LG enV2 Review

Introduction:

The LG enV2 (VX9100) for Verizon Wireless is the newest upgrade of the enV, which was released last year, and is targeted to the consumer who is looking for a small, attractive device while maintaining a full QWERTY keyboard. It has been completely redesigned, with a more ergonomic numeric dialpad, larger internal display, and an overall streamlined appearance, which is available in two color options: black and maroon. Its main competition is the Samsung Alias U740, since it is also a compact device with QWERTY keypad, yet the similarities end there. A more expensive alternative would be the LG Voyager and Samsung Glyde, but both are higher-end touch screen devices with more features that the average consumer may not require.

The retail package includes:

Unfortunately, a microUSB cable is not included and has to be purchased separately for PC connection.

Design:


You can compare the LG enV2 to many other phones, using PhoneArena's Visual Size Compare tool.


Just like with its predecessor, the enV2 is a side-opening clamshell phone that is constructed out of plastic, but has a durable quality to it that should hold up to every day use. The hinge design has remained the same and offers the same useful two-stop positions, while the back of the device now features the same soft-touch coating that is used on the Voyager. Also gone is the large and obtrusive “camera hump” allowing the enV2 to lay perfectly flat, as well as being 0.64” shorter in height. These changes allow for the enV2 to feel more comfortable while holding it in you hand, as well as being less noticeable when placed in the pocket.


The front of the device features a newly designed dialpad, which is larger and easier to use. The numeric buttons are white backlit and are well spaced, allowing for easy dialing in a variety of conditions. Even though they are smooth to the touch, they provide a good click response when pressed. The 5-way D-pad has been replaced with Up/Down arrows and center OK button. We had no problems using this new layout, as the front menu does not allow for left and right navigation. Surrounding it are the Send, End, Music, and Clear buttons. This was a good choice incorporating a Music button, as to provide direct access to MP3 files.

The 1.45” external display is now landscape, with a resolution of 160x64 pixels, as opposed to the 128x160 display on the enV. Because of its smaller size, you are limited to the functions that you can perform while using it (dialing, contacts, text messaging, recent calls, music, and Bluetooth). Unfortunately, it is almost not visible when used outside in direct sunlight, which is to be expects as this is not a high-end model. Also, the viewing angle is relatively small, with any off-axis viewing causing images and ext to change color and contrast. A better choice here would have been an OLED display.

Located on the left side of the phone is the volume rocker and camera button, with the 2.5mm headset jack and microSD slot on the right, microUSB port on the bottom, and the integrated 2-megapixel camera lens on the back.



Opening up the phone is a two-handed operation, but does so smoothly as the hinge clicks into place. The internal QWERTY keypad is one of the key features of the enV2 and has been improved upon since the previous model. The buttons are now closer together to lessen the amount of movement required by your thumb, but are not too close that they feel cramped. They are slightly more elongated than the enV and now have larger letters with a purplish hue backlight. Due to the redesigned keypad, we found that typing messages to be slightly easier with the enV2. The D-pad is now integrated with the rest of the keypad, instead of being partitioned off to the side. It is still easy to use, as we had no issues using it with menu navigation. Located on the top-left is the Fn (function) key, which brings up a list of ten commonly used operations and is user customizable with 21 different choices.


The internal display is also larger and is now 2.40” in size, up slightly from the 2.20”on the enV. It still offers the same QVGA resolution with 262K color support, allowing for images and text to have good contract and color saturation under most lighting conditions, but is still problematic when used outside in direct sunlight. Located on either side of the internal display are the two stereo speakers, which now have the same all-black styling as the Voyager.

Software and Features:

It should come as no surprise that the user interface has also undergone some changes. It is categorized into My Ringtones, Messaging, Recent Calls, Contacts, Media Center, Email, VZ Navigator, Mobile IM, and Settings & Tools. This a better layout than most Verizon phones use, with the Media Center directory replacing the aging Get it Now nomenclature. There are a total of four themes available (Classic, Slick Black, Wall, and Wave), as well as options for the Main Menu to be shown as Tab, List or Grid. Regardless as to which theme or layout you use, they all have a fast response time with very little delay.

The only change with the Phonebook is that it will now accept 1000 stored entries instead of 500, each with their Name, Mobile 1, Home, Work, E-Mail 1, Group, Picture, Ringtone, Mobile 2, Fax, and E-Mail 2. After a contact is saved, you can assign them to one of 999 speed-dial locations. Accessing a saved contact is as simple as pressing the Right Soft Key and will display them in alphabetical order. At the bottom of the screen you can type in the name of a contact and select search. This saves time, instead scrolling through pages of names to locate the one to call.


Voice control is accomplished by using the speaker-independent system, which can be used with the phone either opened or closed. Available choices are Call Name or Number, Send Message to Name or Number, Go to Menu, Check Item, Contact Name, My Account, and Help. The most useful of these is the Call Name or Number, which allows you to speak the name of a stored contact or the digits for the phone to dial. This feature is very useful while in a car and can also be used in conjunction with a Bluetooth earpiece. In most environments, the voice command had almost no problem understand the names or numbers that we wanted it to call, but some errors did occur while in noisy environments such malls and stores.

The speakerphone is another useful feature, but just like with the enV and Voyager, it requires the phone to be flipped open. There are a total of 8 volume setting for it, but going any louder than 6 will cause some distortion. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common problem with LG phones, as we have encountered it on most all of their models. We would like to see LG use higher quality speakers in its phones that can accommodate louder volumes without distortion.

The Calendar is accessed by pressing the down button on the internal d-pad, and the display will show the current month with the current date highlighted in red. You can then use the arrow buttons to select any date that you wish. From there, you can add multiple events to each day if desired. Each one will allow you to enter the Subject, Start Time, End Time, Repeat (once, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly), Until, Alerts, Tone, and Vibrate. After an alert is saved, it will notify you of the event by playing the designated tone and by displaying the alert information on the screen.

The enV2 comes with 62MB of internal memory, up from 48MB on the enV, but almost 19MB is used for applications and data out of the box. Luckily, it now supports microSDHC memory cards up to 8GB in size (instead of 4GB) to allow you plenty of room for storing MP3 files, pictures, and videos. However, any applications or games must be downloaded and saved using the phone’s internal memory.

One new feature on the enV2 is that it’s the first LG phone for Verizon to support FOTA (firmware over the air). This will allow customers to download the latest firmware for the phone without the need for visiting a store and having a technician install it. This is a valuable time-saver for both consumers and employees and we are pleased to see it starting to be implemented. We tested the FOTA, but since our enV2 has the currently latest firmware (V03), it did not download or install any updates.

Just as with its predecessor, the enV2 features a full QWERTY keyboard and is designed to be used by heavy Text Message users. Pressing the left soft key will display the Messaging menu where you can create and send a Text, Picture, or Video message, as well as connect using Mobile IM (AIM, Windows Live, Yahoo), and mobile e-mail. Typing a text message using the QWERTY is fast and efficient most of the time, but you can use the front keypad with T9 predictive as well. The mobile e-mail application costs $5 per month and will allow you to connect to Yahoo Mail, Windows Live Mail, AOL, AIM, and Verizon.net, as well as being able to configure it to connect to any POP or IMAP server. We had no problems using the application and were cable to view most incoming e-mails, except that HTML ones and attachments are not supported. This is to be expected, as this is a basic application and is not as advanced as ones found on smartphones.

Connectivity and Data:

The enV2 is a dual band all-digital device that operates on the 800MHz and 1900MHz CDMA Verizon Wireless network. Non-voice data, such as Web and E-mail, are transmitted using the 3G EVDO network, but it is limited to EVDO Rev 0 speeds instead of the faster Rev A.

Bluetooth version 1.2 is supported and allows up to 20 pairings. Supported profiles include headset, hands free, dial up networking, A2DP advanced audio distribution (stereo), AVRC, phone book access, object push for vCard and vCalendar, file transfer, human interface, basic printing, and basic imaging. We were able to use the auto pair feature to easily connect to our Jabra 250v, Motorola HT820 and S9 headsets. When using the 250v for calls, we were able to get up to 25 feet of static free performance, and with the HT820 and S9 we were able to get up to 30 feet of stereo music without static.

We would have liked to have seen implementation of a full HTML web browser, such as the one use on the Voyager, but unfortunately it is limited to the same dated WAP 2.0 browser that is used on all non-smart phones. It will connect to Verizon’s Mobile Web service and provide information based on News, Entertainment, Sports, and Weather. There is also an address bar to enter in other WAP and HTTP sites. While in an EVDO coverage area, most WAP site will load in under 5 seconds, with HTML sites taking 30 seconds or longer, but they will not format correctly for the screen. Due the limitations of the WAP browser, we cannot recommend the enV2 for people that need to view full HTML sites. The Voyager or a smartphone would do that job better.


The enV2 is the first LG phone for Verizon to incorporate a microUSB port. This allows for easy connection to a PC, yet microUSB cables are still new and are hard to come by (one is not included with the phone). Going into the Settings & Tools menu, there is an option for USB Auto Detection with three options: Sync Music, Sync Data, and Ask on Plug. When selecting “Ask on Plug”, each time your PC is connected to the enV2, the screen will ask if you want to sync music or data. If you select “Sync Music” the phone shows up on your PC as an external music device, where you can copy music files directly to the phone’s internal memory and microSD card. However, if you select “Sync Data”, then go to Tools and USB Mass Storage, the microSD card is shown as a Removable Storage device, where you can copy pictures, videos and music files.

Multimedia:

The enV2 features a 2-megapixel camera that is similar to the one used on the enV, but lacks the flash, lens cover, and Autofocus capability. The removal of these features is not a major setback, since the flash on the enV was almost useless, and it also eliminates the annoying “camera hump” from the back of the device. Yet, we still would of liked to have seen the Autofocus feature kept on the enV2. Despite this, however, pictures taken outside were just as good as if they were from the enV, with images having good color reproduction and sharp edges. Indoor pictures are more problematic, with images looking softer and showing more grain. Low light images are nearly to impossible to take, due to the lack of a flash, but does offer a Night Mode which slows down the shutter speed. However, in doing so, most pictures will come out blurry.

Camera Options:

Videos can be recorded at maximum of 320x240 resolution, with the length being determined by the available memory. Watching a recorded video on the phone is best, due to the smaller screen size. Once they are transferred to a PC, you can see how low quality they are, with blotchy color and low frame rate, but this is not designed to record your family’s vacation videos with.


One area of disappointment is that the music player still uses the same application that is used on the enV from a year ago. Yet, this comes as no surprise, since the enV2 is not marketed as a “music phone”, such as the Chocolate and Juke. Despite the limited software, it is relatively easy to use and categorizes music into Genres, Artists, Albums, Songs, and Playlists. Once a song is selected and begins playback, it will display the track information on the screen. During playback, you can either keep the phone open or have it closed. But just like with the enV and Voyager, we found that music sounds best with it flipped open, as closing the phone will muffle the speakers. We did notice that music quality was slightly better than from the enV and the volume was somewhat louder, about equal to that from the Voyager. However, to achieve best audio playback, we would recommend using wired earbuds connected to the 2.5mm headset jack, or a Bluetooth Stereo headset.


As with most Verizon phones, the enV2 uses Qualcomm’s BREW format for applications. One of the most useful is VZ Navigator, which is used for GPS guided directions. It comes with Version 3 preinstalled, but can download and install the updated Version 4, which allows for new 3D maps, traffic congestion and accident re-routing, as well as the ability to find local gas stations, restaurants, movie theaters and show times, and local events. We were able to use VZ Navigator around south FL without problem, and the new 3D maps are easy to follow and are more professional looking. The added improvements are well worth the $10 per month price. No games are preloaded on the enV2, but can be purchased and download over the air directly from Verizon.

Performance:

The reception and call quality on the enV2 are both excellent and have improved since the enV. We were able to place and receive calls in most fringe areas where the enV had trouble holding a signal. Call quality through the earpiece speaker was clear and lacked any background noise or interference. People that we called on a landline also agreed that the enV2 produced good sound quality, with our voice being clear and lacking any interference. We also noticed that we could turn the earpiece volume up to highest level without any noticeable distortion or “white noise” sound, unlike the Voyager. However, when using the speakerphone we did have to keep the volume down to medium, otherwise the stereo speakers would cause distortion.

The included 950 mAh battery is rated by LG to have 5 hours of talk time or 21 days of standby time on a full charge. During our testing, we were able to achieve 6 hours of continuous talk time by fully charging the battery, dialing a landline, and keeping the enV2 connected until the battery was depleted. Standby time was an impressive 8 days and was measured with the battery fully charged and the phone left on (yet unused) until the battery was depleted. These results are remarkably good; considering the talk time and standby time is almost double that of what we got using the enV and Voyager.

Conclusion:

We are highly impressed with the overall improvements that have been made with the new enV2. It features a more modern and simplistic design with less bulk and more streamlined appearance, larger front dialpad, redesigned QWERTY keypad, larger internal display, 2MP camera, stereo speakers, and supports microSD cards up to 8GB; with the only thing missing here is an HTML browser and an Autofocus system for the camera. We recommend it for anyone that is looking for a reasonably priced phone with excellent call quality and reception, while also requiring a built in QWERTY keypad and other useful features. We also believe that the enV2 is a better device for text messaging when compared to the Samsung Alias U740, due to the fact its QWERTY keypad is rather small, since the buttons cramped together, which causes frequent typing errors. However, for those looking for a higher-end device, the Voyager is the way to go. It has almost every feature one could want, including a full 2.8” touchscreen on the front, secondary display on the inside with QWERTY keypad, stereo speakers, and Mobile TV support.