LG Voyager VX10000

From the outset, the LG Voyager VX10000 looks more like the iPhone than it does its VX9800 and enV predecessors. Gone are the exterior keypad and tiny external display instead you're greeted by a vibrant touch screen that dominates the front face of the Voyager. As you'd expect from a messaging phone, the Voyager is rather bulky.

At 4.64 by 2.12 by 0.71 inches, the Voyager is exactly as tall as the enV, but it's also a bit wider when measured across the front face. Though the change from the VX9900 is noticeable, the Voyager manages to pack its keyboard as well as a long list of features into a trim profile that's a quarter of an inch trimmer than its forerunner's. And at 4.69 ounces, it weighs in at a half an ounce lighter.

The result is an eye catching and slick design that is far more stylish than both the previous LG handsets. It also has a solid feel in the hand and the hinge construction is sturdy.

The touch screen measures 2.81 inches and supports 262,000 colors in a 400x240 pixel resolution. With sharp colors, graphics, and animation, it's a massive improvement over the tiny and ineffective displays on the VX9800 and the enV.

And instead of supporting only certain features, you can use the touch screen to access almost all of the Voyager's offerings. In standby mode, the display shows the date, the time, battery life, signal strength, and photo caller ID. It also works as a viewfinder for the camera when the phone is open. You can change the backlight time, the menu font style, and the dialing font size.

To get started using the Voyager, just move your finger to the four controls at the bottom the bottom of the display (if the display is frozen, there's an on screen unlock control). From left to right, the buttons open the messaging menu, activate the on screen dial-pad for making calls, access the main menu, and open your contacts list. Alternatively, you can activate a shortcuts menu by tapping the top part of the display.

On the whole, we were pleased with our navigation experience. Selecting an option requires a firm touch, so we didn't have many problems with pressing a command accidentally. If you're having trouble, you can reset the screen's calibration but it's too bad you can't alter the touch sensitivity as well. While it lacks the iPhone's multi touch functionality, and it's resolution isn't quite as crisp, the Voyager's display counters with a nifty and useful offering of its own.

Like the Chocolate VX8550, the Voyager features tactile feedback on its touch controls. You can adjust the length and intensity of the vibrating feedback, which is a nice feature. Beyond simple tapping, you also can manipulate the Voyager by holding your finger to the screen and moving it around. Using this method, you can scroll through long menus and move around a Web page, but we had to practice a few times before we mastered either task.

For example, when scrolling through the main menu pages, we had to be careful not to select one of the options accidentally, which we did a few times. We got the hang of it eventually, but even then it felt a tad awkward. In the V Cast menus, you can use the right hand scroll bar as a more user-friendly alternative, but in other places that option is not available. Is it too much too ask for a little consistency?

The Voyager also has inconsistent methods for entering text on the touch screen. When typing a text message, we could use only the standard nine digit keypad. Yes, we realize that there's a keyboard inside for your messaging needs, but the external display does support a full QWERTY keyboard for typing URLs while surfing the Web (among other things). Yet we liked that, in either case, the on screen keys are large enough to avoid mistakes during fast typing. And it goes without saying that the tactile feedback marks a big improvement over the iPhone.