LG Voyager vs. LG EnV-2 (Verizon wireless)
// February 3rd, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Photography, Random
If you follow me on twitter, you know that I’ve struggled with cell phone handsets over the last year. In December 2007, I bought the LG Voyager from Verizon Wireless because of its 2-megapixel, auto-focus camera, touch screen and flip-open QWERTY keyboard. I loved the Voyager, except for one little feature: occasionally and randomly, it would turn itself off and on again. This usually happened in the middle of a call. Not good. To make what could be a very long story short, I had four Voyager handsets with the same problem before giving up and asking Verizon to send me a different model, the LG EnV-2. Two of the Voyager models I had also had less-than-responsive touch screens (which probably could have been fixed by re-calibrating them, which I didn’t think of until it was too late), and the instant messaging application on the most recent one I had worked very sporadically: contacts were inconsistently marked online and off, messages would not be received or delivered at random. (NB: I still have this problem with the EnV-2; it seems to go away if I turn off “IM forwarding” in the Yahoo IM app.)
With the phones side-by-side, you can immediately see that the EnV-2 (left) is smaller than the Voyager:
The EnV-2 is not only shorter than the Voyager, it weighs less and is thinner enough that I notice the difference when I stuff it in my pocket:
You’ll also notice from the above photo that the Voyager (top) has a third button on the side. The sliding toggle in the middle unlocks the touch screen; it takes the press of a key to unlock the EnV-2. I miss the unlock button occasionally, but honestly, it was mostly a frustration on the Voyager–when trying to lock the phone instead of waiting for the touch screen to time out, I would inevitably hit the camera button (left). So it’s probably not a big deal that it’s gone. I do find myself locking the EnV-2 by opening and shutting it quickly, instead of waiting for the screen to time out.
I was initially worried that the EnV-2’s smaller internal screen would be frustrating to use after the relatively generous space of the Voyager:
So far, it hasn’t been a problem, though I find myself using the camera less. I’m not sure it’s related to anything other than the fact that it’s been below-freezing out every day but one or two since I got it: many photos I take with my phone are outside. I recently joined the daily-photo site Momentile; I hope this changes how frequently I use the camera.
The biggest difference is the keyboard:
The EnV-2’s smaller form-factor dictates that the keyboard be smaller. The phone feels slightly cramped and less comfortable in my hands than the Voyager did, something I didn’t really realize until I picked up my final Voyager again to return it to Verizon. “Oh, that *is* better,” I remember thinking. Someone with smaller hands than I would probably have trouble hitting individual keys. YMMV. I’m used to the keyboard now, though I haven’t quite committed to muscle memory the shortcuts I need most: Messaging and IM.
I do find myself using the itty-bitty screen on the front more than I used the wonky touch screen. Text messages are short enough, and I get few enough of them at this point that it’s manageable.
To their credit, Verizon’s customer service and technical support folks were stellar each time I talked to them. They always sounded interested in the problems I was having, genuinely sympathetic, and never bored. That’s a pretty amazing thing, considering the fact that I called probably a dozen times over the last 12 months.
