LG Vu CU920 Phone (AT&T)

Clearing up mis-reviews October 5, 2008

Reviewer:  D. Ross 

First, unlike a few of the reviews, I actually 1) own the phone and 2) waited to do the review. I like to know what I'm talking about when I review a product.

There's not much to add in the area of Pros and Cons. Everyone's just about covered the:

Great Screen, a little dim in full daylight, but very responsive.
My call quality is better than my HTC Tilt, reception better as well.
QWERTY keyboard is fantastic.
Very snappy interface.

The Cons that people are mentioning:

Battery life. Any 3G phone has a reduced battery life.

Here's how to turn off 3G on the Vu if you don't plan on using it.

1. Dial 277634#*# on the keypad to access the Test Menu
2. Select Modem Settings
3. Select Network Mode
4. Select Network Mode (again)
5. Select what bands you wish to be active. (select 2G if you want to make the 3G searching stop. This is what reduces battery life.)
6. Press the Clear/Back button until you return to the main screen

Shutting off 3G just about doubles the battery life. Also, someone said there is no charging indicator, that's wrong. It's right on the screen. Hopefully someone will make a hack to give percentages.

Good Phone But Not Quite a 5 Star Winner....Yet! May 7, 2008

Reviewer:  Always Samsung "ravereviews"  (New York, NY) -

Good Phone But Not Quite a 5 Star Winner....Yet!

I love Samsung phones and really haven't been impressed with LG's lineup whatsoever. So i've opted to stay away from any of their phones, up until now. They definitely seem to be churning out the phones at a more rapid pace then their competitors and they even come up with very clever designs. But as unique as the designs are it never seems to come close enough to get the cigar or win me over.

The LG VU920 (Includes TV feature) which the LGVU915 doesn't. I purchased the LGVU920 from Radio Shack one day when i was browsing and only did this because the phone was free. To my surprise after playing with it in the store i was actually pleased. The phone comes with ear phones which the 915 doesn't. Also the 920 has a TV feature which lets you watch TV In real time but only has a few channels at this time and it will cost an extra $15.00 per month for the TV data plan.

The phone is actually very easy to use. The touch screen is pretty solid but doesn't operate as fluid as the iPhone. But it does come pretty close. The touch screen has haptic feedback so whenever you touch an option it will vibrate a little to confirm the selection. The one thing i liked most about the iPhone was that you could watch YouTube video clips. Another shocker was so can the LGVU. Once again it's not as crisp & sharp as the iPhone but it's just as good. The iPhone does have one of the prettiest & sharpest screens on the planet but it will suffice. This phone also has many features that the iPhone doesn't. For one you can send MMS & Video Messages. Which is something the iPhone can't do and still can't do even with the new release. The phone also has a camcorder feature which the iPhone doesn't. I was hoping for a 5.0 mega pixel and above but will settle for the 2.0 standard that seems to be dominating the US. The poor battery life which everyone is complaining about is true. The phone is super thin so i didn't expect the battery life to be that long. Then again all my other flip phones seem to last the same amount of time as the LG VU. So, i'm not sure what other phones everyone else had before this, but my usual battery life on a cell is about 2 days with minimal use, internet, talk time, messaging, etc. I have a few complaints as well. The ear phone's are not 3.5MM so you can't just plug in any old ear phones. The ear phone slot is also where the charger jack is so you cant do both at the same time. For some strange reason the phone can not be on and charged at the same time, which is beyond annoying. Also when it's charging there is nothing that appears on screen to indicate if it's fully charged or not, which is another annoying flaw. But your best bet is to get a spare charger to carry around with you. Another complaint is that the Micro SD slot is located underneath the sim card so it's another nuisance to have to lift the back casing in order to access the SD slot. The phone also includes a full HTML browser so you can see websites as they would appear on your computer screen. Don't expect the Safari browser on this device but its pretty good none the less. Also you can use a stylus cause peoples fingers do tend to be a bit larger & can hit accidental keys by accident. You also get a full qwerty keyboard in landscape mode for sending text & MMS which the iphone doesn't have. The design is also the same material used on the Samsung Blackjack 2 (Black) so it does attract a lot of finger prints. Aside from those minor flaws here is to hoping the next model is leaps and bounds above the already fantastic LG VU. Overall i am very pleased with my purchase and for free, who can complain?

It's no iphone but at least it's insurable... July 4, 2008

Reviewer:  Louisa A. Ferrer  (Chicago, IL) -

Theres a lot I could write, but I'll simply list the pros and cons....

Pros:
*Touchscreen works EXTREMELY well
*Super lightweight
*Plastic Screen (trust me this is a plus if you drop your phone.. the iphone has a glass screen therefore breaks easily)
*You can use a stylus although I recommend a screen protector if you do
*Great reception
*Volume is loud
*Mobile TV works well



Cons:
*No 3.5mm headphone jack ( I can't even begin to explain how annoying that is for a so-called MEDIA phone)
*No Flash on the camera
*At&t fills the phone with tons of applications and other stuff that you can't delete
*Battery life is pretty awful
*The phone doesn't come with much extra... no usb cord... no real internal memory... and no headphone adapter
*The web browser definitely needs to be improved especially once you ZOOM

All in all I was tempted to return this phone, but since I have a job where my phone goes through a lot of abuse, the simple fact that this phone is insurable unlike the iphone was enough for me.

LG VU phone...$59.99 @Amazon....TV for ten year old at the Airport...PRICELESS!!! August 24, 2008

Reviewer:  D. C. Gartner  (atlanta, ga) -

I first notice the Vu phone in a CNET reiew around April this year, as one of AT&T's best phones for 2008. At the time AT&T wanted $199 with a two year contract. My contract was due to expire around May so I thought I would look at the view when they hit my local AT&T store. By July I still had not seen one in the flesh, so I decided that I would see what Amazon was selling them for. In the time I was waiting (all of three months from first release) the phone came down to 59 bucks. Sold!! I recieved my phone in about 3 days, inserted my old sim card and was off to the races. I know lots of folks use the new sim cards that come with the new phone but I have my contacts all on my old card and am too lazy to sinc with a PC. The phone is very easy to set up. I like things that are intuitive, you know (You don't have to use the Manual...it's a guy thing I'm sure), and the Vu is definitely one of these. I live in Atlanta and I had signed on for the AT&T TV service. I was really suprised at how good the picture is on this little screen, also the speaker on the phone puts out good sound quality,(It does come with a set of earphones). The phone also was very easy to set up for my e-mail account access. The touch screen is haptic (you get a vibration when you press the "keys"), and is actually set up for sensitivity on first start up, it "learns" how big and clumsy your fingers are and adjust the sensitivity of the "virtual keyboard" The phone is small enough to fit in a pants pocket, I did not find that to be the case with my last smart phone an AT&T Tilt, which always felt like a had a brick in my pants. On a scale of 1 to 5 stars I give it 4. The only problem that I have had is the battery life indicator does'nt give me a percentage left (My brick the tilt does this) and it seems that the phone is fully charged one second and dead the next. It does seem to last about 4 days on a charge though.
I hope that someone finds this helpful, one way or the other.

Love it for the voice quality, TV is great fun June 22, 2008

Reviewer:  Lewis Rothkopf  (New York, NY) -

My primary requirement when researching my next phone was outstanding voice quality, and I am really glad to say that the LG Vu really meets that need. Callers on the other end have told me that they can't tell I am on a cell phone, and on my end their voice is clear, crisp and natural-sounding. Since I spent a lot of time on the road, I want calls with clients and co-workers to sound professional, and this phone gets me there.

The other features are sure fun, but not the reason for my purchase. For email/calendar/contacts etc., I use my BlackBerry, but for voice calls (and yes, the TV functionality is amazing!!) this is my new go-to device.

Highly recommended.

Not impressed. June 20, 2008

Reviewer:  Anthony Pantliano "The Photo Guy"  (New York State) -

I bought the LG Vu to replace my Sony w810i and returned it. The phone is very attractive, though I expected the quality of the materials to be better. The touch screen works well, and the landscape QWERTY keyboard is great for text messages. Call quality is good and the speakerphone is loud.

Five problems though: 1) The screen is barely visable in the sun, 2) The camera is better than most phones at 2MP and Auto Focus, but there is no flash and the Sony's 2MP camera took better pictures, 3) I'm on a Mac and I don't want an iPhone because of the monthly service plan cost, but the LG Vu does not sync with my Mac and the Sony did, 4) It does not work as well with my Acura's HandsFreeLink in car bluetooth, it does not show the battery life or signal strength, 5) The contacts does not provide a space for birthdays or addresses.

If these issues don't matter to you then I'm sure you'll like the phone. I, however, was trying to upgrade phones, and a touch screen does not a great phone make.

P.S.: Sorry I can't comment on battery life or be more in depth, but I only had the phone for a day before I returned it. I purchased an unlocked Nokia N82 a few weeks later and that phone is far superior (although the price is high).

Nice Phone July 8, 2008

Reviewer:  Carlos H. Ortiz Jr. "CarlosO"  (Dalas TX) -

The LG VU is a solid phone but it does have its problems- mostly when
entering text.
First of all, QWERTY key board is a little on the small side, but as it
learns my most commonly typed words; it is getting a bit easier.
However, if you make an error and don't realize it, good luck trying to
maneuver the cursor where it needs to be due to the small entry field.
Secondly, you are also unable to set the QWERTY as the default keyboard.
At least I haven't found out how to do it.

I can't add my own ring tones. An error message keeps telling me it's
"non acceptable content". I also have not been able to change the
shortcut menu on the main screen. There are several applications that I
just don't use, and I would prefer to select my own, or at least hide
the ones I don't use. I also wish the shading could be changed so I
could see the photo I've chosen to use as my wallpaper.

I really don't care for the browser. As a former T-Mobile customer, I
really see no change in browser speed, even on the 3G network. However,
I've never been one to use the web much on my phone, so that's not too
much of a concern for me. I also purchased a 4GB card and it works
fine, but the phone has a hard time keeping up with the data, and it
seems like it's always searching for it.

I am sure most people are coming from a phone with standard keys, so
this is a nice change, and the touch screen is very easy to get used to.
On the downside, it is pretty much impossible to do anything without
looking directly at the phone. I actually went back to my old phone for
a bit and I kept tapping on the screen and getting upset until I
realized it was my regular phone! On a positive note, you will be able
to do most things on this phone within a day.

I almost forgot to mention the battery life! It sucks & sucks bad! I have to charge it 2 times a day. If I do return the phone that will be the reason for it.

overall I think the phone was a good buy for me at $80, and not having
to subscribe to a data plan was an added bonus. This phone also has
video, & Bluetooth A2DP which are really big pluses for me. Yes, I am
sure the iPhone can run circles around it as far as certain applications
go, but really none of that was high on my wants and needs list.

An underrated fun phone February 19, 2009

Reviewer:  M. Rogers  (Arkansas United States) -

After reading tons of user reviews on amazon.com and other websites, I still decided to take a chance and purchase this phone. In addressing some of the other reviews, here's my 2 cents:
- Why do people keep comparing this phone to an I-phone? If you had an I-phone, why would you downgrade to an LG Vu? I've never owned an I-phone, but I assume it's the cat's meow of cell phones, so don't put this phone down because it's not the same as an I-phone. This phone may not be as expensive as an I-phone, but at least you won't be forced to purchase a more expensive data plan (with AT&T, unlimited data plans for I-phones is $20 more than unlimited data plan for the LG Vu).
- Yes, the battery life could be better but if you're not constantly websurfing, playing games, emailing, and talking on the phone for hours and hours then the battery life isn't bad. So, even though the phone comes with a charger, I purchased a universal charger so that I can charge my phone through my pc and my vehicle. Now I can charge up my phone anywhere and anytime.
Overall, this is a fun phone that keeps me entertained. If you get this phone, you'll need a data cable because aparently LG didn't think a multimedia phone should have included a data cable; this is my only con with this phone (I wish cell phone companies would stop nickel-and-diming customers!). Also, get a memory card and a silicon case (the phone shows smudges and fingerprints very easily).

That's all for now...I hope my review helps someone out :-)

A solid performer with mods slowly coming in October 11, 2008

Reviewer:  W. Newberry "agent_47"  (st.simons.isl., GA United States) -

First of all this phone at heart is a solid cell phone with great call quality. There's currently quite a few mods available at lg-vu.com forum,lookup the mod section. There's an excellent slide them available that really makes this phone quite nice. I'll be honest when I first got this phone I hated it,but after giving it a chance to grow on me I love it. I got operamini working on my phone with a little work but after downloading an alternate version of 4.1 it works perfect. I don't like media net as much as opera,so at least you can use opera . You can also use orb on this phone which ,reported by some modders can be used to get free internet on the Vu. In our forum there's constantly new mods coming out for the Vu. Some of which make the phone much better than its default settings. Like for instance using operamini as opposed to medianet. By far the best feature of this phone is the mobileTv which looks much better than any streaming video you've seen on any cell phone to date. But with very limited markets for mobileTV you'll be hard pressed to get it in your area. If you are a heavy texter ,you might consider getting a phone with a dedicated keyboard,BUT SOME people like the Vu's touchscreen for texting. Again you can calibrate the touch screen to your finger touch style. I don't have any battery problems or battery life ,but I have turned off all of the touch feedback functions and little beeps and blips that arent't nessessary to the function of the phone. Just return the phone to its charger everynight and your good to go. The battery is memory free so ,don't be worried about keeping it on the charger when you get home. There is a battery life indicator and a signal strength indicator, I noticed other reviewers saying there isnt but there is ,at least on my version . If you want mobileTV this phone by far is the clear winner, NOT STREAMING jaggy but good qaulity broadcast with no buffering. Games are quite fun on the Vu and in the lg-vu.vom forum there's a download section for 32 games ,that don't cost very much. how about free all popular games. There's also current work on your forum of getting allot iPhone type mods like the keyboard ,drum,etc, There's even a user with OG Zelda working perfect on their Vu. This little phone is really capable of allot of upgrades and I'm always surprised at one comes out next. There's even a way to increase the volume beyond the max loudness of the phone, But you gotta be a little tech savvy to get it to work,but there are instructions and if you happen to brick your phone there's file backups so you can reset your phone . Is this the poor mans iPhone , you could say that, but this phone is good as a phone/phone and in the right hands will be a stellar phone. Bluetooth enabled beauty and you can get one free with a new plan at some other retailers if the flys on the wire so to speek hint hint.

Wow...Cnet must have been paid off for their review January 19, 2009

Reviewer:  B. Edwards 

Exchanging this garbage as soon as I can:

Pros:

form factor: lightweight, great, pocketable size. I prefer the plastic of this phone to the iPhone since it cuts down on weight.

Vibrate confirmation...love this feature

LCD quality/size...seems better than average

Cons:
Will just list the biggest ones since there are so many:

call quality is awful...hiss in background on every call

3g is terrible (faster on other 3g phones I have tried), even when I get all bars ...this could be related to the fact that the phone itself is slow...

Hangs up quite a bit with internet connections, mail

touch screen is terrible...impossible to scroll using the screen, you have to use the bars on the side, otherwise you will most likely SELECT instead of scroll. Needs some MAJOR haptics work here.

Where the f is the headphones jack? Obviously not standard... -50 points there. Good lord.

Battery life if you even view a couple of CNN videos...completely shot. So to use the phone to watch anything, you better be plugged in somewhere.

Phone LOCKS while you are calling! This is insanely annoying. Esp when At&T for instance prompts you to PRESS 4 for customer service. Wow...who designed that?!

Can't use the great qwerty keyboard to input contacts! wtf!? I actually like the QWERTY keyboard on the Vu, but you rarely get to use it.

Going back today...but for what?! Don't know. I have heard bad things about Incite as well, so maybe Samsung or iphone?