LG Optimus S / Optimus U / Optimus V
Phone Scoop Review
Oct 26, 2010 by Philip Berne
The LG Optimus S offers Sprint ID and Android 2.2 in a compact, inexpensive touchscreen phone. Does a newer Android OS help keep this phone up to speed? read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Very Nice
Phone is smooth, very small and compact, features are great, not much bloatware. The screen has a very nice color. Battery life is pretty good, and as far as no led lights, you can get flash notify from the market, it works well. My first Android, and so far I would highly recommend this one.
Awesome phone!
I've had the phone for about a month now and I love it more than I ever loved my crappy BB Curve in the entire year I had that!
Pros: Fast! (well, 95% of the time)
Better battery life than my curve. I can make it through an entire day instead of half a day and have used it more than I could use the Curve.
Great camera.
Android Market. Angry Birds, picture editing, App killer, battery saver. I could go on for weeks.
Clear, vibrant graphics.
Call clarity and volume is great. I am a little hard and have NEVER had to tell someone to speak up with this phone. If anything, I have had to turn the speaker down. :P
Cons: Battery life could be better, though it is decent. Its an Android though so it still exceeds my expectations.
5% of the time, the phone will slow down and lag a bit. Only happens once or twice a week though.
While Swype is a good idea, it sometimes annoys me even when my settings aren't on auto correct or anything like that.
Keyboard can be touchy and it often is hard to hit the right letter. However, this is my first touch screen so that just could be me.
Overall, I LOVE it. Would recommend it to anyone. Android and LG have created a GREAT phone.
Optimus V the BEST!!!
This is the best phone I have ever owned. It's for Virgin Mobile :)
Pros:
* Camera
* Screen Display
* Sound Quality and Call Quality
* Browser and everything else :)
Cons:
* Battery. Best to keep brightness down when you can to have the battery last all day.
Apps to make phone better:
Go Launcher EX - Gives you a different launcher than stock and it's features is mind blowing.
Quick Settings - Gives you the ability to turn your Optimus V into a Wi-Fi hotspot to use your phone as a modem to get other devices (computer, iPod, etc..) online.
MP3 Downloader or Grooveshark- Download and Stream lots of songs from the internet for Free.
HD Wallpapers - Tons of awesome wallpapers to choose from that are made for your Android wall.
Car Home - Turns your phone into an easy to use advanced Navigation System.
Sagenote.net - A great online notes, todo, photos, and more service for desktop and mobile use.
Great phone on Virgin Mobile
I acquired this phone over a month ago. I must say I'm impressed with the features and the way it performs (Based on the price and the $40 monthly plan)
Pros.
* TONS of apps on Android market
* I Was able to enable teetering via Advanced Controls App
* Micro SD slot
* Speaker is decent (not stereo)
* Touch Screen is very responsive
*Sprint's 3G network
*UNLIMITED Data
Cons
* Not compatible with Netflix Droid App
* Battery Life could be better
In general I give this Phone a 5.0. It is inexpensive, and it has tons of features for the price!
Great Starter Smart Phone.
Optimus not so prime?
I have had this phone for a month with Virgin Mobile and the first 2 weeks were great! After that my everytime the phone would sync data iy would take my battery to fully charged to completely dead in 5 minutes. I only had about 3 hours of battery life a day, and that was with doing absolutely nothing on it cause I left it at home!
Pro:
~Tons of apps that you will never use or need, but hey they are there.
~Virgin Mobile had good reception everywhere I went.
~Screen quality great.
~Camera takes really good photos for not having a flash.
~Size is nice.
Cons:
~When u hit the camera it takes forever to load it.
~Touch screen not so user friendly if you dont want to use the swype. Even worse if u put a very thin screen protector on it.
~Battery life. Worst I have ever expirienced out of 30 phones I have owned.
~In order to delete emails you have to go through a maze and it takes forever
~Locked up on me 20 times a day causing me to have to remove my case, the back, and battery, making it super inconvienient!
I could seriously keep going on the cons but IM sure everyone gets the picture! All in all the cons outweighed the pros for me and I have already switched to a different phone!
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Nice phone!
Carrier: Virgin Mobile
I had this phone for almost 2 years before I upgraded to the Optimus F3 I have now, and I have to say, this phone was a beast. It had been dropped several times, exposed to rain, and it still ran wonderfully.
I rooted it the day I got it and installed a gingerbread rom (Inferior human organs was the first rom I installed on it. but it has had a lot of other roms since) and it ran like crazy.
Now, this phone will not play some of the more graphically intense games (Candy Crush for instance) but it does, as a previous poster said, play things like Angry Birds fine.
The touch screen was smooth and responsive. I didn't particularly care for swype, the keys were too small for me to type accurately, but that can be solved easily enough with a third party keyboard that can be gotten free on the Play Store.
All in all, a fantastic starter smart phone for a teenager or an older child, or a good phone for a grandparent.
!!!!!!!!! THIS PHONE SUCKS BIG TIME !!!!!!!!!!!!
This phone freezes has glitches u name its happened to me I'm on my sixth phone and sprint will not lift a single finger unless I downgrade my phone so I say anyone who's thinking about getting this phone DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE ITS SHITY PEACE OUT B-P
A Dangerous Combination
I think this phone has the bones to be a great phone, however, it seems to be filled with glitches and programming issues. I am actually on my fifth one (V) with Virgin Mobile. The carrier in my case is not helping with the problem, but the main issues I have are with the phone itself.
Over the last year and five phones, I keep experiencing the same problems, call LG to get an RA number, send it back, and they send me another...but same issues.
The phones are sleek and light. That's the pro's.
The battery life is terrible. I don't use it much during the work day, but if I don't plug it in for hours while at work, the battery is dead before I drive home. The phone freezes constantly, and the only immediate remedy is to take out the battery and re-start it...sometimes several times a day. It also seems to turn itself off and back on again several times a day. I have had the same problem with all the phones, and have tried different batteries as well.
LG knows there are problems, that is why they don't even question me when I call, just tell me to send it back and they send another quickly.
I won't get into the issue with Virgin here, but in another review, but i would suggest avoiding both the carrier, and the phone.
LG Optimus V
i bought this phone 2 months after it came out.
the camera is very good for taking pictures. now battery life yes it can short when using it for the web and games. But what high tech device is not. Yes low memory (budget phone, but it is ok for my needs. As for the service hmm well in my area the service is not that good, if i want internet good luck with that. In my area of Baton rouge their service sucks. But once again it is a budget service. i do say the phone is good, but virgin mobile in my area is not.
Excellent entry level Android phone
If it were only for one thing I would have given this 5 stars instead of 4.5. There is of course two places to install applications. Phone memory and the 2gb memory card that came with the phone. I have to admit this is my first Android phone but have owned a number of smartphones prior to this one.
The phone will let you install some apps to the memory card which has plenty of room, but forces some to have to be installed into the much more limited phone memory. I do have to say though that you can still move some apps over to the card once they are installed.
So my only gripe is memory really. It is after all an "entry-level" Android phone. Not cutting edge. For under $150 what do you expect? It runs on Sprint's 3g CDMA network under Virgin Mobile so web access isn't bad. It's easily enough to check my emails or go to Gasbuddy.com when I need a fillup.
It's a very solid phone in your hand and easy to replace battery. Also charges via USB which is convenient too. Swype text entry is apparently a technology not quite yet "ready for Primetime" but works for the most part. Virtual keyboard is fine, similar to an iPhone.
Haven't seen any problems with reception and even with 1 bar can talk on it.
Looking at other comparable phones from companies like AT&T and Verizon Wireless, I haven't seen any that can come close to the Optimus V anywhere near the price.