Nice phone with sound problems.
Written: Feb 10 '03 (Updated Sep 16 '03)
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Pros: Screen, size and battery life.
Cons: Sound quality.
The Bottom Line: Nice phone but if you are a headset user like I am, beware.
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| stephenu's Full Review: LG VX4400 |
**UPDATE 9/16/03 at the bottom**
This phone is nice. I loved my Verizon LG TM510 but had to put it two sleep after two and half years of much use (Apparently that phone gets cranky and starts killing batteries quickly in its old age. But 2.5 years is excusable.)
My usage: I use my Verizon cell phone within the NY/NJ areas. My phone usage is approximately 1000 minutes a month. I have been using this phone for a week and two days.
Sound: I’m gonna write allot here. If you don’t use a headset and are OK with acceptable but slightly tinny sound you can skip this section. My trials and tribulations are within the headset arena.
-Straight to the point, I’m disappointed with the sound quality. To me, the most important feature of a cell phone is its sound quality. Primarily for myself, it must sound good when listening and talking through a headset. This phone is on the border of failure in my book (I am a tough customer in this particular department.) You can’t just use any headset with this phone. The three headsets I used regularly for my other cell phone and home phone (see my links below) sounded horribly silent and tinny to the people I talk to. Just before I returned the phone, I tried one more recommended headset(the Plantronics M130). This headset gives an acceptable volume and sound for people I talk to. I’m also comfortable using it. However, it still sounds like I’m talking on a cell phone. It ticks me off I am stuck with using a particular headset. This is not acceptable.
-Without the headset, the earpiece and microphone on the phone are a bit tinny and the people I talk to usually don’t hear that I’m using a cell phone. It’s acceptable.
Reception:
-I’m a little disappointed here as well. It gets the same bars of reception as my previous phone that I was thrilled with, but it is more choppy when talking. Perhaps it’s the new 1X technology and 2X will make things better. I was much happier with my old phone. It’s not bad, but there is room for improvement. The problem is I get muted every now and then and have to repeat myself. It’s not so bad that I’m aggravated, but it’s just not as good as what I am used to.
Volume:
- Ringer is loud and vibration is strong.
- Hearing people isn’t a problem at all, but I have had louder phones. I keep this one on full volume all the time.
Look and feel:
- Holding and talking: If fits nicely in the hand and is a little larger and a little thinner than the TM510. It’s a little larger and thicker than the Motorola V60. It’s square design doesn’t feel so great on the ear when talking, but it isn’t bad.
- Buttons: Not bad. The buttons a large but they are smooth and flat so I find it a little hard. I like the buttons to be more bumpy.
- Looks- Looks nice, but you can’t change the face plate. What you see is what you get folks.
-Screen and Keys- The keys and screen light up very well. The screen is fantastic. It’s super clear and large. Best looking color screen I have seen compared to the other flip phones. It has the most colors than the competing flip phones too (as of Feb 6, 2003). I hear it has 65,000 colors but haven’t verified that yet.
Ease of use / Interface: They have really done a good job here.
-The phone book displays only the numbers you enter. You no longer have to see the pager field if the contact does not have a pager. And there are multiple mobile phone and home fields. Along with e-mail address and web page.
The book is sorted alphabetically and you still have the option of saving contacts to a numbered list (ie I can call my mom by pressing and holding the number two button.) The are 99 quick dials. You can also sort contacts into groups like family, friends or business. You can even create your own groups (I created a jerky list for all the jerky people I call.)
-Voice dialing is a click of a button on the outer shell. Very easy to use. And they now have the voice dialing for the phone number and not the contact. I can call my wife at work or her cell phone and won’t have to enter her in the phone book twice. Her numbers have their own voice dial settings. Good job LG!
- General navigation- It is fairly intuitive and easy to get to what you are looking for. Keep in mind, I’m used to the TM510. I am particularly pleased with the Shortcut option in the Features menu within Settings. I can customize my access to what I want with the left click navigation button.
Battery life:
So far, the battery life is good. But I’m OK with charging it once a day or two. I have talked on the phone for over 2.5 hours before a recharge. It lost two bars after two days of no use (and decent digital reception). It looks like the written specs are accurate for a change (see my links below for specs). If you want a battery to last longer here are your options (that I can think of)
1. Buy the thicker extended battery that should be double the life of the battery the phone comes with.
2. Don’t buy a color phone.
3. Wait and see what the Motorola V600 has in store for us (coming mid 2003). The V60 had the best noted battery life of any flip phone. I’m guessing the V600 should compare. And that phone will have a camera in it to boot.
User Manual:
-The manual stinks just like every other LG manual stinks. It explains the menu options rather than teaches you how to use the phone. It doesn’t do a god job explaining things either. The TM510 user guide actually forgot quite a few features of the phone.
Toys: I’m going to write allot here too. The screen on this phone is fantastic and the cell phone toys look good with lots of space. These now becoming standard features will not be unique to this phone aside for screen quality. You can skip this part if you don’t care about web, e-mail or video games.
-General Cell phone toys are becoming standard for most Verizon phones. You know, web, SMS, Get It Now, Instant messenger. This phone has it all. Yeah, its got the web stuff, e-mail and the ability to download games. With the great color monitor, it’s all very nice. You can have special color settings for the individuals who call, and there are fancy shmancy moving background options. I’ll get tired of this stuff quickly.
- Web: Although, there is no color web browsing and “world wide web” for a cell phone isn’t very wide yet. In fact, it’s down right deceiving. If you haven’t browsed on a cell phone before, don’t expect any more than text. You can get good info and I like being able to get the latest news, stock quote and stuff, but it really isn’t a “web browser.” I did read somewhere that a hardware update maybe necessary for future color browsing. This phone may never be capable of that, beware.
-Get It Now: Verizon’s “Get It Now” puts their phones into a new realm. You can download games (but you have to pay for them) and some other stuff. I tried some sample games, I wasn’t very impressed. (The bowling game entertained me while waiting for my turn at the Barber shop, but I wouldn’t say much more about it than that). I have been able to read my Yahoo! E-mail with a downloaded program I hope I won’t have to pay for in the future. It’s cool and I look forward to new innovations here.
-Rings: I don’t care about fancy rings, but it does come with great sounding ones. You can download more, but they ain’t free!!! At least I haven’t found a free option. The only way I know to get more tunes are from Get It Now and they charge 2 bucks for them. Buyers beware.
GPS:
Yes the phone has it. I give GPS its own group because in light of those teenagers in Long Island, I feel this feature is extremely important. Once you call 911, they will know exactly where you are. I think all Verizon phones should have this now. Don’t know if it’s a law though.
Verdict:
-Nice phone but if you are a headset user like I am, beware. I like the phone and I’m enjoying all the fun things about it. But to repeat myself, the headset problem is a big one for me.
-I’m not sure if I will return this phone yet. I don’t have the heart to pay more for a black and white Motorola V60 or downgrade to the next lower LG phone (I hear there are battery problems with that one as well.) So it looks like I will hang on to it. If I could, I would wait for the Motorola V600 though. It’s supposed to come out mid 2003 and sounds like it will be a real winner.
****UPDATE****
With a few more weeks of use, I have a few more plusses and minuses to add to this review. My opinions above haven't changed, I just have more to say for your consideration of this phone.
Ringer tones:
-I used to consider different ring tones to be cheesy and served no practical use. I used vibration mode all the time. However, the sounds from this polyphonic phone are fantastic. The ring tones it comes with sound very nice. They become practical (for me) where there are ring tones that are gradual in volume. When my phone rings (ring tone 'Nocturne') it is very quiet at first and gradually gets louder. I can stop it before ticking off people around me. You can choose from a nice variety of obnoxiously loud or calm rings or melodies.
Belt Clip / Answering Features: If you aren't a headset user or don't use cell phones while driving, this section can be skipped as well.
-The phone will not flip open when in the belt clip. To talk on this phone you have to flip it open. What the heck were they thinking when they came up with this stupidity? I use a headset so I don't have to handle the phone. Previously all I had to do was flip the phone open and slap it closed while in the holster. To answer this phone while driving I have to take it out of the holster, flip it open and closed then put it back in the holster or let is fly around the car freely while attached to the headset. To end the call, I have to take it out and go through the same mess with (and press end). For me, I have to dig under the seat belt to take out the phone. Putting it back in is not exactly easy either. I'm getting used to this annoyance and will be putting up with it (despite this I will still keep the phone) but I am ticked off with LGs ridiculous backward step.
-You can set the phone to automatically answer after a set number of rings, but this is not a feature I would want to keep on all the time. To turn the feature on and off takes allot of navigating through the menus and I don't want to have to do this three or four times a day. You can also set the phone to answer when pressing 'Any Key.' But according to LG, the outside buttons on the phone do not fit into the 'Any Key' category. In other words, you will have to flip it open and then press 'Any Key' on the inside.
Bottom Line Update:Despite its shortcomings, I am still going to keep the phone.
- I went to the Verizon store the other day to talk to them about the headset issue. I used two different headsets on two VX4400s and a Motorola phone. This confirmed the problem with the headset to be genuine (problems were consistent on the vx4400s while the Motorola didn't see any trouble). The guy at Verizon said the headset problem seems to be software related and LG will have to fix it. Who knows if that will happen?
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UPDATE 9/16/03:
The latest phone software update should resolve the headset problems I have with my phone. I’m not talking about the *228 update (I do that regularly), I am talking about updating the actual operating system. My software version is TC4VZV04, PRL: 50074 and ERI 50018 (I’m not sure which one is relevant). My only problem is that I have not yet been able to update my software. The only way I can update is to go to a Verizon store and have it done there. I have gone to 6 Verizon locations in my area (Edison NJ) and none of them could do it. Most of them didn’t even have the data cable. Shocking huh? I have complained to Verizon, but they tell me there is nothing they can do about it.
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Related Links:
The phone’s product page / details / user manual:
http://www.lginfocomm.com/products/product_detail.php?p=26
Headsets I have used:
-Plantronics:
MX100 - Great headset! But didn’t work well with the VX4400
http://www.plantronics.com/north_america/en_US/catalog/productLink.jhtml?productName=mx100
M130 - My savior for the VX4400.
http://www.plantronics.com/north_america/en_US/catalog/productLink.jhtml?productName=M130
[My review on this headset: http://www.epinions.com/content_89852120708
M110 – Clunky and didn’t work well with the VX4400
http://www.plantronics.com/north_america/en_US/catalog/display_product_detail.jhtml?rootId=cat1150057&prodId=prod440096&productTypeId=cat1220039
Jensen:
A Jensen cheapo and stinky headset I can’t find the site for. I paid 20 bucks for it at Best Buy.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 99
Recommended for: Adventurous Technophiles - Tough and Durable
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Epinions.com ID:
stephenu
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Location: Edison, NJ, USA
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Born and raised in Brooklyn NY.
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