LG enV Review

Verizon’s LG VX9900 (marketed as the “enV”) is the newest reincarnation of VX9800 (The V) that was introduced over a year ago. The main feature of both phones is that they are a clamshell design; incorporate a QWERTY keypad that can be used when composing Text Messages and E-Mail. That is where most commonalities end. The enV is updated with a slimmer and more modern design, better quality external display and internal (QVGA) display, a 2MP camera with auto focus, and MicroSD card slot. Both the V and enV also have stereo speakers for ringtones and MP3 playback. The retail package includes the enV phone, 950mAh battery, travel charger, and user guide.

LG enV Video Review


At first glance the enV looks like a standard candy-bar style phone, with an external display and numeric keypad, but it opens up revealing a larger internal display, QWERTY keypad and navigational keys.
The enV is comprised of out silver, dark gray, and black plastic. The parts have a sturdy feel to them and should withstand normal every-day use. When opening the phone, the hinge will stop at two positions, with a small “click” sound. When the phone is closed, it measures 4.64”H x 2.08”W x 0.78”D, and has a weight of 4.60oz; which is better than the VX9800’s weight of 5.19oz. The enV feels very comfortable in the hand when using it during a phone conversation, but when you place it in your pants pocket, you will defiantly notice that it is more bulky than the RAZR or VX8600.

The external front of the phone has a 128x160 pixel 65K color TFT Display. Colored wallpaper looks good and the display is large enough to view dialed numbers, phonebook entries, and text messages. Below the external display is a 5 way navigational keypad that will access MP3 music, calendar, and limited phone settings (you must open the phone to get to the full menu settings). Surrounding it are the left & right soft keys, voice command, Send, and End keys. Below them is the silver numeric keypad, with blue backlighting, that is used for dialing phone numbers. The buttons are smaller than average, but still easier to use than on the Chocolate. Located on the left side of the phone is the Camera and Volume Up/Down buttons. The right side has the 2.5mm headset output, and MicroSD slot, and located on the back is the 2MP camera with auto focus and flash. The Charger/Data Port is on the bottom, and has the same connection used on the Chocolate and VX8600.

Opening up the enV will show off its two main features, QWERTY keypad and landscape display. The Internal Display is 240x320 pixel 262K Color TFT, which shows images and text with wonderful detail and clarity. The display also has a much wider viewing angle than on the V, as well as being brighter. On either side of the display are two (stereo) speakers. When the phone is open, they play MP3 music, ringtones, and speakerphone very well. However, once the phone is closed, the sound is muffled and lacks good quality. Because of this, we recommend keeping the phone open when playing MP3 music.

Keyboard comparison: Top-VX9800, Bottom-enV

The QWERTY keypad has a simple layout and is easy to use. The buttons are square, instead of being round, and have blue backlighting. We found that composing an E-Mail or Text Message to be easier with the newer key design on the enV, and there are now two Space keys located on either side. There is a dedicated orange E-Mail button that will allow you to use the Verizon Wireless Sync program. It will provide synchronization of E-Mail, Calendar, and Contacts from your PC to your phone. However, at $20 a month, we find this cost pretty steep. Another change to the keypad is that the Clear and Speakerphone buttons are now separate. This is a welcome change, since we disliked that the V had them both on the same button. There is also another 5-way navigational control, similar to the one on the external of the phone.

Interface:
The menu system of the phone is organized as Get it Now, Messaging, Contacts, Recent Calls, Settings & Tools, E-Mail, IM, and Navigator. There are only 2 Themes included on the enV: Communicator, and VZW. The VZW theme is also used on the VX8600 and is less graphical, while the Communicator theme is much more graphical and has animated icons. Both themes have fast response times and are user friendly. Between the two, we prefer using the Communicator theme.

Phone Book:
The enV has the same Phonebook features that are on the Chocolate and VX8600. It allows up to 500 contacts to be stored, each with Name, Mobile 1, Home, Work, Email 1, Group, Mobile 2, Fax, and Email 2. Besides storing numbers, you can also select a Picture and Ringtone to be associated with each one. When that person calls, their specific ringtone will be played and the picture will be shown on the display. This is the easiest way to tell who is calling. Accessing save contacts only takes one-touch of the Right soft key. This will display them all in alphabetical order. At the bottom of the screen you can type in the name of a contact and select search. This saves time, than scrolling through pages of names to find the one to call. There are also 98 Speed-Dial locations that you can assign a contact to.

Voice dialing is accomplished by using the Voice Command feature, which can be used with the phone open or closed. Available choices are: Call Name or Number, Send Message to Name or Number, Go to Menu, Check Item, Lookup Name, My Account, and Help. Out of these, the most useful is the Call Name or Number. This allows you to speak the name of the Contact or the digits for it to dial. This feature is very useful while in a car and can also be used in conjunction with a Bluetooth earpiece device. Voice Command had almost no problems understand the names or numbers that we wanted it to call, but did have some problems when in noisy environments.

The Speakerphone is another useful feature, however it can only be used while the phone is opened. Since the enV has two speakers, the voice quality is much better than on the Chocolate and VX8600. There are a total of 8 volume setting for the speakerphone, but going any louder than 6 will cause some distortion. Overall, we were quite pleased with the speakerphone on the enV. It would have been nice to use it while the phone is closed, like on the A990, but then the voices would be muffled and difficult to hear. Because of this, we can understand why LG would only allow the speakerphone to be used while the phone is open.

Organizer:
The Calendar can be accessed by pressing the down-arrow on either of the 5-way navigational pads. The display will show the current month with the current date highlighted in black. You can then use the arrow buttons to select any date that you wish. From there, you can add multiple events to each day if desired. Each one will allow you to enter the Subject, Start Time, End Time, Repeat (once, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly), and Alert Tone. After an alert is saved, it will notify you of the event by playing the alert tone and display the alert information on the screen.

The enV has a total of 48MB of Internal Memory, but 15MB is used by the phones programming. Since this does not leave a lot of free space, we recommend using a MicroSD card for storing Pictures, Videos, and MP3 files. The enV supports up to a 2GB MicroSD card, which will provide the easiest way of transferring the files between the phone and computer.

Messaging:

Since the enV has a QWERTY keypad, it is designed to be used by heavy Text Message and E-Mail users. Pressing the Left soft key will display the Messaging menu. Within it, you can send Text, Picture, Video, and E-Mail messages, or go to your Inbox and Sent message box. Sending a Text message is a simple task on the enV. After entering in the number or contact that you want the message to go to, you then use your thumbs to enter in the text of the message by pressing the specific letter keys. It takes a bit of getting used to when coming from T9 or Itap text entry, but after a while we found it much easier to use. Another advantage of having a full keypad is that you can enter in words that most T9/Itap programs do not have stored. Sending a Picture or Video message is done very similar, except that a picture or video (stored on the phone or MicroSD card) can be attached to the message. This can be sent to another phone or E-Mail address.

Connectivity:
Bluetooth Version 1.2 is supported on the enV and will allow up to 20 pairings to be stored at one time. Supported profiles include: headset, hands-free, dial up networking (DUN), audio distribution (Stereo A2DP), vCard object push, serial port, file transfer (not full OBEX), audio/video remote control, basic printing, and human interface device. We were able to use our Jabra v250 headset and get about 30 feet of static free reception. Since the enV also supports Stereo Bluetooth, we were able to use the LG HBS-110 stereo Bluetooth earbuds, and got about 30 feet of static free range on it as well. The HBS-110 could also Pause, Rew, and FF the songs, as well as displaying the song title on its OLED display. Basic Bluetooth printing can also be accomplished, but will require a BT capable printer.

We would have liked to have seen a full HTML web browser on the enV, due to its professional appearance and QVGA display, but unfortunately it is limited to the same dated WAP 2.0 browser that is used on all non-smart phones. The enV is NOT a SmartPhone, despite what some people may claim. Despite it only having a WAP browser, it will connect to Verizon’s Mobile Web service and provide you with information based on News, Weather, Sports, and Entertainment. There is also an address bar to enter in other WAP and HTTP sites. While in an EVDO coverage area, most WAP sites will load in about 5 seconds. HTTP/HTML site will take much longer to load (30+ seconds) and will not format correctly on the screen. Due the limited WAP browser, we cannot recommend the enV to people that need to view full HTML sites. An actual smart phone, would suite that job much better.

Camera:
One major upgrade to the enV is that is now incorporates a 2MP CMOS Camera with Auto Focus, a LED Flash, and features a built-in lens cover. When taking pictures outside during the day, we found that images had good color reproduction and sharp edges. The picture quality was much better than from the Chocolate and VX8600. In fact, they looked almost as good as if they were taken by the A990. Pictures taken indoors under normal lighting conditions also came out well, however in lower-light conditions images would lack color and appear to be grainy. Since there is a built in Flash, this will allow you to take pictures in low-light or in complete darkness. The flash has a range of about 5 feet, but would make images have a blue tint to them. The only way to correct this would be to choose “Sunny” in the White Balance menu.
The time it required to take and save a picture is dependent on if the Auto Focus feature is turned on or off. If the Auto Focus is turned off, there is a 2 second lag to capture the image, then another 4 seconds to save it. Turning the Auto Focus to One-Step will increase the lag time to almost 5 seconds. The display will show a box in the middle while the auto focus is working. The next option would be to have the Auto Focus set as Two-Step. While in two-step mode, the image is not taken but instead is focused upon first (takes 4 seconds). Then you must press the button again to take the image (takes 1 second). The two-step focusing should only be used if you need to focus on a subject and then take its picture a few seconds later. Between the three options, we prefer turning the auto focus off when taking pictures of objects more than 20 feet away. For objects closer than 20 feet, they will come out better with it turned on, but keep in mind it will take longer for the image to take. Also, we found it best to turn the auto focus off when taking pictures in low-light or with the flash. When we tried taking low-light pictures while the auto focus was turned on, it could not register the distance correctly and actually made the images blurry.

Available Camera Menu options are:

• Resolution: 1600x1200, 1280x960, 640x480, 320x240. (Picture at 1600x1200 cannot be Emailed).
• Self Timer: Off, 3, 5, 10 seconds.
• Flash: On, Off.
• White Balance: Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Glow (moon light).
• Shutter Sound: Shutter, No Sound, Say Cheese, Ready 123.
• Color Effects: Normal, Negative, Solar, Sepia, B&W.
• Night Mode: On (slow shutter), Off.
• Save: Internal memory, External memory.
• Front Display: On, Off.
• Auto Focus: One Step, Two Step, Off.
  

Pressing and holding the camera button will start the Camcorder mode. Videos can be recorded at either 320x240 or 176x144, as well as up to available memory. However, if you want to send to another phone, you must select 176x144 resolution and have it limited to only 15 seconds. If you would rather save a video to the memory card, you can choose the higher 320x240 resolution. Videos recorded at the higher resolution looked nice when viewed on a PC, but they are still nowhere near the quality a real camcorder will give you. The colors are blotchy and edges are soft and not well defined.

Music:
Even though the enV is not marketed as a “Music Phone”, such as the Chocolate or VX8600, it still has the same MP3/WMA music playback capability. Once music files are stored in the “my_music” folder on the MicroSD card, you can access them using the phone. You go into Get it Now/Music & Tones/My Music. The music player will organize music by Genres, Artists, Albums, Song, and Playlists. Once the song is selected and begins playback, it will display the song information on the screen. During playback, you can either keep the phone open or have it closed. We found that the sound quality is improved by keeping the phone open and not closing it. Because of the stereo speakers on the enV, the sound quality is much better and less distorted than the mono-speaker used on the Chocolate and VX8600. Despite the impressive quality of music playback, there is not much bass produced from the speakers. This is one thing that we would like to see an improvement in future versions. For better bass playback, you can either used wired earbuds or Bluetooth A2DP earbuds. The LG HBS-110 Bluetooth earbuds we tested provided excellent sound quality with good midrange and bass response when used with the enV. There is no FM transmitter on the enV, but this is no surprise since LG does not put this on any of their phones that they manufacture for Verizon. We can only hope that possibly LG will change this practice in the future.

Software:
As with all Verizon phones, the enV uses Qualcomm’s BREW format for applications. There are no preloaded games on the phone, but it does come preloaded with VZNavigator and Mobile IM. The VZNavigator will give you a 15 day trial (then $10/month). With it, you can enter in your destination (either address, cross streets, or airport) and the program will automatically map a route from your current location. When used in a car, it will display turn-by-turn directions and speak them as well. The Mobile IM application is free and only uses airtime and TXT Messaging billing. You can use it to connect to your favorite Instant Messaging client (AIM, MSN, or Yahoo). Sending and receiving instant messages are done just like using text messages. Other applications that are included are a Calculator, Alarm Clock, World Clock, Notepad, and Ez Tip Calculator. The Alarm clock features 3 independent alarms that allow you to set the alarm time, recurrence, and alarm sound.

Performance:
Despite the fact the phone has an Internal Antenna, the RF reception of the enV (VX9900) and The V (VX9800) are comparable to each other and about equal with that of the VX8300, which has an external antenna. The earpiece is clear, even when the volume is turned up to high. Call quality is excellent and had no static or interference while in good coverage areas. Traveling into fringe areas can be problematic in receiving and maintaining a signal, but this is often the case with any phone.

Unfortunately one aspect of the phone that was not upgraded was the battery. The enV only comes with a 950mAh battery, while the V comes with a 1300mAh battery. We believe this was done to give the phone a slimmer look and to cut-down on the weight, but you are also going to lose Talk & Standby time in doing so. LG says that the enV will get up to 4.5 Hours of Talk time, or 19 Days of Standby time. We believe these are not “real world” times. Our enV was able to get up to 3.5 Hr of Talk Time, or 6 Days of Standby time, with a charging time of almost 4 Hr. The only way to achieve longer talk and standby times is to purchase the 1700mAh Extended battery.

Conclusion:
The VX9900 (enV) is a welcome update to the VX9800 (The V). It seems that LG listened to customer feedback and improved upon the phone is almost every aspect, including hardware design and software. The enV has a more stylish look to it and weighs less, while maintaining good quality construction. The internal display is now QVGA and shows images and text with greater quality. The Camera is upgraded to 2MP and takes the best pictures we’ve seen on a LG phone since the VX8000 that was introduced in 2005. They look almost as good as the pictures from the Samsung A990. Call Quality and Reception is also top-notch with no interference or static. The stereo speakers do an excellent job as a speakerphone and when used with MP3 music playback, despite the lack of bass. The Communicator theme is fast, very graphical, and looks much better than the old Verizon UI. Lastly, the QWERTY keypad is designed for people who text message or send a lot of E-Mails. Even if you only send a few text message a day, you will appreciate the ease of use with the keypad. Overall we are quite pleased with the LG enV, more than with the LG VX8600 and Chocolate we recently tested. If you are looking for a phone that does many things well, not concerned if it’s super thin like a RAZR or VX8600, and you don’t require a smartphone, then the VX9900 enV could be the phone you are looking for.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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