LG Invision review – unusual keypad arrangement
Thumbs Up:
Good battery life, slim & lightweight design, admirable call quality, great display
Thumbs Down:
No self portrait mirror, poor picture quality, unusual keypad arrangement
Inside the Trunk:
Technology: GSM
Band: Quad-band of GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Phone Design: Candy Bar
Caller ID: Yes
Other Features: TTY compatible and World clock
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The LG Invision has 128MB internal memory and supports AT&T Mobile TV with FLO. The supported platform is Java MIDP 2.0.
The 2.2 inches LCD display has 240×320 pixels resolution that supports 262,000 (18-bit) colors. The additional features are EDGE, GPRS, Java applications and mobile email. The connector set includes 1×USB.
The 1.3-megapixel camera feature 4x zoom, self-timer, and video recording. It can take pictures in four resolutions: 160×120, 320×240, 640×480, and 1280×960. The video capture resolutions are 176×144 QCIF and 320×240 QVGA.
The 900mAH lithium ion battery has a life of 180 minutes talk time and 250 hours of idle standby time. Accessories supplied inside the package are power adapter, user manual, battery, and wired headset.
Razzle Dazzle:
The LG Invision is 4.05 inches long, 2.08 inches wide and 0.47 inch deep and weighs 2.9 ounces. The cell phone is black except its chrome edges. The back cover is clad with rubberized texture that gives feeling of faux leather.
Inside Dope:
The Samsung Access and the LG Vu were the only two devices that support AT&T Mobile TV. The LG Vu features touch-screen and wide display, whereas the Samsung Access offers midrange feature set. Now, the LG Invision is available that also supports AT&T Mobile TV and offers 3G support, slim design and good call quality. It costs $79.99 with two-year AT&T contract after a mail-in-rebate. At first look, the Invision looks like the Samsung Access due its wide and short design. However, the Invision has smaller (2.2-inch) display than 2.29-inch screen of the Access. The overall aesthetic of the Invision gives a reminiscent of sleek business calculator. However, it does not feature touch-screen and lacks self-portrait mirror for camera. We will recommend the LG Invision only when you need an AT&T cell phone to access its Mobile TV. We also advise you to check the Mobile TV coverage in your area before buying it.
The 2.2 inches LCD display of the LG Invision has 320×240 pixels resolution that supports 65,000 colors. It exhibits vibrant graphics with vivid colors. You can adjust the dialing font color and size, the menu styles, the brightness, and the backlight time.
The four-way toggle with middle OK key is positioned between the keypad like a cross in its center. You will find the Talk key, tv shortcut for AT&T Mobile TV, and one soft key on the left side of toggle, while the Clear/Back key, another soft key and End/Power key are on its right side. You can customize the toggle with the shortcuts to My Stuff folder, contacts light, instant messaging app, and new text message. On pressing, the middle OK key launches browser in the standby mode. The alphanumeric keypad has a bit cramped keys.
You will find the charger jack, a volume rocker, and micro-SD card slot on the left spine. The multitask key for switching between running applications and camera button are on the right spine. The camera lens is on the back, but there is no self-portrait mirror.
The LG Invision can store 500 contacts in its phonebook. Each contact can store two phone numbers, a memo and one email address. The contacts can be categorized between caller groups. You can also pair them with one ring-tone and a photo for caller ID.
The basic feature set includes text and multimedia messages, 10 MP3 ring-tones, a countdown timer, a unit converter, a tasks list, a stopwatch, a notepad, a calendar, a world clock, an alarm clock, a calculator, and a tip calculator. The advanced highlights are stereo Bluetooth, wireless Web browser, voice command, mobile Web email (AT&T Yahoo, Bellsouth, Windows Live Hotmail, and more), and instant messengers (Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live, and AOL).
The main attraction of the LG Vision is AT&T Mobile TV for live mobile television service. It includes time-shifted programs and 150 simulcast from Comedy Central, ESPN, CBS, and more. Its basic package costs $15 per month, while the $30 priced Plus Package offers unlimited Web browsing, Cellular Video and Mobile TV. We like that you also have an option to select only four channels in $13 per month including NBC News 2 Go, NBC 2 Go, Fox Mobile, and CBS Mobile.
AT&T has also included its 3G services in the LG Vision that includes AT&T Cellular Video for streaming video content and AT&T Video Share for sharing one-way live video calls to other compatible phone. There is also AT&T Mobile Music for various music related services such as music fan community, Billboard Mobile Channel, Music ID, music videos, XM Radio Mobile and ability to buy and download songs via eMusic and Napster for $1.99 per song with PC version.
The inbuilt music player has similar interface to other AT&T Music phones. The 1.3-megapixel camera features 4x digital zoom, self-timer, and video recording. The still capture options include three shutter sounds with a silent mode, four color effects, four white balance presets, three quality settings, and four resolutions. The video recording options are similar to that of still capture. We captured some pictures for testing. The overall picture quality was below average. The images had orange overcastting and are not enough sharp.
The LG Invision comes preloaded with three games: WPT Hold Em 2, Scrabble Blast, and Scene IT? The pre-installed applications are: Yellowpages.com, My-Cast 5 Weather, IMDB Movie database, and Mobile Banking. You can personalize the Invision phone with available ring-tones, background colors, greetings, and wallpapers. More options and games can be downloaded through AT&T Media Mall.
We made few calls through quad-band based the LG Invision via AT&T service for testing. The overall call quality was excellent. We could hear clear and loud sound at our end with a bit noise and echo. The callers received natural, clear and loud sound at their end without any static. The speakerphone calls were of good quality. The callers told that we sounded some distant, while we received a bit hollow sound at our end with loud volume.
The music playback was suffered with a bit tinny sound. We will recommend the stereo headset for better listening experience. The video quality from AT&T Mobile TV was sharp and impressive. However, the videos via Cellular Video was choppy and pixelated. The streaming video clips buffered quickly and played back well. A 2MB song downloaded in one minute, whereas the CDMAcellulars.com loaded in 20 seconds in the browser.
The battery life of the LG Invision is 3 hours of talk time and 10 days of idle standby time. Its digital SAR rating is 1.34 watts per kilogram in accordance with the FCC radiation tests.
Nitty Gritty:
You can buy the LG Invision only if you need an affordable AT&T Mobile TV compatible phone and can work frequently on an unusual keypad arrangement. Please check the Mobile TV service in your area before purchasing it.
