LG VX-8600 / AX-8600
Average Ratings
Fantastic phone
I see lots of bad reviews here. I just dumped my POS iPhone to return back to the 8600. In the year I used it I NEVER dropped a call, always had great reception, and loved the MP3 player. Another reviewer just recently mentioned you cannot play MP3's via bluetooth. Totally incorrect. I have been playing them since I bought the phone over a year ago along with a stereo BT headset.
The wired headphone adapter is easy to use, and plugs in quite simplistically. Yes, the iPhone did do better on the ease of MP3 playing, but unlike the 8600, it does NOT support playback over BT. Later this month the iPhone SDK should be released with lots of improvements, but I could not take the last 6 months of constantly dropped calls on the ATT network, so I will gladly pay the EFT to ATT and I have gone back to my 8600, and I am still loving it.
My ONLY complaint about the 8600 is the keypad is on the smaller side, and with my big fingers I tend to hit double keys frequently, but if you ever tried the iPhone for texting, the 8600 is a relief.
Good phone
I've had this phone for a year now and i thinks its a great phone. It has all the features of a high end phone, plus its sleek and cool looking. The only problem i had was with the bluetooth but that was it. I have two kids and they throw it around and slobber all over it and it still works great.
PROS:
-Screen is bright and big
-Great MP3 player
-Sd slot is good for storing pics and transfering them to a computer
-High quality materials used
-Awesome Reception. My phone gets better reception than the razor or the juke!
Cons:
-The speaker is loud when you play music but not as loud when on a call. Not really a huge concern.
Overall this is a very good phone. I use it with my bluetooth handsfree system on my car and it works like a charm. The camera gives great pictures, and you can jam out anywhere with the mp3 player.
Bad Reception, Crummy interface
When I got this phone over a year ago, I was excited. I love the ultra thin design and the MP3 features seemed great - with access on the front panel through magic disappaering soft keys. The bluetooth headset is small and comfortable. And best of all, it looks cool. My wife got the Moto RAZR V3, but I figured I came out ahead. Boy, was I wrong.
After a year, I really wish I went with something else. The reception is horrible - the phone drops calls all the time. My wife's RAZR works just about everywhere we go, but my 8600 just can't find a signal. And when it can't find a signal, the battery doesn't fare very well - is pumps power to max, heats up and goes dead after 8 hours or so. A bit of advice: Bring your mobile charger with you EVERYWHERE.
The MP3 player is next to useless. The interface is just horrible (this may be Verizon's reprogramming, not LG's) and the "magic" controls I mentioned earlier are difficult to navigate. There's not even headphone jack - you need to put a clunky adapter into the crummy data port (more on that later), but then you can't charge.W orse, you can't listen to MP3's through Bluetooth. So, if you want to plug this phone into your car charger and listen to your MP3s on a long trip, forget it.
As far as the proprietary data port goes, this thing is ultra teeny and difficult to use. You need 2 hands and a ton of patience. Don't think about trying to plug in your phone while driving or in a dark room. It's not an issue of the form factor. The Moto RAZR uses an ordinary mini-USB jack and it is about a millon times better - you can charge at any PC! Everyone has a USB mini cable laying around.
One thing it has going for it - the Bluetooth headset from LG that goes with it is excellent. Sound quality is better over the headset than directly through the phone according to those on the other end.
I wish I had stuck with a Moto product, or maybe a Samsung - my wife had good luck with those in the past.
Wouldn't buy another one
like many of the reviews on here i have many complaints. mostly with the screen and camera. the camera hasn't been very good on the first one i had nor the replacement i've got now either. had to have it replaced after just a few months because the screen began freezing up making it impossible to see who was calling or anything else. tried to do replacement over phone and was told couldn't because this model has known issues, had to go to store and do the dead on arrival program. the new one is doing ok so far except the camera is still no good. like the first one, this one also has it's problems where it will completely shut off for no apparent reason. the new one won't stayed charged as long as the first one would. i imagine come a few more months and i'll have to have it replaced again, hoping not but i imagine it will mess up just like the first one did.....basically....
pros...
slim
loud ringers & speaker
large screen
cons....
fingerprint magnet
coating wears off to easy
bad camera
bad reception on both i've had
scratches easy
shuts off on it's own
battery seems to be lose for some odd reason
i can't think of any reason why i would recommend anyone buy one. i loved it at first, the looks and all but not anymore, not after having 2 already. as soon as i can afford something better i definitely will get it.
Good Phone
I've had my lg8600 since may '07 and its still doing good for me.
the only time i had a prob was when i got it the paint chipped, so they gave me another one. but as far as the mechanical stuff with the phone, its been great.
granted i treat the phone well (since it was quite pricy) i turn it off to charge it, keep it safe in my pocket (so it wont be hitting the ground).. and so on...
i think the key to keeping a phone good, is taking good care of it...and so on.
sometimes a guy just gets a "bad egg" and needs to return it, but that doesnt mean all of them are bad.
this phone has a lot of good options.... it's worth a try.
and remember, as long as the damages aren't your fault... you should be able to return it...
this phone is horrrrrrrible!
this phone has horrible battery life. i just went to the store today to have it replaced and the lady responded by telling me "don't charge it to so much and your battery will stay fine." well if i don't charge it everday, it'll die! so that's bad also.
the service is horrible, my other phone has worked in my house (lg 8100) but this one won't. stupiiiid.
the charging is horrible, the charger breaks and if it is bent at all, it won't stay in the phone and won't hold a charge.
you also can't text on this thing! you always hit wrong buttons and sometimes send things you don't mean too. maybe it's just my phone & the service i get but i sometimes get text messages an hour after the other person has sent them.
the only good thing about this phone is you can read the text messages on the front. and the side. that is all that's good. do not buy this phone unless you want to be frustrated everyday of your life.
great if u don't like to see ur screen!!
i currently have this phone and have since july 22nd and have been counting down to my upgade since august 4th. i currently have 133 days until my upgrade and can't wait til a can go to sleep and have 132 days. this is almost as bad as my chocolate!!!! i do not recomend this phone at all buy a diffrent one!!!! any one actually don't buy a phone if this is the only one u want
pro's
1. um let me think it has a loud volume (ringtone and when on phone)
that's all i can think of
Con's (here we go...)
1. fingerprint magnet
2. scratches easy
3. buttons? (i wouldn't kno anymore i can't see them they've wotn off)
4. my buttons on front don't turn off
when texting i can't see the screen (good thing i can text without lookin)
5. bad pictures (when it took pictures b4 it broke)
6. battery horrible (i g2 school for 8 hours and when i'm on the bus my phone is dead)
7. music player wont let u text and listen like chocolate
8. sketchy images
9. lights up by itself all the time
10. music player goes off all the time (esp during classes :-( )
11. small text message inbox
12. if u lock a message it will deleate it in 24 hours
13. word options really small (when texting)
14. side buttons broken
15. speaker phone bad (if u can tell the diffrence between speaker and regular)
16. screen goes blurry when i get a text (it turns pretty colors says mw friend)
17. i have to constantly turn o and off so i can c my screen
18. slow!!!
19. the silver on the front edges wears and turns to copper
20. sometimes you can't hear (even when i'm in the state capital denver, colorado or cheyenne, wyoming)
overall it's a good phone if u barely use it
i would recomend you not purchasing it i have
had several problems
Pain in my rear
I've had the LG 8600 since May of 07 and have had nothing but trouble with it. It was a good phone for the first 2 weeks and than technical problems plagued my 8600. First the screen went out so my company replaced it, than it wouldn't make calls, so my company replaced it again, than it just quit working so yet again, i got a new one. I work for Alltel and I know that its not an Alltel issue, it's LG's 8600. They've come out with fixes on all of these problems but new ones keep arising. My phone is currently refusing to take pictures, the touch buttons dont work, and the screen randomly blanks out. Overall if you don't want any hassle I would not recomend this phone. I'm stuck with it for 2 more years, don't to it...
Bad Phone...Just Bad
It's obvious why the phone is discontinued under the Verizon line HA. The phone is the worst phone I've had under Verizon. The reception is most to blame. I currently use this phone and have a 4% drop call ratio. After speaking with Verizon, they had to say "they hate to find customers go over 1%" and so they jumpped at providing me with a new phone...the exact same one. Of course, exact same problems. I'll have on average 2 dropped calls within each call I make. I want to say it has something to do with LG because I've had a couple Motorolas under Verizon and both were great phones when it came to reception. Then I got the V phone which had similar issues just not as bad. Hence, I'll be getting a new phone tomorrow, the Motorola MOTORIZR Z6tv.
An LG to compete in the slim phones area
This is the first slim phone that LG has released (to my knowledge) and it is a great handset. All of the cool and hot feature are included bluetooth, messaging, EV-DO, Music player, and customizable features. I have actually found that the internal antenna actually gets better signal then the stub on my old 6100. The touch sensor buttons can be used for much more then just music, TXT/PIX messages can be viewed, or ignored with the front buttons as well as missed calls and answering your phone.
The only real downsides to this phone is that you cannot set individual txt ringers for contacts (where as the 6100 could) and if you put music on the micoSD card the music player does not understand the tags for song title album or anything like that.
in summery this is a great phone for the average cellular user that likes the higher benefits of music and video.
PROs:
- Slim
- good battery
- controls features other then music through front buttons
- customizable music outside of EV-DO
- bluetooth clarity (depending on headset)
- great volume
CONs:
- Music list problems with non EV-DO music
- Hard to keep glass coating clean
- no contact txt ringers
