Smartphone Reviews: LG Versa VX9600

Posted by Geronimo Boosh on March 19, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The LG Versa has got to be one of the most uniquely designed smartphones. It comes with an extra attachable keyboard and a game plate. It is designed as a “module phone” that can be customized the way you like it. Read on to find out if it is something you would like to take home with you.

The LG Versa VX9600 is living up to the word it obviously got its name from; “versatile”. The options are opened up when you do not have to carry everything around all the time. Do you feel like playing games ? Attach the game module. If not, take it off and just use the manual keyboard. Want to travel really light ? Do not include any modules, and just use the screen for input. The size of the Versa is really nice. It is just over four inches tall by 2.07 inches wide by .54 inches thick. This makes it thin and sleek. It weighs 3.81 ounces, which is under many smartphones out there. When you add the keyboard module the thickness is increased to .9 inches.

The screen is bright and has the touch feature, but not multitouch. It automatically adjusts to the position you want with an accelerometer. Just turn the phone sideways to view the screen in landscape mode without pushing any buttons. The screen is made with LCD technology and the resolution is a bit average at 240 by 480 pixels. 262,144 colors are available with this screen.

The eye-catching news about the LG Versa VX9600 is the hardware. All the pieces are not included with the phone. The piece that is included is the keyboard. To attach it just remove the battery cover and put the keyboard module in its place. The Versa recognizes that you changed it, and adjust the screen accordingly. The buttons on the keyboard are spaced well and have a good tactile feedback when in use. The game module ( not included ) attaches the same way and has a large Dpad and “X”, “Y”, “B” and “A” buttons for controlling games like pacman and street fighter. The manual keyboard sports a small monochrome screen for viewing who is calling and for the time. If you do not want to use the manual keyboard the VX9600 has an on-screen keyboard to type on.

The LG Versa has a two megapixel camera that has a few impressive features. It has autofocus, smile recognition, brightness and flash. It also includes video capture for up to one hour of recording. It will record at a resolution of VGA. An negative point about the phone is the 2.5 millimeter headphone jack instead of the more popular 3.5 millimeter size. An adaptor is not included. The speaker works with enough volume to be heard well, but the sound quality could use a bit of optimizing. Call quality is the same; loud but not natural-sounding.

The Versa is well-connected with email, SMS and instant messaging. AOL, Windows Live and Yahoo messaging networks are supported. For calls, you have dual band CDMA networks. There are numerous bluetooth profiles that the VX9600 can connect for hands and wire-free operation. A MicroSD slot is there for a card up to sixteen gigabytes in size. There is no Wi-Fi but a web browser is included and the high speed data input comes from EV-DO. A new item called “visual voicemail” is a part of the Versa software. This is available if you are using this phone with Verizon. It allows you to pick and choose which voice mail you want to listen to. You can choose to forward the voice messages or reply with a voice message of your own. The “visual voicemail” option is available for an extra charge from Verizon.

The Versa is clad in fake leather. The front facing screen area is not surrounded with it, but the hinge area is covered with it. The battery is a 1100 mAh lithium ion type that will give close to five hours of talk time. This is being sold by Verizon and you can get it for forty dollars with one of their service plans.