LG enV Review

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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