LG 9800 Verizon Review from Gizmodo

LG 9800The writers of Gizmodo have been lucky enough to get their hands of the LG 9800 from Verizon, and here is what they had to say about it.

From Gizmodo
Just got a preproduction LG9800 Verizon unit in hand and so far, I’m likin’ it. A flip phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, this new mobile reminds me of the Motorola A630 I sported for a while, but the larger keyboard really does make a difference with messaging and the general button mashing. Though I have to admit, if I didn’t wear a purse, I wouldn’t be psyched about carrying it around in my pocket. It is a little bulky.

One important thing to keep in mind: it is not a smartphone. There’s no OS and the screen is not high-res, but if you want something for every day, plus great messaging features and EV-DO, I recommend this sleek looking phone (buttons glow a nice blue).
The internal screen is only a 2.2”, 4 x 3 lcd, not widescreen, which is a bit disappointing, but I really like the cute stereo speakers on either side of it.

The back of the phone holds the 1.3 megapixel cameraphone which when put to the test, didn’t seem to have that horrible shaking thing happening I had problems with when using the Sony Ericsson a710—the phone that first used this clever design. Could have used a flash though.

A mini SD slot is included for extra storage, though I’m still confused about what can be done with music. Every carrier has different rules about transferring music from computer to phone and vice versa, and since I always end up with open versions of phones, I’m still planning on getting a good eduction on this soon. Phone hits stores Sept. 30. No price announced yet.

September 7th, 2005 Posted by David in LG, Reviews at 11:40 am 22 Comments »
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22 Comments »

  1. I work for Radioshack and we received the demo for this phone. Any customer that uses text instantly falls in love. Unfortunately its a lust vs. common sense relationship since the current pricing on this awesome toy is $299 and thats with a 2 year contract, awfully steep but you have to ask yourself, do I need the keyboard that bad? Does my area even have EV-DO? Can I afford to buy this phone when there are others that are cheaper with the same functionality (minus the keyboard)? Personally, I love the phone, I love the keyboard but with my last 2 phones I barely take pictures, my area doesn’t have EV-DO and if I put away money for snacks throughout the year I might be able to get one in a year or so when the price drops. Do I love it? Yes.Am I in love with it? No. It’s really not that type of relationship, especially with Verizon as its parent.

    Comment by Dem — November 6, 2005 @ 11:22 am

  2. I absolutely love the new LG9800. I’ve been a Verizon Wireless customer for the past 5 years and have never had a problem with service. Also, I fell in love with LG while I was over in Europe. When Verizon came out with the LG9800, I was so excited. Sure, the price is pretty steep, but come on now. Think of all the things this phone has to offer.

    V Cast Video
    1.3 Megapixels Digital Camera
    Bluetooth
    PC Connection
    miniSD card slot (PIX: gif, png, jpg, bmp; Sounds: qcp, mid; FLIX: 3gp, 3g2)
    QWERTY keyboard
    And all other standard LG functions (GET IT NOW, EZ Tip Calculator, Ring tone assignment, etc)

    Think about it, isn’t it worth it?

    Comment by Chelsea — November 20, 2005 @ 10:00 pm

  3. i really want this phone how much is it

    Comment by nina — January 28, 2006 @ 6:59 pm

  4. I am getting a new phone, so I have been shopping around. I know a person who has this phone, and he thinks it’s the greatest. But, I know that I personally, wouldn’t want to carry around a big bulky thing with me everywhere! I’d rather just have a normal camera/video phone: I really don’t need to stand out and have the coolest phone, or the latest technology. It’s great, but my laptop does everything that does and more.

    Comment by Grace — February 4, 2006 @ 6:42 pm

  5. OHHHH SHiT my friend has this phone right? and its pretty cool!

    Comment by elyzuh — February 14, 2006 @ 7:26 pm

  6. I’ve had this phone for about 2 weeks now and I love it. A few things that can stand improvement are the camera and the shortcuts. The camera even with 1.3 megapixels has dissapointing quality, the business card reader is difficult to use and has a hard time reading the information on them. Also you have to go through a lot of menus and lists to get to a few features that were easily acessible on my kyocera slider. Reception is comparible to most other phones, battery life is average as well. For the features and cool factor it was well worth the money though. I reccomend it!

    Comment by Ross — March 13, 2006 @ 10:13 pm

  7. i’ve had this phone for 4 months now. I like it, and i hate it. I’m on my 4th phone, literally traded it in 3 times. why? first the phone froze in the middle of a download, i was trying to get ringtones and that was it, the phone locked up and couldnt reset, couldnt power down, even when the battery was off and put back on. So they give me another phone, the second phone froze in the middle of downloading VZW Tones, brought it back, got another. This time the vibrate function broke, plus 6 times out of 10 text messages wouldnt go through and would ask if i’d like to try again, then my friends are telling me they’re gettting the message several times. Brought it back, got another one, now everything seemed cool UNTIL i bought a wireless headset, didnt work at all, all static and no range so i return the HEADSET, got another one, different brand and had the same result. When i paired my headset to my Razor it worked great, so i returned my phone and the guys in the store all tried pairing their headsets to the phone and couldnt get it to work, SO got ANOTHER phone, went home and tried to pair it to my headset, doesnt work. again its the same problem, static and no range, it’ll work if i hold the phone just inches from the headset, otherwise it disconnects and goes back into regular phone mode. SO now i’m stuck with a new phone, i went through several headsets and i’m lost. Do i return the damn thing again??? One of the guys at the store has a LG9800 paired to a motorola headset and it works fine, i also have the software upgrade that came along not too long ago so its not that. everyones scratching their heads and i’m left wondering if i should just tell cust service that enough is enough and just go with a blackberry phone, everything else out there is a step down and i really hate motorola, they’re like Mac’s, not my style, they’re just a little “off” in their thinking. maybe its because i’m a logical thinker and not a dreamer. anyways for now considering returning it again and this time having them test the next phone in the store with a wireless headset that they have since the ones on the shelves all need to be charged to test. I bet’ya they go through 10 or 12 of them before they find one where all functions work. The more i think about it the more this phone makes me sick. The best phone i ever had was the LG 8100, it worked and worked well, this was the worst x mas gift i ever got.

    Comment by vinny — March 18, 2006 @ 8:43 pm

  8. I just got this phone, and I think it’s great. Yea, it is bulky, but it is soooo cute. Think about it compared to the sidekick. Every one has a sidekick, but only Cingular and T-Mobile have it. So Verizon buys this amazing phone from LG to satisfy its customers with something that is not completely for business, ( for instance the Treo) and is like the Sidekick.

    Although the camera looks impressive, I do have to admit, I was very disapointed. In addition to the pictures not having good focus, it takes a long time to get to the camera mode. Also, like Elyzuh said, the name card reader is impossible to use.

    The reception for this phone is really good though. And, after all, the point of a phone is so you can call people. I love the EZ tip feature, because going out to dinner is something I love to do.

    I did not think price was much of an issue, but I was adding a line to my current plane, and the phone has a lot of sales, so I really should not be saying that.

    Overall, I think this phone deserves 4.5 stars out of 5.
    I TOTALLY RECOMMEND IT!!!!!!!!

    Comment by Christine — March 30, 2006 @ 9:22 am

  9. I REALLY WANT DIS PHONE SO I’M BUGGING MYDA TO GET ME IT

    Comment by Aubrey — June 8, 2006 @ 3:14 pm

  10. I love the look of this phone I have two of them and I LOVE them…One is pink and the other is blue. My daddy bought one for me and then I wanted a blue one so he bought me another one!! It is awesome to be rich!!!!!!!

    Comment by Kelli Greenwood — July 19, 2006 @ 11:56 am

  11. I want to get one of these phones, but they are so expensive!!

    Comment by Alexis Marsh — September 11, 2006 @ 10:38 am

  12. I love thiss phone is kool is better than a sidekick

    Comment by lollz — September 23, 2006 @ 1:47 pm

  13. I have had this phone for 1 year now and I have had to have it replaced 3 times so far. Freezes when downloading music and ringtones. Now it won’t play my MP3’s but otherwise it is a pretty cool phone.

    Comment by Jennifer — October 13, 2006 @ 4:27 pm

  14. hey! i think this is the sexiest phone ever!!

    danielle skye :)

    Comment by Wallace — October 19, 2006 @ 7:43 pm

  15. this phone is gay lmao naa j/k verizon this shit is da bomb man and yeah it is better then the sidekick

    Comment by mo — October 19, 2006 @ 11:50 pm

  16. my friends have this phone … it is soooo awesome!!
    i love it and i am bugging my mom to buy me one for christmas!

    Comment by Tessy — October 24, 2006 @ 2:29 pm

  17. this phone sucks dont get it
    its ugly and the buttons are to small
    the camera has like no zoom and it breaks so easily
    the first month i had it it broke 3 times

    Comment by jonah — October 29, 2006 @ 6:11 pm

  18. Everything but the price is mentioned…
    what the hell!

    Comment by karina — November 1, 2006 @ 10:02 pm

  19. this looks like a purty sweet phone. but i would have to pay with my own money wich i dont have. so good for all of yall who have it!!!

    Comment by not at all rich but blessed — November 3, 2006 @ 8:47 pm

  20. I love this phone so much , it has been working for me and the pictures are great . I love how it has a keyboard in it

    Comment by Morgan Farley — November 6, 2006 @ 4:32 pm

  21. um i want this phone for christmas but how many songs does the camara hold and the mp3 player how much does that hold

    Comment by sara — November 21, 2006 @ 8:51 pm

  22. omgg i wan this fonee soo bad & i think they should make it for cingular too :D

    Comment by chrissy — November 26, 2006 @ 4:10 pm

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