LG Voyager VX10000

Reviewers consistently pit the LG Voyager (Free with new contract; *est. $150 with renewal) against Apple's cell phone Goliath, the iPhone. There are some minor quibbles over whether the Voyager merely meets the bar set by Apple or surpasses it. CNET's Kent German bristles at the assumption that the iPhone sets the industry gold standard, writing that the Voyager "surpass[es] the iPhone in many ways," and Mike Kobrin, writing for Digital Trends, pronounces the Voyager "marginally better" than the iPhone. PCMag.com's Sascha Segan counters with the conclusion that the Voyager comes close but is "not as elegant" as the iPhone. Yet all reviewers can agree on one basic result: The LG Voyager is a sleek, sophisticated piece of technology and, hands down, one of the best multimedia cell phones on the market today.

The LG Voyager is a side-opening clamshell phone with large 2.8-inch internal and external screens and full QWERTY keyboard; the external display is a touch screen. It comes in black or titanium (grey) and is a model of feature-rich, multimedia-centric technology. Mobile TV (via Verizon's V Cast streaming video service), a music player with stereo sound, a 2-megapixel digital camera, Bluetooth, and a newly redesigned web browser set it apart from the competition. The spacious QWERTY keyboard is a favored feature, with experts saying that it makes texting a breeze. Additionally, the Voyager includes voice command prompts, a text-to-speech option, GPS, and more-typical cell phone offerings such as a phone book, calculator, alarm clock and notepad. PCMag.com and Digital Trends reviewers both point out that the Voyager uses the Verizon 3G network, an important consideration for those who are Verizon-loyal. Reviewers test call quality in cities on both coasts and are generally pleased, with the only real complaint being minor distortion at top volumes.

On the downside, reviewers complain about inconsistent navigation, no flash on the camera, clunky web browsing and sometimes-unresponsive touch screens. However, the most ardent criticism of the Voyager has nothing to do with multimedia and everything to do with business: LG's Voyager cannot sync with a PC. That means that users cannot sync their contacts or calendars (or anything else) with their home and work computers. Tests also find that the Voyager falls slightly short of LG's claimed four hours of battery life, and while three hours and 45 minutes isn't too far from that mark, it's a full four hours less than what's offered by the Apple iPhone.