LG Xenon GR500
Phone Scoop Review
Apr 28, 2009 by By Eric M. Zeman
The Xenon is LG's latest attempt to merge touch phone on the outside with QWERTY messaging phone on the inside. Does the result taste as good as it sounds? read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
really a bad phone
My wife got this phone 2 weeks ago. So far she is on her 3rd one. The first one's keyboard locked up and the second one's screen popped off. Don't ask me why she got the 3rd one.
PRO: None
CON: Just a cheap crappy phone
Texters and Occassional Web Surfers: A+
LG, (not AT&T) have made this phone to lack stellar reception when compared to other phones from AT&T. I live in rural Massachusetts and have never had reception problems before through AT&T, and I have had them since they were Cellular One in the late 90's.
In contrast, I was in BJ's Wholesale Warehouse where there is usually zero reception and this phone worked just fine. Go figure.
There are two more things that I am less than satisfied about with this phone. One is that the Mobile Email Feature does not include a GMAIL client. However, simply going on Media Net and entering Http://www.Gmail.Com. then your information, and saving your password settings, will allow you to check your Gmail account quite readily and with minimal effort.
The only other thing that really drives me nuts (but not enough to return the phone), is that some website's fonts are so small that they literally CANNOT be read. I am an infrequent user of the net on my phone so the ones I chose to visit, specifically Facebook, did not have this problem. To add, most are equipped with a magnify feature which allows you to zoom in on the text so you can readily see it.
Why I purchased this phone is simple . . . I did not want to have to pay an additional 15 dollars for my data package, and have no real need for a "Smart Phone." I had the Blackjack II, which was always accessing the internet accidentally, so when I had this feature disabled, I was no longer allowed to send or receive ANY multimedia messages, despite my unlimited messaging package. Moreover, I wanted an LED flash on the camera, and this comes with a nice one, and very decent 2 MP picture quality. It is rather fragile, so I would not recommend it for teenagers.
It does not come with a USB adapter or headsets, but if you look online, they run pretty cheap. Also, the charge portal is at the top of the phone, so it is a bit difficult to talk and charge, but it charges quickly.
Texting is A++. Great overall phone.
Excellent Phone.. Gorgeous
I'm shocked to see all these negative comments about this phone. I've had this phone for a while now, and it's been working perfectly. Everywhere I go people always ask me about it because it's definitely eye catching (the red one).
PROS:
-Great camera with flash, terrific quality
-Excellent reception!!!
-Good battery life, and doesn't take long to charge
-Touch screen is easy to use and fun, hard to keep my fingers off it!
-TV, internet, games, and music available on it
-Lots and lots of tools (unit conversion, stopwatch, etc.) for your everyday needs, WAY more than any other phone I've ever owned
-TONS of photo editing options to make your photos fancy, it's like i'm using Picasa!
-Lots of menu and settings options, you can pretty much control everything
-Texting is super easy with slide out QWERTY keyboard
-Slide out keyboard does not feel cheap, and the screen never froze when switching to a horizontal position
-Stylish and attention drawing
-Feels very lightweight
CONS:
I don't really have any, but I think the screen can be a little bigger and the phone can be thinner, similar to the physical design of the Samsung Impression. This phone is so totally worth it. It's stylish and very functional. PERFECT:)
Pretty nice phone
I've had my phone for almost 5 months now. I baby all my phones and electronics so my phone still looks brand new.
PROS:
I like the touch screen, very responsive
The camera and flash is great for a cell phone plus the editing features are great
Call quality is pretty good where I live (out in the country in West Virginia)
I love the keyboard, spaced out just right so I can type well and I have big fingers
I really like the color and basic look of the phone
I thought the menus were very clear and easy to navigate
CONS:
I would have to say that my only con is the music player... I had a SLVR with itunes before this and loved it... for some reason my music will not go onto my phone to be played in the music player, it will only go into the audio folder. The guy at AT&T told me he had no idea why it did that. I do have around 100 songs on it, but nothing else will go on and I bought a 4GB sd card basically for the music
lg xenon, poor battery
I really like this phone. It has great features. the touchscreen is great. although if your in hurry in might freeze. the keyboard is awesome. i have bigger fingers and i can use it. the only problem i have is with the battery. i had problems with it and at&t didn't have battery so i have to get another phone. the battery life sucks! that is the only problem with the phone!!
Lg xenon
We got this phone for our 14 year old son. The second day he had it he dropped it and put a chip on the side then his case came in the mail the next day our luck! Well he has had the phone for three months now with no other damage but for the past week it's been giving him fits the touch screen wont always work he has to put it on speaker phone to use it and the keys freeze up. We tried to see if they would warranty it but they refused due to the chip, It didn't matter that it's worked up untill now with the chip. I think that is how they get out of having to replace a bad phone any marks on the phone voids the warranty. I f you are thinking about this phone for a teenager I would keep looking! My boy is not real hard on anything I know he dropped it but who has not dropped the phone they have? It just shows me the phone is cheap and not reliable for everyday use. Other than the one chip it looks new! Cheap Cheap thats what i think of the phone and would not tell anyone to get one.
It's a nice phone
I was upgrade into this phone by AT&T since i was having nothing but problems out of my VU. So the user in the first part of the reviews saying that AT&T wouldnt switch their phones out after 3 times is out right a lie or you just didnt try hard enough.
PROS
easy to use
text message chat log
great camera
internet is great
lots of other things
CONS
hard to unlock and lock with one hand
easy to push the internet button when typing out text messages
Overall this phone has been really nice so far and I think a lot of the software issues have been updated now.
Magnets mess up the screen
I read of problems w/screen freezing are cuz users have a case w/magnetic closure. Can be fixed by running case/magnet all over the phone (de-gaussing?). And changing to a case w/o magnet. I'm glad I learned that before purchase.
PROS:
QWERTY sized for S-M hands
Phone small enough to fit easily in pants pocket or small purse pocket
MICRO SD Card up to 16GB
Like ENV Touch, slightly less sophisticated
Fairly intuitive menus/settings
Lightweight
Good touchscreen (better than Samsung Impression, IMO)
Dedicated keys: @, ?, .com, CAPS, arrows, contacts
Easy-2-see lettrs/#'s
During call, can use menu/dialpad to enter numbers (for phone menus, entering extensions, making 2nd calls, conferencing, etc.)
CONS:
USB cable NOT included
No Gmail client
Browsing not very intuitive & slow compared to ENV Touch
BACK key only on screen--middle hard key is a weird task key
I guess the PROS outweigh CONS at this point. Pretty good little phone for casual to medium users of text/data. Those wanting a robust browser for lots of surfing should check out Samsung Solstice or Impression, iPhone, Blackberry, or Verizon's ENV Touch (which is like the big brother to Xenon).
nice but
this phone is really great but there's a few issues which needs to be resolved. It has minor glitches where the address book will not show your contacts or wwill not delete them sometimes but if this happens just take the battery out. i have no problem the touch screen response is great the battery life is goo and it has excellent bluetooth interface.
The only true problem i find with this phone is that if you are switching from a really old phone to this one you're gonna complain because its a little bit more complicated to manage certain features that this phone offers. But its a 8 outta 10 for me
I love this phone!!!!
I bought one the other day for my fiance and she loved it. I ended up playing with it for a awhile and decided to give up my Blackjack 2 for this phone. It does everything I need it to do in a much smaller compact design. I check my facebook, myspace and other mobile sites quickly and easily with this. Mobile e-mail is great. the keyboard is easy to use and the slide feels great. The call quality is much better on this phone than on my Blackjack 2.
Pros:
Very responsive touch screen
Screen is a good size for viewing mobile web pages like facebook and myspace.
The display is great. Pictures and videos look really sharp
Shortcuts to messaging, Mobile e-mail, IM and Mobile web on the keyboard.
Pinning shortcuts and favorite contacts to the homescreen is a great feature.
Photo editing capabilities are pretty amazing for a phone.
Very bright flash. takes great pictures.
Menu is easy to navigate and find what you are looking for since everything is separated by menu categories.
Great pocket sized quick messaging phone.
Best of all the family unlimited data plan for this phone is $10 per line. Now my fiance and I can have unlimited data for less than I was paying for just my Blackjack 2.
Cons:
I get pretty good reception everywhere with this phone but I do notice that some places I was getting better reception with my BlackJack 2
Depending on what mobile web page you're viewing some of the links are a bit small to hit with your finger on the touch screen but the arrows on the keypad make up for this.
All in all I'd say this is a pretty awesome multi media phone with alot of great features. I'm very happy with this phone and plan on keeping it for a long time.
