LG enV2 VX9100 Phone, Black (Verizon Wireless)

Great little phone with lots of extras May 18, 2008

Reviewer:  Donna Reynolds  (Syracuse, NY United States) -

My Verizon contract was up in November, but I debated for months as to whether I should re-up, change providers, or just stay with Verizon with no contract. I wanted a new phone, but couldn't decide what I needed. I was stuck in inertia. I was also afraid that the day after I bought a phone, something new would be released and I'd be kicking myself for two years!

Waiting paid off. Early in May, Verizon introduced the LG enV2, a nifty cross between a regular cell phone and a smart phone. I decided to step into the 21st century and ordered one in a snazzy maroon color.

Can I say I love this phone! As a phone, it blows me away. The sound is crystal clear and the battery life astounding. I even love the selection of standard ring tones. But beyond being a phone, the enV2 is like carrying around a miniature laptop.

I took a month's free trial on Verizon's Internet access plan and have been enjoying checking email and reading news on my phone. I didn't think I needed it, but I find that when I'm stuck somewhere waiting or away from home or my office, it's great to be able to check email. I'm definitely going to stick with this feature.

The phone looks great and opens up to display a miniature QWERTY keyboard that makes writing text messages simple. Plus it just looks cool!

I would recommend this phone to anyone who wants something more than a simple phone but doesn't want to invest in a full smart phone. The LG enV2 is smart enough for me!

a few annoying flaws make this phone less than perfect June 5, 2008

Reviewer:  Arthur P. Haviland Jr. "AirshowFan"  (Tampa Bay, Florida) -

I upgraded from my Razr V3m to the enV2. I used Verizon's backup assistant to store the contacts from my Razr before the new LG phone arrived. That made it a breeze to download them to the enV2. Verizon now charges you to transfer your contacts from phone to phone at their retail stores. Shipping was quick with FedEx and I had the phone in two days. Verizon had a $[...] online rebate that I would not have received in a store, making the net cost of the phone $[...].

Voice quality has been good, but I've seen more dropped calls than I had with the Razr. I have a partial hearing loss but I have no problem hearing with this phone. As others have commented, the keypad feels like a calculator, which is fine. The numbers are large, which saves me from hunting for my reading glasses. The outside display is small, but large enough to easily see the information displayed.

Some people have complained about the MUSIC key on the outside keypad. I like it, as the ability to play mp3s was one reason I choose this phone. When the phone arrived, I inserted the 1 gb micro SD card that had been in my Razr and the enV immediately recognized the tunes that were stored on the card. Not satisfied with 250 soungs, I purchased an 8 gb card to store my library of 1,600 songs. That was too much for the enV2 to swallow. After waiting 90 minutes for the songs to load on the phone, I gave up and went back to the 1gb card. Another attempt with only 2 gb of music would not load after an hour of waiting. As I said, this phone is less than perfect. Using the Verizon Vcast software and a good cable, I was able to upload my entire library and have the phone recognize it on the 8gb card, but it took several hours to do this.

The inside qwerty keypad is handy, but small. If you have large hands like I do, it will not be easy to text. I use my thumbnails to avoid hitting the wrong keys. The 2.4" inside display is clear and easy to navigate. For texting and email, this phone rocks! While waiting out an airport delay, I was able to use AIM to catch up with friends. The phone let's you select from AIM, Yahoo or Windows Messenger. You pay for every text you send and receive, so make sure you have a message plan! Also, make sure to turn OFF instant messaging when you don't want to use it. Simply exiting the program will not do this and you will see dozens of IMs coming through from your buddies (not a good idea when you are at work).

The calendar feature is handy, but it is buried in the tools menu. That's easy to fix by including it in your shortcuts which can be accessed by pressing the right arrow key on the internal keypad.

On the positive side, I had no problem mating the enV to my Motorola bluetooth headset. A lot of states require hands free while driving, so that was handy. Another option is using the speaker phone, but the enV doesn't make that easy. You have to open the flip to activate the speaker phone. This should have been put on the outside keypad.

As a professional photographer, I will not be using this phone to replace my gear but the photo quality was the best I have seen from a camera phone. I was able to easily rotate and crop two photos using the software in the phone to add the images as my internal and external wallpaper. That was cool.

The Vcast video is nice. You can download ESPN MVP if you are a sports junkie. There's a free trial so you can decide before you buy. Mobile Web 2 let's you check your Yahoo or Hotmail email from the phone. While it doesn't have an html browser, the email is handy and it will cost you a lot less than a blackberry!

I would rate the phone 9 out of 10. The flaws are small. I can live with the mp3 problem as I have an ipod, but it would have been nice if it had worked better.

Update 1/5/09: Using Verizon's Vcast program, I was able to download all of my music to the phone but it took over four hours to transfer 5gb of mp3s. After a few months, I had a problem with the battery retaining a charge. My local Verizon store was nice enough to give me a new phone. After a few weeks, I went to play some music and realized that when they gave me the new phone, they never replaced my 8gb microSD card. Ouch! The new phone is working fine. I have not had the problem of "pocket dialing" that some have complained about. On the contrary, the locking feature activates quickly, sometimes too fast for you to select the feature you are looking for in the menu before the phone gets locked again. My next phone will have an html browser, something this phone lacks.

Awesome phone...some Verizon problems June 6, 2008

Reviewer:  telephone 

This is an absolutely awesome product. I have been playing with it for the past two days, and it is just incredible. Such an improvement over the original enV. On the front, the keypad is extremely satisfying to type on. The screen is small, but perfect for what is supposed to do (telling time, showing signal strength etc.) The keyboard is very nice and makes typing anything awesome. Even if you are not a huge texter, this keyboard is so much better than any regular cell phone number/letter pad. The internal screen is also great. Great quality, everything is very sharp. The speakers are also very nice, and sound good. So does the speakerphone.

My only problem with this phone is about Verizon. Ringtones are $2.99, songs are expensive, data transfer also costs money, even using the VCAST video service costs $3.00 a day, the email client is expensive, so is VZ navigator. Games also run on subscription. If you don't use many of these things, then you should have no problem. But I think that Verizon is really being greedy. Many more things should be involved with the service contract. Other than this, this is a perfect phone.

Also note, it is much smaller in person than it is on the screen.

Gladly change rating to a 5 if they fix the pocket dialing problem!!! May 27, 2008

Reviewer:  R. Calnan "rjcalnan"  (Livonia, NY) -

This phone is absolutely incredible in EVERY WAY .... but:

The darn keyguard functionality is KILLING ME!!! Since there are keys on the outside of the phone, it's very easy to press them inadvertently while the phone is in your pocket, and usually dial someone's number.

The phone only requires you to hit the "ok" button to unlock the phone, which is quite simple to do since it's at the top middle, and the largest one too.

What most of us online are requesting from Verizon/LG is that a 3 number code is required to unlock it instead of just the OK button.

If they implement something of that sort, and quickly, this phone will get a 5/5 rating from me, and probably everyone that has it.

Fantastic call quality, texting couldn't be easier, screens are awesome (the outside screen is small but VERY functional - doing everything needed perfectly), and the call quality is fantastic, as is the battery life.

So, 5/5 for everything but the darn keyguard on the outside keys.

Enjoy!!!

Why EnV2 over Voyager... July 27, 2008

Reviewer:  D. Bowman "Tech Dork"  (LA, CA) -

I have a Voyager. I love it, but my wife has the EnV2 and it is a better well thought out phone.
(I have personally owned the V & EnV in the past)

The Voyager has two large displays. The screen on the inside is the same as the screen on the outside. I don't think you need two large displays. That is where the EnV2 is a smarter phone. When the EnV2 is "closed" it works like a great phone. The buttons are big and the display is just the right size to display the numbers that you are dialing or displaying incoming calls.

If you want to use the multi-media functions of the phone (text, video, music etc.) go ahead and open the phone to get the large display and keyboard.

The biggest problem with the Voyager is the length of time or the required "accuracy" of your touch screen abilities to just access your phone book and pull up your stored numbers. With the EnV2, it is so much easier to quickly pull up numbers. Mostly because the keyboard is always "visible" and you have up and down keys to scroll through numbers. With the Voyager, you have to ask for the number keys to be displayed and due to the lack of arrow up and down keys you have to use finger swipes on the touch screen to scroll. This is quite tricky and at times annoying. You can solve all of this just by opening the Voyager, but you should be able to easily access your stored numbers much more easily when the phone is closed.

The EnV2 is a well thought out phone with all of the bells and whistles of the other LG phones and better functionality. You can't go wrong with the phone. Buy with confidence.

Great phone May 26, 2008

Reviewer:  Sandra  (Chicago, IL) -

I love this phone. It has a very bright and large screen inside, and the battery life is terrific. The battery lasts so much longer than my previous Motorola Razr and Samsung Alias. The qwerty keyboard is also great. The keys are a good size and they are responsive with a nice click; overall it is very comfortable and easy to use. The space keys are off to the side, but you can get used to this quickly. What I love most about this keyboard are the separate number and period keys; it makes it so much easier for texting. I previously had a Samsung Alias, but I did not like the fact that the keys were so tiny and that the numbers and letters shared the same keys. This phone has solved that problem. The screen on the outside is small, however, it is very bright and I like the fact it allows the number keys to be large. The large number keys and the responsiveness makes it very easy to dial.

I highly recommend this phone.

Fantastic Little Phone June 23, 2008

Reviewer:  Kyle L. Bagnall "KLB"  (Pennsylvania, USA) -

I was amazed - so many features, including the full size keyboard and yet so small. The sound quality is fantastic. Where I live, I usually don't have a signal issue, but in the few "dead zones" that I pass through, I've found that this phone holds a signal.

The battery can't be beat either. I charged my phone on a Sunday afternoon, and on the following Friday it still had juice. That was after several hour long phone calls and nearly 200 text messages!

The ONLY reason that I gave this phone 4 stars instead of five, is because I find that when the phone is flipped open, the screen is VERY hard to see in daylight. For instance, reading something on the larger screen while sitting in the car. The front screen is always easy to see though.

It came with some nifty ring tones pre loaded. I also like the fact that the Verizon Navigation system was preloaded on the phone. The voice announcements (a voice will announce who is calling and from what line before ringing - for instance. "Call from John Cell") is neat as well.

I would highly recommend this phone to anyone.

Best Media/Texting phone out there... May 31, 2008

Reviewer:  Alex Hortin  (Seattle WA) -

We switched over to Verizon from T-Mobile a few days ago, and after a little bit of research decided that I wanted this phone. I have been tinkering around with it and it's the best phone I have ever owned. While not quite a smartphone, it does everything I could possibly want off a portable media player. While the outside is a little boring but functional the inside is great for texting, watching videos (iPod format works perfect), listening to music etc.

I bought an LG stereo handsfree earbuds and its great when my phone rings I can answer by pressing a button when listening to music, and when the call ends the music just turns back on. The interface for playing music isnt as polished as the ipod or zune, but having an MP3 player built into a phone I take everywhere makes me wonder if I even need to keep my Zune subscription.

I also am really enjoying the qwerty keyboard, and don't see myself owning a phone in the near future without one. Coming from a RAZR, which could only store 32 messages, and with T9 recognition, texting is now a much better way to communicate. I think this phone stores something like 300msgs so I never will have to see that "Inbox" full again.

Another interesting thing is the power this phone has for a gamer, specifically one interested in Metal Gear Solid. The full metal gear solid 3d mobile game can be played on this phone (google for youtube videos). It has 3d graphics that are in many ways comparable to the MGS on PS1. I have been having a lot of fun playing it.

Service and sound quality are great, but truthfully the most enjoyment I have gotten out of this phone was when I acquired a MicroSDHC card and started putting media on it and text messaging.

Cons: Froze twice playing MGS, verizon's mobile browser sucks for web surfing....needs to support Opera Mobile

Overall I am extremely impressed and would say that this is the best midrange phone in the verizon linup

Lots of good some bad for me. June 8, 2008

Reviewer:  L. Albenice 

Verizon EnV2 - LG 9100

What I like:

* USB Memory slot up compatible up to 8 gigs.
* 2.0 MP camera w/ video.
* Music player that shows album art.
* Large inside screen to see text and video.
* Chat, email and navigation systems.
* Easy menu system.
* Qwerty keyboard - great for fast texting.

What I don't like:

Inside - When phone is open

* Not made for people who like to use their left hand. The arrows and ok buttons are on the right. This is a major issue for me.
* Message and contact buttons are far away from the arrow pad. These should be closer together. This forces you to use both hands with many functions when you should only need one (taking pictures, video, etc.).
* The volume controls and camera shutter button can only be used when the screen is open flat all the way. How awkward!
* You need to press the "Symbol" key first to get the pound # and star * keys (annoying when accessing VM or other automated systems).
* Camera lens is placed where you need to put your finger to hold the camera steady. No flash or lens cover.

Outside - When phone is closed

* There are no left and right function arrows on the front, only up and down.
* The speaker can only be used only when the phone is open with full keyboard.
* The front screen is very small.
* Taking pictures you have to hold it lengthwise - very cumbersome.

* Doesn't get a lot of games! - No Guitar hero?

Well I was going to return it because of the awkward picture/video taking, and lack of left hand functionality, but I think I'll keep it. It is pretty cool overlooking the aforementioned nitpicks.

This is the phone for 99% of the world! July 23, 2008

Reviewer:  F. Fazio 

This phone rocks. QWERTY keyboard is very easy to type on. TON of features, too many to list. Optional V-Cast is very cool and not that expensive compared to most smart phone data plans. The phone is also very compact. If you don't want to pay the high data prices of a smart phone and just want a good phone that is easy to text on with the added benefit of some basic online access as well as IM and email access, this is the phone for you.

My only gripe is that there is no way to use the speakerphone with the phone closed.