LG Vortex Cell Phone Review

Introduction

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The LG Vortex, offered in the US by Verizon, is billed as an entry level Android smartphone. At USD 80 after discounts with a two-year Verizon contract, it is less expensive than many other Android phones. Yet it seems to have all the bells and whistles found in Android phones. We decided to take a closer look at what might have been sacrificed for its smaller price tag.

The LG Vortex comes in a small white box, as shown in Figure 1. The contents of the box, shown in Figure 2, include a USB charger, the wall charger that can be used with the USB charger, and the Vortex phone itself. A standard lithium ion battery and a 2 GB MicroSD card come preinstalled. This phone usually comes with a quick reference guide and a product safety and warranty brochure, but these were not shipped with our demo unit.

Figure 1: The box

Figure 2: The box contents

The Vortex itself, shown in Figure 3, is a typical bar-type keyboard-less phone. It has rounded corners and except for a thin metallic band surround and a plastic screen cover, the phone is covered with a black soft-touch finish. This finish makes the phone easy to grip, yet allows it to slide easily into a purse or pocket. Overall, the Vortex has a sturdy look and feel. It is very similar to the LG Optimus T from T-Mobile and the LG Optimus S from Sprint and has many of the same specifications.

Figure 3: The LG Vortex

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The LG Vortex has a 3.2″ 262,000-color LCD touchscreen. It can’t compete with the much higher resolution displays of high end smart phones, but it is adequate for everyday use. In fact, even when zooming in on web pages, text and images were clear and smooth. The capacitive display was responsive and the phone has a proximity sensor and accelerometer, as found in most smart phones. The plastic cover on the screen has a slight bit of give to it, but this did not cause us any problem.

Under the screen are four physical buttons, Menu, Home, Back, and Search. As shown in Figure 4, these are in a contrasting gray color. There is a slight separation between the keys which makes them easier to find without looking. They also have a nice tactile response and we find them preferential to the on-screen keys used on some Android phones.

Figure 4: The navigation buttons

On the right side of the Vortex has an up/down volume toggle, as shown in Figure 5. As with all of the Vortex’s side, top, and bottom ports and buttons, this button is placed on the metallic strip. It is nicely raised and easy to maneuver.

Figure 5: The right side of the Vortex

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The left side of the Vortex, shown in Figure 6, has just one opening which is a covered slot for the microSD card. The Vortex comes with a 2 GB card and can handle cards up to 32 GB. We liked the easy access that the placement of this card slot provides.

Figure 6: The left side of the Vortex

The bottom of the Vortex is shown in Figure 7. There is a MicroUSB port for charging and connecting to the computer and a hole for the microphone.

Figure 7: The bottom of the Vortex

The top of the Vortex, shown in Figure 8, has the Lock/Power button on the left and a standard 3.5 mm headphone port on the right. Between these is a notch which can be used to remove the back of the phone.

Figure 8: The top of the Vortex

The back of the phone is shown with the cover on in Figure 9 and the cover off in Figure 10. Figure 9 shows the 3.2 Megapixel camera and the speaker. Figure 10 shows the large lithium ion battery.

Figure 9: The back of the Vortex

Figure 10: The back with the cover removed