LG Versa VX-9600
Phone Scoop Review
Mar 14, 2009 by Eric M. Zeman
Here's an in-depth look at the new LG Versa, which has a touch screen and detachable QWERTY keyboard. See where it excels and where it falls a bit short. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
LOVE this phone!!!
I have had this phone for 4 months and absolutely LOVE it! LOVE the option of having a detachable keyboard. As an added benefit it acts like a case for the phone when it is attached. It also has a touch QWERTY and T9 is very easy to use too. I do text a lot and have no problems at all. Sound quality is great and the customizable menus are AWESOME! LOVE having my favs for contacts & music. My only VERY small complaint is that I haven't found a way to keep the font 'bumped up' for the browser. You can use the volume switch to bump it up or the option at the bottom of the screen but I can't seem to keep it that way (or I could just put on my reading glasses...LOL). SMALL problem and for all of the functionality of this phone, I can get over it!
The Versatile LG Versa
Full detailed review in my blog at http://www.pcserenity.com
It's sort of an odd duck as phones go. It's primarily a typical touchscreen phone but it also comes with an attachment that gives it a very full QWERTY keyboard that also acts as a nice cover for the touchscreen.
I tried out the interface in the store and was amazed to find it extremely responsive, very pleasing to look at and simple to use.
In use the phone is quite nice. The interface is LG's newest and it shows. The graphics are fresh, intuitive, pleasing to the eye and, frankly, very cool in my view. The touchscreen itself isn't huge and it's extremely long but not very wide. A friend of mine actually commented that she thinks the Versa's graphics are better than those on her iPhone. That's saying something.
The touchscreen also supports all the standard finger sliding actions. You can slide a row of contacts, for example, up or down and a flick of the finger sets it rolling until it slowly stops. One negative I have noticed is that sometimes the system just refuses to acknowledge a touchscreen button push. I push it. I see it go down. A noise is made but nothing happens. Sometimes you have to push it several times for it to take. This is something that should be addressed in a firmware update but you can't always depend on that.
Battery life seems to be quite acceptable but don't expect an extended battery that works with the keyboard in place.
Aside from the few problem items so far it's been a wonderful phone and has worked almost flawlessly. Bluetooth has worked without a hitch and all the apps do a great job (though I'm not a fan of the browser that's provided). It isn't the best phone for web browsing but it's better than any of the other phones I've had for this. It's also the first phone that has gotten me to really use its fairly functional and approachable calendar app. All in all I think I can be happy with this one for some time to come.
Great Phone, But Not Perfect
Had this phone for a couple days now and it has been awesome. Best phone I've had by far (and not just because it's the new thing). It is slick and small, the keyboard module is incredible. That being said, if you choose not to use the keyboard module this is STILL an excellent phone, I would take it over the Dare in a heartbeat. But it isn't perfect. I gave it a 4.0 because I hope some of my complaints will be fixed with software updates, only time will tell.
I will focus on the cons because you already know why this phone is awesome. If you are like me you want to know what isn't so awesome, so you can better decide if it is the right phone for you or not!
Pros
- Keyboard module is awesome, but phone is still a great phone without the keyboard attached
- Slick size, nice and thin
- Keylock works good so far (my VX 9400 had lots of problems with keylock)
- Clarity and all that is awesome, music/ring tones sound better than on my old VX9400
Cons
- Hinge on the right side, if the hinge was on the left side you (if right handed) could easily operate this phone with a single hand, even with the keyboard attached
- Drawing pad works great in portrait mode, for some reason it lags really bad in landscape mode
- Cannot change clock in any way that I can find- either to bigger font or more importantly to 24 hour clock. This was surprising since this is a standard feature on LG and other phones these days
- The touchscreen is awesome but will take some getting used to, but that will just take time
- Some apps clearly struggle with the touchscreen format, many also seem to have a hard time with the landscape switch (many apps just won't do it), this will certainly improve over time though as more and more touchscreen phones are released
LG.Versa.
This phone works very well. The touch screen is very responsive and quick. However, I do notice the phone's touch screen becomes a lot less responsive when using the mobile browser. This doesn't stop me from using it, I'm still quick and accurate with the browser.
The battery life seems to go by quickly...I thought it would be a longer battery life than my old phone, but in reality with all the texting/browsing I do the battery life is not any longer.
The phone is very easy to use with or without the detachable keyboard. I personally use it without the keyboard unless I'm drinking...if I'm drinking I attach the keyboard because it's much easier to manage and acts as a case for the phone itself.
The fact that it comes with a detachable keyboard is very well advertised. So stop calling the phone weird for having a keyboard you can take off. You knew that when you bought it.
Great phone but not what I needed
Pros:
-Responsive touch screen
-Great size
-Feels light in the hand
-Great new user interface (UI)
-Threaded text messaging
Cons:
-Weak vibrate
Overall, this is a great phone, just not what I need for my usage. The touch screen on this phone is very responsive and I really like the way that the new UI works. Having the 3 different main menus could definitely come in handy if you used all of the applications that are available on this phone. However, I don't use VCast or MobileWeb so I'm not using some of the features that set this phone apart from the rest. I like the fact that you have the option of attaching the QWERTY keyboard, but I've gotten so used to typing with T9 and physical keys that it would take me a while to change my habits. The one thing that I really didn't like was the fact that the vibrate on this phone isn't very strong. For my needs, this just isn't the phone for me despite the fact that it does a lot of things very well.
Just Something about it
I owned the Dare but returned it. There is just something about this phone that I love. The detachable keyboard is nice but in all honesty I will never use it. The touch screen is ultra responsive and I love the visual voice mail. The form factor is a little better than the Dare in opinion. Really no complaints. Love it.
Awesome
I love this phone, the new spinning cube to go from one screen to another adds a really neat spin for cell phones. I also own the Dare, I Phone, and the storm...but if anyone is looking for a really fun multimedia phone that also has a game pad that you can attach to the phone...I highly recommend this phone!
LG versa
for one I can't believe such a expensive high tech phone would have such sorry tools.
the calculator is sooo poor it doesn't even have a divided by button.
I HATE!!!...when it kicks u outta the messages when u send or reply to one....then u hafta open it up aaall over again to finish what u originally set out to do....why don't... while ur in ur messages, why can't it give u he "option" to close the application urself instead of "it" doing it for u...when u weren't really finished with the app.
the touch screen isn't sensitive enough...at times I'm just tapping & tapping & it does nothing. I threaten to use a hammer on it but when it see it coming toward it & starts to act right.
the voice dialing drives me batty..call john doe...did u say contacts"? NO!! CALL JOHN DOE!!! "opening contacts! U BUCKET OF BOLTS...I SAID CAAALL JOOOOHN DOOOOE!!!
by this time I'm starting to roll the driver's side window down...the only thing that saves it from getting FLUNG!!! outta the window....is when the cost of the thing flashes before my steam'n angry vampire bloodshot eyes.
sorry...I'm ok now.
Great phone
I got my Versa as a free upgrade to my Motorola Z6c. I also have an iPhone 3G phone for business so I'm used to a touchscreen phone. I had to learn how to use the Versa's touchscreen as it differs from the iPhone, but it seems to work most of the time just fine.
I like the features of the Versa and find the user interface pretty intuitive. Unfortunately, add-ons such as visual voice mail break the UI consistency.
Reception and battery life are superb in my experience with the Versa.
To assist another review who could not figure out how to change the clock format, go to the Shortcuts homepage, press the icon on the right side of the screen to edit the page, click on the clock in the lower left corner to add to the screen. Once added, clicking on the clock will present a separate button to adjust the settings.
Back to my review - if you want most of the features of a smartphone at a lower price with much better battery life, consider the Versa. For all those craving an Android phone, you must realize that all those social networking features will kill your battery life just as push email preferences, WiFi, and bluetooth can sap the battery of an iPhone.
Swweeeeeeettttttt phone
I give this phone a 5.0 because some days you may not be in thw VERSA mood more in the Dare mood, so you can take off the keyboard, and essentially have a dare, the only different being that there is another screen on the keyboard of the phone, and it makes it have a qwerty keyobard. One of my friends has this phone, and he absolutely loves it, the 3.2 camera I think it is gets the job done and with an sd card you can store more photos. I have seen the versa qwerty case, qwerty board, etc whatever you want to call it, survive many drops, MANY, and yet well protects the phone. my girlfriend had this phone before the dog got ahold of it and broke the screen, now is back to her old phone env2 maroon.
this is verizon's 3gs iphone, only beter it comes with a qwerty.
