LG Voyager Preview

Introduction:

One of the most highly anticipated handsets offered by Verizon Wireless this holiday season is the new LG Voyager VX10000. The Voyager is considered a major upgrade from the enV that was introduced one year ago. Most noticeable, the external touch-screen is a first ever by Verizon, even though LG has used it on their Prada and Viewty GSM phones.

We received our Voyager unit today and have put it through some testing over the past few hours. Listed below are our preliminary findings, so please check back for our Full Review that will be posted in the upcoming days.

Design:

The Voyager is a clamshell style phone, just like the enV, constructed mostly out of black plastic with chrome accents. It feels durable and solid, measuring 4.46”H x 2.12”W x 0.71”D and has a weight of 4.69 oz.

The front is dominated by the unprecedented 2.81” 400x240 pixel touch-sensitive display that is used for all phone functions and menu navigation. The screen is bright with images being shown at 262K color depth. It works in similar fashion to the iPhone, but does not allow for multiple fingers and “pinching” of images and web pages.

A simple tap is all that’s required on the “lock” icon to unlock the display and to begin using it. You are given 4 icons at the bottom of the screen: Messages, Phone, Menu, and Contacts. You can also tap the center of the screen, which brings up a list of 12 shortcut icons: Unfortunately, these shortcut icons cannot be replaced or modified, so you must be deal with the ones that are pre-selected.

Using the touch-screen for simple one-touch input works without problems, such as dialing a phone number, but when you have to press & scroll through a menu list, its doesn’t work as well. For example, the Settings & Tools menu has eleven selections in a list, but only 5 are shown at a time. You must press your finger down on the bottom of the screen and slide it upwards to scroll the list up. We found that this can take several attempts before it works as it should.

The only real buttons on the front are for Send, Clear/VoiceCommand, and End/Power. Along the left edge is the volume rocker, camera button, and sliding lock button, which can also be used to lock and unlock the display. On the right side is the 2.5mm headset jack and MicroSD slot that can use up to 8GB memory cards. The data/charger port is on the bottom edge, as well as the retractable antenna, which is use for Mobile TV reception. The 2MP autofocus camera is on the back, right above the 950mAh battery.



Opening up the Voyager works just like the enV, with a two-stop hinge. The internal display is the exact same size and resolution as the external, with the only difference being that it is not touch-sensitive. Located on either side of it are the two stereo speakers.

The bottom half is where the full QWERTY keypad is located. It has been redesigned with larger buttons, which make for fast and easy text messaging. On the right is the 5 way navigational D-pad, which is also slightly larger and has better designed “OK” button in the center. You can use the D-Pad for menu navigation with the internal display.