LG Dare Cell Phone Review - Conclusion

Conclusion
The LG Dare is one of a plethora of touch screen devices that Verizon has rolled out over the past year, and in our opinion it's the best of the bunch. Let's start with the most obvious feature, the touch screen interface. We found the Dare's touch screen to be reasonably responsive, not quite as good as the iPhone but just a step below. The interface was well thought out for the touch screen and is easy to get around. The Dare also has upped the ante compared to other Verizon phones by having much better multimedia software, particulary the music software was very fast to load. Throw in the support for GPS and a very capable 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera and it looks like Verizon has a very nice device on their hands. That's not to say that the Dare is perfect, we found that the web browser was a bit difficult to use and the virtual QWERTY keyboard was just frustrating.

The Dare will go up head to head with the iPhone 3G, in fact it comes in at the exact same price point with a two-year contract. Although it lags behind the iPhone in terms of extensibility, there's no support for third party applications, built in storage and web browsing, it does have a better camera and will give Verizon users a compelling alternative to jumping ship for the iPhone, which we believe is Verizon's goal.

Who's It For

Business User
Business users will feel the limited functionality of the PIM apps and the lack of a built in email client. You're better off going with a smart phone like the BlackBerry curve than the Dare.

Budget Callers
$200 with a contract is a bit beyond most budget caller's, well, budget.

Chatty Teenager
Chatty teenagers will like a lot about the Dare, but the price is probably a bit more than Mom and/or Dad want to pay.

Media Maven
The Dare is probably the best phone in Verizon's lineup today for serious media mavens. The solid music and video software combined with support for high capacity Micro SD cards and a very capable camera should make Media Mavens swoon for this phone.

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