- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 238 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
62 out of 63 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Major improvements over the 8100. Great phone."
Pros: Strong vibrate, excellent voice recognition S/W, easy access phonebook
Cons: Slightly poorer reception that prior phones with no extendable antenna.
Summary: I bought an LG8100 after trying a Motorola i815 for several weeks. The Motorola had many good features but its phonebook access was awful and you couldn't rely on the vibrate to catch a call. The phonebook only allowed entry of the first letter of the name you were seeking and then you had to scoll to find the right one. Not very convenient at all. The vibrate ring was so weak, the only hope of knowing you had a call was that it would eventually switch to an audible ring. Not a good thing if you've chosen vibrate to be inconspicuous. Enter the LG line.
My first phone was an LG8100. It has a great phonebook access system, allowing you to type in as many letters of the name you want and allowing you to go directly to it. The vibrate feature is excellent. Maybe not as strong as the LG 4400 but definitely a world better than the Motorola. Unfortunately, it has archaic voice recognition software that rarely recognizes the name you want in less than three tries. So you're limited in using it with bluetooth.
Not to be frustrated, I then transitioned to the LG 8300. Wow. This phone is sharp looking, it is even lighter than the LG 8100, and it has the same excellent phonebook and vibrate attributes as the earlier model. But unhearlded is the fact that this phone has infinitely improved voice recognition software. It is as good as the Motorola and works almost perfectly. The only downside for me is that signal strengths seem to be a little lower than I found on the earlier LG or on the Motorola. But I've not lost any calls yet and I love the features and functionality.
- 7 replies to this review
-
I rarely use it. MUCH more important to me is the comment about the signal strength. Is your comment based on the number of bars shown, which can represent anything the engineers want it to, or is it actually call quality that you are referring to? Thanks for any response, JRH.
-
I agree with most of the reviews on this phone but tomconroy's review contains a statement that everyone should take note of.
He states: "Unfortunately, it has archaic voice recognition software that rarely recognizes the name you want in less than three tries. So you're limited in using it with bluetooth."
He is absolutely correct about this. This phone's voice recognition is useless to me. After discovering it would not work, I went back to Verizon to try another phone, thinking that I may have gotten a defective one. I tried 2 other phones and neither of them would work either.
The voice recognition would work "most" of the time for the Verizon representative, but was embarrassing for him. I had an LG-4400 that the voice recognition worked perfectly on and you didn't have to go through 3 steps to make a call as you do on this phone. Try as I may, the voice recognition on this phone works around 20% of the time.
Voice recognition is one of the features that I use the most, especially while driving, and this phone frustrates me to the point of wanting to throw it out of the window almost everytime I use it.
I also agree with the part of tomconroy's review that says that the signal strengths are a little lower on this phone, at least lower than they were on my 4400. -
how much do most people get
im not getting alot -
This is the beast Phone All around , Have been a Nokia and Motorola Man since the Cell Phone was Invented but the LG8300 has turned me around Totally. It has the best Features and easy to use with Programable Ring Tones and Vibtatste hard which I need riding my Chopper Down the highway ,rhis is a "10" after trying 26 differant phones in a years time" Don't waist you time on a Motorola or Nokia they come up to a "1" on my list buy a LG8300 best Bang for the Buck
the Artist fishkisser -
I am still using my LG VX7000 which I had to hunt for since the VX8000 had come out and gotten terrible reviews.
I have never had any problems with the voice recognition at all. I wonder if it has to do with the MIC quality??
oh, and what did they do with the Flashy Lights?? I don't see them on the outside of the VX8300!! I can see I won't be upgrading to this same line when (IF) I upgrade phones in the future. -
Hey, you seem to have similar feelings as I did about the E815. I couldn't stand the lack of vibrate. I noticed in your review that the 8300 had the same powerful vibrate as the 8100. I had heard differently from some people in that the 8300 was a lot softer. Do you still feel the same way after using the phone a bit
Also, I had a huge problem with the 8100 in that when I spoke, I couldn't hear what the person on the other side of the line was saying. Have you experienced anything similar with the 8300? -
I just retired my LG 6000 and updated to the LG vx8300. I have had no luck in getting the voice recognition to work properly. On my 6000, it recorded my voice and attached that sound file to the name and number I specified. On the 8300, I haven't been able to replicate this. Instead, it tries to sound-out the name you've "stated" and match it to what it thinks you are saying. This results in poor pronunciation (by the phone...can't recognize what it speaks back) and poor matching. I did "train" it. Still no improvement. Anyone else having similar problems or any solutions?
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/lg-vx8300-verizon-wireless/4864-6454_7-31812933-1.html){kind=small}