Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 24
 Upgrade from basic phones, but I'm sure there are better ones July 15, 2008
Calvn Hobbes (Seattle, WA United States)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I went from a first-generation Razr to this phone, so it was a definite upgrade for me. I don't know if I would buy it again unless it had a few more items for the same low price. But I love the color and QWERTY very much. Being an avid texter, that keyboard is great.
I love the fact that you can put in a micro card and get your items without paying a data transfer fee (I refuse to pay $1.99 per image). Since no card or USB cord comes with the phone, I bought them here from independent sellers (unfortunately, the USB cord isn't recognized by my computer and the San-Disk card had a bad adapter, so I'm 0 for 2 with sellers here). The pictures are really promising but the video quality is just as bad as my Razr.
The alarm has a mon-fri setting, weekends, daily, etc. Definitely nice. But the volume on the alarm is the same as the volume for calls and you can't change it just for the alarm. I have a loud volume while at work, but that same volume sounds like a nuclear weapon when you're asleep at 6am. And on that subject, there is no "quiet" ring. It goes from loud to vibrate, to off. Since when does the lowest setting still mean "loud"?
The book included is practically useless. I still cannot figure out how to answer call-waiting without hanging up on both people. The little symbols on the screen have no definitions, so I have no idea what they all mean. It could be telling me I'm on hold with Pakistan and I'd never know.
After hating on the book, I realized that what ISN'T in there is stuff you CAN'T do (novel concept) like changing the time. WHY? Why can't I decide to program my phone 5 minutes fast, or exactly the time of my child's school bell? Irritating. I almost returned the phone for that exact reason.
No speakerphone with the clamshell closed. And the speaker will stay on afterwards unless you manually turn it off- closing the clamshell doesn't turn it off. It is easier to make a peanut butter sandwich while driving than to make a hands-free call at the wheel. I haven't found the shortcuts to calling someone while the clamshell is open (see "useless book" above), so I use the voice command. That little feature does work well.
So on that note, USING SPEAKERPHONE WHILE DRIVING. Since this is apparently not only my bane, but others too, here's what I do: push the CLR/microphone button on the keypad (you can hear the voice command with the clamshell closed), tell it whom to call, and then after a second or so, open the clamshell. I'm sure there must be a better way, but the book... well, you know.
The keypad lock is very poor. You need to push the OK button to unlock the phone, but this button is in the center of the keypad and the same height as all the others. My dog laid on the phone one day and managed to call people. I'm afraid to put it in my purse or back pocket lest it call Pakistan without me knowing it.
I didn't have to enter a password when calling my voicemail with my Razr, so having to do it now stinks. You have to press # after the password, which requires more than a few keystrokes with the clamshell open. So checking voicemail via speakerphone is terrible. I think LG wants to get all people hands-free whether they like it or not.
Whomever positioned the camera lens where it is needs to go back to school. My finger is in so many pictures I feel like a painter. But the camera does come with different settings that are very nice (the nighttime setting made a huge difference on some of my photos).
I pretty much wanted a QWERTY and good picture quality. I got both of those. The sound quality is good, so overall I like it ok. However I will be changing it to something else once my contract expires.
 perfect so far! June 28, 2008
Smileyaja
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I got my phone on june 7th.. (i am upgrading from a lg chocolate ) I was really deciding whether to buy a samsung glyde, lg venus, or an lg voyager. I decided on the lg env2 because it was new.. duh... and also the other phones I tried out their touch screen was slow and the programming had some glitches so I opted for the env2 that did not have a touch screen yet..
the front might look a bit dull but it is pretty useful... even for its small screen size.. its just enough to get phone numbers text messages and etc from it.. other than that you just open up for a bigger screen where there is a qwerty board... the only negative thing I would say for the phone itself is that it is hard to hold on to with my small hands (maybe only for me) and also when i grab the phone it is hard to find where the numbers end and where the send and end are.. i'm sure after a couple of more weeks i'll get used to it but its been around a month... i'm planning on getting a silicon case for it so i can identify the send and end buttons without looking...
I also love the speakerphone abilities on this.. i might not need a bluetooth for this but I still opted to purchase the samsung wep700 online.. just because of the new driving law in california...
there is also voice command it works okay some of the pronounciations sound wrong when you say it... it gets some getting used to..
the camera and video are okay they are not really the sharpest images but what do you expect in a cellphone...
the internet and email work great...
out of the choices I think this is the best upgrade i've had from verizon.. thanks...
 Not User Friendly for day to day use July 11, 2008
litigator (Brooklyn, NY USA)
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
Every day, I have a few major issues with this phone.
1) If I want to retrieve my voicemail, which occurs many times a day, I have to enter a pound sign after the code, and I need to use speakerphone while I am driving.
You can't enter the pound sign quickly or easily when retrieving messages with the phone clamshell open - it requires holding the function key and the #3 key down. Moreover, the phone must be open if you want to access your messages on speakerphone. I have yet to discover how to use the speakerphone with the phone clamshell closed.
2) you can't hang the phone on a typical car cell holster, because if you want to use speakerphone while you are driving, then as I mentioned in #1, you have to keep it flipped open. No one makes a holder for the phone in that position. Every other phone has a automobile or speaker function with the phone closed - why shouldn't this one?
3) The instructions stink. I do not want an instruction book that simply gives me the flowchart of the menu. For that you only need one page. No mention in the index or anywhere about the speaker issue. Good luck trying to figure how to send more than one picture in a message - it is very difficult, and the same instruction set will sometimes only send one picture, and sometimes a couple more.
4) I am always on the run - I do not carry around rechargers with me. Every phone I have bought until now had a desk charger available to charge the battery without needing the phone, so I would have one spare in the charger, and would swap when the one in my phone died. Now, if my battery dies, I am committed to losing access to my wire free freedom.
5) The keypad lock on the outside is a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. If you keep the keylock on, you'll be cursing that every time you get a senior moment while dialing or performing any function on the front you'll have to unlock the keypad, probably many times before you get the job done. If you keep the keypad unlocked for longer or fully, then every time you put away your phone in a tight holster, your camera button or some other function gets pressed. The beep when any unimportant button gets pressed will only make you paranoid and nuerotic that it was the camera button you accidentally pressed, and that as you speak it is either filming the waistline of everyone you greet or that it is eating up your memory card's available space at a rapid rate.
6) I paid for Backup Assistant through Get it Now with my old phone so I would never have the nightmare of not being able to transfer my contact list to my new phone. I called up Verizon, and they said that since this Env2 is not a "Get It Now" phone, I can not restore the phone directory to the new phone! Paid $15 friggin bucks to a store to have it transferred, all while listening to him asking me "how come you didn't buy the phone by me?""I would have done the transfer for you for free then!" As an aside, Why can't a phone back up the notepad entries to the memory card - Is the technology that hard to do nowadays?
I miss the old LG's - the vx6000, 6100, even the 8300 was quite good. Great battery life, none of the problems mentioned above, and they felt like they were designed by someone with brains. This phone just left a lot of good sense behind. Like they never bothered to have ten or twenty Americans from all walks of life test use the phone for a week or two before putting it on the market.
If you have any answers, solutions or workarounds to any of the above gripes, please leave your comment for all to read and make their life better. Thanks!
Decent phone marred by two major flaws August 12, 2008
p_nice (Chicago, IL United States)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I recently became eligible for a phone upgrade and instead of going with the free option like I usually do, I decided to spend the extra fifty bucks and purchase the LG enV2. Yeah it had several features that I probably would never use, like the music player and the VZ Navigator, but it also came with a QWERTY keyboard which I'd been wanting.
After activating it and getting it home, I sat for a while and got myself acclimated to the functions. Quickly I realized that a GPS-enabled music and video player was more of a phone than I really needed. In fact, I probably would never use most of the features included. I use a phone for making calls and texting, that's it. But I loved the keyboard and figured that would make it worthwhile. The next day I went out about my business, ready to enjoy my new device, when I discovered the two problems that would quickly become dealbreakers for me.
First, the vibrate mode is so weak that while going about with the phone in my pocket, I was totally unaware of ANY calls that came through. Realizing this, I had my wife call me several times and I still didn't feel the phone vibrating, even though I was expecting it. I thought maybe it was just because I was walking and took a moment to sit still with the phone pressed against my thigh and waited for her to call again. I felt it, but it was so faint it still took me a moment to be sure it was the phone and not some random muscle twitch. Maybe I'm just spoiled by my previous phone which buzzed so hard it was like a power tool in my pocket. Whatever the case, a phone that isn't able to adequately alert me to incoming calls is a poor performer in my book.
The second problem is even bigger: The exterior keypad lock. I read a couple of people complaining about this in other reviews but I went with the phone anyway, saying to myself "how bad could it be?" Well, it's really bad, actually. While carrying the phone in my pocket I somehow managed to activate it and make calls, one of which lasted 16 minutes before I noticed it. I'd accidentally dialed my wife. The problem is she never picked up the phone and my phone didn't disengage. I could have burned through a couple of hours of minutes if I hadn't noticed when I did. The so-called keypad lock is really poorly designed and, in addition to not working, is a hassle to manipulate.
So now I find myself with a mobile phone that I feel compelled to check every five or ten minutes because I'm paranoid that I'm either missing calls or inadvertently dialing contacts and eating up minutes. These flaws vastly outweigh the convenience of having a QWERTY keyboard, and considering my disinterest in the other functions, I've decided to return this phone and go with the simpler free flip phone I originally intended to get.
I'm sure this model would be great for people who are more inclined to use the many features and who opt to walk around with their phones in pouches on their hips; but for a guy who just wants to make and receive calls along with the occasional text, the LG enV2 is just not practical or user-friendly.
 Good sophisticated phone for the price July 12, 2008
Abbotsford (Illinois)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I bought this phone after using a basic Samsung flip phone for two years. I've been using it heavily during my first week with it, and while there are some drawbacks, the phone has a lot of great (and surprising) features. I like it a lot.
Great features:
1. The call quality (on my end and according to those I've talked with) is clear and good, with a nice strong speakerphone
2. The internal screen is large and clear, with good resolution
3. The qwerty keyboard is a real plus for texting, data entry, etc. It's compact but easy to use.
4. The camera is really good for a phone at this price (still pictures especially, but the 30-second video clips are reasonably ok).
5. The maroon color is really attractive, and the overall styling is pleasing.
6. Quick smooth interface with Verizon add-on services (Navigator, mobile web, etc.), and some nice built-in features like the notepad.
Problems:
1. The external screen is quite small, and there are limits to what you can do without opening the phone -- opening it requires two hands, so I'm missing the one-handed opening of my old flip (this may just be something I'm not used to yet).
2. You can't use the speakerphone without having the phone open.
3. When checking voicemail, you have to hit the pound key, and if you're doing this using the speakerphone, hitting pound requires two hands (hold down the SYM key, then push #) - not so great if you're driving.
4. The camera lens is on the back, right where it feels natural to rest your fingers (again, this may just take some getting used to).
To me, this phone is a good middle ground between a basic phone and a smartphone/blackberry. My verdict: if you want lots of high-end features, good battery life, good call quality, a solid camera, and a stylish look for a moderate price, the LG EnV2 is a good choice.
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