LG Voyager user reviews (VX10000, Verizon Wireless)

Pros Design, QWERTY keyboard, touch interface, slimness.

Cons Takes some time to get used to, expensive.

Summary First of all, I think people are either reviewing without actually having held the phone or being overly critical because they paid so much for it.

EXTERNAL DISPLAY: The touchscreen is an absolutely beauty, its very responsive and not overly sensitive. It doesn't smudge like other phones or touch screens out there which is excellent. The outside menus would be better if they were more customizable content wise but a heck of a lot more friendly than the standard verizon OS.

INTERNAL DISPLAY + SPEAKERS: Just as beautiful, and it actually makes it easier to do certain things with the inside instead of outside screens. The two side speakers are GREAT, and even at the loudest setting there is little to no distortion.

INTERNET BROWSER + EASE OF USE: Yes, this doesn't have WiFi but at $15.00 per month for EVDO its not bad at all. The browser works great, although like with everything if you're expecting the full functionality of your laptop or desktop on the tiny little screen you are expecting too much. After a bit of a steep learning curve navigatin, it's good.

TOOLS & MENUS: It has a great set of tools that you see on all other Verizon phones, and the menus are the same only you get to them faster due to the different interface.

BATTERY LIFE: It's GOOD. Most people say its horrible. But using the Internet off and on, texting constantly from either screen and making phone calls I only went through about 60% of my fully charged batter in a 12 hour period.


OVERALL: If you are buying this phone strictly as a web browsing tool, don't. This is a multimedia PHONE. And as a phone it EXCELS in multimedia features.



WISH LIST SLASH QUESTION: If there is anyway to make it SYNC with Microsfot Outlook through a Get It Know App or USB Connection I'd give it a 10 out of 10. Anyone know if this is coming anytime soon?

Pros Impressive speakerphone, looks good

Cons Poor browser, bulky, bad value, each feature requires $

Summary A summary of each feature offered:

- Internet Browsing: (Not Usable!) The phone must render the full page before you can scroll. Even with EV-DO this makes the internet seem extremely slow. Gimicky touchscreen means you will have a tough time scrolling once the web page is loaded, and you cannot click on links at all without going to the smaller internal screen. The iPhone is better WITHOUT even considering iPhone's wifi capability.

- TV: (Nobody will ever use it) The TV service offered is very impressive, unsurpassed on any phone in the US. They have a viewing guide and you can change a channel just like real live TV. No slow buffering or waiting. However, it still costs $15 for 6 channels and only works in cities, where TV's are already ubiquitous.

- GPS: (Overly priced) To use the GPS you must get Navigator service. The most notable feature is text-to-speech turn-by-turn directions. But it costs $10 for this service and you can now buy a quality GPS for your car with a much larger screen for $150 with more capabilities and $0 monthly. The other feature of Navigator is searching for nearby points of interest. However, a superior service is offered for free by google maps, and google can now identify your location even if you don't have a gps phone. Google maps do not work on the voyager.

- Music: (Good) The sound on the stereo speakers are fantastic. However, playing sound through the speakers is unfortunately rarely used, and the stereo speakers make the phone more bulky. Even if you chose to use this feature, it drains the battery very quickly. The ability to download songs at any time from Verizon is nice, however it costs $2 per song. There are many phones from Verizon with comparable or better music capabilities, do not purchase this phone for music. The iPhone provides a much better interface, gets podcasts, and offers iTunes which is much better than vCast Music Manager.

Price: (Average) An iPhone is really the same price and it comes with 8gB of memory. Voyager has 128m. To purchase an 8Gb microSD card will cost you an extra $125. The minimum plan for the iPhone is $59.99. However, the minimum plan for the Voyager is $39.99 and you have to pay the extra $15 for data. If you want email, it will cost you an extra $5 on top of that.

User Interface: (below average) The use of both an internal external screen means you must master 2 user interfaces instead of 1, and they are very different. The typical Verizon menus have been removed, but the same Verizon experience is still there. The touchscreen unfortunately freezes up on occasion and can become frustrating. This interface is to superior to other Verizon phones, and does not even compare to an Iphone.

Camera: (Average) The camera offers a lot of features, and 2 megapixels is at the top end of what you will get on a phone. But picture quality is still not good enough to replace your camera, therefore it should not be a factor in your decision to purchase this device.

Photos: (good) With a large screen and 8Gb of memory this is one area where the voyager excels. The slideshow feature is comparable to the iPhone with 1 glaring exception. If you tilt the phone, the image will not rotate as well. While this is not a dealbreaker, it does make viewing a slideshow a bit annoying. Still the experience is superior to other Verizon phones.

Bluetooth: (good) Bluetooth capabilities that are better than any other offering from Verizon, and better than the iPhone. You can send photos, music and other files wirelessly to you laptop. Unfortunately, the speed of transfer is too slow. 1 song will take at 2 minutes to transfer. This makes it useless for transferring pictures or music, but still functional for transferring your contacts. However, Verizon already offers a free backup service for your phone to automatically sync up your device to the Verizon server. Some people will argue that you can tether (use your phone as a modem for your laptop) using Bluetooth, but the speed of Bluetooth makes this pointless. The one advantage of the superior bluetooth capability is the ability to use a wireless stereo headset. But those devices are expensive, they are too bulky, and they drain the phones battery. (which is why this feature is not on the iPhone)

Tethering (Using the phone as a modem for your laptop) (pointless): It is against Verizon policy to tether without paying for a data plan that costs $59.99 per month. At that point, you may as well purchase the card that Verizon sells to plug into your laptop, since it's the same price and doesn't use up your phone batteries. Tech geeks will argue that they can "hack it" and connect without paying the $59.99 per month, however Verizon has computer programs that monitor internet activity. If you find a way to get away with it for the $15 per month, it won't last long.

Email (poor): Email costs $5 per month for up to 7 accounts. If you have used a blackberry you will realize that this email service is very basic. Only yahoo mail, hotmail and verizon mail will work, so don't expect to use gmail. It's functional for those users who are not looking for anything very advanced. Do not expect message filters, sorting, or even the ability to search. In fact, The only service they offer in addition to any other Verizon phones is the email alert feature. It's all through Verizon's Get It Now service, so expect to click through the menus to find the email.

Design: (Above average) The phone is not huge like a sidekick, but it's probably Verizon's bulkiest phone and it's about 50% wider than the iPhone. If you are getting this to show off to your friends, keep in mind that Verizon just made 2 big announcements in the past week which will open up Verizon in 2008 to all software and all phones. And will eventually move Verizon onto GSM. Your nice phone to show off will no longer be impressive very soon.

Text messaging: The keypad is big, and makes texting very easy. If you text message a lot you will love this.

Games: (Bad) If you like to play games, be warned that the offering is significantly less than what is offered on other Verizon phones, mainly because most games were just not designed for the wide screen.

Multi-tasking: (None) Don't expect to listen to music while you send a text. Once you close the music player, the music is off. Similarly, don't expect to browse the web while you are on speakerphone. Other Verizon phones, like the Venus and blackberry phones, let you multitask.

Voicemail: If you are expected the "dynamic voicemail" that iPhone offers, think again. It will not download and list out your messages for you. It's Verizon voicemail.

Conclusion: If you want GPS, buy a GPS device for your car (it's cheaper). You obviously aren't going to pay $15/month for 6 channels of TV, and the internet is $15 per month and frustrating to the point that it's barely usable. Bluetooth functionality provides you limited advantages. And you know you're almost never going to use that external speaker for music. So you are paying extra money for a bulky phone that has email alerts, good speakerphone capabilities, and has a roomier keypad for texting and email. So if you're going to buy this phone, get it to show off to your friends for a month or 2. Otherwise, get something more practical. If you like Verizon's service, get the Venus. If you are not a diehard Verizon users, get the iPhone.

Pros touch screen, fast internet, spacious keyboard

Cons Verizon network, so so camera, no flash, a little thick, expensive

Summary I just got my LG Voyager today and I am so far very impressed by it. First let me start of saying that this phone looks beautiful. Yes, it's thicker than the iPhone, but it looks good nonetheless. The touch screen is very responsive, I haven't had a problem. Dialing numbers is easy and the talk quality is exceptional. Includes VZ Navigator, which is great if you get lost a lot. The internet so far from what I've seen is fast. I know everyone is complaining about the Wi-Fi, but it's fine, there isn't a hotspot everywhere.The keyboard when you flip the phone open is wonderful. It's big and spacious and is easy to type text messages, etc. Some of the things I don't like is that it doesn't have an internal hard drive (which is why it's cheaper). I got a 8GB card, which cost $129.99. Also, the camera is so so and it has no flash or lens cover. The biggest gripe I have about it (as I have with every Verizon phone) is that it is locked down. Verizon disables many features on all its phones. The iPhone you can hack easily, I haven't tried yet with this phone, but I know it will be a journey to find out. But, all in all, this phone is awesome. I've been waiting for this kind of phone to come to Verizon for months now.

Pros HTML INTERNET BROWSER, QWERTY KEYPAD! MOBILE EMAIL! ETC............ (and verizon wireless's premium plan)

Cons lack of speakerphone with clamshell closed, flash (and that is an iffy negative), spell checking would be nice (0but

Summary *****on a side not*******
I have been a part of Verizon wireless before it was Verizon wireless. I was originally a part of GTE wireless, but alas they were purchased by Verizon. The company as a whole is generally nice and their customer service and technicians are most of the time helpful.
My first LG phone was their original flip. it was huge compared to the phones now. I have always loved LG phones. I have had a total of 7 LG phones. I have had both versions of the lg chocolate phones. the 8500 green and the recent 8550 blue mint. I have also had the Motorola v3m, a Samsung SCH-A690, and the new blackberry 8130. (so when I talk about phones, I mostly know what I am talking about)
I also think that it is totally unfair to compare the LG Voyager to an Apple IPhone. They are two completely different companies and two different phones. pardon the cliché, but it would be like comparing apples to oranges.
If you decide to purchase this phone, I recommend going with verizon’s premium plan. That way…….You text all you want. Browse all you want (internet, vcast videos and vcast music and it not deduct from your overall minutes). Navigate all you want. And e-mail all you want. AND you don’t pay extra. I pay 119.99 a month for unlimited of all the above and 1350 daytime minutes. Free night and weekends and mobile to mobile minutes. When will version go to the 7:00 pm nighttime minutes? That would be a nice! The mobile TV cost extra, but that is a given.
******End of side note******
LG and Verizon Wireless really outdid themselves this time. The LG Voyager is wonderful.
Design. The design is super nice. The black with the chrome, the keys are nicely spaced on the inside. the color of the screen is crisp and not too bright. when you hold the phone you don’t feel like you are holding this itty bitty piece of machinery or this huge dump truck against your face. it fits nicely against the curvature of your face.
Call Quality. Call quality is wonderful. I am loud, so this is quite important, and there have been no complaints of me being too loud. I also hear the other party quite well. The speakerphone is wonderful, too. I was able to hold a conference call today with 4 of my staff in the room, the other person was surprised we were on speakerphone. However, I would like to be able to use speakerphone with the clamshell closed. The ring is nice and loud, too.
Text messaging. I thought it would be different using a QWERTY keypad to text message, but I have gotten used to it so fast that I have not realized that I'm actually using a QWERTY keypad. (some have complained that their phones have several send message fail attempts, thus far I have had none.)
Screen Lag. Some opinions have stated their touch screen has a lag. I have noticed none. I can dial without having to look at the screen, but LG's voice dialing system is so nice, WHY not use it? I have a deep southern drawl and the computer nerd picks up exactly whom I want to call every time correctly.
CUSTOMIZATION. Who needs to customize the outside touch screen when everything that you could need or want from your phone is right there on the screen? Scrolling by merely touching and pushing up is really cool, too. You can customize the shortcut buttons and that is nice.
2.0 Megapixel camera. The camera quality is superb, thought it would have been nice to have a flash. I knew that before I bought it, so that is not a real complaint. I took several pictures at a University of Tennessee football game this weekend, and even with the overcast sky pictures turned out well. I have also been able to take pictures in almost complete darkness and have them turn out well. So a flash probably would have just gotten in the way.
Calendar. The Calendar is much better on the voyager than it was on the LG 8550. easy to use and read. easy to customize, again it would be nice if I could sync with my Microsoft Outlook 2007, but having it not sync gives me excuses when I forget an anniversary, appointment, or my wife's birthday. (just kidding)
GET IT NOW. I like several of the "Get It Now" options.
NZ Navigator is wonderful. Gets me where I am going, and keeps me from getting too lost.
The Mobile E-mail is really nice. I have a personal @bellsouth.net e-mail and a work @verizon.net and it allows me to look at both. Keeping them separate. (something the blackberry 8130 did that I did not like) and I can delete the e-mail off the server from my phone, so that when I get home Outlook 2007 does not download the junk mail. How nice is that? It is also really nice to reply to an e-mail using the QWERTY keypad. or composing an e-mail and being able to use the @ symbol without trying to find it in the symbol menu.
I also like the "BackUp Assistant" allows you to backup your contacts and edit them from a website. A must have. If you are a member of verizonwireless.com’s personal account, you don’t have to pay the 1.99 extra a month for the service. Becoming a member is beneficial. You can pay your bill, change features, and check your minutes and data usage.
Battery. I am a compulsive texter. I also reply to e-mails very fast. I am in the business world, but not quite important enough to have a palm phone. I am able to take my phone off the charger at 5:00 am. Reply to as many text messages as I want. E-mail as much as my heart desires. Take and make numerous phone calls, and get on internet for a few minutes. And my phone still has some battery life when it goes to bed at 9:00 pm. I am sure battery life could be improved, but I do a lot with my phone.
BLUETOOTH! The headset works wonderful. It connects with my jag, my wife’s infiniti, and my ford f350 quite well. It also connected to my Bluetooth speakers without any problems. I have also been able to print using my Bluetooth enabled printer.
HTML INTERNET BROWSER! VERY EASY TO USE! Okay. Besides my blackberry pearl, this is the first phone I have used from Verizon in which the webpage actually looks like the webpage. And with Verizon’s EVDO network it is way faster than dial-up. It’s never going to be a fast as LAN or cable internet. You are able to browse the webpage as if you were home using a teeny tiny monitor. It’s a phone so get used to it. Who needs wifi?
MEMORY! It has a good amount of internal memory, but I also purchased an 8GB minisd card. That card holds a great deal of information. Also the ease of taking one card out and putting another in without having to remove a batter, is really nice.
MOBILE TV! No service in my area for the mobile tv  I am hoping that it will be available soon.