outdoor use. These tools frequently utilize the phones' built-in acceleration, temperature and geomagnetic sensors as well as their GPS functionality.
Tags: Casio Zone, 2-megapixel camera, also features, Dimensions Casio, Dimensions Casio Zone