cnet editors' rating 8.3/10
Excellent
average user rating
from 13 users
8.3/10
Excellent
The bottom line: Though we had some minor complaints here and there, the Voyager's sleek design, generous feature set and excellent performance make it the best LG messaging and multimedia phone by far.
Specs: Band / mode: CDMA 800/1900; Combined with: With
While some cell phone watchers have hailed the Voyager as the "iPhone killer," we prefer not to use the expression since it assumes that the iPhone is the device that every other cell phone should be measured against. But that said, the Voyager VX10000 is one handset that can match--and also surpass--the iPhone in many ways. Wi-Fi is an obvious and disappointing omission, but the Voyager offers many things the iPhone lacks, including 3G support, multimedia messaging, stereo Bluetooth, and an integrated GPS application. It's too bad that all that lavishness comes at such a high price ($299 with a two-year contract), but if you can afford it, the enV won't let you down. To find accessories for this phone, see our cell phone ringtones and accessories guide.
To get started using the Voyager, just move your finger to the four controls at the bottom the bottom of the display (if the display is frozen, there's an onscreen unlock control). From left to right, the buttons open the messaging menu, activate the onscreen dialpad for making calls, access the main menu, and open your contacts list. Alternatively, you can activate a shortcuts menu by tapping the top part of the display. On the whole, we were pleased with our navigation experience. Selecting an option requires a firm touch, so we didn't have many problems with pressing a command accidentally. If you're having trouble, you can reset the screen's calibration but it's too bad you can't alter the touch sensitivity as well. While it lacks the iPhone's multitouch functionality, the Voyager's display counters with an equally nifty and useful offering of its own. Like the Chocolate VX8550, the Voyager features tactile feedback on its touch controls. You can adjust the length and intensity of the vibrating feedback, which is a nice feature.
The alphabetic keypad remains is one of the best we've seen on a cell phone. Not only is entire arrangement quite spacious but the keys are also a tad larger and more tactile than on the enV. You get are the same Shift, symbol, and Enter keys, but LG replaced the enV's e-mail button with a control that opens a user-programmable shortcut menu. While most of the alphanumeric keys are black, three are colored gray to indicate that they double as gameplay controls. Lastly, we like that LG kept the second space bar to the left of the Z button, but we'd still prefer it to be in the middle of the keyboard as it is on many smart phones.
Features
Though there's a lot to say about the Voyager's design, that doesn't mean the handset skipped on features. By all means, it packs quite a wallop inside, but we'll start with the basics first. The Voyager offers a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for entry for five phone numbers and two e-mail addresses. You can save contacts to groups and pair them with a photo and any of 21 polyphonic ring tones. There's no field for notes in each contract entry, which is unusual.
Other essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging (the iPhone lacks MMS), a calendar, an alarm clock, a world clock, a stopwatch, a notepad, a tip calculator, and a voice memo recorder. For more demanding users, the enV also comes with e-mail, PC syncing, speaker-independent voice commands and dialing, USB mass storage, instant messaging, and a text-to-speech feature. Bluetooth 1.2 is onboard as well, with profiles for headsets, dial-up networking, file transfer, object push, and A2DP stereo sound (the iPhone doesn't offer a stereo profile). It's regrettable that the VX10000 doesn't offer Wi-Fi, particularly since it's so geared for browsing the Internet (see below). While the integrated 3G is more than adequate for Web surfing, we'd much prefer having a choice. But this being Verizon, it's obvious, but not surprising, that the carrier prefers that you pay for the use of its 3G network. The Voyager comes with 180MB of shared memory, which is quite generous, but you're better off saving to a memory card. The MicroSD card slot can accommodate cards as large as 8GB.
With so many multimedia features included on the Voyager, it's difficult to name one offering as the best of the bunch, but if one comes close it would have to be Verizon's stellar V Cast Mobile TV service. With the $15 per month Basic package, you get eight channels: CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2Go, NBC News 2Go, and Nickelodeon. Not all the offerings are "live" as in simulcast; some of the content is timeshifted, others delivered specifically for mobile viewers. Mobile TV is currently available in 25 U.S. markets, with more to come. For full details see our full review of Mobile TV or the LG VX9400 review.
With a full HMTL browser, the Voyager offers a fantastic surfing experience that just about rivals the iPhone's. The external display renders full Web pages in all their glory; there are no clunky WAP pages to be seen. It won't support flash but you can click through multiple pages, view photos, and select links at will. As mentioned earlier, you can maneuver through pages by sweeping your finger cross the display while getting the tactile feedback. Though the motion isn't as fluid as on the iPhone, and it can be a bit tricky to your select preferred link on a crowded page, LG deserves a lot of credit for presenting the mobile Internet in this form. Like so much else that's new, it may not be perfect, but it is big step ahead. And even without Wi-Fi, it ups the ante over the iPhone by offering the Web in 3G. You can use the internal display to view the full Web pages as well, but using the toggle to navigate is tedious.
You can personalize the Voyager with a variety of color themes, wallpaper, screen savers, and clock formats, and you can write a personalized banner. We were surprised that the Voyager offers one full game with Pac-Man. Usually, Verizon doesn't give us any games.
Performance
We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) in San Francisco using Verizon Wireless service. Call quality was quite admirable. The signal remained strong and was free of static or interference. Also, voices sounded natural, and we enjoyed plenty of volume--even when talking on a noisy street. Our only complaint was there was a slight hissing sound on our end. Still, it didn't happen all the time, so it wasn't a bother.
Callers reported satisfying conditions on their end. They could hear us plainly, and the audio was clear. In fact, some of our friends couldn't tell we were using a cell phone. They didn't encounter the hissing noise, but a couple of callers said we sounded slightly tinny. Automated calling systems could distinguish our commands as well, even when we were talking on a noisy street.
The EV-DO connection was relatively strong as measured by the number of reception bars on the screen, yet our actual experience was somewhat mixed. V Cast videos loaded in about 15 seconds, which is more or less average, and navigating through the V Cast menus was speedy. Downloading a game took just a few seconds as well, and surfing the Web was relatively zippy. Web pages such as Yahoo and CNET loaded in about 10 to 15 seconds, which isn't bad. We were hoping to see it move a little faster, and of course, offer Wi-Fi as an alternative, but the browser is perfectly satisfying for what it offers. And in any case, it's better than AT&T's EDGE network. On the other hand, the V Cast Music service was pokier. Songs took more than minute and a half to download, which is slower than we've seen on other Verizon EV-DO phones such as the LG VX8350.
Music quality was satisfying on the whole. The twin speakers gave enough volume, and the audio was clear. As is typical with a music phone, it's not good enough to replace your standalone MP3 player, but it's fine for most uses. Try headphones for the best experience.
The LG Voyager VX10000 has a rated battery life of four hours talk time and 20 days standby time. According to FCC radiation tests, the Voyager has a digital SAR rating of 0.765 watt per kilogram.
Full Review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/lg-voyager-vx10000-verizon/4505-6454_7-32640927.html?tag=sub
