Free Voyager Phone

As a quick note to start, I have wanted a smartphone for a while now, but was turned off by the exorbident cost for the data plan for crackberries and Windows Media phones for VZW (an extra $40 a month for data on top of your plan). Since I basically wanted it for a toy and not for work, I couldn’t really rationalize paying so much extra for a phone and basically double my phone bill each month.

That said, this is a great compromise for my needs, seeing as how it does most of what a smartphone does (for what I want to use it for). One of the biggest thing that I haven’t heard people talking about is that updating to the premium package (only 10-20 bucks more than I was paying before) allows you unlimited use (Mb and airtime) of the mobile web, email, texting, VZW navigator, Get It Now, etc. versus updating to a data plan for a smartphone ($40 more on top of your regular voice plan). Plus, in a rare move of NOT nickel and diming you to death, Verizon even had the common sense to include the software and cable for transferring music/data to the phone instead of charging you extra for it (ala the Chocolate or other VZW phones).

Now about the phone. I had gotten used to the thin phone phenomenon and had been fervent about getting the RAZR2 when it came out, but again couldn’t stomach paying $150 for a standard phone… So needless to say when I played w/ the Voyager and realized it wasn’t that much more for a phone that is infinitely more functional, I pounced on it. I had concerns about the size, but really when you think of phones of only a few years ago, it’s pretty amazing what you get in this phone (and it’s still thinner than a Treo my buddy has). The touch screen is gorgeous, as is the internal display and i’ve had no issues w/ the delayed response to screen touches others have talked about. This is definitely an iPhone wannabe, make no if’s and’s or but’s about it. And while I don’t think it matches the iPhone in terms of “wow” factor, it’s still the best phone on what I have always believed to be the best cellular network, Verizon. I also am not planning on using this to replace my iPod nano, and haven’t even tried the mp3 player in the phone. However, I am planning on spending $20 to get a 2 Gb micro SD card to try it out and maybe keep a few songs on there in case I’m caught w/out my iPod.

I am impressed w/ Mobile Web and the email client getting email from my yahoo and POP3 work email accounts. I love the ESPN MVP being a sports junkie and it looks great. The full keyboard is also fantastic for emails, typing URLs in Mobile Web, and of course texting. It would be nice to have the Wi-Fi support, as well as larger on board memory for the price…

Overall, if you’re interested in getting a smartphone but are only needing to do basic functions w/ email, web, as well as just a great all around phone and texter(but no mobile Office, etc.), you can’t really go wrong here… The cost is a little high ($200 w/ my new every two discount), but with it’s price being between high-end dumbphones and smartphones, I think it’s completely reasonable given the ability to do so many things w/ this phone beautifully. I’m very impressed w/ it after having it for over a week and would recommend it to anyone w/ Verizon.

Reviewer: chrmbly

I have had this phone since Nov 23 and I love it. I am usually a tough critic when it comes to cell phones but I can’t stop playing with this phone.

My biggest gripe when it comes to having a phone with all the bells and whistles is the loss of call quality. Coming from a Motorola e815, I was skeptical that this phone would have great call quality like my e815 and I was proven wrong.

The Call Quality is excellent. The best I have heard on a phone.
I am on the fence with the Touch Screen technology over all (not just with this phone), but the touch screen is fine. Once in a while I will press an area and it may not respond but this is very rare and few and could be attributed to operator error. Trust me, it is not a big enough issue to turn down this phone and Lg created a back up–A full QWERTY keyboard.

If you get tired of using the touch screen simply open the phone up and the menu that you had on the exterior touch screen, will be in the internal screen and you can use a full QWERTY Keyboard–Great Idea!

The Touch Screen is not the best when scrolling down a list, but again just open the phone up and you can use the 4 directional button and do it the old fashion way.

The Touch screen is great for dialing phone numbers and selecting the menus keys. The vibration feedback make it an enjoyable experience.

I never thought I would watch TV on my phone, but the picture quality is fine and pretty seamless in NY. I will not keep the service though because of the extra fee. Verizon should make this free to draw in more customers.

The Vibration on the phone is fine, but I like mine very strong. If I am walking down the street with my phone on my hip I am afraid that I will miss a phone call because the streets are often very noisy and I listen to my own MP3 player.

I don’t use the MP3 player because a phone at this point is not as good as a regular MP3 player. However, I did use my Voyager once and it was fine. I will use it as a back up in case the battery dies on my regular MP3 player. I bought a headset jack adapter from Radio Shack.

Picture quality was great. I have no complaints. I don’t get the complaints about not having a flash. A flash on a cell phone never has great range which makes it practically useless.

Videos also came out fine. I don’t expect it to be a real digital video camera but it is still very good.

Texting is so fun on this. I never was a text person but I find myself texting people more often.

Overall the pros overrides the cons and I would recommend this phone.

Reviewer : jrezmail