LG-Cosmos-2

These days, we rarely talk about anything other than smartphones. It’s either 3D smartphones or dual core smartphones that’s always abuzz. However, let’s not forget that there are still basic phones in the market that are way better than what they used to be. For instance, we have the LG Cosmos 2 that comes with a full QWERTY keyboard for all you SMS lovers.

Design
Measuring 4.41 x 2.06 x 0.63 inches, the LG Cosmos 2 is almost the same size as the LG Cosmos that was released last year. Well, it is an update to that phone anyways, so that was rather expected. The change was on the battery door which is now textured making it the phone stick firmly to your hand rather than slip away as the LG Cosmos used to.  This phone was definitely made with texting and making phone calls in mind as the numeric buttons are a tiny bit larger thus making it easier to dial numbers.  However, it was rather disappointing that LG stuck with the same 2 inch TFT display that came with the LG Cosmos. The screen comes with a resolution of 240 x 320 with 2662K color support. As we mentioned previously, with the full QWERTY keyboard onboard, it’s definitely meant to make you want to text more. The added fact that the buttons are larger than what they used to be, you are sure to get hooked to texting if you aren’t already. The keyboard also gives a good response when clicked.  Instead of the 2.5mm audio jack on the LG Cosmos, LG has made the smart move by providing the 3.5mm standard audio jack on this phone. One design flaw or more of an annoyance is the fact that you have to remove the back cover to get to your microSDHC memory card slot.

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Features
With the LG Cosmos 2, there’s no talk about dual core processors or anything like that since it’s a basic phone. So, we’ll look at the internal memory which has been significantly increased to a total of 90MB now. Also, with this phone, you can install a microSHDC memory card of up to 32GB in size.

There are some things that can be customized with the LG Cosmos 2 like the three themes white, surrealism and bookshelf that you can choose from or changing the main menu from list to grid form. You can also change the grid icons’ layout and location. However, the layout of the main menu is still pretty much the same as LG Cosmos. Sliding open the keyboard brings you to a menu that allows you to move quickly to messaging, favorite contacts or social networking. The Facebook link allows you to send SMS updates to be posted on your wall plus receiving texts when someone comments on one of your posts. Sadly, for everything else on Facebook, you have to rely on the Mobile Web 2.0 browser. A new feature on this phone is the Apps menu that has a new look.  Although it looks great to the eye, there are some lag issues that need sorting. The fact that the LG Cosmos 2 uses 1x data connection make web pages load very slowly thus making it not so suited for heavy internet users. The Microsoft Bing search app that comes installed with the phone helps you perform all your searches on the Web from the Web, Maps to local directions and movie listings.

Even though the LG Cosmos 2 falls under the basic phone category, it still comes with a 1.3MP fixed focus camera. However, it came as a surprise that the images captured on this phone was not as good as the ones we were able to take on the LG Cosmos. This is due to the lack of color and detail in the pictures that were taken. In low light scenarios, we weren’t expecting much to begin with since there is no flash. This resulted in blurry and fuzzy images. The fact that there is no video recording is still a major downer for this phone.

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As mentioned earlier, the LG Cosmos 2 comes with a 2 inch TFT screen which is the same as its predecessor, which was rather sad. It has a resolution of 240 x 320 with 260K color support. In all, it wasn’t a bad screen at all as the images on the phone were nice and clear. Besides, the colors appeared rich too.

LG Cosmos 2 with its slide out full QWERTY keyboard is definitely going to be a hit with hard core texting fans. It not only gives you the QWERTY keyboard to text with, for short texts, you can even use the T9 predictive word entry with the numeric keypad on the front.  This phone also gives support for threaded messaging and each message is displayed as quote bubbles on the screen although it is a rather simple design. With a QWERTY keyboard, it was nice to have the Mobile Email option allowing you to send and receive emails through POP or IMAP. With the LG Cosmos 2, you can also chat away with your friends easily with the Mobile IM which connects to all the major messengers.

A basic phone like LG Cosmos 2 is expected to have good signal reception as that’s needed to perform the basic functions like texting and calling. Well suffice to say, it didn’t disappoint.  Call quality was a bit better than in LG Cosmos as voices sound fuller and more natural although the speakerphone does get distorted when used at high volume. Although it came as a surprise that this phone came with a smaller 900mAh battery than the 950mAh battery previously, it was still able to get us around 6 hours of continuous talk time.

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Pros and Cons
The LG Cosmos 2 is a basic phone with a QWERTY keyboard, so that was definitely a plus. The call quality and improved signal reception was a bonus too. It was also really easy to use.

The 1.3MP camera was really nothing impressive plus there is no video recording. A data connection of 1x is definitely not suitable with the technology around us these days.

Conclusion
As we were saying in some parts of this review, the LG Cosmos 2 hasn’t had a revolutionary upgrade from the predecessor LG Cosmos. Nevertheless, there are small tweaks here and there that are to our liking. This is a basic phone with a lot to be liked if you are into texting.

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