LG Vortex user reviews (black, Verizon Wireless)

Pros Android Froyo, Swype, Little-to-no lag, nice size, decent camera, 5 or 7 customizable home screens

Cons No physical keyboard, can't uninstalled factory apps, no physical camera button, no camera flash, only a 3.2 camera, too many factory-installed apps constantly running in background, lock button on top of phone

Summary This is my first smart phone and so far I'm loving it. I've only had it for 2 days now, but I've spent countless hours on it. I've yet to have it crash once - my husband's has a couple of times, but that was due to the apps he was using that he downloaded from the market. I was used to a physical keyboard, so using the on-screen one took some real getting used to, as did the Swype technology. At first the keys seemed way too small (and I don't have large hands) and I was always hitting the wrong letter. But once I started using the Swype technology and got used to it, I found it to be very accurate. I did have to adjust my settings to be a little more forgiving, and therefore not quite as fast, but I still find it to be more than fast enough. Also, as I've gotten more used to the keyboard, even individual key entries are more accurate now - I just had to get used to it. Same with the touch screen in general. I was used to the way my old Samsung Reality worked, and at first I didn't like how the Vortex responded, or didn't, to touch. But again, now that I am used to it, it responds just fine. Battery life could certainly be better, but this is the case with all smart phones, and I don't think this one is any worse than the average smart phone. Bluetooth syncing was a breeze. Signal strength seems to be about what my Reality was - pretty good, but not exceptional. The screen is nice and bright and you can adjust the brightness to suit your surroundings. I really miss having a physical camera button. You only have an on-screen button, and it makes taking self-portraits a little tricky. Furthermore, I'd expect a smart phone to have a better camera. This one is acceptable, just not what I would have expected. Volume seems to be good all the way around. Vibration is strong enough for me to notice it when in my pocket. I don't like that you cannot uninstall the factory bundled apps, and really don't like that there is no way to stop many of them from running in the background. I downloaded a task killer, but these apps just start right back up every time. This is aggravating - especially since there are several of them that I will never use - they're just eating up my battery. On my old Reality, the screen lock button was on the side of the phone and was very convenient to push whenever I needed to. On the Vortex, the screen lock button is on top of the phone and is quite awkward to press one-handed, but this seems to be a common Android phone feature. I like that it has 5 or 7, dependent on what you choose, home screens. It won't be long before I am using all 7 due to the endless apps. All-in-all I am very pleased with my first Android phone. There are some things I would change about it, but most of that is just because of what I am used to from my old phone. Besides - my husband and I got these for *free* at Verizon on black Friday. We went in there an hour or two before they closed and they still had the phones in stock and we didn't have to wait one minute because all of the crowds were gone. My advise to anyone who is thinking about getting this phone is to try it out in the store first. See what you like and don't like about it and decide from there. And to those who do get this phone - give yourself at least a few days to get used to how it works. As you get more used to it, you'll probably like it more and more.

Pros Android Froyo 2.2, Battery, Solid, WiFi

Cons Screen- it's a little hard to work with, and Camera- no LED flash

Summary i was wanting to get an android device for a while and was looking at the Droid X and Droid 2, but realized I didn't need everything those devices offered. I heard about this device a few days ago and wanted one after I dropped my Blackberry Storm from a truck, therefore disabling the Berry's ringer. A rep at Verizon showed me this device as a suitable replacement.

The screen takes a little getting used to, but works well. i recommend getting screen protectors with this phone, as the screen smudges easily.


As for the camera not having an LED flash, Ithis is not my first trip to the rodeo, but an LED would have been a nice touch. i got what i paid for, however, as this was less than $310 without a contract and less than $100 with one.

The experience has been primarily a positive one, as this is my first phone with a 600 MHz processor and a generous amount of RAM, Also, having WiFi makes up for this phone's 2 weaknesses, and overall, I really like the phone.

The battery life has been relatively good for a smartphone, especially given how thin this phone is.

Android is the icing on the cake with this device , as I was llooking at another device w/o android and got this for the same price. Android, with it's thousands of apps, allows this device to make Apple's iEcosystem (iPhone and iOS) look like a toy compared with this pocket-sized robot.

Overall, it's a good android phone for anyone looking to start out with android, and i recommend ANY android device including this one.

Pros It's an LG, I've never had any problems them. Works great, and gives you all the features of other smart phones but I feel it is more reliable.

Cons No flash for the camera, and sometimes needs to be restarted like a computer because it will start to run slow, but after turning it back on it's fine.

Summary Bottom-line is I love it. It is everything that you need and does not have too many issues. Every phone is going to have its set of problems though.

Pros Easy to use, nice size, looks nice.
Screen graphics are excellent.
SD card for extra memory.
Picture quality is good.
USB cord to connect to comp for easy transfer.
Call quality good from both ends.
Charge port on bottom.

Cons Poor battery life-to be expected tho.
Too many apps installed I never used; Navigation, Call ID, Skype, Songster, Kindle, Amazon, can't even name them all.
Charging glitches.
Burned out charging cables.
Slide to talk glitchy.
Keypad entry lag.

Summary Got this as a replacement phone thru Verizon's insurance plan after my LG Chocolate Touch quit working. It was one of 2 choices offered so I had little choice and the other was a Motorola that was pulled almost immediatly.
First thing I noticed was it drained the battery fast even when not being used. Regular force stopping the apps helped, as did getting a Task Manager app.
Second was it burned out the charger w/in 2 wks. In the yr and half I've had it I've gone thru 7 chargers/cables. One lasted 20 min. Also there were times it wouldn't charge, just blink on and off. 24 hrs off the charger and turned off seemed to be the only thing that worked, big problem since it was my only phone and I have kids.

Next the home button qut working, which was a huge annoyance. The the screen lock function quit, no matter what mode I used it wouldn't lock. Very annoying having my phone random call or text if I forgot to shut it off before putting it in my purse.
The slide to talk function worked half the time, resulting in missed calls. Only rang about 50% of the time, no matter what ringtone I used. Rarely gave a text msg alert, only knew I had one if I was looking at the phone. Wouldn't even vibrate when it was set to.
The Mobile Hotspot thru that phone was ok, but for $20/mo for 2GB not worth it. If 3G coverage went out so did the internet connection and it was often slow. As I used other friends MH w/o any of those problems it wasn't the area.

When using the keypad it would lag or the button would stick and I would get a full line of space instead of a single space, or I'd hit delete to erase one letter and lose my entire text. Most of my downloaded apps could be moved to the SD card, saving memory. But too many unused apps ran and auto started all the time. Skype was always on, I never once used it. Google Store installed a program that ate a ton of memory, I uninstalled it daily, had to uninstall Google Store to make it quit. I never used it or any of the Google apps, I prefer Bing.
No camera button or flash, great pics in brightly lit rooms or outside. But in direct sun couldn't see the screen image. I could add more but those were the major problems. The rest were personal preferences and shouldn't be included.

Basically this was the worst phone I ever owned. Even tho I only paid $40 something thru insurance I still feel ripped off, scammed. I love LG phones, this was #4 and the other 3 were good phones. Looking at the LG Spectrum 2 now that the phone has died, needs a new battery but rejects the new one I got for it. I will hate losing my Unlimited Data, but it will be worth it.