Product Description

Sophisticated and sexy, the new VX8600 by LG is sure to turn heads! At first glance, its sleek, ultra-thin shape and glowing, touch-sensitive keys will grab your attention. A closer look reveals irresistible features: V CAST for music and video, Bluetooth® capabilities, a 1.3 megapixel camera & camcorder, a microSDTM memory port for extra storage, and much more. Get to know the VX8600…An all-around beauty, inside and out.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9513 in Cell Phone Accessories
• Color: Black
• Brand: LG
• Model: VX8600
• Released on: 2007-01-20

Features

• Ultra-Thin with Music Touch Keys
• Bluetooth® technology makes wires a thing of the past
• Download your favorite media with V CAST Music and Video
• 1.3 Megapixel Camera & Camcorder lets you capture your favorite moments
• microSD™ Memory Port

Amazon.com Product Description
Sophisticated and sexy, the LG VX8600 phone combines most of the features of the VX8500 Chocolate with a super-cool clamshell form factor. Key features include stereo Bluetooth, EVDO high-speed data, touch-sensitive external music keys, an advanced music player, a memory card slot, support for V Cast Music, and speaker-independent voice control. The VX8600 is an all-around beauty, inside and out, and is the perfect complement to Verizon Wireless service. If you value extreme style mixed with powerful substance, this is the phone for you.

Design
The VX8600 features a super-sleek clamshell design with a large 176 x 220 color display and support for a whopping 262,000 colors--plenty of room for V Cast content. A generous, full-color 160 x 128 full-color supplementary screen on the outside of the cover displays incoming call information, battery life, signal strength, graphics, photos, and more. Music playback control keys are also located on the front cover. Most of the phone's features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button on the handset's backlit control pad. The VX8600 also features a MicroSD slot for expandable memory. Bluetooth support for handsfree devices and Bluetooth stereo headset support for listening to Music on the VX8600's advanced music player are also included. Meanwhile, up/down keys are located on the side of the unit, as is the memory slot, and a 1.3-megapixel camera unit is housed on the front of the clamshell. Lastly, USB data connectivity is built right into the phone.

Calling Features
The VX8600 boasts powerful calling functions, such as speaker independent voice dialing, which makes it easy to call contacts by simply saying their names. No prior voice training is required and you can even speak individual digits to the phone for quick dialing of numbers you know by heart. And because the 8600 is Bluetooth enabled, wireless headsets can be configured with the phone for total handsfree operation.

The VX8600's internal memory can hold up to 500 contacts for quick access to email addresses and phone numbers. The phone lets you easily assign pictures as well as ringtones to your most common callers. In addition to vibrating alerts, the phone supports polyphonic ringtones, and a number of ringtones come preloaded on the phone. More ringtones can be downloaded from Verizon's Get It Now service. Lastly, the VX8600's GPS location technology pinpoints your exact location when you dial 911.

Messaging, Internet, and Tools
The phone's support for multimedia messaging means that text, photos, video, and audio can be sent with ease (Verizon messaging charges apply). When used in combination with the VX8600's built-in camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. There's also a built-in Web browser for downloads and mobile Web browsing. Verizon's optional Mobile Web 2.0 package allows you to read and send emails, exchange instant messages, and view your favorite Web content on your phone. You can check your email, trade stocks online, compare prices while shopping, access flight information, get movie listings, and find directions to the theater. T9 text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit--a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.

If desired, the onboard GPS feature can do more than give your current location to emergency personnel. The VX8600 is fully compatible with Verizon's VZ Navigator service, a feature that provides all the bells and whistles of an advanced navigation system on your mobile phone at a fraction of the price of other GPS devices and systems. The VZ Navigator service provides heads-up, voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions (with auto-rerouting if you miss a turn), local search of nearly fourteen million points of interest (POIs) in the United States, and detailed color maps that can be quickly panned and zoomed. With VZ Navigator, you'll know where you are, know what's around you, and know how to get there fast (additional Verizon charges apply).

A number of handy software tools are bundled with the VX8600 including a voice memo recorder that can record calls, a calculator, a calendar, and an alarm clock. You can even set the alarm to wake you to your favorite music.

Imaging and Entertainment
The VX8600's 1.3-megapixel camera features a digital zoom, a self-timer, night-mode functions, and brightness and white balance controls. The camera also offers video capture capabilities, meanwhile, a built-in music player lets you keep your music playing in the background. You can also take advantage of the VX8600's Bluetooth wireless headset capability, allowing you to hook up a pair of Bluetooth stereo headphones.

Verizon's music service is another EV-DO-powered service that makes the VX8600 all the more desirable. With V Cast music, your phone is a music player, letting you jam out wherever you are. It's also a music store, and you can download songs instantly to your phone. Save your songs to a memory card with a capacity that's right for you. You can even pause to take a call without missing a beat.

With support for the EV-DO high-speed data standard, the VX8600 is fully compatible with Verizon's V Cast service. With V Cast, you can download and stream high-quality video. Need news and weather? Get the latest Accuweather forecast delivered right to your handset, or stream CNN news headlines. ESPN sports updates, entertainment news from E!, and even Sesame Street content for the kids, are all available. V Cast also serves as a portal for enhanced 3D games, making it possible to have more fun with a new breed of realistic games.

EV-DO Wireless Broadband Coverage
Learn more about where EV-DO coverage is offered.

Vital Statistics
The LG VX8600 8600 weighs just 3.26 ounces and measures 3.89 x 1.93 x 0.58 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3.67 hours of digital talk time, and up to 398 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the CDMA 850/CDMA 1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one-year limited warranty.

Note: The LG VX8600 supports the Headset, Handsfree, Serial Port, Dial Up Networking, Advanced Audio Distribution, and Object Push for vCard. It does not support all Bluetooth object transfer (OBEX) profiles

Customer Reviews

Minor gripes aside, a very sexy and functional fliptop phone from LG
The LG VX8600 has garnered a lot of positive reviews (use Google), and while I won't go as far as to say this is the best cell phone ever made, it is quite functional and serves the added benefit of having a sleek, sexy form factor that elicits many "oohs" and "aahs" from relatives and peers.

I've spent two years with Sprint and Cingular apiece, and am now moving to mighty Verizon as the last of the mighty mobile phone triumvirate. I won't comment on signal strength since that's largely dependent on location, but I will say that the local Verizon sales rep in Madison, WI hooked me up with a terrific deal that beat any online price even after rebates and activation fees. Don't forget to ask your sales rep to see if they can match or beat these online offers.

Despite being a fully VCAST-compliant phone that sports mp3 playback and a 1.3-megapixel camera, all I really care about is the ability to make crystal-clear phone calls. The sound quality for voice calls overall is very good to excellent, depending on signal strength of course. In many cases, friends could not distinguish my phone from a land line. However, as many others have observed, the speakerphone is below average. Even at the loudest levels, voices sound diluted and unclear to the point I find them unbearable. I definitely recommend you try the speakerphone out if you it will be an important factor in your purchase decision. Many other Amazon reviewers, as well as those on other forums, have echoed similar comments.

To get by the speakerphone limitation, I paired this phone with the PLANTRONICS 510 Voyager bluetooth headset, and the combination has worked out great. I bought the 510 due to all of the positive reviews; it's a very sturdy, comfortable headset but doesn't surpass the clarity of using the handset directly (I don't think any of the bluetooth sets can).

One of the usability gripes I have is with voice commands. On my previous Motorola phone, I could activate voice commands just by pressing a button on my bluetooth headset and talking into the phone device directly. On the VX8600, I have to press a small button on the right side of the phone to activate the voice command menu, and then speak into my headset. If you put the LG VX8600 in a leather case and strap it to your belt, you'll realize what a nuisance this can be each time you want to make a voice command dial.

Another gripe is the fact that the front panel backlight only turns on when you press any of the side buttons. That means if you want to view the date/time you have to press a button each and every time. That may sound like the ultimate in laziness, but I'll put it this way -- there's no way to tell that the phone is dead or fully charged until you press a button. All of my other flip-top phones have had the date/time display persisently.

I don't really care much for cameras built into phones; much like stereo and home theater surround sound systems, I'm a believer in dedicated separates. I cannot comment on the music playing or VCAST capabilities of this phone, since I already own an iPod.

Overall, I still enjoy this phone immensely and do recommend it to others switching to Verizon or renewing their contracts. Please note that the next version to the VX8600 (SHINE) has already been released online as of April 4, and will be available in local stores on April 17. I prefer sticking to a black form factor and will definitely make this a keeper for the next two years.

PROS:
+ Great sound quality for voice calls (not using speakerphone)
+ Very sleek, sexy form factor
+ Above average battery life (this is relative to previous phones, of course)
+ Large, easy to read menus
+ Voice command settings were easy to configure; voice "train" was reliable and almost 100% accurate in recognizing my commands

CONS:
+ Weak speakerphone
+ Front panel backlight does not turn on until you press a button
+ Lack of tactile buttons for dialing and text messaging
+ Voice command support with bluetooth requires pressing a side button
+ Fingerprint magnet

Great phone!
This is by far the best cell phone I've ever owned. My last two phones were Motorola, and while they were perfectly good phones, this one is a huge step up. What first caught my attention was the outstanding quality of the displays, both the large, high-resolution inside display, and the much smaller but very clear external display. Then there's the sleek and clean-cut form factor. The shiny black surfaces with minimum silver accents remind me of my black iPod, and while both do show fingerprints, it's not that big a deal. I love the small size of this phone. It easily slides into a pocket without being obtrusive.

The sound quality for voice calls is excellent, definitely as good as the Motorola phone I had, if not better. This phone offers several alternatives to the Verizon menu display, which was not available on my previous phone. While the basic structure is the same, I prefer the look and feel of the "arch" display option.

The camera on this phone is also excellent, for a phone, anyway. It may be that the high quality of the display makes photos look better, but whatever it is, these are the first pictures taken on a phone that I've ever wanted to upload to my PC.

It's also my first phone with a music player, and I've been pleasantly surprised at the quality of that as well. I bought the Verizon Music Essentials kit, which includes a CD with the USB cable drivers as well as the software to upload music from your PC, the USB cable, and wired stereo headphones. There is no driver yet for Windows Vista (Verizon says it will be available at the end of March 2007), so I had to synch the phone with my older Windows XP laptop, but it worked fine. You can use Windows Media Player 10 or 11 to rip CDs and then synch your music to the phone. One CD takes about 50 MB of space on the micro SD card in my phone. The phone has music player controls on the outside that glow red for a brief time after you start the player, then disappear. The sound is quite good, even with the relatively cheap headphones that came with the Music Essentials kit. The advantage of these phones is that they fit the headphone/synch output without using an adapter.

[...].

Great Phone that I Highly Recommend!!
My last 2 phones have been LG brand phones. I have Verizon Wireless. The LG phones have all been wonderful phones and I have had no problems with them.

I bought this phone in Oct 2006. It has lived up to the LG that I have come to know. The calls are clear and battery life is great for a phone this thin. I use the Bluetooth feature to make calls through my car stereo and it works flawlessly. I have not had any problems at all. I even dropped it once on concrete (my heart stopped as I watched it bounce a few times). That was 2 months ago, and the phone still works great.

If I had to list a down side, it would be that the phone is glossy and shows fingerprints and smudges well. These are easily removed, so it does not bother me much at all.

If you are considering a slim phone and have Verizon, I highly recommend getting this phone. My wife had a RAZR and had tons of problems with it. You won't go wrong with this phone.