LG Sentio GS505
Phone Scoop Review
Jul 2, 2010 by Eric M. Zeman
LG's Sentio brings touch power to T-Mobile in an affordable package. It covers the basics, but misses the mark in a few places. It might suffice for younger users, but advanced users will find it limiting. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Pretty basic. Oh yeah, and there's a touch screen.
Why does LG have to go to Spanish when naming their budget touch screen phone?
This phone is not flashy or awesome. It's a decent phone, but there's nothing about it that I would show off to my friends. My last T-Mobile phone had a 5 Mp xenon-flash auto-focus camera, radio, wi-fi, mp3, PC sync, headphone input, etc. etc. And it was free with a contract.
This phone costs $70 with a contract. It has a 3 Mp camera (no flash or auto focus), no radio, PC sync to memory card through USB only, no wi-fi, no headphone input. But... It does have a touch screen. Woohoo!?!
Pros (beyond what all other phones have now):
* Call quality seems good
Cons:
* Limited phone with limited features.
* Reception is ok, but not awesome.
In short, this was the best camera & phone combo I could get for my budget, without getting a data plan. My old phone broke and I'm still on contract, otherwise I would've switched companies to get a better phone.
It's not awesome
This phone can do the basics. That's it. I wish I got something else.
The photos come out fairly pixelated for a 3Mp camera.
Internet "Apps" are slow.
Touch screen is not capacitive.
Constantly have to slide a finger across the entire screen to unlock (the long way). This gets old quick.
Voice recognition is bad. It is more often wrong than right. My last Motorola phone could understand my voice just fine.
Again, I wish I got something else.
Just When I Thought I Was Out
Dealing with T-Mobile over the last sixteen months has been, among other adjectives, rather interesting; their 3G (AWS) network in my area is unreliable at the best of times, so it's become something of a hit-or-miss proposition as to whether my phone will work when I need it to. As a result, I've been considering dropping them for a carrier that actually delivers something in exchange for the money that I'm paying them every month.
Enter the Sentio.
When a phone can make you reconsider your dissatisfaction with virtually every other component of a carrier's service, it is a good phone. Once I figured out how to access the Sentio's programming menu and force it to use T-Mobile's 2G (1900) network, it became a great phone; it excels in all of the essentials, notably signal strength and call quality, which are top-notch.
The screen is vibrant and vivid and, dare I say, vivacious, without any of the feathering that you might expect from a touch screen on a mid-range device such as this. When compared side-by-side with the Rumor Touch, it becomes evident just how crisp the Sentio's screen is -- colors on the Rumor seem washed out by comparison.
The touch screen itself is responsive and quick, with very few false registrations, and the virtual keyboard is the best that I've used on any phone without a lowercase "I" before the name. When compared with the keyboard on the Highlight, which the Sentio replaces, or the original Behold, it's no contest; the Sentio's keyboard bests them every respect.
One minor complaint would be that the battery life seems a bit short, even on 2G, but that's a necessary concession to the Sentio's ultra-light weight.
I don't know what company I'll be using after my contract expires next March, but the Sentio has done its part to keep me with T-Mobile, and there's not much more than a carrier -- or a customer -- can ask of a phone.
I like this phone
I absolutely love this phone . The pixels could be better when watching videos on-line but other than that it's cool. Phones do not have to be smart to have good features . I was teasing my daughter about her smart phone and of course she trumped me every time with stuff that her's can do. Then I said well I'm only paying $10 a month for my web access how much are you paying for yours ? "She said nothing I'm on your plan and you pay for it" . Kids these days always have a smart come back. LOL
Really magnifficiant
I was waiting for the day that tmobile would release an lg phone. REALLY. Anyway the phone is pretty cool. next to my old voyager they're almost identical. I have a tmobile backup prepaid nokia 1661 which i love a lot. So i will not switch but it is a good phone
