Meet Verizon's enV3 and the enV Touch (Voyager 2) May 21, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Cell Phones , trackback
Over the weekend, some leaked pix and info came out on 2 updates to some pretty popular Verizon LG phones– the enV2 and Voyager. These new upgrades are the appropriately-called enV3 and the more surprisingly named enV Touch (apparently the Voyager 2 is a name trademarked by someone else so Verizon and LG had to pick a new one). Anyways, both phones look to include some nice improvements to their older predecessors, so if your looking to upgrade soon, or just wanna see what’s new, read on!
We’ll start with the enV3- it’s gained the most new feature between the two.
LG enV3 (Pic from Boy Genius Report.com)
enV3
Perhaps the most significant gains are in the screen sizes. While just a couple tenths of an inch on each, the outside and inside screens have received more generous dimensions, a particularly nice change for the outside one: anyone that has seen the EnV2 can attest, the screen there is tiny- all you can do is check recent calls, dial new ones, or view text. Texting, however, still proves quite difficult on the tiny keyboard, after my experience on some of my friend’s models, though it might come easier with time. Here are some other specs:
- 2.6 inch inside screen and 1.5 inch outside screen– As we said above, this is a little bigger than the older EnV2, though again it definitely is nice. Oh, and as you can see from the pic, the outside screen gets an updated interface that looks like the front screen on the LG Chocolate 3
- Same thickness as the EnV2– Just because the screens got a lil bigger doesn’t mean the whole phone gotta get bigger right?
- Verizon 3G with all the standard V Cast services– You know, like V Cast Music with Rhapsody, V Cast Video, Visual Voicemail….
- 3 meagpixel camera with Flash and Video Recording
- microSD card slot with ability to add up to 16 GB of memory
- Stereo speakers– Nice upgrade, will make music listening much better.
- Updated internal keyboard inside and control wheel on front– These are both really minor changes, moving the space bar to the keyboard’s center rather than side, the creation of a text message button to take you straight to your text messages, and a new control wheel on the front screen (whether this is a scroll wheel like the Chocolate’s is left to be seen).
This has been confirmed by Verizon, and you can expect it to drop May 29th for a very nice $129.99 with 2 year contract and $50 mail in rebate, and will be available in either blue or red (as you see in the pic above).
LG enV Touch (Pic from Phone Arena.com)
enV Touch
This is otherwise known as the Voyager 2, and seems to bring the Voyager up to 2009 standards, though, sadly, not much past that (thus disproving rumors of a slide out, multi touch upgrade we mentioned in our upcoming Verizon phones post). Here the specs:
- 3 inch inside screen and 3 inch outside touchscreen– This is exactly like the Voyager, though like the enV3, gets a little bigger screen as well (2.81 inch screen on the old Voyager to 3 inches here). Both screens are also said to have better resolutions, which should make the screens much nicer and crisper, particularly for doing things like watch videos, checking the web (with a real web browser), and viewing pix.
- Full QWERTY keyboard when you flip open the phone
- Verizon 3G– With V Cast services like V Cast Music with Rhapsody, V Cast Video, VZ Navigator, Visual Voicemail…..
- Stereo Speakers– Good for music playing
- microSD card slot– We’re not yet sure how much this goes up to.
- 3.2 megapixel camera with video camera, auto-focus, and flash– This updated camera also has a Schneider-Kreuznach lens, which is found in Kodak digital cameras. Nice little upgrade for sure, and should provide some much better pix
- Updated keyboard layout– Like the enV3, most notable for the placement of the Space bar in the middle of the keyboard, and dedicated keys for things like text messaging, favorites, etc.
However, there is some bad news out there for those of you who like V Cast Mobile TV : Verizon has dropped that in this update (perhaps dropping the service entirely?).
We’re happy people though, so we’ll end this on a relative happy note: the enV Touch is said to be coming a week after the enV3, on June 5 for $219.99 with a 2 year contract and a $70 mail in rebate.
This by the way making for an even crazier first week of June, what with a possible new iPhone on the 8th at Apple’s WWDC conference, the launch of the Palm Pre– release date and price just announced– see here, and the E3 video game conference on the first couple of days– see here for those rumors. Don’t worry, everything big that comes out during those few days you can bet you’ll find right here.
Anyways there you have it, some more awesome messaging phones coming in the near future to Verizon. What you think, one of these or the Alias 2? Let us know in the comments.
Comments»
Can you text on the outside screen of the enV Touch?
yes. you can im pretty sure, because it is a little like the voyager. but its an env so of course a little different
ok first of all…who would pick the EnV3 ova the enVtouch?? I am so confused on which phone to buy. I like the env3 cuz it’s cool and faster but the enV2 is a little bigger?? I like the size of the 2 but the 3 is soooooooo much better. Which one should I choose-the env2 or the env3??
Im getting the env3 in slate blue for my birthday =]
Molly, the 3 is bigger (than the 2) I think and touch screens are terrible so EnV3.
id rather get the enV 3 cause touch screens get messed up easily i have the enV 2 and im getting the enV 3 next month in blue
i hope the enV 3 is made better than the enV 2….None of my buttons work on the front of my enV2…. Hope all the bugs are worked out for the enV 3 b/c i want one!!!!
The Env touch front screen looks almost the exact same as the at&t Lg Vu that i have. Looks like a copy look for yourself.
On the front of the enV touch i know you cant tect veritical, but can you also text horzonital, with a full QWERTY keyboard?
ignore those other phone. the env3 is awesome xD
no. you cant text horzontial with a full keyboard. my friend has the enV touch and you can only text horzontial with the keyboard…but i’ve had a touch screen before and they really stink!!
you can text horiantially.
im worried about the size of the env touch. but touch creen with a qwerty keyboard is awsome! just for another 20 bucks too. idk though! on the touch u can text horzontaly soo two qwerty keyboards haha! i think i might go with the touch?
yeah, you should. im getting the en-v touch in july and it looks pretty good! im going to verizon wireless tomorrow to find out more about it
im gettin the enV 3 but if you order online you have to wait 3-72 hours to txt and call people
Both phones are great. If you want the best pics, and can afford the extra $70, then get the Touch. Touch screen typing worked much better for me than the DARE and other touch screen phones.
I ended up going with the Ev3 because of the extra money, and because the Touch is too big. And I am usually fine with using the T9 iTap to send TXT messages. Do it with one hand easily without too much trouble on the Env3.
But, is the env touch’s qwerty keyboard Bigger than the Env3’s ? Because i have big hands, and the touch is only 20 bucks more than the env3, ? Or are the qwerty keybords the same size ??
My cousin has the enV Touch and the inside speakers are very very low! She has three speakrs on her phone (one on the outside, and two on the inside) and when on high sounds like its on super low. i have one speaker on my LG DARE and its louder than hers when hers in on the highest possible volume. Anyoine out there that has the enV touch please comment back because i want to know if I should tell my cousin to go back to verizon to get a new one. Thanks!
I went from the EnV2 to the enV Touch and there is a very significant difference in volume. enV2 was awesome for sound, even when closed. EnV Touch, you can hardly hear. Even the alerts (single and triple beeps, etc) are low volume. I’m thinking about returning it for an enV3 – but does anyone know how the enV3 speakers compare to the enV2?? Thanks!
I’ve also heard same volume complaints from 2 other enV Touch users… missing calls because they didn’t hear it, etc.
im gettin the enV touch tomorrow. i went to verizon today and played around with it for a while. its overall a good phone. good sound. takes great pictures. you can text 3 different ways….with t9 when its vertical and horizontal with qwerty…and then you can flip it up and text on the qwerty keyboard. i would recommend it to anyone.
you should probably get enV3 because i hear the enV2 has many problems. Like it randomly shutting off, front keys not working, and front small screen cracking, thus making it impossible to text on front screen. And the enV3 has a much bigger screen in front than the enV2.
Hope that helps!
Hey peeps im getting the env3 in eight days for my tenth b-day. My cousin has it, and i was playing with it, and it was awesome… you should get it if you don’t have it….
Heyy
I saw the LG env3 in person. My friends have it and they say it’s awesome. So i recommend you have it because the speakers are loud, there’s txting, and all kinds of mail like AOL, Yahoo!, and Aim. And my dad looked on the internet and told me it was overrated, (which means many ppl like it.) So whatever you do, GET IT! I’m serious! And, I heard it’s only $129.99! So cool, right??
Sincerely, Hannah
Okay… I want a touchscreen, but I want a phone that works good. and one that doesn’t break easily. So should I get the EnV 3, or the EnV touch? i want the touch for the touchscreen but i don’t want a phone that I can not hear from… but I want a touchscreen. I also want the EnV 3 because it is cool. i guess. i heard some good things about it. But my friend texts in T9 Word or something… and she doesn’t know how to set it. because whenever she tries to texts, it is always in ABC. So I don’t want to have to change it every time I send a new message. I want a good phone. and if it breaks RIGHT away, then I don’t want that phone. please help me! =’/
Could you people please write me back?!?!?!?!
I am wanting a phone sooo bad. I have to pay for the phone and the bill. I am like the ONLY one in my grade who does not have phone. It is sooo aggrevating! SO PLEASE WRITE ME BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOT EVEN KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I Asked For This Phone 4 X-Mas And I Really Want It Badd I ? Tew Text/. Bt I Gotta Get A Good Grade In Math Lol—
I really want a phone but im not sure if I should the en v 3 or the en v touch.
my friend had it and said that it was the best cell phone that she ever had, so that made me switch networks and buy it. It is the best phone EVER!!!!