December 2007
Verizon's new music phones: First Look
We examine the LG Voyager, LG Venus and Samsung Juke
Consumer Reports Video  |
| FIRST LOOK | |
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LG Voyager |
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The Samsung Juke is not as advanced as the LGs, but in some ways it's more fun. When folded closed, this swivel phone looks like a slightly plump flash MP3 player, complete with a click wheel and a narrow LCD screen. But push one of its corners and it flicks open like a switchblade, instantly transformint it into a fashionably thin cell phone.
All three phones support stereo Bluetooth headsets for tangle-free listening. They also have voice command and a standard headset connector, and are GPS navigation ready, though service costs extra. They come with USB cables for loading music from your PC and recharging the phone battery. As with the iPhone, the phones' cameras lack a flash.
According to Verizon, talk time for the LGs is 4 hours, and 3 1/2 hours for the Samsung. We’ll check those claims for a future update.
In general, we found, these phones’ features and capabilities were in line with their prices.
Here are our first impressions of this intriguing trio:
LG Voyager
Price: $300 (with a two-year contract, including rebates)
HIGHS
Talented touch screen. The Voyager’s large, 2.8-inch-diagonal external touch screen serves as both a display and a control center, like the ones on the LG Prada and Apple iPhone. (The iPhone’s screen is 3.5 inches.) Tapping the menu icons with either your finger or a stylus (not included) launches all of the phone’s main features, including the Web browser, media player, e-mail application, and cell phone.
Nifty navigation. Touch-screen navigation is very easy using the icon-based interface. No matter where you are, you can return to the main menu by pressing the "CLR" button at the base of screen. When you have to type a text message or dial a phone number, Voyager's touch screen produces the appropriate virtual QWERTY keyboard or number pad. Maneuvering on the Voyager is fairly easy: You can navigate Web pages and flip though your media collection with a swipe of your finger, or peck virtual buttons to zoom in and out, which takes some getting used to. Overall, the iPhone's display is more responsive. And zooming in and out is as easy as moving your fingers together and apart.
Quality QWERTY. One thing the Voyager has that the iPhone doesn't is a QWERTY keyboard with actual buttons, which we found easier to use for text messaging and e-mail. You access it by prying the Voyager open, much as you might do with an eyeglass case. We found the keyboard clearly labeled, well spaced, and very easy to read under most lighting conditions.
An HTML Web browser. Unusual for a cell phone, the Web browser supports HTML, so you can visit a wide variety of Web sites. It lacks a Wi-Fi connection, which the iPhone has, though downloading pages on Verizon’s EV-DO data network is reasonably fast.
A second screen. When you open the Voyager, you’ll find another 2.8-inch screen. It shows you whatever was on the exterior screen, in landscape orientation, so you won’t lose your place when you switch to the QWERTY keyboard. But it’s not a touch screen, so you’ll have to rely on the keyboard for navigation.
Fine phone performance. The Voyager had very good voice quality when talking, good when listening—on a par with other CDMA phones. The controls for making and taking calls were excellent. And we found voice quality is actually better than the iPhone overall.
Tangle-free music. The Voyager has well-spaced stereo speakers for listening to music without headphones, with the phone open or closed.
Cool extras: Other features include support for Verizon’s Mobile TV service with live broadcasts of CBS, Comedy Central, Fox, MTV, NBC News, NBC Entertainment, and Nickelodeon. We found the onscreen program guide, which holds 48 hours of program info, easy to use.
LOWS
Anemic e-mail "upgrade." Like most other phones, the Voyager includes only the single e-mail account you get with phone service. Paying an extra $5 a month allows the Voyager to manage up to 10 accounts. But in our tests, we couldn't open e-mail attachments or view Word documents and spreadsheets.
No flash. The 1.9-megapixel camera can record video but, as previously noted, it lacks a flash.
BOTTOM LINE
An impressive effort. The iPhone is essentially the same price for about the same capacity, offers full access to iTunes and YouTube, and has a better Web browser and e-mail application. But the Voyager is a better cell phone.
LG Venus
Price: $200 (with a two-year contract, including rebates)
HIGHS
Sexy interface. Venus lacks the Voyager’s HTML Web browser, QWERTY keyboard, and advanced TV and e-mail capabilities, but it does have a cool touch screen for direct access to its many key features. They include a 1.9-megapixel camera, media player, calendar, and text-messaging application. The display is divided into two areas: The larger, upper screen, which measures 2 inches diagonally, functions as the display. The lower, 1.5-inch diagonal screen is a touch-sensitive control pad, with vibration feedback, that contains all of the navigation shortcuts.
Good phone controls. The Venus has very good controls for making and taking calls. The slide-out alphanumeric keypad is very easy to read under most conditions.
LOWS
Split personality. The split-screen interface takes some effort to master. When menu buttons appear in the display area, your first instinct is to press them, which, of course, does nothing. You have to remember to use the touch-sensitive controls below for navigation.
Not a good listener. Voice quality was very good for talking, but only fair for listening—worse than most other CDMA phones in our Ratings.
BOTTOM LINE
The beauty of this pricey cell phone is unfortunately only skin deep. Once you get past its slick mirrored finish, there’s very little it can do that our top-scoring advanced cell phones don’t do better, sometimes for less.
Samsung Juke
Price: $50 (with a two-year contract, including rebates)
HIGHS
Functional design. The phone's spring-activated switchblade action is not only cool to watch, but allows you to access the phone with one hand. It also includes a wired stereo headset, matched in color to the phone.
Palm friendly. This lilliputian marvel measures just 3.8x1.2x0.9 inches, making it one of the smallest phones we've tested. Its relatively narrow case fits quite comfortably in the hand.
Responsive controls, easy file management. Finding and selecting songs and pictures with the Juke’s click wheel is very simple. You can peruse song and photo lists by rotating clockwise or counterclockwise, and make selections by depressing a center button. Pushing different corners of the click wheel allows you to jump to other menus and applications.
Effortless music transfers. When you're transferring music from a computer, many phones require you to install software or use Windows Media, which many people don't have or want. But the Jukebox lets you drag and drop your music files directly into the player.
A decent phone. The Juke has very good voice quality when talking and good quality when listening, on a par with other CDMA phones. It also has very good controls for making and taking calls. One quibble: It lacks single-key, last-number redial.
LOWS
No downloads. You’ll have to bring your own music to get this party started. The Juke doesn’t work with Verizon’s high-speed EV-DO data network, which means it can’t use V-Cast services—a shame on a phone with such a good MP3 player.
Memory minus. There’s no card slot for expanding storage. But the phone can hold about 500 songs in its 2 gigabytes of internal memory.
Flat keypad. The keys are easy to see under most lighting conditions. But they’re not raised, which might make it difficult to dial without looking.
Tiny display. The proportionally petite screen, which measures 1.5 inches diagonally, might be too small for some people. But it’s adequate for reading under most lighting conditions.
Puny camera. The camera has only VGA resolution, which means low-quality images compared with the Voyager and Venus.
BOTTOM LINE
The Juke’s small size and nimble MP3 player make it a good companion for the gym or mall. And its compelling switchblade action will provide hours of amusement to children of all ages.
