Why You Can Trust CNET LG Glance (Verizon Wireless) review: LG Glance (Verizon Wireless)
LG Glance (Verizon Wireless)
LG Glance (Verizon Wireless)
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Just when we thought the days of the skinny phone were behind us, LG surprises us with yet another thin handset. The LG Glance is one of the slimmest phones we've ever seen, at only 0.38 inch thick. It has quite an elegant design overall, and though it's a rather basic phone, it still has a decent camera and GPS capabilities. The LG Glance is certainly one of the better entry-level phones we've seen from Verizon Wireless, and at $49.99 with a two-year service agreement and a $50 mail-in rebate, it's quite affordable as well.
Design
Usually when we encounter entry-level phones, they feel like cheap plastic when held. Not so with the LG Glance. It's clad in metallic trim, which gives it a decent heft of 2.92 ounces. Measuring 4.31 inches long by 1.87 inches wide by 0.38 inch thick, the Glance is also very thin. It has a slim and sleek form factor with slightly rounded corners. We like the soft gold trim on the front but have mixed feelings about the woven metal backplate--it just seems a bit cheesy for our tastes.
On the front of the Glance is a nice 2-inch display with support for 262,000 colors and 320x240 pixels. We're really impressed with how crisp and clear the text and images look, especially with an entry-level phone. You can adjust the backlight time, the brightness, the menu layout, the menu font type, the font size, and the clock format.
Underneath the display is a very compact navigation array. It consists of two soft keys, a joystick toggle, the Send key, the Clear/voice command key, and the End/Power key. The two soft keys are raised above the surface and have a lot of ridges for texture, which made it easy to navigate through menus. The joystick was easy to use as well--you can even add a vibration to the joystick for an added tactile feel. You can also adjust length and intensity of the vibration. The up, left, and down directions of the joystick can be mapped to three user-defined shortcuts, while the right direction leads to a MyShortcuts folder, where you can add up to four additional shortcuts.
The number keypad is surprisingly spacious for such a small phone. Each row of keys is on raised slates, and there's enough delineation between each key to dial by feel. On the left spine are the 2.5-millimeter headset jack, the volume rocker, and the speakerphone key, while the camera key and the charger jack are on the right. The keys on the sides of the phone are pretty skinny, due to the slenderness of the phone. On the back of the phone is a camera lens.
Features
The LG Glance has a 1,000-entry phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, two e-mail addresses, and a street address. You can also add callers to groups, pair contacts with a photo for caller ID, and one of 23 polyphonic ringtones. Other basics include a vibrate mode, a speakerphone, a calculator, a tip calculator, a calendar, a to-do list, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a world clock, and a notepad. There's also a search feature where you can search for information stored on the phone. There's also text and multimedia messaging that displays conversations in threaded messages.
More advanced users will like voice command, stereo Bluetooth, GPS functionality (with support for VZ Navigator and Chaperone), instant messaging, and a wireless Web browser. You also get mobile e-mail and mobile Web e-mail--mobile e-mail lets you get e-mail sent directly to the phone, while mobile Web e-mail opens up a browser. You can get your e-mail set up with all the major Web e-mail providers as well as the one from your ISP. Bear in mind that the mobile e-mail application costs $5 to download.
The 1.3-megapixel camera takes pictures in three resolutions (1,280x960, 640x480, and 320x240), five white balance presets, and five color effects. Other settings include a night mode, a self-timer, three photometry options (average, spot, and multiple spot), and the choice of three shutter sounds plus a silent option. Photo quality is surprisingly good for a 1.3-megapixel camera. Though the photos seemed slightly dark and overcast, images did not look too blurry. After taking the photos, you can view them in a slideshow as well.
You can personalize the Glance with wallpaper, themes, banners, and additional ringtones. You can also get more options via Verizon's wireless Web browser. There aren't any games included with the Glance, but you can download more through Verizon as well.
Performance
We tested the LG Glance (CDMA 800/1,900, 1xRTT) in San Francisco using Verizon Wireless. We were impressed with the call quality overall. Callers heard us loud and clear without any noise or static. They had a little more trouble hearing us in speakerphone mode and said that we sounded distant with a bit more interference. Still, it wasn't a deal breaker. On our end, we heard them very clearly, and their voices sounded natural and not at all robotic.
The LG Glance has a rated battery life of 4.3 hours talk time and 14.6 days standby time. It has a tested talk time of 5 hours and 52 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the Glance has a digital SAR of 1.26 watts per kilogram.