Jiraiyathesannin
Active member
So its Jiraiyathesannin here to bring you my review on the Lg volt (virgin mobile)
Summary: As someone who both has a moderate knowledge of the latest tech, yet the budget of a burger flipper, I've taken much stock in phones that have a good ratio of quality and price.
Meaning, sure, the Nexus 6 has among the most hardware you'd ever find in a phone, but its hella expensive. Whereas the Kyocera: Event is like 30 bucks but is the buggiest monstrosity i've ever had the misfortune of using.
You gotta find that balance. Previously, I struck that balance with the Lg Optimus f3 (virgin mobile). While that phone was very VERY decent (at a nice price point of 90 dollars), it definitely felt like a budget phone.
A couple years have passed and my phone was damaged, luckily I had already been researching all of the budget smart phones I could for some months. The Lg tribute (Lg seems to dominate the high end budget market for android phone, while samsun's non-flagships are horrendous), but the kicker is, it has very little storage.
Anyway here's the gist of it: This phone feels and looks very premium. I'm LOVING android kitkat and its very zippy. At a price tag that is as low as $120 (i used a 60 dollars off coupon as it was initially 180), you really can't beat it. I thought about getting a galaxy s3, but opted for this one.
Handset: The device is the first white phone i've had. At first i thought i wouldn't like it but its REALLY sharp looking. There's a textured plastic back that while making the phone slightly thicker, really curves nicely into the hand. There's brushed aluminum around the edges and getting thicker at the bottom. I never really jumped on the aluminum bandwagon, but its a great touch. With a 4.7 inch screen, its just at the edge of "too big". Any larger and i'd call it a phablet, so i'm very satisfied with its size. The screen takes up a large hunk of it with only a modest bezel. The home button is nice as are the volume and power buttons. The speakers are beefier than my previous ones, but like the iphone are nestled on the bottom which i dislike. I wish all phones took a page from htc and put the speakers on the front at the expense of some front real-estate.
Camera: when you go for a budget phone, there are a few things you have to accept it won't have: a high res screen, a large internal memory, and a good camera. This isn't a bad camera by any means. its 8 mp with a nice front facing camera. But you won't be mistaking this for a lumia camera or a galaxy s6. It certainly isn't bad but there's a TON of noise in low light. Take this at face value.
Screen: This is the second hit you take. Although the screen is nice (speaking of the screen, its gorilla glass, so its pretty solid) but its qHD. Not QHD (1440p). qHD is the standard for nonflagship phones. Its just how it goes. the q doesn't stand for quad, but quarter. It is 1 quarter the resolution of 1080p. unfortunately on a big screen, that makes the pixel density nonstellar. But the colors are nice, the saturation is good, and its a really solid screen.
Internal storage: The one thing that really surprises me was the storage. 8 gigs. In a day where people spend hundreds more on phones to get 64 gigs of storage, this isn't a lot. but almost EVERY other budge phone has 1.5 gigs. So i'm very very happy
Battery. So far the 3000mah battery is rocking. Because kit kat isn't too power intensive, you'll go more than a full day on a single charge.
Processor. This is as good as budget processors get. 1.2 gb quad core adreno. Its very VERy zippy and hasn't lagged on me yet
Little quirks. I love some of the features that lg brings. Like lg voice assistant. knock code (unlock your phone by tapping on the screen) and plenty of gesture controls. This thing may not have a heart beat sensor, but its hardly lacking in features.
Bottom line. This is a budget phone. it always will be. But its the king of budget phones. If you go prepaid and don't want to spend 300 dollars to get an old flagship phone or 5-600 for a new one, this is what you should get. I love virgin mobile (unlimited everything for 35 bucks a month) and this is easily their best phone for the money.
Go buy it. I'll wait
Summary: As someone who both has a moderate knowledge of the latest tech, yet the budget of a burger flipper, I've taken much stock in phones that have a good ratio of quality and price.
Meaning, sure, the Nexus 6 has among the most hardware you'd ever find in a phone, but its hella expensive. Whereas the Kyocera: Event is like 30 bucks but is the buggiest monstrosity i've ever had the misfortune of using.
You gotta find that balance. Previously, I struck that balance with the Lg Optimus f3 (virgin mobile). While that phone was very VERY decent (at a nice price point of 90 dollars), it definitely felt like a budget phone.
A couple years have passed and my phone was damaged, luckily I had already been researching all of the budget smart phones I could for some months. The Lg tribute (Lg seems to dominate the high end budget market for android phone, while samsun's non-flagships are horrendous), but the kicker is, it has very little storage.
Anyway here's the gist of it: This phone feels and looks very premium. I'm LOVING android kitkat and its very zippy. At a price tag that is as low as $120 (i used a 60 dollars off coupon as it was initially 180), you really can't beat it. I thought about getting a galaxy s3, but opted for this one.
Handset: The device is the first white phone i've had. At first i thought i wouldn't like it but its REALLY sharp looking. There's a textured plastic back that while making the phone slightly thicker, really curves nicely into the hand. There's brushed aluminum around the edges and getting thicker at the bottom. I never really jumped on the aluminum bandwagon, but its a great touch. With a 4.7 inch screen, its just at the edge of "too big". Any larger and i'd call it a phablet, so i'm very satisfied with its size. The screen takes up a large hunk of it with only a modest bezel. The home button is nice as are the volume and power buttons. The speakers are beefier than my previous ones, but like the iphone are nestled on the bottom which i dislike. I wish all phones took a page from htc and put the speakers on the front at the expense of some front real-estate.
Camera: when you go for a budget phone, there are a few things you have to accept it won't have: a high res screen, a large internal memory, and a good camera. This isn't a bad camera by any means. its 8 mp with a nice front facing camera. But you won't be mistaking this for a lumia camera or a galaxy s6. It certainly isn't bad but there's a TON of noise in low light. Take this at face value.
Screen: This is the second hit you take. Although the screen is nice (speaking of the screen, its gorilla glass, so its pretty solid) but its qHD. Not QHD (1440p). qHD is the standard for nonflagship phones. Its just how it goes. the q doesn't stand for quad, but quarter. It is 1 quarter the resolution of 1080p. unfortunately on a big screen, that makes the pixel density nonstellar. But the colors are nice, the saturation is good, and its a really solid screen.
Internal storage: The one thing that really surprises me was the storage. 8 gigs. In a day where people spend hundreds more on phones to get 64 gigs of storage, this isn't a lot. but almost EVERY other budge phone has 1.5 gigs. So i'm very very happy
Battery. So far the 3000mah battery is rocking. Because kit kat isn't too power intensive, you'll go more than a full day on a single charge.
Processor. This is as good as budget processors get. 1.2 gb quad core adreno. Its very VERy zippy and hasn't lagged on me yet
Little quirks. I love some of the features that lg brings. Like lg voice assistant. knock code (unlock your phone by tapping on the screen) and plenty of gesture controls. This thing may not have a heart beat sensor, but its hardly lacking in features.
Bottom line. This is a budget phone. it always will be. But its the king of budget phones. If you go prepaid and don't want to spend 300 dollars to get an old flagship phone or 5-600 for a new one, this is what you should get. I love virgin mobile (unlimited everything for 35 bucks a month) and this is easily their best phone for the money.
Go buy it. I'll wait
