72 Hours With the LG myTouchQ Violet

Pros: Sideways Sliding Keyboard, Amount of Free Apps, Android OS
Cons: Random Reboots (but not bad enough to return it), Battery Life
Price: $350 (but I paid $100 down and the rest will be paid out over time)
URL: http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-LGC800VL-mytouch-q
Overall Rating: 5/5


I had 2 good years with my last purchase, the T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 9780. But, after I received a text from T-Mobile informing me I could upgrade after only 16 months, I jumped at the bit. After nearly a half hour in T-Mobile, I rolled out with my brand new LG myTouch and have not put the phone down much at all (except to sleep and move around).

Hardware:

Sliding Keyboard....one of the best I have used (I have owned Sidekicks and a Touch Pro 2 previously so I have plenty of experience with this form factor). The keys are flat but my fingers glide across them comfortably. The keys are round (for the letter/number keys, as well as some of the text editing and options keys); and the Menu, Text, Delete, Space, Shift, Space, and Enter keys are a rounded rectangular shape. All are very easy to use. This easily earns 5/5 stars.

The screen is one of the brightest I have used. The colors of the interface, menus, icons and widgets are brighter than any other device I have had prior (except maybe my iOS devices). Again, this earns 5/5 stars.

Camera: Haven't used yet. I will come back with an update once I use it.

Speakers: I used Pandora and iHeartRadio and the speakers are very clear. No problems there. 5/5 stars.

Capacitive Buttons: These work but sometimes require 2 or 3 presses to register. I have a screen protector on it so I wonder if that could be part of the issue. 4/5 stars.

Media Card...Accessible without removing the battery. 5/5 stars

Software/OS:

Android OS: 2.3.4...I'm waiting for my first update to the OS which should come this summer. So far the OS has been running smoothly but it can lag in some apps. I love the pull down notification shade that lets me see my notifications.

I had a bad day with it yesterday randomly rebooting often so I decided to delete some apps and so far it has only restarted once. 4/5 for performance. Maybe the OS update will correct this issue, but it's not bad enough to return it for a replacement.

Apps/Google Play (Android Market): I have access to more apps than I know what to do. I installed nearly 20 apps the first 2 days I had the phone which may have led to yesterday's crashes. I uninstalled half of those apps, and my phone works much better. In fact, it has only rebooted one time today (about a half hour ago). 5/5 stars for the amount of FREE apps that keep me busy LOL

Battery Life: This, so far, has been good but it is still in the training process. I don't want to let it die but at the same time, I want to condition it so it will last longer with fewer charges (so far I am charging twice a day to get thru a day). I think it may have had something to do with either the weather or my location today, or yesterday's performance issues, but it's getting better. I wish I could find an extended life battery for it. 4/5 stars.

Signal/Reception: My first 4G smartphone. It constantly holds a 4G connection. No dropped or missed calls so far due to signal, and calls are very clear via the earpiece. Web connects without a hiccup. Emails, messages, etc are sent almost instantly. 5/5 stars for voice/data performance.

Overall Impression: I am happy that I waited this long to try Android (to let all the kinks of previous versions to be ironed out). This phone is touted as a perfect smartphone for a first time user, but I found the transition from the BB/RIM OS to Android a smooth exchange and experience. I most likely will be staying on Android from here on out unless another OS grabs my attention.