- Affordable touchscreen phone with 3-inch display–includes $50 airtime credit with AT&T’s GoPhone service
- Pay for just the minutes you use with no annual contract–easy refill via Internet or prepaid cards; compatible with AT&T Navigator GPS turn-by-turn directions
- 2-megapixel camera/camcorder; Bluetooth stereo music; microSD expansion to 16 GB; access to personal e-mail and instant messaging services
- Up to 4 hours of talk time, up to 384 hours (16 days) of standby time; released in June, 2010
- What’s in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, charger, quick start guide, user manual
Amazon.com Product Description
Sleek and solid, fun and functional, the LG Prime helps you stay connected whenever and wherever you roam thanks to the included AT&T Social Net application, which allows you to view and manage all your social networking connections and updates from Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. It also features a bright touchscreen display, and 2-megapixel camera/camcorder for snapping pics and recording video on the go.
The LG Prime features a … More >>
The delivery, the free air time, and the SIM:
My LG Prime was delivered at a great price, and came a day early – thanks for another great experience from Amazon and their suppliers. Tracking worked, too. The LG Prime had a sticker on the back upon delivery telling me to boot up with my old SIM card, and that I could receive the free air time when I did this – worked great for me, but I caution that Amazon, LG, and AT&T did not know how the phone would be received, or if this was possible – so maybe it changes by area.
BEFORE I DID THIS, I backed up my contacts on my old phone to my SIM, then transferred the old SIM to the new phone. My contacts transferred perfectly, and my phone number was in tact, no problem – fired right up, WITH MY FREE AIR TIME. Worked nice.
AND I DID NOT START MY NEW PHONE WITH THE NEW SIM CARD, SINCE THAT NEW SIM CARD WOULD HAVE A NEW PHONE NUMBER – I ONLY STARTED WITH THE OLD ONE – NOT SURE IF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM AS FAR AS THE FREE AIR TIME – I STRONGLY SUSPECT IT COULD BE, BUT MAYBE NOT. In that event, you should be able to use the new SIM until the credit is gone, and maybe switch back and forth as needed. TALK TO AT&T FIRST if you did this by mistake, or for the best advice.
The touchscreen:
The LG Prime is a good entry level touch screen phone. Others say the touch screen is not very sensitive, but it is easy for you to get used to it. If you never had an iPhone, or a highly sensitive ‘capacitive’ touch screen, you likely will not notice this. In the past, I had a capacitive touch screen, and it still doesn’t bother me. In the future, when I spend a lot of money for a top-of-the-line smartphone, I will insist on a capacitive touchscreen, or AMOLED – but mostly because I am paying for it.
For the price, I have seen touchscreens which are much worse than this one (usually resistive with thin, soft plastic screens), and even require a stylus – not the LG Prime – my fingers work fine, and the screen is glass (or very hard plastic which looks like glass – not 100% sure, seems like glass – I haven’t scratched it yet either, but hasn’t been very long either – seems like it could be pretty good surface. Screen protector might make the screen less sensitive, also.
If you really want the best touch screens, ‘capacitive’ and ‘AMOLED’ touch screens are the best – AMOLED promises to be the best by far, and takes less power because it is LED. At the time I am writing this, it seems to me that the ‘capacitive’ touchscreen phones start around 200 bucks, and AMOLED touchscreens 600 bucks.
The OS:
In the past I had an iPhone 3G, and loved it. LG Prime does not really compare to that very much – only in some ways. The power and speed of the phone hardware/connectivity make me feel like I will not fully use the very good Android OS which is installed – mostly just talk and text. (However, you might be in an area where you are less capable on speed anyway – see below). Android looks very good to me, but look to other reviews for full web/email functionality of this phone, also.
The connection speed:
This phone is not terribly slow, but this is not a 3G phone, is not UMTS/HSDPA, and does not have wifi. If you want high speed data transfer, (with AT&T or through a wifi), you MIGHT need to go to another phone with better network connectivity, wifi, and/or even a phone with a better processor. HOWEVER – if you live in an area where 3G, or UMTS/HSDPA, or EDGE/GPRS capabilities are not available anyway (meaning your area is 2G/GSM only), maybe this can work for you since you will likely be slow with any phone.
If you don’t know about your network, check AT&T maps for your areas coverage – make sure you click ‘voice, data, go phone, 3G’ tabs above the map, also:
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Although I have not fully tested the web/email capability of the LG Prime, I checked the weather with the web browser once – speed was OK, not great – looked at radar maps on weather.com, (2 different maps) – costed me $2.50 to do this – took me 90 seconds or so – in what is a very good AT&T area, (best AT&T GSM color on the map linked above). OK – maybe i had my $1/day charge included in that, but I don’t think so.
Either way, if your web browsing/emailing everyday, you should get a data plan. In fact, unlimited data plans might make this worth while for some people, but for me, my laptop will do this faster for now. In my opinion, if I will attempt to replace my laptop, (or even tether my laptop, which LG Prime will not do), LG Prime won’t do it – not very close – whereas the iPhone3G was close – I would often pick up my iPhone3G instead of my laptop – not with the LG Prime, not in my area, not for me. This also does not speak against the Android OS, only the fact that the phone has lower technology connectivity, and therefore lower speed. (Near my signal bars, the phone always reads ‘E’, and this phone will never be able to say ’3G’ or ‘EDGE’ the way it is built).
If others say they are good with the web/email capability of Android OS – I would say they are right, I’m mostly saying look at this phone’s capability versus a better connected/higher processing phone – if it is important to you, or even available to you.
USB Cable connectivity:
This phone is an LG Prime GS390. DO NOT BUY A USB CABLE for any other type of phone. I bought the cable:
USB Sync Charging Data Cable for LG Vu CU915 CU920, GT365 Neon, VX10000 Voyager
LG Customer service told me this cable would work on the LG Prime and it did not! My only other experience with them was OK, but not this bad – hit and miss – like most customer service these days, right? (LG says it’s a new phone and they didn’t have the specs at customer service yet – but they said it would work on my first contact with them. So help me, or buy/send me a cable, right? Nope, not even after I requested a new cable.) Then they updated the webite after the mistake with me (next day), to include the LG Prime, (wasn’t listed before this) – so you’re welcome – but still no cable.
The phone/software speed:
The processor/software is very adequate for talk and text – it can slow the screen, but only rarely it seems, and never for a long time – mostly it keeps up and is highly responsive, but not instant. (I put an 8GB microSD in to store my contacts, photos, etc., also – cost me 15 bucks – probably helps the speed a little). As far as I know, only most expensive and newest smartphones will respond instantly – seems to be true in my experience and reading.
The Apps:
For now, AT&T has an app store, and so does Android – hopefully another reviewer will clear up where the best apps are for the LG on the Android platform. Hard to say for me, but I will post again if I learn more about this.
You can do a google search for the best Android Apps and learn a lot that way, also – depends what you want – I think the options are very good now.
LG also states they plan to have apps available in their app store worldwide – the USA Appstore is the last to come on line on the LG website. USA does not have a date posted for LG to start up the app sales – not that I have found. Likely, Android and AT&T have apps covered very well, and you don’t need LG, but it might be interesting to see what LG puts forward for their phones.
Overall:
For the price, the good delivery, the ‘seems very good so far’ Android OS, the smooth SIM change, being able to transfer my free air time, keeping my contacts, and for a nice looking phone/touchscreen/display, I give 5 stars. After I shopped, I couldn’t find a glass touchscreen phone with this kind of capability at a better price. And I am very pleased to not be using my entry-level Nokia go phone anymore. If the price was higher, I would remove a star for the screen locking/unlocking button, and how it functions – but I am used to it already, and who am I to complain about one semantic when the price is so very right. And if it bothers me later, I will make it better by gently filing the top of the button down so it can’t be bumped anymore. So 5 stars it is.
This was a great deal by Amazon at the time I purchased it. (My local AT&T store didn’t even want to try to match or beat this price, either.) With all of this, my satisfaction level is very high, but know what you are buying, also. My review is not negative on the LG Prime, but rather intends to help you understand what you are reviewing/buying.
Rating: 5 / 5
So, I’ve only had this phone for one day, but so far I love it. The features are unbelievable for a “go” phone. The camera’s pretty good, and it also has a video recorder. It has bluetooth and internet capabilities, and you can also download apps from AT&T. The touchscreen isn’t overly sensitive.. so you have to get used to touching the screen with more pressure than what you would with an Iphone. There are also widgets you can drag onto your main screen, which is pretty cool. There’s also a button to unlock the phone on the side if you don’t want to have to push the unlock button on the screen. The ring can get VERY loud if you want it to. Call quality has also been fine so far. I will update if I need to, or if something goes wrong. I recommend this phone if you want a ‘smart’ phone, but don’t want to pay $400 for one.
Rating: 5 / 5
I like the sound quality of the phone and the ease of making the ring and volume loud or soft.
The battery life is good and I have had no sim problems. What I dislike about the phone, however, is the continued locking when you are on a call. Trying to deal with a menu selection is very difficult as you have to constantly keep unlocking it. If you receive a second call while you are on the phone, you cannot see who is calling you because the screen keeps locking up. The phone would be very good if they could fix the locking issue.
Rating: 3 / 5
I recently got this phone because I am now off my family’s cell phone plan and I wanted a cheaper alternative to getting a contract. I was hesitant at first to get a pay-as-you-go phone, but as soon as I saw this phone being offered at at&t I thought I would give it a shot. I use my phone mainly for text messaging and the occasional call, so this phone is perfect for me (I got a $10/month for 1000 text message plan added to the $1 mobile to mobile plan).
As for the actual phone, I think it is great. I have never had a touch screen phone, so I don’t have much to compare it to, but for a first time user of a touch screen phone it has been fantastic. It took some getting used to, but I love it. I haven’t experienced any frozen screens as I have heard people complain about on other touch screen phones. The ring can be nice and loud if you want it, and the screen is very easy to read. You can change the font sizes too, which I know is useful for some people.
The only negative thing I can say about this phone (and maybe it is something that can be fixed but I haven’t figured out yet) is that during a phone call the screen will lock. This is fine, but if you are calling your voicemail, or a number where you have to select options from a menu, it can get to be pretty annoying. Other than that, the complaints I have had about phones in the past (bad voice call quality, bad battery life) have not been present with this phone. That being said, I have only had it for about a week so we’ll see.
Oh and the $50 credit makes this phone totally worth the money.
*Update*
Ok, I have had this phone for a month now. And there are a few things I have noticed. Sometimes when I use the camera feature on the phone, the screen will flash and act really weird. But this is resolved from just turning the phone off and turning it on again. Also, I will sometimes press a button to get the screen to display so I can see the time, and the clock on the phone is not correct. Again, this is resolved from turning the phone off and then on again. These are pretty minor problems, but I thought I would add this to my review and let people know.
Rating: 4 / 5
I just received my phone yesterday. After monkeying around with it for a while, I started to see that this phone isn’t too bad for a touch screen. Well, it’s my first touch screen. I just need to learn now to apply the correct pressure in order to scroll properly.
1 thing I cannot stand about this phone so far, it locks after a call comes in. I know others also complained about this feature, even when you turn off the auto lock feature, if a call comes in or if you even make a call it locks….and why? LG must have been drinking some pretty good stuff when they decided to go there with this phone. Calls are clear, texting is nice because you can see the previous texts sent. The camera isn’t too bad. It’s a keeper. Plus you get $50 airtime if you had your current sim card for 4mos or more, it loaded right into the phone, no need to call cs. I had no problems adding my current bluetooth to this phone as well. I would have even it a 5 rating but I only had it for a day. It’s worth the $79.99 plus you get $50 airtime added to the phone, sounds like a good deal.
Enjoy!
tj
Rating: 4 / 5