LG Lotus - black (Sprint)
Manufacturer: LG Electronics U.S.A. Part number: LG600KIT
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- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The LG Lotus has an eye-catching design, top-notch features, and great performance, making it one of the top messaging phones available from Sprint.
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CNET editors' review
LG Lotus - black (Sprint) price range: $49.99
- Reviewed by: Nicole Lee
- Reviewed on: 10/27/2008
The good: The LG Lotus is a stylish and slender clamshell phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. Features include a 2.0-megapixel camera, a music player, Sprint's 3G services, and an innovative easy-to-use shortcut interface called One Click. Call quality is good and the keyboard is tactile.
The bad: The LG Lotus lags a bit when entering text and switching applications, and is a little on the pricey side.
The bottom line: The LG Lotus has an eye-catching design, top-notch features, and great performance, making it one of the top messaging phones available from Sprint.
Thanks to the texting phenomenon sweeping the country, messaging phones are all the rage right now. From the Verizon Wireless Blitz to the Pantech Matrix, it looks like almost every national carrier has some kind of messaging-centric handset. Sprint has answered the call with a few of their own, and one of them is the unusual-looking LG Lotus. Sporting a square shape similar to the Blitz, it has a sleek and stylish design that is quite attractive. It also has high-end features like EV-DO and access to all of Sprint's 3G services. Perhaps the only niggling detail is its price-- the Lotus is $150 with a two-year service agreement. Sprint's other messaging phone, the Samsung Rant, offers the same features as the Lotus, but is $100 less. That said, the Lotus is certainly better designed, so it's your call on whether it's worth the extra money.
Design
A recipient of the Red Dot Design Award, the design of the LG Lotus is what sets it apart from most other messaging phones. Sure the Verizon Wireless Blitz also has a square and compact shape, but the LG Lotus is not only small, it's slim and sleek as well. Measuring 3.3 inches wide by 2.4 inches tall by 0.7 inch thick, the Lotus is surprisingly chic despite its squat appearance. It comes in both textured purple and satin black, and both give the Lotus a nice sheen. The Lotus weighs around 3.7 ounces and has a soft-touch finish, giving it a comfortable feel in the hand.
Underneath the display is a thin silver strip that is actually home to three dedicated music player keys. They are the previous track, play/pause, and next track keys. You can hardly see them when the music player isn't activated, but when it is, the keys glow white. We appreciate that the keys are not touch-sensitive--unlike those of the LG Chocolate--but we wish there was some kind of texture difference between each key. Instead, the keys are completely flat and you need to look at what you're doing to make sure you're hitting the right one.
Right under the external music player keys are the Sprint logo, the camera lens, and the external speakers. To the left is the volume rocker and charger jack, while the right spine is home to a headset jack, a dedicated music player key, a dedicated camera key, and a microSD-card slot.
The Lotus comes with Sprint's new One Click navigation interface. This consists of eight shortcut tiles along the bottom of the home screen, and each tile can become any of 14 shortcuts to applications. You can even have a shortcut that leads to other shortcuts. As you flip through, you will get a small pop-up menu of the application's options. The Google tile, for example, pops up shortcuts to Google search, Google Maps, Gmail, and YouTube. You can also add a "bubble" to the home screen that either displays the latest headlines or your latest horoscope. We found the interface very intuitive and easy to use.
Underneath the display is the navigation array, which consists of two soft keys, a square toggle with middle Menu/OK key, a dedicated speakerphone key, a Back key, and the Talk and End/Power keys. Underneath that is a full QWERTY keyboard, complete with a dedicated Text messaging key. The QWERTY keyboard is one of the best we've ever tried on a messaging phone. The keys are well-spaced, and each key has a bubblelike texture that is raised above the surface of the phone. The navigation keys are also roomy and easy to press.
Features
The LG Lotus is not just a messaging phone-- it also comes with a host of multimedia and high-end features. But before we get to that, let's start with the basics. The Lotus has a 600-contact phone book, with room in each entry for six phone numbers, two e-mail addresses, an instant-messenger handle, a Web address, and notes. You can save contacts to groups, and pair them with a photo, any of 35 polyphonic ringtones, and any of four vibrations for caller ID. Other essentials include text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calculator, a scheduler, a voice memo recorder, a notepad, and a world clock. More advanced users will like the USB mode for PC syncing, voice command, instant messaging, e-mail, stereo Bluetooth, a mobile Web browser, and a document viewer. It also has A-GPS, which supports the Sprint Navigation and Sprint Family Locator services.
The Lotus comes equipped with EV-DO, allowing it access to Sprint's Power Vision. This includes Sprint TV for live on-demand television shows, Sprint Movies for on-demand movies, and Sprint Radio for streaming radio from more than 150 stations. Of course, as a multimedia phone, the Lotus also has access to the Sprint Music Store for wireless music downloads.
Speaking of music, the Lotus's music player is simple, but functional. You can either purchase songs over the air like we mentioned or transfer songs via USB. The player interface is pretty generic, with options for repeat, shuffle, and creating and editing playlists. You can send the music player to the background while doing other things like texting. The Lotus comes with 80MB of built-in memory, and if that's not enough, the microSD-card slot allows for additional storage.
The Lotus has a 2.0-megapixel camera, which can take pictures in four resolutions (1,600x1200, 1,280x960, 640x480, and 320x240), and three quality settings. Other camera options include brightness, white balance, spot metering, a night mode, five color tones, a self-timer, multishot, fun frames, a 4x zoom, four shutter sounds, plus a silent option. The built-in camcorder has editing options similar to that on the still camera. We liked the photo quality; images looked clear and sharp, but we did notice the colors appeared darker than usual.
You can personalize the Lotus in a number of ways. You can select different kinds of graphics for wallpaper and screensavers, different sounds for ringtones and alerts, and full games and applications as well. The Lotus comes with three games: Guitar Hero III, a demo version of JewelQuest2, and Space Monkey. It also comes with four applications: Google Maps, Loopt, NASCAR Sprint cup Mobile, and Social Zone. You can download more of these personalization options via the Sprint browser.
Performance
We tested the LG Lotus in San Francisco on Sprint's network. We were very impressed with the call quality overall. Callers sounded crisp and clear, without a lot of static. Speakerphone calls were quite good as well, albeit on the tinnier side. On their end, callers said we sounded loud and clear as well, though the voices sounded rather robotic, and they could still tell we were on a cell phone. Automated-calling systems recognized our voices just fine in a quiet room. Bluetooth calls were successful.
Music quality was decent. Bass was a little weak, but the melody and vocals sounded alright. We would recommend using a headset for better audio quality. EV-DO speeds were great. Streaming video from Sprint's PowerVision had no buffering issues. Video quality is similar to other Sprint TV phones. While typing out text messages, we found that text sometimes lagged behind our typing. This isn't a huge issue, but when it happened, we thought it was rather annoying.
The Lotus has a rated battery life of 5.6 hours talk time. Our tests reveal a talk time of 3 hours and 36 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the Lotus has a digital SAR rating of 1.360 watts per kilogram.
User reviews
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Missed key details on every single function
by pkteison on November 10, 2008
Pros: Beautiful display
Cons: The major functions that this device tries to do, it fails in some critically important way. It seems so close to being a fantastic phone, but the execution is critically flawed.
Summary: Phone is critically flawed: It only rings about half the time, even with full battery and signal bars. There is no audible or vibrating indication of a missed call, so ...
Summary: Phone is critically flawed: It only rings about half the time, even with full battery and signal bars. There is no audible or vibrating indication of a missed call, so you have to take it out and check it every few hours to be sure you aren't neglecting your friends. This from a phone that is supposed to be all about being social?
Messaging drops characters if you type fast, EVERY single message I write loses characters, so I can't type a message without reviewing the whole thing before I hit send.
Web browser doesn't display some photos right and can't scroll right if stuff is off the screen - facebook photo album, flickr, and picasaweb all don't work. They work ok in Opera Mini, if you can get it installed - the phone randomly reboots when trying to install Opera Mini, keep trying eventually it will work took me a dozen reboots, but you can't install signed apps so you can't do things like give the browser permission to save files to the filesystem.
In short, it does a poor job at the things it is supposed to do. It comes so close, and falls just enough short that it ruins the experience.9 out of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great phone, NOT a smartphone
by joedemartino on November 29, 2008
Pros: Size, style, full keyboard, vibrant screen, lots of USEFUL features
Cons: Not a smartphone, so not for heavy internet use
Summary: I was looking for a quality phone to be used for talking and texting, and this one hits the mark. The style and size are unique, giving it a "cool ...
Summary: I was looking for a quality phone to be used for talking and texting, and this one hits the mark. The style and size are unique, giving it a "cool factor". Now that everyone has a touchscreen phone, this one is actually different than what everyone else has.
The phone is excellent for talking and texting. It has a good camera. It has a vibrant and big screen.
It is not great for internet, it only supports mobile type sites. But I don't use the internet on my phone except for the RARE occasion where I must look up a score or something and there is no other option. It does that just fine.
There are lots of settings and features with this phone.
A previous review stated that the phone rings only half the time. This is not true. When you receive a call or more often a text, the phone rings briefly, and then shows an alert.
The thing is it is very brief (1 or 2 secs), then there is no further audio or visual alert. So it is easy to miss the alert. I actually prefer this. It allows me to leave my phone at my desk at work without worrying that the thing is beeping and blinking incessantly like some phones do over and over until you pick them up. I guess it could have a blinking light or something that you could choose to turn on or off if you want, but this is a minor thing in my opinion.
Call quality is excellent as is signal strength, and I live in a very rural area. Not one dropped call to date. I have never "dropped" any characters while texting either, so I guess the guy who said it happened to him must type extremely fast, or he had a dud.
I conclusion, this is a excellent phone for talking and texting, plus it has lots of extras "just in case" Again, it is not a smartphone or Blackberry, so don't expect that. The best thing about this phone is does NOT require any upgraded plan, but you can use it to do pretty much everything.6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great non-PDA, with function that keeps up with form.
by MrGadgetman on April 8, 2009
Pros: Great for texting/emailing/IMing. BIG displays, loud volumes. Good working voice recog. interface. Lots of features and good working camera. Attractive style and pocket-friendly.
Cons: A bit of lag if you hurry it or when switching between aps. No backlight duration setting for keypad..., only for display. No flash. Must have icons on home screen.
Summary: I really like this phone. It has been a while since I got excited about one and this one delivers on great features that actually work good. I gave up ...
Summary: I really like this phone. It has been a while since I got excited about one and this one delivers on great features that actually work good. I gave up a Smartphone PDA because the feature set didn't justify the hassle of the touchscreen and the constant bogging and need to manage apps open so you won't run out of memory. This thing makes having a phone fun again! It supports all the social applications like POP3 email, IM service, and media texting. Great photo quality. Love the big screen and picture ID works great cuz it actually uses the screen area for callers. I hated how other phones were stingy with the space they allocated for the picture ID ringer.
Great tactile feedback on the buttons. The QWERTY has useful buttons that don't require you to hit "shift" or "alt", for example, the '!' and '?' are normal keys. I love that it threads your text conversations like an IM let us not forget the dedicated "TEXT" button too!!
It will bog for a split second if you hurry it between programs or while switching, and at times while texting if you are trying to go really (really) fast. It is possible to outrun the keyboard interface. It is also a bit annoying that you cannot change the QWERTY backlight timeout. You always have to hit a button to get it to light up. Waaah. Personally, I don't like crap on my main screen (just like my hatred for excessive PC desktop icons!) and you have to retain the carousel. You can customize it, but not remove it. In all fairness, it does go transparent. Other than that..., I cannot poke any other holes in this boat to sink it.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Metro area dream come true.
by jmpetersen on October 31, 2008
Pros: Volume! Awesome volume for earpiece and Speakerphone features.
Watching Sprint TV on the external screen with the phone closed, first model I know of with that feature.
Qwerty keyboard, which isn't a big deal anymore.Cons: Inaccurate signal indicator.
NFL game-day radio does not work. Confirmed at Sprintusers.com
Fringe areas drain battery quicklySummary: I've used my phone for about 10 days now. I'm overall pleased, but I would only recommend this phone to people that stay within a strong signal area. ...
Summary: I've used my phone for about 10 days now. I'm overall pleased, but I would only recommend this phone to people that stay within a strong signal area. I hate the dreaded "Samsung Syndrome" - park your phone somewhere it says it has 1-2 bars of signal, and then try to call it. Almost 80% of my tests on Samsung phones, the call goes to voicemail. Sanyo indicators have always been reliable in my tests. I have tested the Lotus 4 times, and it failed twice, so I would say it's somewhere between a Sanyo and Samsung.
The other small issue is that I can kill the battery in 12 hours by staying in fringe areas, but with very little use (Less than 30 combined minutes of calling/email), so that's why I urge the people to know their signal strengths before purchasing this phone.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Phone!
by tammo85 on November 6, 2008
Pros: -Well designed
-Lightweight
-Easy to use
-Big vibrant screens inside and out
-Tons of great featuresCons: -A bit of lag
-Sprint's mobile browser
-Camera doesn't have flashSummary: This phone is really great despite its few flaws. The square shape is unique and the internal and external screens are large and vibrant. It's very easy to use, ...
Summary: This phone is really great despite its few flaws. The square shape is unique and the internal and external screens are large and vibrant. It's very easy to use, especially with the full qwerty keyboard. My only complaints are that it lags a bit when switching between applications, Sprints mobile browser is horrible, and the camera doesn't have flash. All in all a great phone!
P.S. I would recommend the Opera Mini mobile web browser; it's much faster and you can view any site, not just mobile ones. Just go to operamini.com on you phone.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Worst phone I ever had!
by artzvi84 on May 21, 2009
Pros: None so far
Cons: Everything on this phone is bad. The Lag is terrible, which makes the on-click feature worthless. The browser was better on both of my older phones. The camera is 2 megapixels, and has no features not even zoom. The keyboard is too small to use.
Summary: This phone is terrible, I think that LG does not make good phones as I have tried out a prior LG model too. Take my advice and Stay away
Summary: This phone is terrible, I think that LG does not make good phones as I have tried out a prior LG model too. Take my advice and Stay away
2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Lotus LG phone review listed below.
by ratlifrf on July 22, 2009
Pros: i am able to use this phone to call out and use the slow internet.
Cons: The zoom sucks, it doesnt zoom in far enough, my port where I try and charge it is loose, you have to buy a certain adaptor just to have head phones work with the MP3.
Summary: (continued from the Cons) The 2.0 megapixel could be updated, when you call a phone number (like an 800 # that has words such as 1-800-ABC-DEFG) you cant go by ...
Summary: (continued from the Cons) The 2.0 megapixel could be updated, when you call a phone number (like an 800 # that has words such as 1-800-ABC-DEFG) you cant go by that..You have to figure that out by a regular phone and dial the correct numbers, the internet is slow. The phone cuts off on its own. The port where you put in your charger is hard to open so I had to take off the front, when I have full batteries, my phone breaks up and cuts off. I am disapointed with this phone but it gets me by. If I go to the Sprint store and complain, they will do nothing to help me out. I am stuck with this phone until I am able to have an upgrade. I personally would not recommend this phone unless you just need to make phone calls.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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texting was good the only good part of this phone.
by rodrajr on June 3, 2009
Pros: Texting was the only thing that was good and call quality
Cons: Everything else this phones music player sucks, internet sucks, sprint services suck everything sucks.
Summary: I hate this phone because i hadd to exchange this phone for 3 of that same models. The first one i got was ok for a week then the screen ...
Summary: I hate this phone because i hadd to exchange this phone for 3 of that same models. The first one i got was ok for a week then the screen would go on and off all the time until the screen went completly black. the second model turned off randomely when i was on the internet and when i deleted messages. The third one just froze all the time. I had to curse out the people at the sprint store, all of sprints customer service.
I finally got a rant which was better but i decided to switch to tmobile and bought the behold and loved it. sprint offers exelent services but i lacks good customer service and if it continues like this it will lose all of its clients.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent design, some little niggles to fix
by nycsker on April 21, 2009
Pros: Size: compact and sleek
Maturity level: it's a text-based phone that's all business and no Britney Spears
Menu system: not perfect but pretty nice and to the point
Screen: big enough, bright enough
Call quality: clear and loud as you want on speakerCons: Keyboard: layout is great, but PRESS HARD!
Software: a little slow at times for a phone in this day and age
Texting convos: can't these cell companies understand we WANT TO SEE THINGS AS A CONVERSATION STRING!??! Get it right people! Design 101!Summary: All in all, an excellent first model for this new design. I've owned a couple smartphones (Blackberry 8830 and a couple Treos in various forms), but this time I ...
Summary: All in all, an excellent first model for this new design. I've owned a couple smartphones (Blackberry 8830 and a couple Treos in various forms), but this time I wanted to simplify a bit. So after a bit of research into options at Sprint (which arer sadly limited), I gave myself the choice between a Blackberry and a Samsung Rant when I went into the store. Though I absolutely love Blackberry phones, they're really too much phone for me because I only check email when I have to.
Problem was, anything that's not a "business" phone these days is delegated to teeny-bopper land and you have to struggle to find something without some silly neon design or dancing Manga figurines on the screen.
Fortunately as I strolled into Sprint, a very friendly associate pointed me to the Lotus as a fresh alternative for a middle-ground text-based phone. The keyboard is layed out very nicely, though it does suffer from too-hard-to-press-buttons-itis, but I'm hoping that loosens up with time to break in.
Other than that it's just a simple, solid, phone with great call quality that fits slim in your pocket. You can actually walk into a meeting and look adult with this thing, but you don't have to be Crackberry'd out like everyone else in the room (I tend to believe I'm one of the few sane business people left who can leave his email to the computer as much as possible and still be successful. It isn't about how often you repsond, folks, it's how WELL you respond!)
If you're like me ? lots of texting, some email, some web browsing, and you're a full-fledged big-boy adult ? this phone is worth a look. If you're addicted to smartphones, don't even try it. And if you still live at home with your mom, get yourself something pink.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Love this phone! Clam-shell with a full keyboard.
by Factor-X on April 11, 2009
Pros: Love the full keyboard. This phone a great call quality and people on the other end even say I sound closer. For what ever reason, I get a stronger signal than my previous LG Phone. The phone is easy to use and the one click option rocks
Cons: Not able to adjust the exterior screen much. I wish the main screen was a bit taller.
Summary: For those us us not wanting a full on smart phone, this is the best option. Full of great feature. It's my dream phone - clam shell with a ...
Summary: For those us us not wanting a full on smart phone, this is the best option. Full of great feature. It's my dream phone - clam shell with a full QWERTY keyboard. I was worried about the keyboard with my stubby fingers, but quickly discovered that is not an issue. It's very easy to navigate thru all off the functions and screens, including the One Click features. Call quality is great and I love the size and feel of the phone. This the perfect phone on a superb network.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: LG Electronics U.S.A.
- Part number: LG600KIT
- Description: Released for Sprint, the LG Lotus is a recipient of the prestigious Red Dot Design Award for its unique and chic form factor. It offers a full QWERTY keyboard for quick text messaging, email or instant messaging. It also features stereo Bluetooth, a 2.0-megapixel camera and Wireless Backup for safekeeping contact lists in case the device is lost, stolen or damaged. As one of the first Sprint devices to offer One Click, users can personalize their home screen by selecting features like text messaging, web access, email, Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV, Sprint Music Store and more.
General
- Product Type Cellular phone With digital camera / digital player
- Service Provider Sprint Nextel
- Width 2.4 in
- Depth 0.7 in
- Height 3.3 in
- Weight 0.2 lbs
- Body Color Black
Cellular
- Technology CDMA2000 1X
- Phone Design Folder type phone
- Antenna Internal
- Call Timer Yes
- Caller ID Yes
- Wireless Interface Bluetooth
- Additional Features GPS, Speakerphone, USB 2.0, 80 MB internal memory, microSD card slot
Messaging & Data Services
- Short Messaging Service (SMS) Yes
- Internet Browser Yes
- Included Services Sprint TV
- Messaging / Data Features Text messages, E-Mail
Digital Camera
- Camera highlights With a resolution of 2 megapixels, this model will give you higher quality pictures than other phones.
- Sensor Resolution 2 megapixels
Display
- Type LCD display
- Diagonal Size 2.4 in
- Color Support Color
Display (2nd)
- Type LCD display
Power
- Type Power adapter
Battery
- Talk Time Up to 330 min
Product series
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Manufacturer: LG Electronics U.S.A.
Specs: Up to 330 min, With digital camera / digital player, 3.7 oz
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Manufacturer: LG Electronics U.S.A.
Specs: Up to 330 min, With digital camera / digital player, 0.2 lbs
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Manufacturer: LG Electronics U.S.A.
Specs: CDMA 800, Up to 330 min, With digital camera / digital player, 3.7 oz
Accessories
Manufacturer info
- LG Electronics U.S.A.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse LG Electronics U.S.A. products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://us.lge.com/
- Address:
1000 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
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