LG VX-8300
Average Ratings
A phone i can believe in.
God Bless LG! This is a good phone. The 8100 was pure hell; this phone is a great replacement. It's almost perfect. This is my main phone (the Q is my second line) and I'd recommend it to anyone.
Pros.
Reception is good.
Crewed is excellent.
V cast music plays nice and loud
Cons.
Battery life is so-so.
Get the 8300. It's one of the best phone anywhere.
Finally, a RELIABLE cell phone!
It has been about a month now since I made the switch from Cingular to Verizon and replaced my AWFUL Samsung SGH-X426 with the LG VX8300. As others have stated, call quality and reliability are the most important thing. Games, ringtones, camera, etc. are all secondary. Having said that, I have yet to have a single dropped call and have had people rave about the clarify of my voice on the other end of the line. With Cingular, not all but a majority of my calls would break up or drop out completely. Working in midtown Manhattan, it isn't as though this is a dead area and this phone has proven that it was never an issue of location, I simply had a defective phone. In addition, the camera/video recording function on this phone is very impressive and the quality of the interior screen is amazing. Ringtones leave a lot to be desired, so if you are into that, you are going to have to shell out some money and pay for some tunes (this phone, at least with VZW, does not support MIDI themes that you can usually send to your phone via the web). Another useful feature with this phone is the VZ Navigator. I used it a few times with the free 30-day trial it came with and could definitely see using it again in the future. I don't travel that much, so I don't see the point in paying an extra $10 a month for it, but they offer the service to you in 24-hour blocks for as low as $2.50 a pop.
PROS
Excellent call quality
Rugged design for good durability
Easy-to-use menu design
Very good 1.3 megapixel camera
Speakerphone
VZ Navigator
CONS
Battery life (hasn't died yet, but it seems to drain a bit too quickly)
A bit bulkier in my pocket than my Samsung
Verizon disabled MP3 support
No free games
Solid phone
Last year I bought the Lg VX8100. It was a good phone that got better with each software update. I originally was not going to get the VX8300 for two reasons. 1) The 8100 was so good 2) I wanted to see something more advanced than the 8300 (internal antenna, latest version of bluetooth, 2.0 mp camera, etc...). However, after actually looking at it at the store I was sold almost immediately.
The 8300 is a sleek phone with many very good features. It's smaller size makes it a more comfortable fit in your pocket. I love the customization options (pulse interface, the many shortcut keys, etc..); and I really like the new dark grey look and smaller size. All my friends like this phone too.
Call quality is excellant, and I have not discovered any bugs. This is one of the best cell phones you can get, and I am sure I will be seeing a ton of VX8300s around.
There are not many cons to this phone. You can't view text messages or view missed calls
on the front screen, and the front screen is not as crisp as the 8100. The front screen is no big deal and the only reason I noticed it was b/c I read about it on the forum here. The text message on the front screen is a step backwards, but it's not a deal breaker. Hopefully they will fix that with a software update. Also, an internal antenna would be really nice too!
Overall though, this is an awesome phone that I will be keeping a while.
Pros:
1. Small size
2. Reception
3. New interface (pulse) and ability to customize keys
4. Sleek dark grey look.
Cons
1. Long external antenna
2. Can't view text messages and missed calls on front screen
3. Soon everyone and their brother will have one :)
Happy With The 8300
I just traded up from the vx6000 for the vx8300 and have become quite happy with it. I haven't explored every aspect of it, for instance, the Bluetooth connection, but these are my thoughts.
Pros:
1. ERI banner is finally removable
2. Good hand feel; not as snuggly as the 6000, but better than the big square 8000/8100
3. Front screen is more informational than the vx6000, including date and time on press-to-show
4. Speaker fone works nicely; speakers are quiet
5. Better main and front screens than the 6000
6. Still good connection with 3-4 bars in my house
Cons:
1. Awful ringtones; I realize there are copyright issues, but still...
2. Voice dialing is more cumbersome than the 6000; I'll have to rename some entries to make it easier for the AI to recognize them
3. No ringtones/trutones available; I lost 3 good truetones in the switch
Altogether, though, a good update to the venerable vx6000
My review after almost 3 weeks with the 8300
This is the best phone I have ever owned for quite a few reasons. I have not used the MP3 player. I do not text that much or use video/camera that much either. I do use it as a phone!!!!
Reception has been fantastic. Much better than my VX7000. Do NOT judge the signal strength by the bars showing. This phone shows less bars then my VX7000, my buddy's Razr and my wifes phone (sorry forgot model)with much better connect ability. So the bars don't mean @#$%. I can make and receive calls in area's that my old phone and buddy's phones don't work at all. And I have yet to drop a call.
Sound quality is also very good. Love the speaker, but to be honest I never had a speaker phone before.
Phone feels and looks professional. Not into colored or flashy phones.
The battery life is amazing. Well over 3 hours of talk time with 4 days of stand by with one bar left showing! I have had close to 4 hours of talk time before the battery went dead.
If you are looking for an excellant phone for making and receiving calls with fantastic battery life this IS the phone for you. I will not comment on the other features as I don't use them much.
Oh one more thing. Some people have commented about the outside screen not being as good as other phones. I have no problem with it at all. Heck I love the fact that I can put a video on as the background. Cool. Not seeing a text message on it has no effect on me. Not seeing a missed call, hum would be better but not a deal breaker for buying the phone.
Excellant phone
It was time for me to upgrade my phone with the new every two program. I looked at the LG 8300, Chocolate, and the Razr. I've heard some horror stories about the Razr and so I didn't want that. I also wanted a speakerphone and one with better functionality than the Chocolate. So, that's why I chose the 8300. My old phone was a Samsung A670 and I've had the 8300 for about 24 hours now.
Pros
Speakerphone
Sound quality
Bluetooth works wonderfully
Cons
Size (it's slightly larger then my Samsung)
Menus take some getting used to
Getting to mobile web is a pain
Overall, this is a good one. I wish it had the option to play MP3 files as ringtones. The guy at the Verizon store had told me that no phone from Verizon supports MP3 ringtones., without hacking. Mobile web works good and I get good reception with the phone and the bluetooth headset. So far it's been a great phone. I wish it was slightly smaller, but it's pretty good.
Possibly the best!
I got this phone for my birthday...coming from nextel the phone feels a little week but after having it for a couple weeks it now feels stronger
Pros-
Nice internal display
loud ringtones
thin
light
good mp3 player
very good recpetion(even in my school where no phones ever get reception)
nice outside display
i like the outside mp3 control buttons
text messaging nice a quick(i dont see why people complain about not being able to read text messages on the outside display, i mean u do have to open it to reply)
The battery is the best EVERRR, i charge it like every other night with a bar left, and that swith very heavy use
nice speaker phone
good call quality
Cons-
speaker phones breaks up too much on the other end
A real Workhorse
Received the VX-8300 after I was forced to file insurance claim on VX-8100.
The improvements are many..the 8300 is lighter and thinner and more attractive.
Battery life is improved as the outside screen has been changed to lower quality display.
With a quick program change, the phone will now play both MP3 and WMA audio.
The bluetooth reception clarity seems improved.
A big plus, the video is not limited to 15 seconds should you have a SD card in place.
Additional shortcuts have also been added to mobile web and phone menus to quickly access account information and email.
NEGATIVES (not many) I had to ditch my mini-SD card for a Micro SD card but at least the phone supports a higher memory capacity.
The buttons seem harder to navigate with fingers and I do not like the key dedicated to speaker phone alone. Preffered the 8100 press and hold of clear button.
Also, LG has not yet figured out a way to use bluetooth audio headsets or supply a larger jack to listen to music on.
Also, still not a fan of the stubby antennae that I have been prone to breaking on past phones.
Overall, I love the 8300 and consider myself an LG guy, as I have more problems with Moto designs.
I Like It A Lot
I upgraded our two Verizon phones about one week ago. I was deciding between three phones, the 8300, the Moto E815 and the Razr v3m.
What won it for the 8300 was:
- Solid build quality - it simply gives me confidence; less worry if one drops it, and it will be long lasting. It's really well put together.
- Ease of use - everything is where it should be and the learning curve is small. Even my gadget-challenged wife has picked it up with ease. She also loves the looks, which encourages her to play around with it.
- Phone function - call sound quality is excellent, good phone signal, mp3s sound very good (I'm a Mac guy so I switched the phone from wma to mp3; don't think one can do that on the Razr v3m, and I don't know about the E815), battery life is great.
- The way it feels in my hand. It just fits great and I can do everything with one hand.
While the Razr is a great looking phone, the 8300 is no ugly duckling and it fits easily into my pocket. I think the E815 looks a bit long in the tooth.
Finally, much of the research I did pointed to fairly serious problems with the Razr. While at least some of those problems have been fixed by now, I have had terrific success with LG phones (VX4400 and TM510 previously) all along. LG was recently ranked at the top of cell phone reliability, something which is always important to me. The E815 has a very good reputation. In fact, some of that phones fans are a bit over the top. I suspect some of the 8300's fans will be, too.
Frankly, they're all good phones, but for the above reasons, I bought two 8300's.
Farewell!
Best Phone to date!!!!!!!!!
This phone has it all. Perfect upgrade to the 8100.
Pros:
Customizable Ringtones
Customizable menu and displays
MP3 player still available
VCAST Music and Video
Excellent Speaker phone
Good Reception
Nice and Loud Earpiece
Small Compact SIZE way thinner than the 8100
Nice Charcoal Gray color all around.
Very clear camera
Longer videos, more than 15 seconds of recording.
1 gb micro sd card holds over 99 hours of straight video.
Loud speakers perfect for music.
Battery holds 1100 mah over the old 1000 mah.
Cons:
Not able to read text on outside screen (but thats not really a con, no other phone has ever been able to do that anyway besides previous lg's)
Lower resolution outside display - I'm guessing for better battery life.
In conclusion this is the best good priced high end phone that is currently available from verizon, you wont regret getting this phone.
