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LG Ally Review

   

Posted by Travis Lelle at 5th July, 2010

Review

Overview
Pros: The LG Ally is certainly a stable device, and it features Android 2.1 Eclair. The slide-out QWERTY keyboard feels and works great. The device also comes with a 3.2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Stereo Bluetooth, and EV-DO Rev. A.

Cons: The photo quality isn’t all to great. The Ally lacks Verizon’s V-Cast applications
Phone
Intro
If you’re in the market for aesthetics, or if looks will play a big role in whcih device that you decide to go with, then the LG Ally may not be too appealing to you. It’s definitely not an ugly or standoffish device, but it is rather plan. If you can get past the crust of the Ally, you will definitely notice some positive features about the phone. Just some of these features include a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a high resolution capacitive touchscreen display, haptive and physical search, menu, home, back, and end call keys, and a very light form factor to it. Although the device weighs only 5 and a half ounces, it still feels like something that can remain solid for a few years of abuse, which is a great thing to say about a smartphone these days. Other than the basic, run of the mill features, though - the LG Ally still blends in with the crowd of other black bar slider devices.
 
Looks & Characteristics
Some desirable features? The LG Ally’s got plenty of them. This device may not be your next Droid, but it certainly serves it’s purpose of being a mid-line Android smartphone just as it should. The LG Ally features an ergonomic black and silver outer case, a 3.2″ tempered glass capacitive touchscreen display, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a microSD slot that can support up to 16GB of extra storage, it supports Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, has Bluetooth capabilities for bluetooth 2.1, a built-in MPS and WMA music player with library, repeat, and shuffle features, including stereo Bluetooth capabilities, and an easy-to-access one-touch speakerphone and voice commands make using the device a dream. The LG Ally may not look like anything special, but it is far from being ordinary in a game where so many devices fall short of what everyone expects. With the LG Ally, you definitely get what you expect from the device, and you may even find a little bit more of what you didn’t.
Using The Phone
Using the LG Ally, like many other Android phones, tends to be more intuitive. Android 2.1 is, of course, very impressive. The more you’re playing with it, the more you’re going to figure out on the device - I guess that is sort of obvious. You’ll notice that there are 5 home screens - all fully customizable with shortcuts to texts, email, social networking, and other applications. The Android Market enables you to access thousands of Android Applications as well. A Luminous Sensor lies on the device which is designed in order to detect light conditions and adjust the display back-light accordingly, and a proximity sensor locks the touchscreen while you’re talking on the phone to avoid accidentally hanging up on whoever is on the other line. The LG Ally features S-GPS support for turn-by-turn Google Maps directions. Lastly, the 3.2-megapixel camera might not be the best on the block, but it’s nothing that I would complain about. In fact, the camera features 5 different resolutions, zoom up to 4 times, macro mode for closeups, a panorama mode, customizable white balance, shutter sounds, color effects, and it even has a self-timer. Talk time is 7.5 hours max, and the device features 500 hours max of standby, at least that is what the manual states.
Main Highlights
If you’ve been considering purchasing the LG Ally, I would definitely say that it is worth the investment. It seems that LG aimed at creating an advanced device that everyone could afford simply by making the components great, but not top-of-the-line amazing. This device really has everything that any smartphone user would desire, although maybe it could have a higher resolution camera on-board - for those of you who don’t use the camera that often to begin with, this really doesn’t make too much of a difference anyway. Plus, having an OS like Android 2.1 featured on it can make just about any device worth trying.


Details

The LG Ally is a great device which has a solid design and a lot of desireable features for an Android Device. Running Android 2.1 Eclair, this phone does nothing less than impress. On the outside, it may seem plain, but once you get your hands on the LG Ally, you’re going to want one all to yourself. Definitely a solid Android smartphone.
Battery
OEM Model Number N/A
Bar-s2
Size 1500 mAh
Bar-s2
Standby Time 500 hours
Bar-s2
Talk Time 7.5 hours
Bar-s2
Type Li-Ion
Bar-s2
Bar-s2
Camera & Video
Resolution 3.2-Megapixel (Flash: LED; Auto focus, Macro mode, White balance, Effects, Self-timer, Panorama, Scenes)
Bar-s2
Live TV N/A
Bar-s2
Streaming Video Yes
Bar-s2
Connectivity
Bluetooth Yes
Bar-s2
USB Yes
Bar-s2
WiFi Yes
Display
Colors LCD
Bar-s2
Resolution 480 x 800 pixels
Bar-s2
Size 3.2
Bar-s2
Type TFT
Bar-s2
Memory
Built-in 102 MB
Bar-s2
Memory Card Slot Yes
Bar-s2
Memory Card Type MicroSD (TransFlash)
Bar-s2
Memory Card Max Input 16 GB
Network
Modes CDMA
Bar-s2
Frequencies 800, 1900
Bar-s2
Data Network Yes
Bar-s2
Type 1xEV-DO rev.A
Bar-s2
Size & Design
Bar-s2
Antenna Internal
Bar-s2
Weight 158 g
Bar-s2
Dimensions 116 x 56 x 16 mm
Bar-s2
Phone Style Bar Slider
Bar-s2
Basic
Bar-s2
Flight Mode Yes
Bar-s2
FM Radio Yes
Bar-s2
GPS Navigation Yes
Bar-s2
Multiple Languages Yes
Bar-s2
Push-to-Talk No
Bar-s2
Vibrate Alert Yes
Contacts
Bar-s2
Phone Book Capacity No
Bar-s2
Multiple Numbers per Name Yes
Bar-s2
Picture ID Yes
Bar-s2
Ringer ID Yes
Bar-s2
Voice Dialing Yes
Bar-s2
Messaging
Bar-s2
Instant Messaging Yes
Bar-s2
Picture Messaging Yes
Bar-s2
Predictive Text Entry Yes
Bar-s2
Text Messaging Yes
Bar-s2
Text Message Templates No
Bar-s2
Organizer
Bar-s2
Alarm Yes
Bar-s2
Calculator Yes
Bar-s2
Calendar Yes
Bar-s2
Voice Memo Yes

If there is a discrepancy in the specifications shown here, please let us know at specs@cellphonetrek.com.

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The LG Ally is a great device which has a solid design and a lot of desireable features for an Android Device. Running Android 2.1 Eclair, this phone does nothing less than impress. On the outside, it may seem plain, but once you get your hands on the LG Ally, you’re going to want one all to yourself. Definitely a solid Android smartphone.

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