LG Rumor Touch Review

Introduction:

LG has had a lot of success with their Rumor line on Sprint, along with variants on Alltel and now Verizon Wireless.  However, two generations in more of the same will no longer do for Sprint customers so LG has made some major changes to the third member of the Rumor family.  As the name implies, the Rumor Touch adds a touch screen to the familiar side-sliding design, but the upgrades don’t stop there.  There is a brand new interface for the new device, social network apps, an upgrade to 3G data and a 2 megapixel camera.  Included with the Rumor Touch you’ll find the microUSB AC adapter and a 1GB microSD card.

Design:
 
The LG Rumor Touch features a 3” resistive touchscreen and a side-sliding full QWERTY keyboard.  To be honest there aren’t really too many phones like the LG Rumor Touch, in fact the only ones we can find domestically are the Samsung Glyde and Rogue, as well as the flip-style LG Voyager and enV Touch.  Smartphones have been penetrating the consumer market more and more, and with an ever dwindling price gap between feature and smart, touchscreens haven’t found a real foothold on feature phones yet.


You can compare the LG Rumor Touch with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The Rumor Touch feels good in the hands.  The construction is solid and the slider mechanism snaps open and closed reassuringly.  Overall the size is very comfortable and we were just as happy holding it as slipping it into our jeans.  The color scheme is mostly shades of black, but the face has a chromed blue accent ring (other colors will be available after launch.)  It’s a very subtle design compared with the in-your-face colors for previous Rumor variants, and we have to say we like it.



The 3-inch resistive touchscreen has a resolution of 240x400 pixels, which is passable for a mid-range device and brightness and color depth (262K) were also just fine.

Below the display are three physical buttons: Back, Home and Phone (sound familiar?)  The left side has a volume rocker and camera button, while the right houses the power/lock key, 3.5mm headset jack and microSD card slot.  The microUSB charging/data port sits alone at the bottom.  The back of the Rumor Touch is coated in soft touch plastic and features a pattern, something we’re seeing increasingly from LG units like the Lotus, Lotus Elite and Rumor 2.  It simply houses the 2 megapixel camera and speaker cutout.




Sliding the handset open reveals the spacious 5 row QWERTY keyboard.  The presence of five rows allows for a dedicated number row at the top and plenty of special keys along the bottom row, including four directional keys.  Despite the generous size we would have preferred to see a bit more texture to the keys; they are made of hard plastic and your fingers kind of slide across them which makes typing harder.  The keypad is quite large as well, meaning those with even average hands may have to stretch more than they’re used to.  The typing experience is not bad, but it could definitely be better.



The first Rumor had a myriad of quality issues, including bad flex cables, charging ports and keypads.  The Rumor 2, for the most part, fixed these issues and this latest Rumor feels the most well-built of them all.  The Rumor Touch is officially known as the LN510, a departure from the LX designation of Sprint phones as well as a jump from the 2xx series moniker of the original Rumors.  (It should be noted that the just-announced Remarq carries the LN240 designation and Verizon’s upcoming Cosmos the VN250, a departure from the VX naming convention going all the way back to the VX-1 from 2001.)  LG has usually made their mark on Verizon, but with devices like the Rumor Touch and upcoming Android smartphones for Sprint they seem to be making a move on Samsung on the nation’s number three carrier.