LG Venus Cell Phone Review - Software
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Mark Brezinski Published on December 05, 2007 Comment on this |
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OS (3.0)
Despite looking a bit better, and having slightly different controls, the Venus runs a very typical BREW interface. The only real difference other than aesthetics is that D-pad navigation is far, far slower. Even the keypad shortcuts seem to encounter considerably more lag than on devices like the Chocolate Vx8550. The upswing is the touch screen interface, which we really liked. It made navigation a bit simpler, as it essentially provides four soft keys. This makes menus less cluttered than usual. In fact, given how nice it was to have a mini control panel of options, we were surprised it often went underutilized.
We only award up to five points for proprietary operating systems, as those found on smart phones are almost always more powerful. The Venus certainly doesn't do much to rock the boat in that regard.
Home Screen Score (6.0)
Extensibility (1.0)
As with other BREW phones, there are tons and tons of shortcuts for "Get New App". This doensn't mean the phone is extensible, however, as there are about six different apps available. No one makes BREW programs because very few people use BREW phones and those that are out there are locked down tight.
Customizability (6.0)
The Venus offers the standard BREW selection of phone customizations. The wallpaper can be changed to a picture or video. LG Chocolate offers a fairly standard array of customizing options. As mentioned above, you can change the wallpaper to either a picture, video, or built-in animation. You can't change the home screen's button array, but you can edit which buttons go in the shortcut menu.
You can change the feedback sound of the touch keypad, as well as the vibration type and level. There's also an option to show or hide the secondary screen's talk/end button. This is nice, as we felt they were redundant.
OS Responsivness (2.0)
If you've read any of the review so far, you saw this score coming. It's not as slow as, say, the average Windows Mobile device, but that by no means makes it fast, or even of average responsiveness. Probably the most frustrating area to navigate is through the videos album. While videos are loading, it's really blind luck whether or not a button press will do anything.
Browser Features (6.0)
The Venus performs just as we’d expect a BREW device to. HTML and WAP pages both receive support. The Venus can also handle encryption and and cookies. You won’t be able to view Java, Javascript, or Flash on pages, and RSS feeds have also been overlooked.
Browsing Interface (3.5)
Browser Access (4.0)
Normally our timing tests are based on time. We use time because it can indicate either an overly complicated process, or excessive lag. In the case of browser access, there are too many variables in order to get a reliable timing result. Browser access speed can be affected by something as simple as weather or geographic location. We therefore count the number of steps it takes to get the site up and running.
The first thing you need to do is open the phone. Then you can tap the Shortcut button, followed by News and Info to get the browser up. Now you'll have to access the menu and hit 4, which selects the Go to URL option. Tap down, then OK to get into the address bar. Then you type out the address (which we count as a single step; no telling how many characters you'd need to enter) and hit select two more times. This is ten steps, which is a lot. While not overly complicated, it is a bit cumbersome to have to jump through so many hoops just to get to a web site.
| Cell Phone | Steps | Score |
| LG Venus | 10 | 4.00 |
| LG Chocolate Vx8550 | 12 | 3.33 |
| Apple iPhone | 4 | 10.00 |
| HTC Touch | 7 | 5.71 |
| Razr2 V9m | 9 | 4.44 |
| Samsung Juke | N/A | 0.0 |
Gaming (2.5)
Calculator (6.0)
Alarm (4.0)
Document Software (0.0)
The Venus can’t create Word documents, spreadsheets, PDF files, or presentations. In fact, it doesn’t even want to look at them. We would’ve liked to see the ability to at least view files, but the Venus wouldn’t have any of it.
Other Software (0.0)
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