A Poem For Your Pocket

Author's Rating:

Pros: Quality construction, Pocketable, Beautiful Styling

Cons: LCD Displays Don't Function in Bright Light, Poor Speaker Phone, Data Port Cover

The Bottom Line: 
A Great Looking Phone With High Quality Construction. In a World of Plastic, This Phone Stands Alone. Nice Features With Great Call Quality.

Author's Review
The poet Keats wrote " A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness. . . ". Keats could easily have been speaking of LG's new VX 8700. This beautiful phone is currently on sale at your nearest Verizon Wireless Store. When this phone was presented to me for inspection, it was done so with the reverence not unlike a fine piece of jewelry. All that was missing, was the velvet pillow and high intensity overhead lights. The store clerk was quick to point out in hushed tones that this was Verizon's top-of-the-line wireless non PDA phone. The word quality seems appropriate when describing this functional piece of electronic art. Almost all exterior touchable surfaces are metal. Even the back cover lacks the common plastic. On the spine of the device, they're only three buttons. One controls volume, one controls voice dialing features, and one controls camera functions, all crafted of metal. The only exceptions, are the bottom mount antenna casing and a rather ill-conceived cover for the data port. When something is plugged into this data port, the cover dangles precariously off center just waiting to be ripped off. The VX8700's weight and appearance is very reminiscent of the classic cigarette cases that would have been tucked neatly into Bogart's pocket.

Is Beauty Only Skin Deep?

Sadly, while this communication device scores a perfect 10 in the looks department, its function and features don't scores as well. First let's talk about the data port. As already stated, the data port has a cheap plastic cover that hangs, rather than slides, out of the way. It will only be a matter of time before this cover will be ripped from the phone. This port has multiple uses. First, it is the charging port for both the wall and in-car chargers. Secondly, it is the USB port which allows the phone to be connected your computer. Lastly it is the earphone port for those of you who have not yet jumped on the Bluetooth bandwagon. To make matters worse, an adapter (included with the phone) must be plugged into the data port before any non Bluetooth headphones can be used. This adapter is an unattractive affair to say the least. As you can see, this data port is a busy little plug. I would have thought that LG would have engineered its cover with the same ingenuity they did with the rest of the phone. Some reviewers have criticized the placement of the data port, and while I feel the placement leaves much to be desired, the VX 8700 features an internal bottom mounted antenna. Really, there is no convenient location for the data port given the design of the antenna system.

This LG is equipped with a 2 megapixel camera. While this phone takes adequate pictures, I wouldn't put your Canon PowerShot on eBay just yet. The words stunning and breathtaking are not adjectives that describe the VX8700's picture-taking ability. In LG's defense, there are an impressive number of camera functions built in. Things like white balance, exposure control, color effects, and self timer, items not normally seen on a camera phone, are part of the VX 8700's repertoire. The VX 8700 can take 30 seconds of video with standard internal memory. The quality of which, is similar to the still shots. Unlike LG's Env, the 8700 does not have Auto Focus.

One of the hallmark design features of the VX 8700 is the vertical window on the outside flip cover. This unique display show items such as signal strength, battery-life, time and date, and some call information. In camera mode, it functions as a view finder for vanity shots. However due to its small size, the view finder does not perform very well. In point of fact, a great deal of thought went into that diminutive display. Background colors and wallpaper, as well as clock display are all user adjustable. However, in any light that is brighter than what one might encounter in a living room, renders the display useless. Beauty has a price. The internal display is truly beautiful. It renders pictures and fonts with abandon . The size of the number fonts are adjustable, so tired old eyes can very easily see what is being dialed. Again, sadly, in any bright light, the internal screen is almost impossible to see .

When Motorola pioneered its popular Razr, it ushered in the flat keyboard. The VX 8700 uses this type of keyboard. Near the screen, there are keys for "contacts" "menu" and "messages". In the upper center there is the ubiquitous navigation keys. All the keys are lit in a brilliant white light. Very easy to see in the dark. Persons with large fingers may have some difficulty mastering the keyboard at first, but with practice, dialing should be a simple task indeed.

As with most "High Line" phones, this LG is equipped with voice dialing. You can access its rather robust contact list by simply saying "call Joe Blow mobile" or "call Joe Blow home". The contact list allows you to enter a person's Mobile, Home, or Work phone numbers, all under the same name. E-mail addresses can easily be added to the contact information as well. Also, many of the phone's status reports can be accessed by using the voice dial feature. These include time and date, signal strength, battery, and volume to name a few. The VX 8700 also has the ability to act as a voice recorder. However, to put the phone in voice record mode is a cumbersome task forcing one to navigate through the sound menu to make a selection.

Speakerphones have become more popular because, in many states, it is illegal to drive while holding a phone to your ear. The VX8700's speakerphone feature is a mixture of good news, bad news. Let's talk about the good news first. Transmission's to parties receiving the call have stated that the call is crisp and clear. Now for the bad news. The VX 8700 has no exterior speaker (which also affects is ringer volume). As such, the earpiece is the speaker for the speakerphone. At high volume levels, the conversation is highly distorted. At lower levels, unless you are in a quiet environment, you cannot hear the party. Another peccadillo with a speakerphone is that it cannot be accessed until you are into the conversation. Also, the placement of the speakerphone button on the keypad instead of the spine of the phone, makes activation difficult while driving. This LG is also a music player. The sound quality with its built-in earpiece speaker leaves much to be desired. However, equipped with optional Bluetooth stereo headphones, the tables turned quickly. While not in the same league as a dedicated music player such as the iPod, or dare I say iPhone, it still functions reasonably well. Getting music on your phone is a bit of paradox. While Verizon advertises that the VX 8700 is music capable, you must buy their Music Essential Package. Currently this package does not support Mac computers, or the time of this writing, the new Windows Vista. Music however can be downloaded through Verizon's "Get In Now" feature. Extra cost of course. Also not included with the VX8700, is a SIMM card to store pictures, video, and music. The phone does offer some internal memory, less than 50 MB, so a few items can be stored in the phone internally. There is no easy access to the SIMM card. The back cover the phone must be removed as well as the battery before the SIMM card can be either inserted or removed.

A phone is a phone is a phone. After all, the whole reason to have a phone, is not to take pictures, make movies, or play music. How well does the LG function, as a phone? Very well thank you. Calls sound great, clear and true. People receiving the call have asked me if I am at home. They seem surprised when I tell them I'm on my cell. As far as signal strength, I find nothing remarkable. The phone works perfectly in areas that my former phones have functioned. Yet, areas where my old phones did not work, the same is true for the LG. Battery-life has come under fire from some reviewers, but I do not find myself having to charge the phone with great regularity. Keep in mind however, that my phone functions mostly as such and I rarely use any of its other features, camera, music player ect .

While the VX8700 uses Verizon's tired interface, LG has taken its appearance to a new level. The look of the new interface theme, mimics the brushed metal of the phone. For those die-hard Verizon fans, you can set the old interface as default. I find no difference in interface access speed by using either.

The LG VX8700 is arguably the most beautiful cell phone currently available to the public. While this phone functions satisfactorily, its shortcomings, while few, do mar what could have been not only a visual joy, but a functional triumph. The phone does have many attributes. It's thin, stylish, and has quality construction, its calls are loud and clear. 7 out of 10 stars.