LG Octane User Reviews

Mark_Washington posted on 07 Sep 2011, 00:48

9.2

So far ... I love this phone!

Mark_Washington has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

I've only had this phone one week but so far, I love it. I upgraded from the LG EnV ... which I had for 3 yrs (at least). My contract had expired and my carrier kept sending me reminders to upgrade. But I loved my EnV, it was perfect, and I didn't want to upgrade! Until last week that is. The "Pwr/END" key stopped working on the face of the phone. Let me preclude that by saying, the "Pwr/End" key on the inside keyboard had konked out about 5 months ago.

So here I was, unable to end a call. I had to wait for the person I was talking to, to hang up first ... and if I called someone and their VM picked up, I would need to leave a message and pop the battery off in order to hang up! I couldn't deal with that anymore so I had to part with my beloved phone. And into my life, came the Octane.

So far, it reminds me of the EnV, which makes me happy. It's sturdy, the clarity is great, and while I'm not a huge text fanatic- I do love the keyboard. There were a few things I needed to tweak but this phone is very user friendly.

Happy, happy, joy, joy. I will not be bullied into a SmartPhone. I don't want a data plan. I can use my home computer for web surfing but when I'm out in public, I don't want to be anti-social. I just want a phone to make calls when needed, with the ocassional ability to text so I can remind my husband to pick up milk on the way home.

Battery 10/10

Display 9/10

Text input 9/10

Everyday usage 9/10

UI speed 8/10

Camera 9/10

Multimedia 9/10

Internet 10/10

Call quality 8/10

Reception 10/10

Build quality 10/10

Pros

• VERY long battery life
• Easy to text on
• Good quality sound
• Lightweight and small enough to fit fully in pocket
• Good graphics
• Great Camera w/ flash
• Great Alarm Clock!

Cons

• Tiny Bit of Echo, but it doesn't bother me

50Phones posted on 27 Aug 2011, 13:48

6

Love the Octane - HATE the Restart Problem

50Phones has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

I had the phone for less than two days when I first started having problems. I was texting, and I pushed the FN key and then the M key to get the graphics menu, and the phone power cycled itself. Luckily I was in the Verizon store, and so I showed someone and they checked everything and it was all fine, but whenever I try to use the graphics, the phone power cycles. The phone was promptly exchanged and the replacement phone does the same thing. Both phones have the most current software - is there another fix/patch/something that anyone knows of or on the way? I really like the phone but cannot use it this way.

Build quality 9/10 Phone feels good, not sloppy.

Reception 10/10 Good reception.

Call quality 10/10 I could hear all my calls clearly.

Internet 1/10 Never used the internet - wouldn't know

Multimedia 1/10 Never used it

Camera 6/10 Good camera I had clear pictures, but I couldn't zoom in

UI speed 1/10 Never used it

Everyday usage 7/10 Good for texting, good calls

Text input 8/10 Great to text with. Couldn't send any texts with smiley faces though.

Display 9/10 Screen on the front just notified you, screen on the inside was great. Clear and easy to see.

Battery 9/10 Battery held charge well.

Pros

• Just about everything

Cons

• Battery power cycling

teremy.lee posted on 22 May 2011, 23:17

9

Overall, Great Phone!

teremy.lee has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

I switched from an LG Rumor Touch on Virgin Mobile to this phone on Verizon, so anything is a step up from that.

Pros:

- Nice, big keyboard.
- High quality camera with flash.
- Good speakers.
- Good call quality.
- Don't have to purchase data plan.
- Nice music player.
- MicroSD capable.
- User-friendly interface.
- Display is nice.

Cons:

- Scratches easily.
- The 2.5 mm headset/headphone jack means I have to buy either a new headset specifically for my phone or get an adapter.
- Can only record up to 30 seconds of video.
- Can't see anything in the sun light.
- Battery length is average.
- It is difficult to learn how to transfer things from your memory card to your phone but once you learn how, it's easy.
- Text message inbox fills quickly.

It seemed like all of the reviews on here about this phone were all from people comparing it to the enV 3 that they used to have and how they think the Octane is terrible compared to it.

Build quality 9/10 It really seems like a sturdy, quality phone. Left hinge seems slightly loose and squeaks a bit when opened/closed really slowly, but no big problems. The OS can handle a drop without shutting off or damaging things internally, but it seems to scratch easily.

Reception 10/10 My parents each have the Samsung Intensity II and compared to that, the LG Octane has great reception. I rarely drop calls whereas my mother drops her calls all the time.

Call quality 10/10 My mom has said that she can hear me and understand me a lot better when I'm talking to her on this phone than any other phone I've ever had. It sounds almost as good as my home phone. Call quality is great on my end as well. I personally don't like speaker phone, so I've never used it.

Internet 10/10 I can't rate the internet itself because I don't have a data plan, so I avoid the browser at all costs. I really like how there is no directional key shortcut to the internet browser on this phone so you don't accidentally get charged $1.99 for any data you might use. Also, I really like how this getting this phone doesn't obligate you to get the $9.99 data plan.

Multimedia 9/10 I really like the music player in this phone. I have an iPod so I don't use it, but it would make a great alternative if my iPod were to fail. The speaker is great and really loud. But, I really don't like that it has a 2.5 mm headphone jack so I have to go buy special headphones for this phone.

Camera 9/10 The camera is great. The quality of images is really good and the interface of the app is really user-friendly and nice. I don't like that it can only record 30 second videos, but that limitation makes them all the right size to send, so that isn't a hassle like it is for some phones.

UI speed 10/10 Never had an issue with the speed of my OS.

Everyday usage 10/10 The interface is really user-friendly, so it's really easy to do most things. You don't even have to open the flip to do send a text message, read old text messages, enter a new contact, view contacts, view favorites, view groups, play music, view music, change music settings, view pictures, take pictures, or set ringtones.

Text input 10/10 I like the inner keyboard the best, but it isn't hard to text with the keypad either.

Display 9/10 The colors, contrast, etc. are nice. Visibility at an angle is great, but I can hardly see anything in the sun light.

Battery 9/10 Battery life is average. For my usage, I have to charge it every night or it will die during the day.

Pros

• Nice, big keyboard.
• High quality camera with flash.
• Don't have to purchase data plan.
• Nice music player.
• MicroSD capable.
• User-friendly interface.

Cons

• Scratches easily.
• The 2.5 mm headset/headphone jack means I have to buy either a new headset specifically for my phone or get an adapter.
• Can only record up to 30 seconds of video.
• Battery length is average.
• It is difficult to learn how to transfer things from your memory card to your phone but once you learn how, it's easy.
• Text message inbox fills quickly.

John M. Stegall posted on 22 May 2011, 21:26

8

Well-designed Product and Excellent Voice Quality!

John M. Stegall has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

We purchased two of these phones to replace LG Voyagers. They are very well suited to people who want a phone with real number buttons and a qwerty keyboard. The options are easy to follow and more logical than previous phones. The keypad unlock feature is effective by pressing the OK button twice, especially with the screen prompts. The qwerty keyboard is very small but works fine--even for my old pudgy fingers.

The sound quality is superior to our LG Voyagers and this improvement was immediately apparent. The sound level complaints in other reviews may be the result of the default settings on the phone. When the sound level seems too low, press the "increase" bar on the side to maximum volume and then press the OK set button. Remember to get those software upgrades as well.

NOTE: Since we are "olds", we got the very inexpensive 250 email per month plan because we do not text with anyone. We set up free email accounts with one of those big online services and dedicated an account for each mobile phone. We use those accounts to send and receive messages when we are away from our PCs. It's inexpensive and convenient that way.

*** P.S. If you will buy this Smartphone I suggest at: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0047T74X6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=phonearena.com-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B0047T74X6

Build quality 8/10

Reception 8/10

Call quality 7/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 5/10

Camera 4/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 8/10

Text input 10/10

Display 8/10

Battery 7/10

Pros

• Easy to navigate and use
• Comfortable to handle
• Does not turn off or on when in a pocket or purse
• Does not pocket dial when in a pocket or purse
• Can use your own music as ringtones stored on a MicroSD card
• QWERTY keyboard

Cons

• Internal keyboard too flat- makes it hard to distinguish buttons from one another
• Messages are threaded but the complete message does not show at once unless it is very short. Means an extra click to read the full message if the first 2 lines don't jog your memory.

CNYVZguy posted on 23 Feb 2011, 12:01

8

A worthy replacement to the ENV line

CNYVZguy has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

I owned the ENV2, ENV3 and now the Octane. Basically, this is the next ENV.

Pluses:
Both displays nice. Threaded msging, can customize quick keys, direction pads, shortcuts, even menu items. NO intentionally placed "web" key to charge you $1.99. NO data plan required! Email and facebook if you do have data. Decent music/video player app. SDHC card slot. Good call quality (see below). Standard USB charger. Good battery life (7 days with my typical usage, more or less, the same as the ENV2)

Bad:
Call quality is good, better than some phones, and about on par with the ENV3 for me here in upstate NY. Not as good as the ENV2 was, but not bad. Even though the bar display sometimes is low, I can always make a call even in locations where I know the signal is weak. Both keypads are worse than either of the prior env's. LG screwed up-Too little tactile feedback, and too little space between keys. Never have been a fan of the "one piece membrane" keypads, and I mistype a LOT more than I did on the ENVs. The SPACE in the center - definitely not as efficient as the two small space buttons on the ENVs. Camera is not very sensitive to light compared to ENV. Flash is weak. Still better than most phone cams were a few years back. One color choice - lame.

I think most of the negative reviews are coming from folks that had the original firmware. Update 2 fixes a lot. We have 5 of these, and everyone loves them. I wish it had the camera and KB of the ENV2, with flash.

Build quality 8/10

Reception 8/10

Call quality 7/10

Internet 7/10

Multimedia 8/10

Camera 6/10

UI speed 8/10

Everyday usage 8/10

Text input 7/10

Display 9/10

Battery 9/10

Pros

• form factor
• customization
• no data plan

Cons

• membrane keypad
• camera sensitivity (low)

sillymonkey3245 posted on 24 Jan 2011, 06:02

3

phone

sillymonkey3245 has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

its one of the worse phones i have probley had. i had an env3 before this and we switched to this one becuase of all the problems i had with my env3 and they got worse with this phone. i dont think any one should get this phone. almost everytime i go to use the camera on this phone it will say failed. some times it wont let me in to my pictures or ring tones. texting. when i open a multimedia message it powersoff. my texts never get sent out. i just dont think its th rgiht phone to get.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 5/10

Call quality 2/10

Internet 1/10

Multimedia 3/10

Camera 2/10

UI speed 2/10

Everyday usage 1/10

Text input 2/10

Display 7/10

Battery 10/10

Pros

• the message lay out for texting

Cons

• random resetting
• shuts down when your on the phone
• doesnt get texts
• does not send texts
• phone clearty is bad

sillymonkey3245 alternatives:

LG enV3