Verizon LG Cosmos Cell Phone With Slide Out Qwerty Text Keyboard Review

I recently received my free LG Cosmos Cell Phone from Verizon Wireless and must say I am extremely satisfied with it. I cannot praise it enough. The LG Cosmos cell phone is now FREE at Verizon with 2 year activation, or an upgrade on your current contract. The slide out QWERTY keyboard is one of my favorite features. I was never much for texting, though I have a teenage niece, and two tween nephews who have a cell phones. And they would rather communicate through texting than talking. You would be alarmed what you can learn from teenagers through texting by the way.

Having the little Qwerty keyboard to text with is very accommodating. The keypad on the LG Cosmos looks and feels smooth, with a clean black finish. There are two soft keys, and a diamond-shaped center OK key, an easy to find speaker phone shortcut, which I love because every phone I ever had I was always looking for the speaker phone shortcut. This one is right above the send key. Perfect. The Send and End/Power keys are very visible and easy to use as well.

If you are into social networking, there is a built-in networking tool for Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. I have not used these myself, however my niece and nephews have, and find them very valuable and fun. This can be beneficial if you don't want to spend the money for a smart phone, which requires a data plan.

Vibrate mode,  speakerphone,  an alarm clock,  a calendar,  a calculator,  a tip calculator,  a to-do list, a stopwatch,  a world clock,  and a notepad.  You will also find a voice recorder and voice command support,  USB mass storage mode,   Bluetooth, and a wireless Web browser.  There is also GPS on the phone with support for Verizon's VZ Navigator.

The vibrate mode comes in handy when you are in locations a ringing phone is not appropriate.  The speakerphone is clear and crisp,   I have not found any vibration or echo like you find in many other cell phones.  I use the alarm clock  frequently.  The kids stay and the alarm sounds loud enough to wake them.  The included ringtones are somewhat annoying though.

So you may want to download your own.  I use the calendar to keep my appointments.  It is a useful feature if you like using a calendar feature.  The calculators are extremely convenient.  Especially the tip calculator,  when you want to figure out how much to leave.  The to do list is not something I use, but I think it is a handy too for those who need to keep lists.  The world clock is kind of fun,  and beneficial if you travel.

The voice recorder is a blast.  When I have  birthdays coming up,  I sing happy birthday and send it off in a text message.  So far no complaints.  Well not to my face anyway.  Friends and family like hearing a voice message instead of a voicemail.  You get a lot for an inexpensive phone.  Especially one that is not a smart phone.

The entire interface is simple and easy to use.  Backlighting is adjustable to suit your needs.  There is a 1.3 megapixel camera,  with a 2x zoom.  It does not exactly  take top quality photos.   This is a small disappointment I can live with.   Even at the highest resolution 1280x900 the photo's are somewhat gritty and have an unprocessed look.   There is no flash on this camera phone either. So if this is a feature you require the LG Cosmos is not your phone.

You can upload your photo's to your Verizon Wireless Photo Album.  That is a plus,  because the photo's are a little better to view that way.  There is no video recorder on this cell phone either. I was surprised.  I searched up and down to no avail.  I thought it odd a phone of this caliber would not have a video recorder.  I have learned to live without it.

The LG Cosmos looks like a compact candy bar.  It is smooth and fits pleasantly into your hand.  The numbers are extremely easy to read without being over-sized.   As far as ringtones go,  there are 25 polyphonic tones to choose from.  I am sure you will want to download your own.  Some of them are quite cheesy and I found them to be genuinely annoying.  One thing I like is I don't have to charge the phone everyday.  I have gone almost a week without charging it.  But that was talking,  and light texting,  and no web browsing.

Overall I recommend this phone if you are looking for something that is not a smart phone,  but has enough punch to be one.