Review of the LG Vortex Budget Android Smartphone

Review of the LG Vortex Budget Android Smartphone
Page content

The LG Vortex is a touchscreen phone with a simplistic design and a good array of features such as Wi-Fi, GPS and a 3.2 megapixel camera. This touchscreen phone is powered by Android 2.2 and it is considered as an entry level Android phone which is slower than most higher end smartphones.

(4 out of 5)

LG Vortex

The LG Vortex is an entry level smartphone that measures 4.7 inches in length, 3.2 inches in width and 0.52 inches in depth. The touchscreen measures 3.2 inches and it dominates the central part of the phone. The screen is coated with soft touch plastic. The device has rounded corners for an easy and comfortable grip. The phone is also lightweight at 4.5 ounces. Its touchscreen can display vibrant graphics and up to 262,000 colors. The screen has a resolution of 320x480 pixels, and users can adjust settings like brightness, screen time out and animations.

There are four physical keys namely menu key, home key, back key, and search key which are located in the single silver panel. The right spine of the phone features the volume toggle control, while the microSD card slot is located on the left side. The top of the phone is where the 3.5mm headset jack is placed, while the bottom part features the microUSB port. The camera lens is placed on the back portion of the device.

User Interface (4 out of 5)

This handset runs on the Android 2.2 operating system, which is the latest version of Android. Navigating this particular device will be fairly easy. There are four home screens as well as the main screen, with four standard shortcuts found on the bottom- messaging inbox, main menu, contacts list, phone dialer, and Web browser. The onscreen keyboard is clear for dialing and inputting text messages, so users should have no difficulty in writing text messages and dialing phone numbers. The phone makes use of the Swype keyboard which is an alternative to the traditional multi-touch keyboard.

The Android 2.2 operating system carries several upgrades over its predecessor like memory card app storage, Bluetooth voice dialing, camera viewfinder, and Facebook integration, among others. It, however, does not support Flash 10.1, although the Android 2.2 OS supports the said feature in its browser.

Features (4 out of 5)

LG Vortex

The LG Vortex has a good number of features despite being an entry level Android smartphone. There is 3G and Wi-Fi support, as well as Bluetooth file transfer, dial-up networking, and object push. It also comes with a GPS function that can be used with Bing Maps and the VZ Navigator of Verizon wireless.

This particular device has a good number of apps preloaded on it like Skype Mobile, Scrabble, Slacker, Kindle, Tetris, calculator, RSS reader and a News and Weather app. Because it is a standard Android phone, the Vortex has apps such as YouTube, Gmail, GoogleTalk and Google Voice Search. More apps can be downloaded through the Android Market.

Aside from these advanced features, the Vortex comes with basic functions like text and multimedia messaging, speaker phone, voice dialing, conference calling, visual voice mail and voice recorder. The phone book memory depends on the available memory of the phone. Users can store multiple phone numbers and email addresses.

The multimedia features are pretty standard with a music and video player supporting media formats like WMA, MP3, MP4, and 3GP, among others. Users can also synchronize their media with their computer. The phone has a 3.2 megapixel camera that can capture images in five resolutions and three picture quality settings. The phone has a preinstalled 2GB card although the memory can be upgraded to 32GB.

Performance (4 out of 5)

Because it is an entry level Android smartphone, its multimedia function is not its greatest strength. The multimedia player may be able to create and manage playlists but the audio quality leaves a lot to be desired. The phone camera does have a good number of features like color effects, white balance, scene modes, focus modes and shot modes but the images are usually washed out. The camera can also capture videos with the highest resolution at 640x480 pixels.

When it comes to voice calls, the LG Vortex delivers. Users will have no problems hearing voices on the other line using this handset. Voice call quality does not suffer when the speakerphone is used.

Likewise, its browser is fast thanks to the phone’s 600MHz processor. It can last up to 8 hours of talktime and up to 21 days of standby time from a single charge.

Verdict (4 out of 5)

The LG Vortex delivers the goods in terms of performance, features and design. Users will love its user friendly interface, sleek design and good set of standard multimedia features. You can pick it up on a 2 year contract at Verizon for $79.99 which includes a $100 discount. Overall, the LG Vortex is a good buy.