LG enV2 (VX9100) Review

| By Kylene Kiang

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Verizon Wireless services include VCast Music and Video, and VZ Navigator. VCast Music provides more than three million songs from both well-known and independent artists. With VZ Navigator, the enV2 gives audible turn-by-turn navigation to addresses and more than 14 million points of interest, from ATMs and gas stations to restaurants and tourist destinations.

Fans have praised the phone for its vivid 262,000 color screens, great audio quality and overall user friendliness. Advanced features like auto text readout, message sort and the ability to store up to 300 text messages now make your texting habit something to celebrate.

Design

Opinion of the design -- which comes in your choice of classic black or dark maroon -- goes both ways. Some have heralded the enV2 for its stellar improvements to its ungainly predecessor, the enV, but its size remains somewhat bulky compared to slimmer and sleeker mobile phones on the market. Measuring in at 4.0-by-2.1-by-0.7 inches and 4.2 ounces, the design might remind you of a pocket translator or handheld LCD game. But for a phone with a keyboard that's actually comfortable to type on, the extra bulk is definitely worth it.

The external face is framed in a shiny chrome trim, prone to fingerprint smudges, but still very sleek. Above the 1.5-inch LCD display screen is the earpiece, and below that is a wonderfully easy-to-use keypad. The size of the buttons is just right -- even for large hands -- and has a great touch that doesn't feel greasy after a few dialed calls. Enhanced by a soft white backlighting, the keypad also includes dedicated keys for the music player, up/down scrolling, voice-activated commands, vibrate mode, lock/unlock, speakerphone, send message and power/end.

Open up the phone and admire the 1.5-by-2.4 inch 262,000 color screen, which is flanked by speakers and tiny emblems for LG and Verizon. Below the screen are two soft control keys, used primarily to access messaging functions and contacts. To the right of the keyboard are the "send" and "power/end" buttons, toggle control, "clear" and a one-touch speaker phone button. On the far left are function, shift and a symbol key. The two space bar buttons are located on the bottom corners, where your thumbs would normally rest while holding the phone to type.

The flip side has a soft, matte finish and houses the phone's internal antenna and camera lens. Below that is the battery, and on the bottom edge is the charger port, microphone and a carrying hole on the bottom left corner to attach a hand strap. Volume controls and a camera-dedicated button are located on the right side panel, while a 2.5mm headset jack and microSD card slot are located on the left side panel.

Verizon has made considerable improvements to its menu interface. With the enV2, menu customization is a snap. Choose from tabbed, icon grid or list -- whatever layout you feel most comfortable with. You can also select the menu mode that best suits your usage needs. Select the multimedia setting and get icons for videos, games and VCast right on your main menu screen. Or choose the messaging setting to get shortcuts to mobile IM, email and your contacts list.

Overall, this is a clamshell phone that looks good both opened and closed. It boasts a sleek outer design while the keypads -- perhaps this phone's greatest asset -- are wide and comfortable to use. Out of the box, the enV2 comes with a battery, travel charger and user manual.

Camera

The 2-megapixel camera takes pictures in four resolutions: 1,600-by-1,200 (default), 1,280-by-960, 640-by-480 and 320-by-240 pixels.

Users also have their choice of a 10x Zoom, Brightness Levels, White Balance (Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent and Glow), Night Mode, Self-Timer (3, 5 or 10 seconds), Color Effects (Black and White, Negative, Aqua and Sepia), Shutter Sounds (Default Ring, Cheese, and Ready 123) and a Self-Portrait Mode. Then access the "My Pictures" folder to Zoom, Crop and Rotate pictures using the phone's easy-to-use image editor. For photo printing, the enV2 is Bluetooth enabled for transferring images directly to a compatible printer.

Utilizing a nearly the same set of image capture and edit options, the camcorder can record up to 30 seconds of video for sending and up to one hour of video for saving onto the phone. Videos can be shot in either 320-by-240 or 176-by-144 pixel resolutions and can be saved in WMV, MP4, 3GP or 3G2 formats. Videos under 5-megabytes can also be set as wallpaper.

It doesn't have a flash, but in the right conditions -- and a little knowledge of the Brightness and White Balance controls -- image quality is actually better than most camera phones.

Basic Features

The enV2 comes with the basic set of phone features -- speakerphone, multimedia messaging (MMS), voice commands, alarm clock, world clock, stopwatch, notepad, calculator, tip calculator, calendar -- plus some extras like an icon glossary and keypad security code options.

Specialized call features include Answer Options (Flip Open, Any Key, Auto with Handsfree), End Call Options (Flip Close, End Key Only) and Auto Call Retry that can be set to redial every 10 seconds, 30 seconds or 60 seconds. The phone also utilizes TTY mode for the hearing or verbally impaired. Its battery is rated up to 5 hours of talk time and 21 days of standby time.

Screen

The enV2 sports two striking 262,000 color TFT displays. On the exterior is the smaller of the two screens with 160-by-64 pixel resolution that displays the basics: signal strength, date, time, battery life, caller ID and SMS text. The only downside is that some may find the text on the front screen (which measures at about 1.5-by-0.75 inches) to be a little too small, even for reading caller ID.

The interior screen, on the other hand, is a true pleasure to view. Measuring in at approximately 1.5-by-2.4 inches, this TFT (Thin Film Transistor) screen displays images at fast refresh rates that are sharp and vivid for viewing pictures and video. Screen lighting on both displays is strong enough so images can be viewed readily even in bright outdoor lighting.

Audio

Audio quality is excellent with or without headphones or stereo headsets. MP3 tracks from Verizon's VCast video service resonate loud and clear from speakers located prominently on both sides of the large interior display screen. The phone operates on a digital dual-band network, accessing CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) 800 MHz and 1900 MHz networks for superior call quality and fewer dropped calls.

Additional audio features include one-touch speakerphone, conference calling, speaker-independent voice dialing, text to speech capability and voice recording for up to an hour, depending on available memory. The enV2 has a continuous talk time of approximately 5 hours and 20 minutes.

The enV2 comes with 23 ringtones, silent and alarm-only modes and a particularly strong vibrate setting. With Verizon VCast, you can take the personalization factor a step further by purchasing Ringback Tones that play for your callers right before you pick up the call. In case you don't want your favorite 80s rock anthem to play while your boss calls you during work hours, you can specify the time of day to activate your Ringback Tones.

Messaging

Advanced features like message sorting, auto text readout and a 300 message inbox capacity make the enV2 a sound choice for SMS addicts.

Text messages and preset messages can be created with up to 160 characters and sent to as many as 10 recipients at once. (Text messages drafted from the exterior keypad can only be sent to one recipient at a time.) You can save drafts automatically, leave callback numbers, add graphics, animations, sounds, signatures, name cards and one of 14 "quick text" preset messages like "Thanks," "Wanna meet up?" and "You're the best!"

Other types of messaging include basic Web-based email and instant messaging with AOL Instant Messenger, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo messenger.

Entertainment

Verizon's answer to mobile entertainment is its VCast service for streaming videos and music. For $15 a month, 3G broadband data service enables you to download on-demand news and entertainment to your handset at prompt speeds of about 300- to 500-kilobytes per second. VCast also offers downloadable games (The enV2 doesn't come with any), display themes, ringtones and callback tones.

VCast offers a huge array of short, entertaining videos -- little nuggets of amusement meant to be watched while riding the train or waiting at the airport. One- to five-minute video clips from VCast cover a broad range of tastes including content from CNN mobile, ABC News Now, FOX Sports, Adult Swim, TMZ.com, Comedy Central, and even a DC Comics channel exclusive to Verizon.

Internet

Access to the Verizon's mobile Web 2.0 comes with ease thanks to the high-speed Ev-Do connection that links users to email, news and instant messaging -- Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger and Windows Live Messenger -- wherever they go. The enV2 isn't a smartphone -- browsing Web sites that aren't formatted for mobile devices can seem a bit clumsy and frustrating -- but if you're just in need of the basics -- weather, news headlines and sport scores -- then Verizon's version does the trick.

Storage

The enV2 carries about 63-megabytes of internal memory, so if users are planning to upload a sizeable playlist to their phone, be prepared have a microSD card handy to store the extra files. Cards of up to 8-gigabytes will work fine with the enV2. Compared to other phones that may have 70- or 80-megabytes of storage, the enV2 runs on the smaller side of storage a multimedia phone.

As for other forms of data storage, the enV2 can store up to 300 text messages and its phone book can store up to 1,000 entries with each entry holding a maximum five numbers, two email addresses, and a photo ID from the My Pictures folder.

Connectivity

The enV2 comes with Bluetooth functions and the ability to save up to 20 profiles, including those for headsets, most handsfree devices, dial-up networking, advanced audio distribution with stereo support, sending and printing user-generated images, phone book access, file transfer and sending data for vCards and vCalendars. Bluetooth accessories are sold separately.

Another plum feature is the VZ Navigator GPS system, which gives audible turn-by-turn directions to help locate U.S. landmarks, restaurants and ATMs. Thanks to a loud speakerphone and large internal display screen, the enV2 can also double as a handy pocket GPS.

Conclusion

If users are into text messaging and emails on the go, then the enV2 should be at the top of their shopping list. In addition to an ergonomically-sound keyboard, this well-designed phone provides standard messaging options for the no frills consumer who may not want all the bells and whistles (or cost) of a smartphone, like the Apple iPhone or BlackBerry Pearl, which utilize actual Web browsers.

As with many multimedia phones, one downside to the enV2 package is that many of the accessories needed to fully appreciate all of its features -- like MP3 downloads and Bluetooth functions -- must be purchased separately. Extra purchases might include a USB cable, headphones and microSD card.

Agree or disagree? We'd love to hear your thoughts. Share your experience and leave a comment below. ♦