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| LG enV Touch |
| Full review » Scoreboard » Features » Gallery » |
 The LG enV Touch is certainly a superior device compared to the LG Voyager, even though the new phone lacks V Cast Mobile TV. Instead, the enV Touch gets 2 high-resolution displays (hint: one's still better than the other), a slew of multimedia and messaging features, and enough power to show off those big displays with fancy video playback and Web browsing with Flash Lite. We'd have liked to see some new ideas from Verizon Wireless for this phone to give it advanced access to the online social networking services that are most popular with this phone's potential audience. Still, if you're looking for something different, a solid phone all around with a great screen (or two), the LG enV Touch gets the job done nicely. Release: June 2009. Price: $100.
Pros: Great, hi-res, colorful internal display. Nice mix of multimedia, messaging and calling features. Great keyboard.
Cons: External screen doesn't compare to internal screen. Touch interface wasn't reliable or responsive. Menus were discombobulated, at times basic.
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72%
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| LG Rumor2 |
| Full review » Features » Gallery » |
 The LG Rumor2 is a sequel to one of the original compact messaging phones with a full QWERTY keyboard (check our comparison of recent compact QWERTY phones here.) The LG Rumor2 gets the design part mostly right, but ironically fails to keep up with the Samsung Rant, a phone that is a better sequel to the original LG Rumor than the LG Rumor2. We think that budget-conscious messaging users might be enticed by the phone's Outlook Web Access for corporate e-mail and contacts, and those folks won't mind the lack of 3G, as well as the lack of the Sprint Music Store and Sprint TV. But the younger crowd will miss the social networking and fun applications that make the Samsung Rant a better choice. Until Sprint drops the price (to $0), or adds One Touch functions, we say go for the Samsung Rant. Overall, the LG Rumor2 is simply an underpowered clone of a phone that stole the show it wrote. Release: March 2009. Price: $30.
Pros: Improvement over the original LG Rumor. Better keyboard, better interface. Nice, advanced e-mail app.
Cons: Haven't we seen this before? Lacks 3G. Few fun or new messaging options, like Facebook or Gtalk. Ineffective Web browser.
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64%
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| LG Versa |
| Full review » Features » Gallery » |
 The LG Versa is a very nice phone, both unique and well-designed. The interface is snazzy and modern, with plenty of cool ideas and useful shortcuts that make it a pleasure to use. It's a definite step up from the problematic LG Dare. Unfortunately, it seems that while LG was doing so much work to create a great phone, Verizon Wireless sat on their laurels, and the phone is saddled with some of the worst messaging, navigation and music apps in the industry. It's too bad, as there is so much potential for the cool modular design. We're excited to see how far LG and Verizon Wireless can extend the selection of modules, and we're hoping for unique ideas that add value to the phone and push it beyond its competitors. But based on the Verizon apps we found on the phone, its more likely The Network will take the easy way out and end up disappointing early adopters. Our verdict: wait and see if this platform takes off or if VZW treats it like the magical phone that lives under the stairs. Release: March 2009. Price: $200.
Pros: Cool modular design works nicely. Excellent interface design with plenty of useful shortcuts. Flash-enabled Web browsing.
Cons: Screen can be unresponsive in some apps, especially the Browser. Pathetic selection of messaging apps. Mediocre call quality. No extra modules available at launch.
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70%
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| LG Viewty |
Specs » Gallery » |
 The LG Viewty is a somewhat half-baked touchscreen phone. LG tries some interesting ideas, like handwriting recognition, but in our brief time with the device, we found the handwriting completely unreliable and frustrating, with our finger or the included stylus. Still, the phone packs serious camera and video chops, including video recording at 120fps for some nice slow-motion effects. Don't get excited, though, as the Viewty is only available in Europe. Release: January 2008. Price: $550.
Pros: Nice 5-megapixel camera, good video recording capabilities. Cool touch interface.
Cons: Unresponsive handwriting recognition. No U.S. carrier support.
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| LG Invision |
Specs » Gallery » |
 LG and Samsung seem to be trading design ideas these days. While Samsung has borrowed the design for LG's Rumor QWERTY phone, the LG Invision keeps things boxy and simple on AT&T's MediaFLO TV service, just like the Samsung Access. It is the smallest MediaFLO phone on the market, but it still requires some extra bulk for the TV hardware, so it isn't a tiny or super-slim phone. Unfortunately, we saw the phone in San Francisco, where AT&T doesn't have broadcast service available, which probably says something about the state of mobile TV in the U.S. In any case, the phone keeps it simple, with a basic AT&T interface and a large, dominating d-pad style navigation button. Release: October 2008. Price: $150.
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