If you’re a fan of the LG Rumor but aren’t a Sprint fan and don’t mind Alltel then you should take a gander at the LG Scoop AX260. The features of this phone are magnified when the price is considered- $9.99 with a mail-in rebate and an Alltel plan. For the modest cell phone carrier, this phone will make the most frugal buyer be without regret.
Style:
It’s what they call a can-bar style cell phone as it measures 4.3 inches tall, 2 inches wide, and 0.7 inches thick. Texting freaks will like the QWERTY keypad that slides out like the enV. To make it a bit flashy, the screen does a little rolly-polly as the keys are slid out. The LG Scoop is limited to three colors: citrus, slate, and turquoise. My daughter’s favorite color is pink so no Scoop for her.
The display measures 2 inches with 176×220 pixels with 262k color support. The wallpaper for the display is colorful and artsy, which makes up for the lack of image quality. This is not the phone for the Mobile TV and Video watchers. The brightness level can be changed as can the font style and size.
The numeric keys are brightened by a backlight and are a good size for those with swollen fingers. The QWERTY keyboard slides out by sliding the face of the phone to the left, just like the LG Rumor. Fans of the LG Rumor’s QWERTY keyboard will like the LG Scoop’s just as well.
The right spine of the phone is where the microSD card slot and the 2.5mm headset jack lies. (No 3.5mm jackL) The left spine houses the dedicated camera shutter and volume control.
The style is nice for its price.
Battery:
Usage time is claimed at 3 hours and 30 minutes with 7 days and 2 hours of standby time. Thanks for this goes out to the 950 mAh Li-Polymer battery that comes standard. Moderate talking, a bit of media playing, and the phone will last a bit more than the claimed usage time. Of course, the phone will last for days if you’re mainly a texting junky.
Memory:
The LG Scoop gives you 20MB of memory but it supports up to 4GB with a microSD card.
Camera:
The LG Scoop comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera. The options available are more numerous than the LG Rumor’s. With the LG Scoop, you get five resolution choices of 1280×960, 640×480, 320×240, 176×144, and 160×120. It has night mode, five color effects, brightness adjustments, white balance setting adjustments, 2x zoom – not automatic – 18 fun frames, and a self-timer. Unfortunately there is no flash or self portrait mirror. The lack of self portrait mirror is not understandable to me because it doesn’t take much to add one.
Videos can be taken in two resolutions of 176×144 and 128×96. Videos for messages are limited to only 15 seconds but videos to be stored on the phone can be up to an hour long – good enough for the spies.
Media:
The quality of playing media is standard but does not enable Bluetooth Headsets. With the rise in popularity of Bluetooth stereo headsets, this phone will soon be less than standard once Bluetooth enabled headsets become the standard. Still, the LG Scoop plays MP3 files (that’s all it plays) just as well as any iPod if wired headsets suite you just fine.
If you grew up with free antenna cable and want something just a bit more, Alltel offers on-demand and live TV streamed over the Web by MobiTV. There is no static but it lacks the resolution with phones such as the LG Vu. The network is slow and the Television is a bit jerky, but like I said, if you grew up on free antenna cable then this would be an upgrade.
Messaging:
With the LG Scoop you can send messages via regular text, video, picture, and Instant messages. This is just about it but the easiness of sending messages is what this phone is all about.
Calling:
The network for the LG Scoop is no 3G network but the CDMA 1X. This is covered through a wide spectrum of Alltel’s coverage area. Dialing can be voice activated. The call quality is the same as the LG Rumor – decent. Compared to Sprint, there is less static and voices didn’t seem as close. The volume was loud and background noises weren’t so much of a bother. Even though there is no Bluetooth with the media player, there is Bluetooth available for calling for those who like to, or need to, go hands free. Bluetooth is recommended over the speaker phone because of the slight muffled voices on the speaker phone.
Tones can be downloaded through the phone but will but a drain on the battery and will cost a bit. Like downloading music, it is cheaper to download from the internet and transfer it to the phone.
GPS:
The LG Scoop uses TeleNav software for the GPS navigation. Maps load slowly. As a GPS junky – which is why I’m an unendorsed Verizon fan because of there GPS – I have to do the service and mention that this phone isn’t to be used for GPS navigation unless you’re the type of person with the patience of a slow connection.
Some other tools include:
Calculator
Calendar
The Gist of it
The price – currently $9.99, when this review was written – makes the LG Scoop a sure buy for the people who would rather not spend half their paycheck on a phone. Of course the price is with a mail-in rebate, an online discount of $160, and the purchase of an Alltel plan. Alltel’s service has a good reputation and the quality of there service is up there with the best. The quality of this phone is incredible for the price. You can’t even buy dinner at a restaurant for 10 bucks.
Some of the goods:
It looks more expensive than it actually is, keyboard is nice and spacious, and it has some nice features like numerous messaging options, Bluetooth, and voice dialing.
Some complaints:
Not a phone to take pictures with unless desperate. No 3G but who needs that anyway? It’s a luxury. No Bluetooth for the media player…just have to go old school.
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