Why You Can Trust CNET LG VX8360 (Verizon Wireless) review: LG VX8360 (Verizon Wireless)
LG VX8360 (Verizon Wireless)
LG VX8360 (Verizon Wireless)
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
The LG VX8350 was one of our favorite Verizon Wireless phones in 2007 since it packed a lot of features into a simple and affordable package. Two years later, LG has released its successor, the VX8360. It's not quite as rounded as the VX8350, but it still has that compact clamshell design down pat. Perhaps our only complaint is that its features are exactly the same as its predecessor (you still get the same 1.3-megapixel camera, for example). Also, there's no reason to get the VX8360 if you already have an VX8350. But if you're in the market for a midtier handset with EV-DO, decent multimedia features, and great call quality, the VX8360 fits the bill. At only $49.99 after a mail-in rebate and a two-year service agreement, it won't hurt your wallet either.
Design
If you trimmed away the curves of the VX8350 and added more of a sporty flair, you would get the VX8360. Measuring 3.64 inches long by 1.91 inches wide by 0.78 inch thick, the VX8360 is a little smaller and thinner than its predecessor, while still maintaining the look and feel of a compact clamshell. It has a dark blue shell with silver trim and an inner chrome border, which result in quite a sporty racecar look. The VX8360 is also lightweight at 3.35 ounces and its slightly rounded edges make it feel comfortable in the hand.
On the front of the VX8360 is a small 1.17-inch diagonal color screen. It only supports 65,000 colors, but that's OK since it's only the external display. It shows the date, time, battery, and signal strength, caller ID, plus it has support for photo caller ID. It also acts as a self-portrait viewfinder when the camera is activated. When the music player is activated, you can see the album art and track information on it. Above the external display is the camera lens.
As with the VX8350, the VX8360 has external music player keys underneath the display, which we always like to see with music phones. The keys on the VX8360 are a lot flatter than the ones on the VX8350, but they are a little bigger and have slight delineations between the keys so it's still possible to press by feel. Underneath the keys is a large speaker grille, which helps to improve the speaker volume. This is a noticeable improvement from the VX8350, which had the speaker on the back.
Flip open the phone and you'll find a very pleasant 2-inch diagonal main display. The 262,000 color support and 240x320-pixel resolution really help to make the screen pop with vibrant color and images. You can adjust the backlight time, the size and type of the fonts, the menu layout, and the clock format. Since we're able to change out the menu layout, we can easily switch to a grid or list style, which is a little easier to navigate than the standard Verizon tabs interface.
We're happy to see that the VX8360 has kept the easy-to-use keypad of its predecessor. The navigation keys and number keypad are well spaced, tactile, and have a nice bubbly raised texture that make it really easy to thumb-type text messages and dial by feel. The navigation array consists of two soft keys, a five-way toggle that doubles as shortcuts to four user-defined functions, a dedicated Speakerphone key, a dedicated messaging key, and the Send, Clear, and End/Power keys. The dedicated speakerphone key activates the speakerphone prior to a call, which we definitely like as well.
On the left spine of the VX8360 are a voice command key, the volume rocker, and the headset jack, while the right is home to the dedicated camera key and microSD card slot. The charger jack is on the bottom.
Features
Even though the VX8360 may seem like any other clamshell, it actually comes with several high-end features that make it one of the better midtier handsets out there. That said, its feature set is almost identical to that of the VX8350, and we wished there would be at least some improvement.
The LG VX8360 comes with a generous 1,000-entry phone book with room in each entry for five numbers and two e-mail addresses. You can organize your contacts into groups, pair them with a picture for photo caller ID, or one of 23 polyphonic ring tones and alert tones. Other essentials include a vibrate mode, a speakerphone, text and multimedia messaging, a calculator, a tip calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a world clock, a notepad, and a voice memo recorder. More advanced users will like the mobile instant messaging (AIM, Yahoo, and MSN), mobile e-mail (this is done via the VX8360's Web browser), voice command capabilities, a wireless Web browser, stereo Bluetooth, and USB Mass Storage mode. It also has A-GPS, and it is compatible with location-based services such as VZ Navigator and Chaperone, a Verizon service that helps parents keep track of their kids.
The VX8360 has EV-DO, and with that comes support for Verizon's V Cast. That includes V Cast Video; Verizon's streaming video service; plus V Cast Music with Rhapsody, Verizon's music store. The VX8360's music player is housed within Verizon's V Cast Music interface, which is a little clunky, but still usable. The songs are grouped by genres, artists, and albums, plus you can create and edit your own playlists. Other player options include repeat and shuffle mode. You can purchase songs over the air for $1.99 each, which includes a simultaneous download to your PC. If you want, you can purchase songs directly from V Cast to your PC for only 99 cents. And if you have a Rhapsody music subscription ($14.99 a month), you can load some of your subscribed tracks directly to the phone. The VX8360 supports up to 8GB microSD cards, so that's plenty of room for your MP3s.
Like the VX8350, the VX8360 comes with a 1.3-megapixel camera. We're a little disappointed that the VX8360's camera did not at least get a slight megapixel update. That said, photo quality is pretty good for a 1.3-megapixel camera--images look sharp and saturated with color. Camera settings include three resolutions (1,280x960, 640x480, and 320x240), a self-timer, white balance, shutter sounds (with a silent option), color effects, brightness, a night mode, photometry/spot meter modes, plus the option to save the image to the phone's internal memory or to a microSD card. The camera doesn't have flash, however. As for the camcorder, there is only one video resolution of 176x144 pixels, and you can record in two lengths (up to 30 seconds for MMS or until the memory is full). Camcorder settings are similar to that of the still camera. Video quality is expectedly blurry and pixilated, but it's OK for quick clips to share with your friends.
You can customize the VX8360 with a variety of wallpapers, display themes, ringtones, alerts, and more. The VX8360 doesn't come with any games. If you want more options and applications, you can purchase and download them via the wireless Web browser.
Performance
We tested the LG VX8360 in San Francisco using the Verizon Wireless network. We were very impressed with the call quality. The VX8360 comes with "Voice Clarity" feature that helps to adjust the voice level based on the surrounding noise and, according to our callers, it worked. They could hear us loud and clear even in a variety of situations--in the office, in a crowded restaurant, and inside a car. On our end, we could hear them very clearly as well. Speakerphone quality was also slightly improved over the VX8350. Callers sounded loud and clear thanks to the speaker on the front, and they could hear us without any problems too.
Music quality is great as well. The bass is a little shallow, but overall sound quality was fine for a music phone. We would recommend using a headset for better audio fidelity.
As for the EV-DO speeds, we're pleased that we're able to surf the Web without a lot of waiting. We also downloaded a song in about 40 seconds, which is quite impressive. The streaming V Cast video looked a bit blurry, but there were no buffering issues.
The LG VX8360 has a rated battery life of 5.26 hours of talk time and 26.7 days of standby time. The tested talk time is a tad shorter at 4 hours and 22 minutes. According to the FCC radiation tests, the VX8360 has a digital SAR rating of 1.14 watts per kilogram.