The LG Lancet includes the Windows Phone 8.1 software pre-installed. Features include Cortana, Windows' answer to voice-activated assistants on Apple and Android phones, which let you perform searches, launch apps, and more by speaking in natural language. Cortana will either speak her answers to you or show what she thinks are relevant results from a Bing search. Cortana, like the other assistants, gets better at her job as you use her. The Action center is a pull-down notifications bar that lets you see and access various phone features, such as settings, the camera, etc. without having to unlock the phone screen. You also can cram more apps on your phone's desktop by adding a third column of Live Tiles to the Start Screen, a capability once only available to a few Windows phones with the largest displays. The Lancet includes LG's Quick Memo, a pull-down menu option app that lets you use your finger to scribble notes on anything you see on the phone's screen, from photos, e-mails, and calendar appointments to the home screen itself. The finished "memo" actually becomes a picture that you can easily e-mail or text to others, as well as share on social networks. Also handy is instead of using the power button, the LG's KnockON feature lets you simply double-tap the display to wake it up or turn off the screen.
The 4.5-inch display is responsive, providing easy access to all main functions and programmable shortcuts. The Windows Phone interface provides straightforward, yet flexible access to most functions via two panels. One is a Start Screen with a scrolling interface of resizable Live Tiles, which are animated app icons that can display real-time updates from social network feeds, news, appointments, and other sources. The other is a simple alphabetical list of all the apps on your phone. You can pin any app in this listing to the Start Screen, if it's not already there. The simple fonts and dark backgrounds provide a clear and distinctive presentation of e-mails, calendars, and other phone content. You can easily change most Live Tiles to one of three sizes: a full-screen-width rectangle, a half-screen square, or a tiny quarter-screen. And you can change their color palette. People Hub puts all of your contacts and social-network updates in one place. It also lets you send updates to several social networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, at the same time. And it allows you to arrange contacts into smaller groups, like "Family Room" (the default setting), or "Work Friends," enabling you to share messages, social-network updates, and pictures just with them.
The multi-touch screen lets you zoom in and out of photos or Web pages using two fingers (for instance, your thumb and index finger). In addition to the touch-screen support, three keys provide the core navigation controls. There's a back key for backing out of applications, a start key for returning you to the home screen, and a search button key that launches Bing search or Cortana.
The Lancet works on Verizon's 4G network (LTE), allowing faster streaming, downloading, and uploading of high-definition videos and other large files. The fast network also facilitates better Web browsing experiences. The WiFi connection provides another way to access the Web, e-mail, and other Internet-based content, without using your data plan allowance.
MESSAGING: The virtual keyboard was very easy to use. It supports a method that allows users to type words without lifting a finger--literally. You enter a word by dragging your finger across the screen from letter to letter. Though it's initially awkward to use, we eventually had a lot of success "typing" quickly and accurately. Its advanced voice command feature supports text fields, allowing you to dictate text messages, search the Web, open apps, and other normally typed forms of communication. Very good e-mail readability and attachment capabilities. This phone allows you to create and edit Word documents and Excel spreadsheets out of the box, which can come in handy when working on the go. The Lancet also supports Microsoft Exchange and Outlook for work e-mail. When connected to Windows or Macintosh computers, this phone can appear on the computer as another drive. You can then transfer data to and from your phone as you could on a regular drive. But it doesn't have preset text messages, nor does it allow you to create custom presets.
PHONE: We tested this phone under a variety of conditions to simulate environments ranging from the quiet indoors to noisy roadsides. We found voice quality was good when talking, though only fair when listening. Talk time was an adequate 9 hours. Overall though, battery life is shorter than on many other phones. This phone has a very good mixture of controls and features for making and taking calls. Very good keypad readability under most lighting conditions.
Its voice command allows you to conveniently dial numbers from your phone book by speaking the name, without the usual training. You can also dial numbers by pronouncing the digits. It has Bluetooth for wireless hands-free voice communication. This model can simultaneously be on a phone call and an Internet-based connection over the cellular network, but only when using its Advanced Calling capability (VoLTE), according to Verizon. But the ringer is not easy to mute. Auto answer doesn't work with headset.
MULTIMEDIA: The 8-megapixel camera produced good-quality pictures when photos were taken under well-lighted conditions. It also did very well under low-light conditions. The camera has a flash, autofocus, and can record HD video. The touch focus feature lets you override the autofocus by tapping on any subject on the screen. You can even take a picture by just saying "cheese." The phone's camera supports some useful--and fun--apps called Lenses, which allow you to embellish photos and videos in various ways. The front-facing VGA camera allows easy self-portraits, and can support video chats. But the camera took only fair 1080p video, OK only for the most casual uses.
The music player has the capabilities and controls of a typical stand-alone MP3 player, including music shuffle and repeat controls, and options for sorting music by album, artist, etc. The Lancet comes preloaded with Xbox, which lets you play games with your friends and use your avatar and gamer profile to keep track of game scores and achievements online through the Games hub. This model also supports Bluetooth stereo headsets, and can download music over the phone network. Its Bluetooth data support enables the phone to wirelessly share pictures, contacts, and other files with compatible printers, computers, and mobile devices.
GPS navigation capability provides spoken turn-by-turn directions and automatic re-routing. The Lancet supports the Miracast protocol. This lets the phone connect via WiFi to share content with other compatible certified devices such as a TV. The Lancet can act as a mobile hotspot for up to eight WiFi-enabled devices. It has 8GB of built-in memory, and supports memory cards of up to 128GB. Its memory capacity is beneficial for storing music, videos, pictures, and other types of files. But the memory card is hard to access.
