LG Cosmos – no corporate email support
For:
Great call quality, 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, GPS, spacious QWERTY keyboard with tactile alphanumeric keypad.
Against:
Lacks support for corporate email (Exchange); no support for EV-DO and 3G network; does not include music player
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The LG Cosmos is based on the CDMA technology and supports dual-band of 800/1900 MHz. It has micro-SD expansion slot that accepts up to 32GB cards. The supported wireless interface is stereo Bluetooth 2.1.
2-inch LCD display has 320×240 pixels resolution supports 262,000 colors. The 1.3-megapixel camera features night-mode, noise reduction, and white balance.
The additional features are GPS, E911, Bluetooth, and four-row QWERTY keyboard. The connector set includes 1×micro-USB and 1×2.5mm headphone jack.
The 950mAH lithium ion battery has a life of 6 hours talk time and 24 days of idle standby time. Accessories supplied inside the package are battery, user manual, wired headset, and power adapter.
Razzle Dazzle:
The LG Cosmos is 4.41 inches tall, 2.05 inches wide, and 0.67 inch deep and weighs 4.4 ounces. It has similar slide out design like that of the Rumor 2. Its body is wrapped in shiny and sleek black plastic. The Cosmos is lightweight, but feels sturdy while holding in hand.
Inside Dope:
LG continues to launch the messaging phones for Verizon Wireless. Recently, the company has release the LG Voyager and the enV for the Verizon. Now, the company shows off the LG Cosmos for the same carrier. It looks like the LG Rumor 2 as both has candy bar design, same dimensions, and slides out at the right side to reveal the keyboard. The Cosmos costs $29.99 with two-year Verizon contract after a mail-in-rebate of $50. It features spacious QWERTY keyboard, 1.3-megapixel camera, GPS, excellent call quality, and Bluetooth. However, it lacks corporate email support and EV-DO network. You have to pay additional $5 to access the Web mail services like Hotmail or Gmail. There are pre-entered numbers for social networking Web sites including MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook, at which you can send messages to update your account. It is not a groundbreaking feature; still remains good to update the messages and pictures at above Web sites in seconds with few clicks. The Cosmos does not support 3G and EV-DO network.
Design
The micro-SD card slot and 2.5mm headset jack are located on the right side; while the camera key and the volume rocker are on left side. You will find the camera lens and speaker on the back. The charger jack sits on the bottom.
Display
2-inch LCD display of the LG Cosmos has 320×240 pixels resolution supports 262,000 colors. It exhibits sharp and colorful images. The menu interface is very simple for navigation and usage. You can change the clock format on home screen, the font size, the font type, the menu layout, arrange the icons, the display themes, the brightness level, and the backlight time.
Navigation Array and Keypad
The navigation array is located beneath the display. Both the keypad and array of the LG Cosmos has matte finish, and are better than on the Rumor 2. The array includes two soft keys, diamond-shaped toggle with middle OK key, speakerphone key, Voice/Clear button, Send key, and Power/End button. You can define the up, down, and left directions with three shortcuts, while the right direction shows My Shortcuts pop-up menu of four additional shortcuts. The numeric keypad looks small but remains useful. Its keys are arranged like roof tiles and have enough texture to dial buy feel.
QWERTY Keyboard
You can slide the front of the LG Cosmos to left side to access the QWERTY keyboard. The sliding mechanism is sturdy and locks the display securely in place. The screen will rotate to landscape on sliding the phone. There are two soft keys on the right side of display. The keyboard has four rows including one for numbers only. The arrow keys are located on the lower right side. You will also find the Function, Shift, emoticons, and messaging keys also. The keyboard has well-spaced and domed keys. We enjoyed the continuous typing of email and messages on this keyboard while testing.
Phonebook and PIM features
The LG Cosmos can store 1000 contacts in its phonebook. Each entry can save five phone numbers, one IM screen name, two email addresses, notes, and a street address. You can categorize the contacts in caller groups and pair them with one ring-tone.
The basic feature set includes 25 polyphonic ring-tones, a notepad, a world clock, a stopwatch, a to-do list, a tip calculator, a calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock, a speakerphone and a vibrate mode. The advanced highlights are Info Search to search anything stored on phone, a Web browser, GPS with Verizon VZ Navigator, Bing search, Bluetooth, USB mass storage, voice command, and a voice recorder.
Messaging Features
The messaging features of the LG Cosmos are text and multimedia messages, Verizon Mobile Email, access to POP3/IMAP4 accounts, and instant messengers (Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and AIM). We do not like that you have to additional $5 to access the POP3 email accounts. It is quite annoying that the Cosmos does not include corporate account support despite being a messaging phone. In contrast, it is available at the LG Rumor 2.
You will also get the inbuilt instant access to social networking Web sites including MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook. In fact, they are pre-stored phone numbers and you can send the messages to update their respective account. For the same, you have to register your phone number with these services separately.
Camera
The 1.3-megapixel camera features noise reduction, and night mode. The camera settings are photometery adjustments, five color effects, three shutter sounds with a silent choice, five white-balance presets, self timer, brightness and three resolutions. The overall photo quality was good for a low resolution camera. The pictures looked good in low light due to noise reduction.
Games and Personalization
The LG Cosmos comes with two games: Tetris, and Pac-Man. It can be personalized with available themes and wallpapers. You can also set your own picture as wallpaper. More options and applications are available through Verizon Store.
Call Quality
We made few calls through the LG Cosmos via Verizon Wireless. The overall call quality was impressive. We received good sound at our end with strong signal strength, but there was little harshness occasionally. The callers also received clear and loud sound at the end. They could tell we were calling via cell phone, but still they were able to carry out conversation even in loud environments. The speakerphone call quality was also good, but the callers received a bit more echo.
Battery Life
The LG Cosmos has battery life of six hours of talk time and 24 days of idle standby time. Its digital SAR rating is 1.18 watts per kg in accordance with FCC radiation tests.
Verdict:
If you are looking for an affordable messaging phone with keypad and QWERTY keyboard, then the LG Cosmos is a good one to purchase. However, it does not support EV-DO Network, 3G, and corporate email.
