LG Optimus V: The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

This is the first Android based phone I had ever used. I am hoping that the rest of the products on the market, are NOT like the LG Optimus V.

The Good

The Wi-fi worked fairly well for me, and I was able to complete calls using Skype.

The Bad

Two issues for me.

1. The keyboard is absolutely impossible to use. I spent 45 minutes just trying to enter my gmail userid and password. It requires too much tactile precision to be of any practical use. When I finally got beyond getting the gmail setup (required if you want to download anything for the market place) — I downloaded Thick Buttons app. It helped, but only marginally. Swype. Okay if they have to put this on a phone, it is too difficult to use, m’kay?

2. The second issues was the speaker phone. Admittedly I am deaf and wear hearing aids. But I need to hear the phone without the hearing aids. Even standing just 2 feet away, I could barely hear it ringing. Yes volume to the max physically, and within the phone settings. My Samsung Restore (which is what I went back to) has plenty of speaker power, and I am able to hear that without issue.

The Ugly:

There is no way to adjust font size in the browser. You are stuck with it, like it or not. Even installing Handcent did NOT help. (Useless application)

When I tried to check my usage using this phone, all I got was a generic https error message. Oh yeah, that tells me a lot! NOT!

Best Buy was selling these phones for $150, so I went to Target to get one for $130 instead. Target has a 90 day return policy. I returned the phone to Target, less then 24 hours after purchase, with my receipt.

45 minutes later, and 3 trips between Customer Service and Electronics, they FINALLY took the phone back.

I like the Android interface, but I would be reluctant to try the next Android phone up from this, since it is about $300. I am happy with my Samsung Restore, and that’s where I will stay.