LG Venus VX-8800
Average Ratings
this phone IS premium capable
in an earlier post, someone stated this is not premium capable and that you cant have unlimted text. just wanted to clear 2 things up. Unlimited text is on a select plan also, you dont have to have a premium plan to have unlimited text with verizon. also, this phone IS a premium capable phone. Not sure why a previous reviewer said that it wasnt. I am a customer care rep with verizon, so I do this fun stuff all day. I haven't had any complaints on this phone and am switching to it myself.
Very nice phone
I just upgraded with Verizon to the Pink Venus.
For anyone who does not want the new Nationwide plan and wants to keep their old plan let me tell you now, I got this phone and kept my old AC2 plan at my local Verizon Wireless store. Some stores try to tell you they can only upgrade you at the store with the new Nationwide plan or that you can only buy this phone with the new Nationwide plan, that is a LIE, I had two stores that had no problem with it at all only one of my local Verizon Wireless owned stores gave me that lie that I needed the Nationwide plan, I obviously didn't go there. If your local store just wants to give you problems you can upgrade online to keep your plan or call CS to order it. The only phone that requires the new Nationwide plan is the Voyager. I just wanted to clear this up because some people in various forums were asking about this.
On to my review pros and cons:
PROS
-Good reception (where I live in NY)
-Beautiful phone
-Loud music player (use the Piano sound effect to make the speaker use the loudest volume available)
-Bottom screen adds so many more choices to most things you use the phone for
-Phone is light and make of light materials but doesn't feel like it would break
-Includes USB cable, computer drivers, and pouch (Finally Verizon!)
-Battery lasts a long time with calls
-Caller Alert (Says the name of caller) I love that feature
CONS
-Fingerprint magnet due to the touch screen and sliding
-Earpiece can distort sometimes at high volumes, it depends on the call, it's not as bad as the same problem with the Voyager though.
-Camera still has the usual LG problem of yellowish tint to pictures
-Menus are a bit laggy (software update can fix this I think)
-Needs a touch sensitivity update so you don't need to tap the screen so hard to choose something
-Speakerphone is a little louder than my V3M which means it's "Ok" not Nextel loud, the BB Pearl had the best speakerphone I've ever used but I decided to go with a regular phone.
A Great Alternative to the Old
It seems like every time I buy a new phone which is about once every month or two I love it for a while then end up picking it apart. Here is where I am on this phone. I love it. Everything has been great. The touchscreen is fantastic and I have large fingers. It is not too sensitive to being *off* the key a little and ending up pressing every key around it. It is fun to use, has many great features pretty much covered in the other reviews. My grips...Well, no flash which I have really grown to appreciate on other phones. Silly to some, important to others. I like having a flash and wished the Venus did. The battery life tends to be on the poor side and I purchased the high cap battery for it which was much better but made it feel a little clumsy in hand. Poor battery life more for me than others because I use my phone quite a bit for calling, texting, and playing around with especially when they are new. I wished LG loaded more animated wallpapers or offered downloads of them (I couldn't find any). I do warn the screen scratches very easily and shows major fingerprints and what I call "face juice". However, I purchased the plastic overlays for the screen right away and kept them on and tried to keep it nice and clean. Other than that, really no complaints. I just sold it on eBay and I am moving on to my next phone but it is practical, easy texting, great touchscreen, and flat out fun. Try not to pay full retail, I don't think it's worth that kind of money unless you plan on keeping it a long time.
Venus is out of this world :)
Just got this phone last week coming from a Samsung, which I thought was good but will never get again. LG did it again with a great phone!! The Venus rocks. And as always Verizon is the best!
Pros:
* Great reception and clarity on calls
* The menu as always is easy to use and find what you need
* Ringtones are loud and very clear
* Battery life is great so far. I bought one of those quick charge devices that Energizer has out where it charges your battery on the go when you are not around a charger or in your car. It just works off AA batteries :) What a life saver especially when it is Hurricane season and when you are out of power.
* Display is very crisp and clear
* You can make the pictures larger or smaller for the pictures on caller ID which is pretty cool
* Touchscreen is great and much better than the chocolate phone by far
* Camera is phenominal for a cell phone and the pictures are crisp and clear even in my house when the lighting isn't so great
* Just an overall great phone to have and I recommend it to anyone looking for a great phone
Cons:
* Fingerprints--but what do you expect from having a glassy front to the phone. Just use a cloth to wipe it and you are good to go or get a silicone case for your phone which helps out with the fingerprints too :)
Great phone for a great price. Great job LG and Verizon!
Slow and complicated
I found this phone beautiful but a real pain to use. After three weeks of accidentally canceling calls while trying to find the right buttons to press, I gave up and went back to my LG VX 4650 - until Verizon comes out with a phone that has the aesthetics of this phone's display but is convenient to use. I replaced it once because the signal strength indicator didn't work on the first one; on the second, the voice dialing speech recognition was not working well at all.
Pros:
*beautiful, clear display
*fairly small
*fairly lightweight
*battery life seems pretty good
*holds calls well
*decent built-in ring tones
*can make calls with case closed
*one can read text messages without opening the phone (it's a slider)
*unbelievably frustrating operation (the worst out of seven phones I've owned)
Cons:
*when calling in closed position, one has to press two keys to end the call
*very slow menu operation; one spends at least double the time as on non-touch phones to scroll through contacts or settings.
*volume on speaker phone not loud enough
*after dialing, one has to quickly turn on the speaker phone or go through pushing two more buttons to turn it on.
*quality control problems, as seen on two samples, each with problems
*screen scratches easily. With screen protectors in place. it is harder to get the touch buttons to work.
I've liked my LGs best over the years, but this one isn't ready for prime time.
Its ok... but disappointing!
I had a mint green chocolate (8500) it was wonderful and I thought what could be better. The new Chocolate came out and I was gonna get that but then I heard that this phone was coming out so I waited. I was not so impressed, but I got it anyways. I took it back after a day got my hefty fee back and then decided to keep my green chocolate. It just was not as cool as I thought it would be and it was WAY overpriced!
Pros:
-nice weight!
-Fits in your hand really nice
-really nice keypad! Very easy to text on!
-2.0 camerA!
Cons:
-looooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggggg camera delay
-no flash on camera... (i think?)
-battery was not very good!
-touch keys very hard to use! You had to pound hard and go slowly!
-The charger is in an awkward place
- signal not too hot!
Overal I was disappointed!
Good phone, but not for me
This is very cool and innovative phone by LG, however, I returned it as it was not the phone for me. I have always used LG phones with Verizon. My last two phones were the 8100 and 8300. The reason I returned it was I just could not get used to a slider phone. This is just personal preference to each individual person. I liked how you could still use all the features of the phone while listening to music. User interface seemed a little bit slow, but this is a partial touch screen phone, so I understand it would not be like my previous 8300. Overall, good solid phone with great features, LG has put together another winner.
nice, but poor battery life?
I am new to LG since only having owned Nokia phones with which I never had any problems.
I really like this phone, the touch screen is responsive, display clear, good camera, nice features, seems to be solidly constructed.
I got the phone the day it came out (the 19th) and charged it fully that night. Tonight I am down to one battery bar (out of 3). I am not sure if I have a bad battery or if sadly, this phone will end up having poor battery life-perhaps due to vibrating with every contact of the touch screen buttons. I havent used any features other than typical texting and a couple relatively short calls.
Perhaps as more reviews come out users can make an assessment of the battery life. I cant complain about anything else with this phone as of yet.
Splendiferous!
This phone rawks my socks! It is awesome and it features wll kick alien butt!
If it were a woman it would have my children!
Such disapointment
I was really exited to get this phone and the features are great, however I must rate this really low because I already have switched the Venus 3 time within this week because every time I want to use a picture as a wallpaper the screen will freeze and the phone will reboot.
maybe I will give the Voyager a chance =(
