Mobiles Review

With tri-band compatibility, enhanced voice dialing, a VGA camera with lens cover, and more, the VX-6100 is a technologically advanced phone wrapped up in a stylish package.

Design
The phone features a traditional clamshell design with a large 128 x 160 color display with support for a whopping 262,000 colors. The outside cover features a supplementary 96 x 64 monochrome display that can display time, call information, battery and signal strength, and more. The VGA (640 x 480) camera unit, flash, and lens cover are housed just above the supplementary display. A Most of the phone’s features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button on the handset’s blue backlit control pad. A USB-compatible data and charging ports are housed on the unit’s bottom edge. There’s a standard jack to accept universal hands-free headsets on the left side of the handset.

Calling Features
The LG VX6100’s built-in address book can store up to 499 contacts for quick and easy management of phone numbers and email addresses. The phone comes with built-in polyphonic ringtones plus a vibrating alert. The VX6100’s enhanced voice dialing supports voice-to-digit dialing and name recognition for speedy dialing of contacts. The phone’s voice recognition software supports voice commands from any user, not just a pre-programmed user’s voice. A built-in speakerphone makes it easy to talk without having the phone to your ear and GPS location technology pinpoints your exact location when you dial 911. Finally, the phone’s picture ID system allows you to assign pictures to your most common callers.

Messaging, Internet and Tools
The LG VX6100 is a messaging powerhouse with support for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), which allows you to send picture messages as easily as text and graphics. When used in combination with the phone’s built-in camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. T9 text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit??“ a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.

Getting on the Internet anywhere is easy with the LG VX 6100, as well.

The LG VX6100 ships with a calendar and scheduler, as well as a voice memo application with up to 4 minutes of record time. An alarm clock and calculator are also included, as is the very handy restaurant tip calculator. Never dine without it!

Imaging and Entertainment
The VX6100 really shines in the digital imaging department. The 640 x 480 camera features a digital zoom, white balance and brightness controls, and a flash. There’s also a shutter self timer for getting your friends, as well as YOU, in shot.

The fun doesn’t stop with taking pictures. The LG VX6100 is BREW enabled, meaning it supports games written on the BREW platform; many games are available via the Get It Now service. The phone also features customizable screen backgrounds so you can make your phone reflect your personality.

Vital Statistics
The LG VX-6100 weighs 3.88 ounces and measures 3.56 x 1.90 x 0.94 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3 hours of digital talk time, and up to 150 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the AMPS 800/CDMA 800/CDMA 1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.

What’s in the Box
LG VX6100 handset, home charger, standard lithium-ion battery, holster, user’s manual.

Intro
The LG VX5200 for Verizon Wireless is the follow-up to last year’s VX6100. Although far from a full-featured smart phone, the VX5200 is a good choice if you spend a large chunk of time on the go with the need to communicate. And even if you want a few more options??“after all, the modern-day phone isn’t just for calling people anymore??“LG has managed to successfully address the multimedia concerns of the midrange cell phone user, adding functionality and features not available on the VX6100. On the downside, however, the VX5200’s design has yet to integrate superior quality displays. Overall, you get what you pay for, and the LG VX5200 is a bargain at $119 (or cheaper with service).

Design
The elliptical design of the LG VX5200 is sleek and attractive. We also like the two-tone midnight blue and silver front flap. The handset measures 3.5 by 1.98 by 0.9 inches and weighs a slightly hefty 4.16 ounces, but it fits nicely in the palm of your hand and is easy to fish out of a pocket or purse. Of course, the large protruding antenna is cause for concern if you are rough on your phone. Still, the construction of the VX5200 is solid, and we found the phone easy to open and shut.

The 65,000-color external display is a definite improvement upon the VX6100’s grayscale screen, and despite the postage-stamp size, it manages to pack in a lot of information, including the signal strength, the time, battery life, and an entire bar of indicator icons. Yet, not all was good. Unfortunately, the VX5200 doesn’t allow the user to adjust the backlighting time on the external display, nor does the external display show picture caller ID. The camera lens and the flash remain in a convenient place, sitting just above the display. The location made it easy to get our fingers out of the way when taking shots, and we easily took self-portraits using the display as a viewfinder. We are disappointed, though, that the VX5200 has no sliding lens cover, as does the VX6100.

The button on the right side of the LG VX5200 activates the camera and clicks pictures without having to open the front flap. The left side of the handset has a volume rocker, which we’re happy to note remained disabled when the phone wasn’t in use, preventing us from accidentally turning down the ringer volume on the phone if pressed against the side of our purse or pocket. A key just below the volume control opens the voice-command menu, while a headset jack??“sans a rubber cover??“sits just above the rocker. The single feature on the rear face of the VX5200 is the speakerphone.

A design flaw on the interior of the LG VX5200 concerns the internal display. Yes, we were able to read the well-designed menus in bright and dark conditions, but the overall quality wasn’t too sharp, which made playing games and viewing photos somewhat tedious. The 65,000-color screen, at 1.7 inches diagonally, also could have been larger, given the current height and width of the handset. You get a choice of two font sizes and four display themes, none of which are remarkable. You can change the contrast and the backlighting as well.

Features
The LG VX5200 has a 500-contact address book. Each entry holds five phone numbers and two e-mail addresses. You can also categorize contacts into caller groups or pair them with a ring tone or picture for caller ID. But don’t get too excited, as neither function is very well executed. The picture doesn’t show up on the external display, and the measly five monophonic and five polyphonic ring tones available on the VX5200 were embarrassing in public places. That said, our friends and coworkers insisted that “Jungle Boogie” was not much of an improvement. Other features include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, 1-minute voice memos, support for instant messaging, a calendar, a world clock, an address book, a tip calculator, and a full-duplex speakerphone. We also downloaded software so that we could access our Hotmail account. Overall, the handset’s 16MB of memory is impressive, holding up to 100 voice-recorded memos, 200 pictures, and 98 unique speed-dial settings.

As mentioned earlier, the strongest feature of the LG VX5200 is the voice-recognition command menu, allowing users to access many of the handsets’ key features with just their voice. After training the speaker-independent voice-recognition software, we successfully used voice commands to make simple phone calls, access our voicemail, call up our contact book, and edit our contacts, as well as check for missed calls or received messages, the time and the date, and the status of our phone. Using the speakerphone for voice commands worked fairly well; it understood our voice commands about 75 percent of the time. We would have liked to use the voice-command menu to add appointments to the calendar, but this wasn’t a supported feature.

Performance
We tested the dual-band/trimode (CDMA 800/1900; AMPS 800) LG VX5200 in the San Francisco area on Verizon’s network, and call quality was generally good. We had no trouble with the sound quality, and although callers said we sounded far away and tinny when compared to our normal cell phone, no one mistook the call being made from a landline. Also, we did get interference when we sat too close to our computer or car speakers. Criticisms aside, we were impressed with the clarity and sound of the VX5200’s speakerphone, and while we didn’t experience any dropped calls, we did get network busy signals on two separate occasions.

Battery life was impressive. We beat the rated talk time of 3.3 hours, reaching a total time of 4.5 hours on a single charge. Our standby time was nearly 5 days, a bit less than the promised time of 6.8 days. The phone did not heat up after continued use of more than 20 minutes, and the sound quality didn’t decline. According to FCC radiation tests, the LG VX5200 has a digital SAR rating the 1.23 watts per kilogram and an analog SAR rating of 1.26 watts per kilogram.

Intro
It’s often said that life is all about compromise, and to that end, cell phones are no exception. Take, for example, the LG VX8000. While its multimedia capabilities make it one of the most well-endowed mobiles on the market, it’s missing one major component: Bluetooth. Fortunately, LG has corrected this omission in its VX8100, much more than just a simple upgrade of its predecessor. While both are flip handsets that offer EV-DO connectivity and a 1.3-megapixel digital camera, the VX8100’s smaller, contoured body and dark-turquoise color are a big improvement upon the boxy and bulky silver makeup of the VX8000. Also, we are pleased to see the addition of an expandable memory slot. However, not all about the VX8100 is better. Although faster for downloading, especially for V Cast video clips, the VX8100 has less battery life, and the display size is a bit smaller. Even more important, we are extremely disappointed to see that some promised features have been disabled. The handset is priced at $249.99 with a one-year contract or $149.99 with a two-year contract.

Design
Where aesthetics and ergonomics are concerned, LG has decided to eschew the flashy for the functional. Except for its unusual, dark-turquoise clamshell cap and its multimedia control array beneath the external display (we’ll get to that later), the LG VX8100 is similar to dozens of other handsets from a variety of cell phone manufacturers. But given recent industrial-design excesses executed purely for the sake of product differentiation by handset makers, this likeness isn’t necessarily a bad thing, nor is it a critique. As we said before, the VX8100’s curved lines are an improvement upon the boxy form of the LG VX8000.

There are several minor but significant ergonomic differences between the VX8100 and the VX8000. As noted, at 3.58 by 1.92 by 1.03 inches??“compared with its predecessor’s 3.76 by 1.97 by 0.93 inches??“the VX8100 is shorter, which makes it a bit more comfortable in jeans or khaki pockets. Yet at 4.16 ounces, the VX8100 is mysteriously 0.28 ounce heavier. On the outside, the speakers on the VX8100 have moved from the top of the clamshell to the caps on either side of the clamshell hinge. As a result, sound direction and volume don’t change when the phone is open. On the left spine are a volume rocker and a voice-command control that also conveniently turns on the flash when you’re in camera mode. Meanwhile, a dedicated camera key and a Mini SD slot are on the right spine. The VX8100’s stumpy antenna doesn’t telescope like the VX8000’s, but the camera lens and flash are on the same place: at the top of the phone’s hinge.

The postage stamp-size external screen supports a bright 65,000 colors and shows the date, the time, battery life, signal strength, and caller ID (where available). As with the VX8000, you can use the external screen as a camera viewfinder, but this time, you can do so with or without the clamshell up??“a nice touch. You can change the wallpaper and the backlighting on the external display, but the maximum is just 30 seconds. On the upside, pressing any of the external controls on the handset turns on the screen, so you don’t have to open the flip to check the time. Unlike its predecessor, however, the LG VX8100 doesn’t have the ability to act as a mini menu for the camera features. Still another difference involves the aforementioned multimedia controls: Beyond acting as a Back key when in camera mode, they appear to have no practical use. We were told they can be used for scrolling through your photo gallery when the flip is closed, but we couldn’t figure out how to do so. Also, since there’s no MP3 player yet (see Features), their presence is a mystery.

Features
As one of Verizon’s EV-DO phones, the LG VX8100 is loaded with lightning-fast, wireless Web surfing, but there’s much more under the hood. You get a 500-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, two e-mail addresses, picture caller ID, and personalized call and message ring tones. You also can organize contacts into caller groups. Other goodies include a vibrate mode, multimedia and text messaging, a duplex speakerphone, MSN and Yahoo instant messaging, storage for up to 200 1-minute voice-memo recordings, voice commands and dialing, a USB port, a calendar with a scheduler, a notepad, an alarm clock, a tip calculator, and a world clock. An optional data-connectivity kit lets you use the phone as a laptop or PDA modem. With the additions of Bluetooth 1.1, stereo output, and a Mini SD card, the only advanced feature that the VX8100 is missing is e-mail. We are puzzled, however, as to why LG didn’t opt for Bluetooth 1.2, considering the VX8100’s multimedia capabilities. Also, be warned that as with the Motorola V710, you can use the Bluetooth only to connect to a headset and not to wirelessly transfer files. This is cheap move, but it’s typically Verizon.

LG has improved the 1.3-megapixel CMOS camera functionality in the VX8100. You get a variety of editing functions, including an 8X zoom; five resolutions (1,280?—960, 800?—600, 640?—480, 320?—240, and 160?—120); a self-timer; a night mode; two shutter sounds, plus a silent option; and adjustments for brightness, white balance, and color effects. There’s also a light, but when you’re taking pictures with the flap open, you can’t use the aforementioned key on the left spine to activate it. Instead, you must drill down into the menus to turn it on and off. Rather than automatically saving each shot, the VX8100 lets you either erase or save your snap, which is convenient because, like with many camera phones, you have to hold the VX8100 stock-still after you click Capture until the image appears on the screen??“or else you risk a blurry mess. Images are acceptable, although they’re obviously no substitute for those of a real digital camera when capturing important moments.

While the handset was supposed to come with an MP3 player, we were told the feature was not shipped with the phone. This may change at some point, but it’s disheartening nonetheless. Of course with access to Verizon’s V Cast service, you can download and play a variety of streaming video and audio, but keep in mind that you will have to pay for it. Inside the VX8100, there is 4MB of built-in memory, enough to store up to 100 15-second, 176?—144-pixel video clips shot in the 3g2 format, viewable using QuickTime, or up to 100 still photos. We would have liked to see more integrated memory, and although the Mini SD card definitely helps, we are disappointed that the phone didn’t ship with a memory card. Happily, you can transfer most kinds of files between the card and the phone, including pictures and video clips. Ring tones are an exception, since only the tones you buy from Verizon can be saved to the phone.

Performance
LG not only added a number of feature and function improvements to the VX8100, but the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900) phone performed noticeably faster on Verizon’s broadband EV-DO network than the VX8000 did in CNET Labs’ tests in Manhattan. Pictures transmitted much more quickly, and best of all, lag time on loading and buffering V Cast video was faster. We had watched 30 seconds of a CNN news report on the VX8100 by the time the same clip on the LG VX8000 loaded and started to play. And thanks to LG’s browser switch??“to Verizon’s Mobile Web 2.0 from OpenWave??“Web pages loaded significantly faster as well. ESPN’s MLB home page filled a full 20 seconds faster on the VX8100, for instance. V Cast still isn’t nationwide, so make sure you get it in your area before you buy the phone.

We discerned little difference in earpiece quality between the two phones; most delivered loud and crisp conversations. The VX8100’s side-mounted stereo speakers, however, were far louder than the speakers on the VX8000. On the other hand, the widely separate, side-firing VX8100 speakers produced a bit of an echo that was exacerbated when we cupped the handset in our palm or down on a desktop in an attempt at redirecting the sound. We tried pairing the phone to the Logitech Mobile Bluetooth headset and had no problems doing so. Ringer volume also was much louder on the VX8100, thanks to the side-mounted speakers.

LG dropped the ball a bit on battery life, however, stepping down to a 1,000mAh lithium from the 1,100mAh on the VX8000. As a result, the LG VX8100’s talk time is rated at a still-robust 3.75 hours, but that’s 40 minutes less than on the VX8000. Standby time is similarly shrunken by almost a day, 6.8 days instead of 7.6 days. In actual usage, we eked out 3.5 hours of talk time and 5.75 days of standby time. According to the FCC, the VX8100 has a digital SAR rating of 1.16 watts per kilogram.