LG Cosmos Review
LG Cosmos VN250 Review with Tips & Tricks
After 4 years with the same phone, upgraded the other day to LG Cosmos VN250. I've had time to play with many of the features, so here's my LG Cosmos review.
First here's a list of the core features and upgrades I purchased:
Core Features:
- 1.3M Pixel Camera
- Sliding Motion Pulls Out to a Fully Landscaped QWERTY Keyboard
- Mobile Email and Web Browser
- Bing Search, Verizon
Navigator Capable, Blue tooth Support
Accessories
- Wall/USB Charger
- User Manual & Quick Reference Guide.
Purchased Upgrades
- Protector Case & Shield
- 2GB micro SD Module
Setup, Initial Configuration & Basic Use
I found the phone easy to program and navigate. Coming from a flip phone I was not accustomed to pushing buttons to answer a phone so that took some getting used to. Setup was fairly intuitive and pretty quickly I had all my programmed numbers back on their accustomed speed dial spots.
Answering and making a call is easy as can be. Navigation is configurable and pretty intuitive. A couple of nits regarding how the phone locks/unlocks. For my taste the phone locks automatically way too fast. I wish there was a way to increase the time before locking. I tried doing a search online for "Cosmos phone LG how to make it not lock automatically" and all I found was others who had the same issue. There needs to be an option to extend the time. Second nit is not as big a deal but 2-3 keystrokes to unlock the phone then 1 more to answer. I wish then the phone was ringing you would not have to unlock it.
Sound Quality
I use my phone on the speaker
setting a lot and I have to say the quality is much improved. I was able
to hear clearly while driving without having to max out the volume.
Same goes with the phone in general, I no longer need to keep my volume
setting up to max. Easy to use voice dialing and speech recognition
seems to work about as well as most systems, so there was no problem
dialing in the car hands free. When it is on my ear, it is easy to hear as well. Still do keep the volume down as well.
As far as the quality received on the other end, seems pretty good because I don't find myself repeating things and no complaints about background car noise on hands free setting or wind in the background when I'm walking outside.
Texting and Internet
I have to confess here that I'm not "textually active" so I'm going on the advice of my other family members. Keyboard and texting features work well. QUERTY keyboard size is good and the up/down arrows are quite helpful navigating. No problems with mis-typing words and a rich set of keys and functions. Easy to send and receive texts quickly. Extended features include Bing Search and a Social Network interface to some of the more popular sites, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.
Media - Camera and Sound
Let's start with the camera. There is only so much you can do with a 1.3MP camera. Image quality is OK but there is no video. Kind of a surprise there. Camera is easy to use and there are several options like noise settings and contrast settings that help you get the most out of this camera.
Like I mentioned earlier the sound quality is terrific. I was able to configure my ring tones and with a little research I was able upload some fun sounds to add to the base package. (see links section below for details on how to do this.) Another downer about this phone is it does not have a music player per se. You can upload music to the sounds feature and play one song at a time but there is no music player.
Battery Life
I have had excellent results so far with batter life. I can go 3-4 days with moderate use and not need a charge. On that note, I love the USB Charger and adapter. It means you can either plug into the wall or any USB port to charge your phone. I haven't needed it yet but I could see how this could come in handy.
Overall Rating
I really like this phone. It is intuitive, easy
to use. Sound quality is great, Hands free operation and speaker phone
work terrifically. I have a couple of issues with the locking, no audio
player and maybe a couple of suggestions for configuration options but
overall I'd give this an 8.5 out of 10. This phone is a winner and could easily get into the 9's with a few minor tweaks.
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