LG Cosmos VN250 Review

Introduction:

Just like the LG enV series has been quite popular with Verizon over the past few years, the LG Rumor series has been equally popular with Sprint. Now comes the LG Cosmos VN250 for Verizon Wireless, but it is basically a rebranded Rumor 2 with some software and cosmetic changes. In fact, the LG Cosmos is pretty close to the Samsung Intensity U450, which we reviewed last year, as both are budget messaging phones for Verizon and feature sliding QWERTY keyboards. However, for people looking for some extra features, such as a higher resolution camera and an included music player, you may want to consider going with the LG enV3 VX9200, as the Cosmos is quite basic.

Included in the retail package is the LG Cosmos VN250 phone, 950 mAh battery, wall charger with detachable microUSB cable, and user guide.

Design:

As can be expected, the LG Cosmos VN250 looks pretty similar to the LG Rumor 2, though it is not currently available in different colors. It is made out of shiny black plastic and the battery cover has a swirl design printed on it. Unlike the Samsung Intensity and Motorola Rival, both of which felt to have cheep construction, the LG Cosmos feels better overall and more solid, almost on par with the LG enV3. We also like that the battery cover on the Cosmos slides off instead of popping off, as found on the Samsung Intensity, and that the spring-loaded QWERTY keyboard feels more durable and fluid when opening and closing. However, the LG Cosmos VN250 is slightly larger overall than the Samsung Intensity, Motorola Rival, and LG enV3, and when it is placed in your pocket it is a bit more noticeable.




You can compare the LG Cosmos VN250 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The LG Cosmos VN250 features a modest 2.0-inch diagonal 240x320 resolution TFT display with 262K color support, which is the same as on the Rumor 2. When compared next to the Samsung Intensity U450, you can tell the display on the Samsung is slightly larger (about 0.10” diagonal), but images and text look better and less pixelated on the Cosmos since it has higher resolution. Below the display is the left and right softkeys, d-pad, dedicated speakerphone and voice command buttons, send and end keys, and the numeric keypad, all of which have a white backlight and nice feedback when pressed.


When sliding open the LG Cosmos VN250, the two extra left and right softkeys on the edge of the display are used, which work well and are comfortable, as well as the 4-row QWERTY keyboard, which also contain its own directional keys on the right side. The white backlit keyboard has a nice layout and we like that the numbers are occupying their own designated row along the top. Each key is individual and separate from one another, and there is adequate space between them, which allows for easy typing of messages without feeling cramped, which we felt when using the Samsung Intensity. The keyboard is handy to use for sending messages and posting updates to social network sites, and the keys provide nice feedback and a noticeable “click” when pressed. We like the keyboard on the LG Cosmos VN250 more than the ones on the Samsung Intensity and Motorola Rival because of its overall layout. It’s the most comfortable and most functional out of the bunch. Along the sides of the Cosmos are the volume rocker, camera key, microUSB port, 2.5mm headset jack, and memory card slot that accepts microSDHC cards up to 16GB in size.

Software and Features:

The main menu on the LG Cosmos VN250 is laid out in typical Verizon fashion with categories for media center, messaging, contacts, recent calls, and settings & tools. There are three themes included: slick black, white, and aqua, as well as options to change their layout between tab, list, and grid view…again nothing we haven’t seen on other Verizon phones. The only new thing here is that when the keyboard is slid open, the display will show a “quick menu” with direct links to messaging, favorite contacts, and social networking. While you are in the social networking menu, it shows options for Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. We tested it on Facebook, and it is basically sending SMS updates which are posted to your Facebook wall, as well as receiving SMS messages to the phone when someone posts a comment on your wall. However, you still have to use the limited Mobile Web 2.0 browser to access the mobile Facebook site for most other features.




The phonebook on the LG Cosmos VN250 is also pretty ordinary for a Verizon device, as it allows you to store up to 1000 contacts with their name, 5 phone numbers, 2 email addresses, IM screen name, picture, ringtone, group, and address. After a contact is saved, you have your choice of adding their phone number to be used as a speed-dial, but you can also select the contact in your favorites list, which allows you to view their information and messages quicker.


Composing a text or picture message can be done by using T9 predictive word entry with the front numeric keypad or by sliding the phone open and using the QWERTY keyboard. The LG Cosmos VN250 supports threaded messaging and displays them as quote-bubbles on the screen, which is a nice touch, but it’s still rather basic in design. Other messaging options include Mobile Email, which will allow you to send and receive email through your standard POP or IMAP accounts, and Mobile IM for connecting to people in your AIM, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo! buddy lists.


The 1.3MP camera on the LG Cosmos VN250 did a decent job with images taken outside during the day, as they produced more realistic colors and had sharper edges than images taken by the Samsung Intensity and Motorola Rival. But when using it indoors, images taken by the Cosmos under low-light conditions suffer the same issues with blurriness and a lot of grain being shown, but this is to be expected as the Cosmos is not a high-end cameraphone. Video recording is not supported.








One feature we are a bit surprised to see absent on the LG Cosmos VN250 is the Music Player – the phone simply does not have one. We were told that this was done to help keep cost down; that the Cosmos is a simple phone and is designed for people who don’t want those features. While this may be true that not everyone needs or wants a music player on their phone, we’re not sure how much cost reduction was accomplished by removing it. If that’s the case, what purpose does the Cosmos supporting 16GB microSDHC memory cards provide, and why was a music player included on the Samsung Intensity, which was introduced a year ago with the same current price as the Cosmos? We’re honestly not sure why the Cosmos doesn’t include a music player, especially since one came with the Rumor 2, but we found a work-around. On the memory card, place your MP3 files in either the my_sounds or my_ringtones folder. Then in the phone go to the media center menu and select tunes & tones. You can access and play the MP3 files from there, but they are listed alphabetically and numerically, and you can only select one song to play at a time. We know it’s not the best situation, but it will work. All we can do is hope that a real music player will be incorporated in a software update, but we’re not holding our breath.

Most other software features remain unchanged from the Samsung Intensity U450, such as the appointment calendar where you can save alerts, Mobile Web 2.0 browser, VZ Navigator for GPS guided driving directions, and the ability to download other ringtones and games. Since the Cosmos only supports the slower 1X network instead of the faster EVDO network, data speeds are slow and there is no support for VCast Video streaming or VCast Music downloads. One new feature that is included is the Microsoft Bing search, where you can perform searches on the Web, Business Directory, or VZW Media. If you do just a standard search, it will search the Web for results, where the Business Directory search is good for restaurants, shopping, hotels, and other local places, while the VZW Media search will scan for matching Verizon ringtones, wallpapers, games, etc.



The LG Cosmos VN250 only comes with a 19MB of internal memory and half of it is used out of the box, while the Samsung Intensity U450 includes 34MB and the Motorola Rival A455 has 178MB. Once we downloaded and installed a few apps on the Cosmos, such as the Bing search and VZ Navigator, the available memory was down to 3.3MB, so don’t expect to install many apps before running out of room.

Performance:

The signal reception of the LG Cosmos VN250 was good and averaged between 2-3 bars in high-coverage areas, which is on par with most other phones, including the Samsung Intensity U450, Motorola Rival A455, and LG enV3 VX9200. However, the call quality of the Cosmos was noticeably better than the Intensity and Rival and more equal to that of the enV3, as voices on both ends were clear and lacked any distortion or background noise. Unfortunately, the speakerphone on the Cosmos is lacking and not as good as the one on the enV3, as there is some distortion that can be heard if the volume is turned up to high.

The included 950 mAh battery is rated to provide up to 6 hours of talk time or 24 days of standby time on a full charge. During our testing we were able to get up to 5.5 hours of talk time on a full charge, which is an hour better than what we got on both the Samsung Intensity and Motorola Rival.

Conclusion:

The LG Cosmos VN250 is by no means “out of this world” but it is a nice messaging phone for people who are looking for a budget device. The QVGA display paired along with the sliding QWERTY keyboard makes for composing and reading messages a breeze, and the call quality and signal reception are good too. The only thing that is missing is the music player, but if that is not important to you, we would recommend the LG Cosmos VN250 over the Samsung Intensity U450 and Motorola Rival A455, though the LG enV3 VX9200 is still the overall winner here.