Review: LG's Voyager is a Multimedia Monster

LG VX10000 Voyager

LG VX10000 Voyager

LG VX10000 Voyager

LG VX10000 Voyager

When people learned that Verizon Wireless turned down the original iPhone, stating that they had something of their own already cooked up, a lot of folks thought that they were crazy. But now that LG has launched the VX10000 Voyager, Verizon isn't seeming quite as crazy anymore. It isn't exactly an iPhone killer, lacking some of the visual pizazz that the gurus in Cupertino have produced, but it packs in an amazingly vast array of features that includes 3G data, an auto-focus camera, true mobile TV, dual 2.8" displays, and a full QWERTY keyboard. While it might not be able to kill the iPhone, it does seem capable of bullying it around some.

Physical Aspects

The physical design of the LG Voyager is the cause of much of the attention that the device has received. While neither light nor small, at 140g (4.9oz) and 118mm x 54mm x 19mm (4.6" x 2.1" x .73"), the Voyager still garners attention due to its large external touchscreen display and its communicator style clamshell hinge that hides a large non-touch display and full QWERTY keyboard within. It is, for the most part, the best of both worlds, offering some iPhone like finger touch wizardry while at the same time being a very practical platform for messaging and other text related functions.

The front face of the Voyager is quite simple. It consists of the 2.8", 262k color touchscreen (240x400 pixels) and 3 buttons: Send, End, and CLR. The left edge of the Voyager is where one will find the volume rocker, the camera shutter button, and, my favorite, the spring loaded lock/unlock key. The right edge of the phone is home to the 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and the microSD memory card slot. There is nothing up top, since power is handled by the End button, and the only things on the bottom of the Voyager are the proprietary LG power and data port, which I found to be a bit difficult to use, and the pull-out whip antenna for the Voyager's TV receiver.

The back of the Voyager is where the lens for the 2 megapixel, auto-focus camera is located. There is no flash or self-portrait mirror backing it up. The snap-in battery is also located on the back, and has a moderate 950mAh capacity. Also seen on the back are the Voyager's clamshell hinges. This is important because it means that even when the device is opened up, the volume, lock, and camera buttons located along the left edge of the phone are still accessible.

The interior of the Voyager is pretty straight forward. The screen is yet another 2.8", 262k color unit that is a clone of the external display, except for the lack of a touch interface layer. The 4 row QWERTY keyboard is huge, and offers such extravagances as a dedicated row of number keys and separate Fn and Symbol shift keys. The keys offer great feel, and work fantastically in general, but I have to admit that the position of the split space bar took a bit of getting use to. The d-pad and controls that are located to the right of the keyboard are also quite good, and a decent pair of softkeys are found above the keyboard, close to the display.

LG VX10000 Voyager

LG VX10000 Voyager

LG VX10000 Voyager

Both displays on the Voyager are bright, sharp, and colorful. My only concern is that the touch surface on the external display feels somewhat soft, like the screens found on an old Handspring Treo, before Palm snapped them up. While the display is flush mounted, like the screen on the iPhone, it is not made of glass - or even hard plastic. I fear that a pair of keys could do a real number on it, though I have not tested this. Every other part of the phone exudes a feeling of strength and quality, and overall I think the design of the Voyager is just fantastic.