The LG Rumor has us telling tales about messaging and navigation. Does it live up to what you've heard? Check out our review.
Review summary of the LG Rumor:
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 Because of our issues with the keyboard, we simply can't recommend the LG Rumor. There were certainly other problems, with the Web browser or the lack of calling features, and even a few shining moments that surprised us, like the GPS navigation. But, in the end, the Rumor is a messaging phone, and we were not at all happy sending a message on the device. The keyboard problem is fatal, though perhaps fixable in the future, if there is some firmware way to improve the responsiveness of the keys. Still, if the "quck brown ox" can't jump over the "azy dog," we're not interested. Release: October 2007. Price: $50.
Pros: Solid build quality. Colorful screen. GPS was surprisingly good for such a small, inexpensive phone.
Cons: Keyboard couldn't keep up with our typing speed. Lacks some calling features. Web browser couldn't handle our home page. No advanced multimedia features.
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Full review of the LG Rumor:
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Design - Good
While it might be obvious to compare the LG Rumor, with its slide-out QWERTY keyboard, to an HTC device like the Sprint Mogul, in fact, our first impression was that we were looking at a new LG enV. The rumor shares similar lines and curves with the enV, and is about the same thickness. The main difference is that the enV opens like a clamshell and packs a spare screen inside. Overall, though, we like the look of the Rumor better, and we definitely prefer the rumor's screen and interface.
Not that the interface is anything special, mind you. You're still getting a standard Sprint Vision menu, well-organized but basic. The phone makes nice use of its 18-bit color depth though, and with the best themes on the device, the colors really sparkle.
The keyboard was comfortable, but it gave us some issues that we'll get to in our messaging section. The keys were very widely spaced, and the slide opened with a healthy snap. Instead of duplicating every key on the keyboard--like the soft keys and arrow keys--the Rumor asks you to move your fingers all over the device, but it's small enough in the hand that you won't mind. Our thumbs had no trouble getting to where they were supposed to be.
Calling - Mediocre
The best thing about call handling on the Rumor is the address book, and that's not a good thing. Calls sounded okay, but not good. We heard a general fuzziness to voices that was tolerable, in addition to some occasional static. Reception wasn't an issue, as we got four bars in our lower Manhattan office. Also, though battery life exceeded LG's estimates--at about five hours instead of the predicted four--five hours is a bit short for a phone that doesn't do much heavy lifting.
The phone lacks many of our favorite calling features. Voice dialing of any sort is absent, and if the phone can make 3-way calls, it's beyond both us and the user's manual (yes, we read the manual). Bluetooth worked fine with our Nokia BH-801 headset, and the speakerphone was sufficiently loud. Still, we miss the advanced features.
Messaging - Poor
We could talk about the instant messaging, e-mail and plentiful SMS and MMS options on the LG Rumor, but these take a backseat to the serious problems we had with the keyboard. We're not super-speedy texters, and the Rumor's keyboard couldn't keep up with even our sluggish typing. Keys were constantly being missed, and messages ended up with more holes than Jarlsberg cheese, requiring us to go back and fill in the blanks, or slow down to an annoyingly pedestrian speed. This is simply unacceptable, and completely undoes the purpose of the phone. We didn't have the same problems typing Web addresses or filling in the contact list, but whenever we typed a full sentence in a message, we got into trouble.
If you happen to type slow, you might be impressed by the messaging options, especially the non-traditional ones. The phone supports a robust array of SMS, Voice-SMS, MMS and multimedia messages. For instant messaging, you get AOL, MSN and Yahoo. We had trouble with the e-mail client, however; Though the phone has a preset for Gmail, when we entered our name and password, we kept getting a supposed network error. Mind you, nothing else on the phone seemed affected, from the Web browser to the IM client, but Gmail had issues. We even tried manually entering Gmail settings as an IMAP account, but had no luck on this phone.
Camera - Mediocre
The Rumor's camera wasn't the worst we've seen, but it could use a better lens. Pictures came out looking washed and faded, though details were mostly there, and colors weren't too far off. The phone includes a variety of organization and editing options, pretty basic stuff, but if you want to send your picture to someone, the Rumor is ready for you. You can e-mail, MMS, Picture Mail (isn't that what we just said?) and print your photos, using PictBridge. The camera packs a 1.3-megapixel sensor, but lacks any flash or even a self-portrait mirror. Videos were small and a somewhat blurry, especially as we moved the camera quickly. Lights tended to glow harshly in the video screen, until the phone corrected itself.
Web and multimedia - Mediocre
The Rumor is a Sprint Vision phone, but lacks the best Power Vision content, like streaming audio and video. There is an MP3 player on-board, and it is about as basic as you can get. It played through our newly downloaded Radiohead album without incident, and had a fun time dancing its visualizer during tracks, but gave us no advanced playlist or EQ options. Also, we were disappointed that we couldn't use these tracks as ringtones.
Web browsing was okay, until the browser choked on our homepage. The third of the page that loaded looked okay (though our masthead was a bit crumpled) but images came through fine. Still, it ran out of memory and couldn't load the whole page. Mobile pages, like CNN's mobile page or The New York Times page, came through just fine. Smaller pages like CNN's stories loaded very quickly, but long pages took some time, and tended to stall during the load.
GPS navigation - Good
With all of the pitfalls we found in the LG Rumor, we were pleasantly surprised with its GPS performance. Not only did TeleNav's software run smoothly on the device, the GPS sensor seemed to track us very well. It held our position without freaking out as we entered the Holland tunnel, and it tracked us smoothly through most turns. Once or twice it lost us on a nice straightaway in the city, but we blame the tall buildings nearby, and not the phone.
Value - Good
For all its problems, the Rumor is only $50 with a contract agreement. That's $30 cheaper than the Samsung SCH-U740 on Verizon Wireless. The U740 has a few more features, and though it wasn't our favorite messaging phone, it's tiny keyboard could at least keep up with our fingers, as best our fingers could find its keys. Unfortunately, the lack of 3G services on the Rumor won't save you money at the pump, because you'll still need to pay for unlimited data if you want to use the IM client all day long, not to mention the Web browser.
Comparison
Compare the LG Rumor with similar products
Who is the LG Rumor for?
Bargain huntersMessaging usersTeens
Price and availability
The LG Rumor is available now for $50 with a contract agreement.
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