LG enV Touch VX11000 Phone, Black (Verizon Wireless)

Verizon's best phone for 2009? June 8, 2009

Reviewer:  John Robertson  (Phoenix, AZ) -

Here is this product's obligatory page-long review. I drew some basic comparisons to two other Verizon phones -- the Samsung Omnia i910 and the LG Dare. I hope this review may ultimately save some of you some time. :)

I have been looking for a phone with a high-resolution, fast camera, and PDA-like features. I use the camera when traveling to clients' premises, and am surprised how many devices made by Apple, RIMM, Palm and others treat cell-phone cameras as an adolescent feature that wastes the time of employees (like surfing emails and internet cannot be abused this way). As someone who needs the coverage of the Verizon network in my area, not too many phones fit into the above two categories -- particularly without the need to buy a $30/month data plan. I intentionally delayed using my NE2, knowing that Verizon often releases phones in June. After nearly choosing the Samsung Omnia i910 and LG Dare, I'm glad I did.

I read in other Amazon reviews that some user's of the Sammy 910 made the effort to set the phone up properly so that they didn't have to dig through menus. But personally, I found the i910 very difficult to do almost anything, even with shortcuts right on its desktop, even after trying it out 6 times at Verizon stores. I'd hate to tell a relative, "Here's my phone, go make a call!" It's excellent 5mpix camera almost convinced me, but it was too hard to text in either landscape or portrait, and it requires the $30/mon data plan, plus has a non-standard headphone jack. The LG Dare was much simpler to pick-up an use, although (without having tried calibration adjustments) I found I made mistakes every time I did a sample text message with it's touch screen, in either orientation. The camera was also slow at times, especially when using auto-focus, taking as much as 2 seconds to take a picture, and more to wait for the camera to prompt you with the save/erase options.

Enter the enV Touch (and in some similar respects, the [[ASIN:B002ASA0QE LG enV3 VX9200 Phone, Blue (Verizon Wireless)]] or the [[ASIN:B002ASA0UA LG enV3 VX9200 Phone, Maroon (Verizon Wireless)]]. Finally, a company has figured out a way to keep a real, non-touch-screen qwerty board embedded in an updated, semi-smart phone, especially for those of us who cannot or do not like haptic-feedback touch screens. Personally, I prefer the center-located space bar, although some of the older enV user's may need time to get used to this. The keyboard, with my fairly large, iron-grip hands, is easier to use than any touch screen keyboard I've tried, and the 3.2 megapixel camera is one of only a few Verizon phones that offers better than 3 megapix resolution -- shameful in my opinion. Pictures snap quickly too, in less than 1 second. The full 3" screen viewfinder makes you feel as if you are using a devoted still camera, although I'm noticing that I have to be a bit careful how I hold the phone so as not to cover the sensor. This will improve with practice.

But about that front touchscreen -- I am very impressed. Even without a hard keyboard, this would have been the first phone from any US provider where I can actually type out a text message, completely error-free, using only the traditional numeric keypad in portrait mode. And getting there is easier too -- the tab-up feature to use the touch screen is very easy and intuitive. Screen resolution is very good, though perhaps not quite as leading edge as the iPhone or Storm color and resolution. However, the screen is large enough to see the touch keyboard and a large enough portion of a text or email message without having to scroll through as much as with the Dare/Omnia. But the phone is also fast -- my old Motorola motorazr had ongoing slow-responsiveness to pictures, notepad activation, even ringing for incoming calls! The enV Touch is fastest phone I've used, with a near-instant 1/4th second or better response to opening or activating almost anything. This iPhone-like device also does not require a data plan if you just need a feature-rich cell phone without always-on email. However, at $1.99/MB, I will have to try out email push and browsing to see if a data plan may yet be desirable. I travel to Canada frequently, and hope not to have any "always-on" data roaming fees -- I have read horror stories about iPhones incurring $600 bills as owners blithely cross borders or even roaming within the US. But to my current, possibly wrong understanding, I don't think this phone automatically data-roams. The phone also offers airplane mode and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack -- finally, no more need to take an iPod and cell phone and camera with me on trips. Now only if we had unlocked GPS...maybe this will work with Google Maps? Another interesting device I'm looking at purchasing is the [[ASIN:B000WTM552 Motorola MOTOROKR T505 Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone]] which blue-tooths the phone's audio or phone calls to the car stereo -- safer for calls and convenient for music. Another nice change: The CLEAR and END keys on the front screen are well separated now -- no accidentally erasing an unsent message when you thought you were backspacing.

It's not perfect. Despite the terrific 16GB capacity, Verizon's menu system still retains a 200 text-message limit. Wha?? After nearly 10 years with this design, couldn't this be a tiny bit larger by now? Of course, that's a Verizon issue, not really LG's mistake, but since this phone is currently only used on Verizon's network, it's an issue. The phone is a little bit wider at .61 inches than comparable, non-keyboarded competitors. I gladly accept this trade-off for the convenience of two styles of keyboards though. It's also little taller than the similar enV3. So far, that's all I can say on the con side.

As much as I love the touch screen, it's still not what I'd consider a true iPhone contender though, which with a new release today, seems like it still has a more vibrant display and of course much better apps. But the enV Touch was, for me, the closest Verizon phone to the iPhone, if only because it seems so intuitive, and it is easily the best cell phone I've ever owned.

As I use the phone, I will update the review with notable pros and cons.

So, I decided to buy an IPhone . . . July 14, 2009

Reviewer:  D. E. Marley  (Winston-Salem, NC United States) -

It seemed inevitable:

* I had been using a simple flip phone for several years. I deserved an upgrade.
* Apple had just introduced new models and all the reviewers said some flaws on earlier models had been corrected.
* Apple had lowered the price of the 16GB model to $200. Seemed like a bargain.
* There are a gazillion "apps" that will run on the IPhone. Surely one of them would make me smarter, quicker, more productive.
* My nieces and nephews can't stop playing with their IPhones.
* I already had a desktop computer, a laptop, and a netbook. Buying a "handtop" seemed a natural progression.
* All the "beautiful people" have IPhones - I can see them in celebrity pictures, holding on to them like security blankets

So I trucked on down to my local Apple store and got an IPhone demonstration from the courteous, articulate, and helpful young salesman. He smoothly and expertly sized me up as someone not interested in games on an IPhone and demonstrated a variety of productivity and ease of use features.

He let me try out the virtual keyboard on his IPhone and it worked fine for me. He explained to me that the wonders of the web could be mine with the IPhone and the required $30 per month data plan - less than I was paying for broadband service for my other computers, as he pointed out.

I was sold.

But just to fill the rest of the day I wandered on over to Best Buy to play with all the other IPhone pretenders. After a period of button pushing and handset handling, doubts began to arise about my IPhone purchase decision.

As I held the non-IPhones, I began to appreciate the comfort and advantages of data entry with a physical keyboard. I realized that with a virtual keyboard, the keys, your clumsy little fingers, and whatever text was being displayed, were all competing for the same scarce 3" of display space.

More troubling, in the days that followed I searched through the various reviews of the "best" apps for the IPhone and found there was only a few that held any interest at all for me.

It began to appear that I might lose my chance to join the "beautiful people."

The LG Touch must be one of the largest and heaviest cell phones currently made.

And I love every inch and ounce of it. Tiny controls on cell phones may be fine for 20 YOs, but not for 60 YOs.

The Touch combines the convenience of the external touch screen for phone use, with the huge (OK, about 4" wide) internal physical keyboard for data entry.

The real deal-killer for the IPhone was the required monthly $30 data plan. Over a 24 month contract, my $200 IPhone was going to cost me $920! Verizon also offers a data plan for the Touch for $15 a month - I guess a bargain.

However, they also offer a pay-per-go plan of $1.99 for every megabyte of data you transmit\receive. Certainly, if you plan to regularly browse typical web pages you are going to need a monthly data plan. However, trying to read the home page of the NY Times on a 3" screen seems to me to be an exercise in masochism.

I limit my browsing to the "mobile" versions of the larger commercial websites. They are generally all text. They load very quickly. You don't have to "pan and zoom" over a page built for 15" monitors in order to read them. And most important, on the days when I have to go on-line the costs are measured in pennies, not dollars.

Earlier I mentioned my "productivity" requirements. Ordinary productivity features such as contact lists, voice mail, alarms, and texting are a breeze on the Touch.

Beyond this, my other productivity needs when I'm away from my desk, mostly involve lists and reference materials that I need to access. You can "sync" this stuff on a variety of phones but I've hated the wires and procedures of "syncing" since the days of my first Palm PDA.

If the material is just something to which I will need to refer, I format it in a MS Word document in 12 pt type, for a custom sized 4" wide x 11" page. Reads perfectly on the Touch. (Didn't I mention that the Touch will read MS Word documents -- but won't edit them) I then copy the Word file to the memory card of the Touch and I'm off

If the material is something I expect to have to edit on the Touch, I either create it or copy it on a Google Document or Task file. Google has a "mobile" portal for both these types of documents. Once again, these Google mobile files read easily on the Touch. Edits made on the Touch are automatically saved on Google, and I can access the revised files on any of my other computers.

Of course, you can type notes directly on the Notepad program of the Touch - or even type notes in an email draft. But as much as I value the 4" keyboard on the Touch, I still try to type on a "real" keyboard for any significant amount of data entry.

So that's the story of my lost IPhone. I'm sure over the next 24 months of my phone contract I'll find some warts on the LG Touch. But for now, it was the right choice for me.

Absolutely Brilliant! June 7, 2009

Reviewer:  CJ "ChefJeff"  (Jamaica NY) -

After 2 other LG phones that were buggy and had issues with dropped calls, I told myself I would NEVER buy LG again. But because I wanted a qwerty touch screen phone, my options were limited, so I thought I'd give LG one last try.

I could not be more happy! This phone is amazing, touch screen is very responsive, call quality rivals landline quality, takes great quality photos, brilliant display screen, loud ringers, good sized qwerty keyboard for texting, I could go on and on!

There are many ways to customize this phone to your needs, there are a multitude of settings. This is the phone I have been waiting for.
I got a Samsung Impression last week, but wasn't entirely happy with the phone, but mostly unhappy with AT&T service, many places I found myself having no signal, for a 3G phone in a major city, this was unacceptable.
So I returned the phone and found myself searching for something similar, the Lg Envy Touch was similar, but better as far as features, I was just afraid to try another LG, but they have restored my faith.

There a a few minor things I don't like about the Envy Touch, the vibration mode is not that strong, if you have the phone in a case, and your in a noisy place unable to hear the ringer, you need to rely on vibrate mode, but you can hardly feel it vibrate, my wife has an Envy 2, and the vibration is very strong, if it's on a table in vibrate mode, it will move when it rings several inches from where it was because the vibration is so strong, but the Envy Touch is not even close.
Would also prefer a slide open instead of a flip, but not a big deal, just a preference. And lastly when texting, the beginning of a sentence does not start in caps, you must hit the shift key, every phone I had the sentence would start in caps, but again no big deal.

The pros of this phone are many, the cons are few, there is no such thing as the perfect phone, but this comes pretty close.
The Envy Touch is definitely a keeper and I highly recommend it!

Update:12/9/09
I've had this phone for 6 months now, and it's starting to randomly shut off, took it back to the Verizon store, they gave me a software update, but this didn't help.
Also too, when I get text messages, sometimes when I flip open the phone to read my message the screen is blank, I have to close and open it several times before I see anything.

I should not be having these problems after only 6 months :(

Update: 1/4/10
I am now on my 3rd Envy Touch, Verizon gave me a like new replacement, but it had the same problems as the first one, keeps shutting off by itself.
So now I'm on my 3rd like new replacement, lets see what happens with this one : (
I have once again lost my faith in LG phones, seems they are not built to last.

Amazing phone, how can they top this?! June 7, 2009

Reviewer:  W. E. St Clair III  (VA, USA) -

This phone is simply brilliant. I agree with everything the other reviewer said - mainly that text message sentences don't start in caps. But by no means a big deal! This phone is so easy to use - with the touchscreen or the keyboard. I was worried about the touchscreen and didn't want a touchscreen only phone because of the stories I had heard. This phone has the best of both - full keyboard and touchscreen, but I can tell you the touchscreen works flawlessly. I am really impressed at how easy it is to use. Web browsing is easy too, no need to buy an expensive data plan to surf the web. I use mine for work and play. I was a diehard motorola man, but LG has won me over. When I go shopping for appliances or a TV I will look closer at LG, they just seemed to get all the little details - well most of, the details right. You can't say that about motorola, there phones were starting to slip.

This one is a keeper, my only worry is how are they going to make the next one better? This one is that good.

p.s. - When shopping for a phone make sure if your a polarized sunglasses wearer like me that you can read that screen! This phone is TOTALLY readable wearing sunglasses. I traded in a samsung alias 2 for this LG - samsung was nice, but in landscape mode the screen was black, portrait it worked fine. Just something you probably wouldn't think of checking for in the store! And again this LG is great with polarized lenses.

Awesome phone! June 21, 2009

Reviewer:  Andrew Philip  (Massachusetts, USA) -

I upgraded from the LG Voyager to the LG Touch. I have to stress the word upgrade. Many of the things that I did not like about the LG Voyager were fixed with the LG touch. Let's focus on some great features of the LG Touch:

When typing a TXT message from the front touch screen, you can use the numeric keypad vertically or flip the phone horizontally to automatically receive a full QWERTY touch screen keypad. On top of having both of those types of TXT message entry, you also have a regular manual QWERTY keyboard inside of the phone for more precise texting. As much as I enjoy having a touch screen to txt, it is alot easier to TXT using the inside keypad.

The music player is awesome! This phone has a standard 1/8" headphone jack that you can use with ANY standard headphone set! When you push play, you can tilt the phone sideways and the viewer displays the album artwork similar to the iPhone. When you push the end key once it leaves a small player on the front screen.

You have a shortcut tab that is accessible from the front of the phone which you can drag icons from to the home screen. There is no auto arrange feature of the icons, you can drag and place them anywhere you want on the home screen.

When viewing pictures in your library, the inside view gives you more of an album view in sections of 9 pictures which is a lot easier searching through the pictures. The camera is very nice at 3.2 megapixels, with an auto focus feature and flash. The video has a full video editor that you can reduce the size of videos to be able to send in a txt.

There is also a favorite contact area where you can pick up to 10 people that you can quickly access to txt, email, call etc. Adding someone's picture to their contact is very easy to do where you can adjust, crop and re size their picture just how you want it. You can even do all these adjustments when picking your desktop wallpaper on the phone.

Aaaand... there is a document viewer. You can put Microsoft Excel, Word, Adobe PDF documents in the document folder on your micro sd card. Then when you open the document viewer, you can view all these documents on your phone.

The overall size of the phone is a little thinner then the Voyager and a tad wider with it's 3" internal and external screen. I could go on and on with the features that this phone has. I haven't found one thing that I dislike about this phone.

Verizon's best phone - a great combination of the top 3 phones June 10, 2009

Reviewer:  Conrad Alan "CA"  (San Francisco, CA) -

I think this phone is Verizon's best phone thus far. It is a great phone, and is a nice combination upgrade of the top three phones from Verizon (LG Dare, LG enV3, LG Voyager). The Blackberry Curve is VZW's top device, but I put that more as a PDA phone, rather than a regular phone with extra features (which is what the LG phones I listed above). I've had many phones from Verizon for about 10 years now; I have three lines in my account, and I upgrade my phone every year and the two other lines every other year. IMHO this is the best phone to come out of Verizon. The keyboard options are nice, though I find myself using the virtual keyboard more (I am used to the LG Dare). I like the animated scroll (though not as nice as the HTC Touch Diamond or Pro, but again, these two are more data device/PDA phones, rather than regular phones).

The screens for the LG enV Touch are quite nice, and definitely look a lot nicer than the LG Dare (and I like my Dare). On paper, the LG enV Touch screens are better. Both the internal and external displays of the LG enV Touch have 480x800 pixels, and 16 Million color levels (-vs- 240x400 pixels and 260K color levels on the Dare). So it makes sense that the Touch screens look better. (The Samsung Omnia screen is also 240x400 pixels and 65K color levels, so also inferior to the enV Touch). If you have a chance, take a look at them side-by-side at your local store... you will see what I mean, and the difference will be quite obvious.

The camera is quite impressive (3.2 MP) and the large screen size makes taking pictures a lot easier. Daytime shots come out decent. The night shots are not the greatest, but even regular cameras have problems with dark scenes. I've tried the flash feature, and it helps a tiny bit (but I would never use it again. LOL!)

I tested the data speed (via dslreports) and the reported speed was 812 kbit/sec, which is slower than my LG Dare (I got 1185 kbit/sec). I placed the phones on the same spot on my desk when I was running the tests, and ran one test per phone (one after the other) for 5 tests, and these are the average speeds of the 5 tests. I'm not sure why the Touch is slightly slower, given that both are EVDO Rev.A. I will next test the mobile broadband speed of both (results pending). One huge benefit is that the "unlimited" data usage for this phone is only $15/month instead of the $30/month like the other data phones (blackberry, omnia, htc, etc.)

The only negative feature I found was the disappointing battery life. I charge it overnight, take it off the charger at 7am, go to work, and by 2pm it has half the battery. This was consistent over the last 5 days I've had the phone. If I leave the phone alone for an hour or so, when I get back to it the battery is up to 3/4 charged (I did not charge it). I've even performed a hard reset (took the battery off while the phone was still on, waited over 30 sec, replaced the battery, turned the unit on, and charged overnight). No change in the battery life. I remember this was an issue with the LG Dare when it first came out a year ago, but the issue with the LG enV Touch is worse. I hope LG comes out with a fix for this (like they did with the Dare, and the battery life became significantly better).

Altogether, I have been very happy and impressed with this phone. Having tested this unit thoroughly and extensively, I highly recommend this phone. I am still running some more tests (bluetooth, mobile broadband & tethering, mobile web browsing, apps like VZ Navigator, etc.), and I will update this review in about a week.

Having said all this, the LG enV Touch is a GREAT iPhone alternative, but is far from being an iPhone killer. For those who are not on ATT and/or those who want to move from ATT, I highly recommend this phone.

Pros:
-Ext & Int screens are clear and large
-Camera takes great pictures (for a phone)
-FAST Mobile web...like my LG Dare
-EVDO Rev.A so mobile broadband with tethering is FAST
-dual keyboard (virtual and real)
-decent speakers
-clear sound for phone

Cons:
-battery life not very impressive. This is a pity, I actually gave this
phone 6 stars (out of 5) and docked one star for the battery, thus ending with 5 stars still.

The Best Phone I've Ever Had!! July 7, 2009

Reviewer:  Rockstar Romeraux  (Baker,Louisiana) -

Ok before buying this phone, I thought about getting an Ipod Touch, but was a little low on cash in the store. I was very dissapointed that I wasn't getting an Ipod Touch, until I spotted the EnVTouch from Verizon Wireless, for only [...] bucks. I just wanted it to listen to music on, but when I got home, I was in for an unexpected treat. I put music on my already owned SD Micro Card, and playback was excellent!! Theres only a small speaker on the front, but you have to flip it open to reveal a loud stereo dock like dual speakers, and a wide screen and keyboard of course. It play's just like an Ipod Touch(Album Art, Playlist's on the go, coverflow, download songs on the phone), and I was pleased because of this seince that was my initial choice. The contacts are cool too, they show the contactee's location(city/state), and sounds pretty good with no dropped calls. Now to the features. Like I said, the phone features a music player with coverflow, album art etc. It also features games that come on it like Need For Speed Undercover, Resident Evil Degeneration, & Tetris, unfourtunatly they are all demo's and you'll have to buy them to get the full enjoyment of them. It also features video recording and playback(Mp4), as well as a 3.2 mp Camera,(Best You Can Get).It also comes with tons of applications I haven't taken atvantage of yet. Oh and if your planning to load the phone itself with music, you won't be satisfied without an SD Micro Card, because this thing only comes with 161 MB (which isn't alot of memory for music). The good new's is that it takes SD cards up to the size of 16GB(which is pricy). For instance, I use a 2GB SD card with mine, and have about 200 songs on my phone with space to spare. Now to the most intruiging part....the touch screen feature. It's pretty cool as far as it goes with me. I've only had one time where the phone wasn't responding to my touch, so I had to touch it again and again about four times for it to finally cooperate. But this is only a problem I've had one time with. It's worked fine seince then. Overall I gave this phone a 5/5 rating, and hope to see more progress like this from Verizon in the future.

Great Phone, no big problems July 2, 2009

Reviewer:  Zippy G. 

I've only just got my enV Touch and really love it. I read all the reviews about the bad Touch, how it turns off randomly sometimes, etc. and was worried but still got it. I am really glad I did. the only problem with touch screen is when i am scrolling down through a list, but i quickly got used to it and realized u dont hit the scroll bar, but the middle of the screen and drag down.
my enV got to me in perfect condition, and all i had to do was turn it on and it immediately began setting up. I have had no glitches and am incredibly happy with it.
Maybe they fixed whatever everyone else is complaining about because mine is amazing. The camera can be overexposed with flash but it has some awesome editing features that are really fun to play around with.
As for the battery life, it is fine. The picture id just off. After you charge it it says the battery is full, even if it isn't. Then the bars leave soon, making you think the battery life is short. But its not, its just the picture messing up. I ordered mine at the online price with a two year family plan and only payed $100 for it.

Keeps shutting down June 19, 2009

Reviewer:  blutopaz01 "blutopaz01"  (Whitman, MA) -

I have the same phone, got it on the first day it was out. I don't have a leather case nor am I placing it near any other magnets... and, it loves to shut down, randomly... Otherwise, I love the phone.. I've exchanged it once already, so I too hope they get this problem fixed!

Decent phone if your not looking for much. December 14, 2009

Reviewer:  C. Ballard  (San Bernardino) -

When I first heard about the LG enV Touch I did all the research to make sure I was buying a phone that met my needs. The phone seemed to have everyting that I wanted: a physical keyboard, a touch screen for easy access to applications, the ability to access email, take notes, a non-smartphone with some smartphone capabilities, and the ability to custimize. After checking all the reviews from users and phone websites, I decided to go with the LG enV Touch. Keeping in mind that I was coming from a Blackberry Bold which I had to stop using because I had to go to Verizon and at the time I didn't want to pay alot of money for service by getting a smartphone.

The Good:
01. The phone looks good. I like the black finish, the two screens, and the ability to open the phone and rest it for viewing.
02. The features: calendar, note taking, calculator, threaded messaging, backup assistant, alarm clock, document viewer, voice commands, and the memory extension slot.

The Bad:
01. The touch screen on the two I have had were bad. The first one I had to take back because it stopped working completely. I used to calibrate the phone more than once a day. The one I have had now for 4 months is starting to go bad as well no matter how many times I calibrate the phone.
02. The batter life is horrible. All I have to do is check my email or talk for a few minutes and the batter loses a few bars (there are only 4 bars). I've heard people say it's because of the two screens but both screens are not on at the same time. Browing the internet will also kill the battery quickly and I don't do it all day.

These are issues specific to my use of the phone and may not be a problem for others:
03. I take alot of notes and the phone limits the amount of characters I can use in each note. I have to start a new note for the same material which is irritating for me.
04. I find it hard to put movies on my card that the phone will play. I am using the format for the phone and I also formated the card in the phone so I'm not sure what the problems is.
05. Deleting emails from the phone will not delete them from my actual account. Nowhere in the reviews that I have read or seen aaid anything about this.
06 No outside speaker for when you can't have the phone open. in my pocket for example.

Would I recommend this phone? Yes, if you are getting the phone for a child, or if you want a phone that has possibilities but you don't need much. Had I had known I would have these problems I would not have brought the phone. I guess I should stick with a smart phone because my Bold did everyting well, it was just boring to use. Now I realize that boring is better than irritating. I will hold on to the phone until I can get another (thankfully I got a one-year contract). For all of the enV Touch lovers out there I am not bashing the phone I am just stating why it doesn't work for me. Maybe someone could use that specific information. Either way you should always try out the phone because it may be perfect for you.