Announced at the CTIA Wireless Association in 2010, LG Cosmos VN250 belongs to the family of Verizon Wireless basic phones, lacking some special functions like an integrated music player, a camera with a higher resolution. The LG Cosmos VN 250 may be thought as a new, differentiated identity of the LG Rumor 2, but with some aesthetic and software alterations. And besides, it shows a close resemblance to the Samsung Intensity U450 as well.
The Cosmos with some basic messaging features, side-sliding QWERTY keyboard, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and quick updates to popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter, as well as a very affordable price of $29.99 (including two-year service agreement and a $50 mail-in rebate), refers to budget messaging phones for average consumers, looking for something basic. A retail packaging consists of the LG Cosmos VN250 phone, User Guide, 950 mAh battery and a battery charger with removable micro USB cable.
Design:
Really LG Cosmos resembles the LG Rumor 2. From the front both devices look like candy bar phones, save for a four-row QWERTY keyboard, sliding out from the right. Unlike Rumor 2, which is available in several colors, the LG Cosmos is enclosed in sleek and glossy black plastic. The LG Cosmos with its ergonomic design feels solid and sturdy in hand in contrast, for example, to the Samsung Intensity and Motorola Rival, having lower-rate constructions. On the other hand, the LG Cosmos VN250 is a bit larger, that is not as pocketable as the LG enV3, Motorola Rival or Samsung Intensity. Take note that the cover of the Cosmos battery compartment slides smoothly and does not bursts open with a short sharp sound as it is in the Samsung Intensity.
The display of the LG Cosmos matches the Rumor 2’ one. It is rather unpretentious: 2.0-inch with 240x320-pixel resolution supported with 262 colors. The display of the Samsung Intensity is just slightly larger, but the LG Cosmos, having higher resolution, gives more organic, colorful and sharp images, with less pixelation. Below there is a navigation array, including two soft keys, left and right, a toggle with the OK/Directional button in the middle, a dedicated speakerphone key, a Clear/Voice commands key, Send and Power/End key, as well as an alphanumeric keypad, which is a bit small to dial numbers, but, in fact, it works well and with the keys textured it is easy to dial by feel. All the elements of the array have a white backlight and nicely respond to pushing.
The numeric keypad may be used for texting, but no doubt the QWERTY keyboard is more preferable as it is specifically designed for comfortable and easy typesetting. On the side surfaces of the device there are volume keys and a camera key on the left; a 2.5mm headset jack and a microSD slot for microSDHC cards sizing up to 16GB on the right, as well as a charger port on the bottom side.
So, there is a slide-out QWERTY keyboard which is exposed on the right, when the front of the phone slides to the left. Pleased to note, that the sliding system of the QWERTY keyboard is robust and slides effortlessly with no feeling of being loosely fitted. Alongside the display two additional left and right soft keys are located.
The front of the phone slides to the left and the 4 rows of the familiar QWERTY are exposed on the right. Nicely backlit with the white, the keyboard has just the same layout as a computer one. The upper row is for numbers, to the right there are arrow keys (up, down, left and right). The keyboard seems spacious enough with each key set apart from the others without being constrained, which is a feeling with the Samsung Intensity keyboard. The Cosmos flip featured keyboard is really good, functionally styled and handy in use. In comparison with the keyboards of the Motorola Rival and the Samsung Intensity, we may consider it in general as more serviceable.
Software and Features:
As for the LG Cosmos VN250 phone book capacity, it is limited to 1000 contacts, with each one storing 5 phone numbers, 2 e-mail address, 1 physical address, 1 Instant Messaging (IM) screen name, 1 related picture ID (for pictures stored in the phone), 1 related ringtone (stored in the phone), 1 group association. So the phonebook is quite common for Verizon phones. Any saved contact may be added to your favorites list for fast viewing, calling, and messaging, or selected for a speed-dial function.
The LG Cosmos VN 250 main menu, designed in traditional Verizon style, contains such options as contacts, messaging, settings and tools, and media center. The display theme package resembles the other Verizon devices’ one: white, black and aqua with the possibility to choose the color arrangement. In contrast to other Verizon devices, the LG Cosmos is freshly featured with a Quick Menu. When you open the slide, the Quick Menu appears on the display to provide you with quick access to Messaging, Favorite contacts and Social Networks. If you are a social networking admirer, you will be pleased about the Cosmos’ built-in quick access to fashionable social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Testing on Facebook has shown that the phone can be used for posting the Facebook status updates via SMS and receiving
SMS messages with someone’s comments to your phone. But for using extra features you should apply to the Mobile Web 2.0 browser services in order to get access to the mobile Facebook site.
Fortunately, the LG Cosmos possesses the messaging features found on the Rumor 2. A text or picture message can be sent both with the help of T9 entry from the numeric keypad on the front and by using the QWERTY keyboard. It groups messages from the same person together that is provides threaded messaging and displays text messages from both sides on the screen, which is quite simple in design but rather convenient for users. It is also supported by Verizon Mobile Email which allows you to send and receive e-mail directly from the phone. You can get your e-mail over the Web interface. It has mobile IM for connecting with people in your AOL IM, Yahoo IM, and Windows Live Messenger.
A slight disappointment with the LG Cosmos VN250 is a 1.3-megapixel camera, which does not record video, but we should admit it takes rather decent pictures for a low-pixel camera. It takes pictures in three resolutions: 1,280x960 pixels, 640x480 pixels, 320x240 pixels On the whole shots taken outdoor and in a well-lit indoor rooms look colorful and sharp enough, much better than the Samsung Intensity and Motorola Rival’s pictures. Photos in rooms with poor lighting are not very qualitative, low resolution gives poor images. .
The most unexpected thing about the LG Cosmos is that it does not have a music player. A music player is included in the Samsung Intensity as well as in the Rumor 2, but not in the Cosmos VN 250. May be it is meant for people who are not interested in such features, or possibly it is connected with a cost decrease. But why does the Samsung Intensity, launched a year ago with the same current price, have a music player? Moreover, the LG Cosmos supports 16GB micro SDHC memory cards. It is a surprise! One can only hope that in time a music player will be incorporated in the LG Cosmos. For the time being there is a way out of the situation. Locate your MP3 files in My Sounds or in My Ringtone folder of the memory card. In the media center menu select Tunes & Tones. MP3 files may be played from there, though the content is in numeric and alphabetical order, and the only alternative is one song playing at a time.
The internal memory of the LG Cosmos VN250 is only 19MB, which does not let install a lot of applications, as with the Bing search and VZ Navigator downloaded and installed the accessible memory is reduced by 3.3 MB. For comparison, the Motorola Rival A455 has 178 MB and the Samsung Intensity U450 – 34 MB.
Some of the basic features, like in the Samsung Intensity U450, comprise an alarm clock, a world clock, a vibrate mode, an appointment calendar for saving reminders, Mobile Web 2.0 browser. There is also a VZ Navigator - GPS navigation software for Verizon Wireless, as well as the potential to download games and ringtones. But it lacks support for VCast Video services and VCast Music downloads as the data transfer is slow, because the Cosmos VN250 supports only the 1x network and not the faster EVDO network. As for searching technology, the Microsoft Bing search, as a novelty, is added in the Cosmos, which allows looking for anything on the Web, Business Directory, and Verizon Wireless Media.
Performance:
The LG Cosmos has a 950 mAh battery. A rated battery life is 6 hours talk and 24 days of standby time, if the battery is full charged.
On the whole calling function and signal reception of the Cosmos is quite good. The call quality is about average for Verizon devices, almost equal to LG enV3 and distinctly better than the Motorola Rival and Samsung Intensity. Callers sound loud and clear in both receiving and transmitting directions. There is no distortion and background noise, not even a hint for delay in conversation. Even in noisy conditions the conversation is rather good.
Conclusion:
We may consider the LG Cosmos VN250 as a good picture, text and voice phone withstanding the everyday use and occasional drops. If you do not care of such downfall as lack of a music player, this phone with the Quarter VGA display associated with the slide open QWERTY keyboard can be recommended to you as an excellent budget option which is tough, durable, and easy to use. It is perhaps better if compared with the Samsung Intensity U450 or Motorola Rival A455.
Pros
The overall arrangement is reliable and comfortable
The QWERTY keyboard layout is convenient and easy
Good and clear sound quality
SMS updates in Social Networks
Cons
Small internal memory capacity
Lack of a music player
No camera flash
