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174 out of 180 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Can't decide between LG 8100 and E815...Let me offer my advice."
Pros: Reception/clarity/sound/camera /speakerphone/overall performance
Cons: Vibration/Earpiece a little bassy/Build?
Summary: I had the LG 8100 for 3 days and cashed it in for the Moto 815...'twas the right choice. All I can really say is not-so-great about the 815 is the vibration is so-so (not as bad as some make it seem...still okay), the earpiece is louder than the LG but could use some more high end treble, and I am not sure about the build...the LG felt really solid and tight...the moto feels pretty good but I will have to be a little extra cautious. Other than that the Moto out performs the LG for what a phone is supposed to do. Like get a good signal. My LG 8100 hovered between 0 bars and 2 (a common critique in 8100 reviews)...anything above that was wishful thinking. THe Moto is a constant and solid 4 with a few short dips into 3 ever now and then. The moto's menu setup gets a bad rap...i think it is just fine. If you can't figure it out within the first few times of using it then you need an extremely basic phone. I didn't get the 815 first because I didn't think the volume would fit my preferences but after having it for only a day I feel much better...not the loudest but still loud enough for sure. The speakerphone is much impressive. My girlfriend says she can't tell the difference between me talking to her the traditional way and when on speakerphone. Thats pretty cool. The camera kicks butt both outside and inside, high light and low light, and at night. The flash is much better than LG's 8100. The videos are pretty solid too. All around I think the camera is leagues better than the LG 8100. V-cast is solid...LG8100 might have been just a hair faster, but the 815 is still just fine (no probs with over-buffering or anything like that). The battery life of the moto 815 is just stellar (a selling point for me). I don't have to worry if I don't get to my charger for 2 or 3 days. Many people knock the charging port of Motorolas and say the LG's are so much better. I just don't get it...as long as you plug it in and it gets juice what is the difference?
The overall performance of the 815 is just consistantly great. Mainly, the signal strength, and clarity, you know, what a phone is supposed to do, is all around what sold me on it.
The LG had a lot about it that I liked. The liked its menu setup better. It was loud as heck (but sometimes not as clear) and had an awesome vibrate. The outside LCD was much better than the Moto 815's, but it was also so smallt that I really didn't pay a whole lot of attention to what was on it anyways. Some of the customize features were nice too. Like being able to make videos wallpapers, so whenever I opened up my phone it would play a short clip of my girlfriend blowing me a kiss. But I don't miss it too much because all it really did was just drain my battery faster. Also you could put different pics and vids on both LCDs...the Moto 815 can't put vids as wallpapers and whatever is on the inside is on the outside. Navigating through the LG was a little faster than the moto. The build on it was tight and felt like it could take a good amount of abuse. But other than that it just annoyed me too much.
The earpiece volume was not loud enough for my tastes, but on top of that it drove me nuts on how it was an audible rollercoaster (also commonly found by other reviewers). People on the line would go from a roughly comfortable volume, to near inaudible, to mid range, back down to near inaudible, back up, and so on. The fluctuating sound was pretty much the deal-breaker for me. My signal would brake up. It dropped a good 40% of my calls that were already staticy and muffled. The phone locked 3 times in 3 days. The battery life (another deal-breaker and a common critique by others) made me gag. Had to charge it 4 times in 3 days and I wasn't really using it a whole lot. It made me wonder why they even put a battery in it at all. As great as the camera was outdoors, inside it was painfully terrible. The slightest loss of light or odd angle produced pictures riddled with grain and blur. That made night mode virtually useless, and the flash as well. The speakerphone was nice and loud...BUT..useless. The party on the otherline would continually complain of background noise and distortions (as there were distortions on the speaker too).
In the end it came down to a choice of whether I wanted the best light show, gizmos, and inside entertainment goodies...or a phone that serves the purpose of why you go and by a cell phone in the first place...making and receiving clear calls reliably. The Moto 815 wins hands down. Thanks Motorola.
- 13 replies to this review
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Thanks for the post. I have been looking at both, and have been tempted for the Motorola... the posts on here haven't necessarily helped the cause, since both sides seem to state that the firmware updates have solved the issues. Even if that IS the case, I still have a major issue with Moto's charging port, and a firmware upgrade won't help that!
I have owned a couple Moto's in the past years, and overall have loved the phones. Through my experience though, and the experience of MANY friends, will not by a Moto unless it has a different charging plug. (Thankfully, the Razr does, but I won't buy that phone for other reasons) It works great for a while... say, six months. Then the charging plug starts to get a little touchy. It won't always get a good connection when you plug it in, and you have to start futzing with the plug to get it to charge. Over the next month or so it gets worse, until you find yourself spending 10 minutes getting the phone in the right position so it will hopefully take a charge. You try other chargers, but the internal connectors on the phone just don't make contact like they did when the phone was new, so the phone doesn't get charged, you miss phone calls, and get really frustrated over time.
Anyway.. just wanted to give you some insight and a little background on the plug issue that you mentioned. I hope it doesn't happen to your phone, though! -
It has to be personal taste, because I don't like the E815. And as far as the camera being great, you must didn't work the settings on the LG right. Even CNet has the LG phones rated higher. The camera quality is a lot better. The flash on the E815 is good only if you are close up. I have this as an insurance replacement to my LG7100, and there is no comparison in picture quality...actually there is, a bad one. You can see too many pixels in this phone. Screen resolution isn't that great, especially when you set pics as wallpaper. The speakerphone is shotty. You can hear them, but they can't hear you. The phone is constantly jumping in and out of EV-DO mode, and most of the time mine just says EV. And I live in Tallahassee.
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I had an LG for 2yrs. Basically it was worthless. Finally, when my contract expired, I moved up to the 815. I bought the 815 for the camera and bluetooth. Like eveone else, the camera works quite well. The bluetooth works great with my earpiece. But I do have one complaint. The bluetooth OPP needed to sync my pda is missing from the innards of the 815. Apparently verizon decided to disable this feature in the bluetooth structure. I bought the phone so that it would talk to my PDA. It didn't and I am told, won't... I figured the phone had bluetooth, my PDA had bluetooth, a perfect match-not. My first instinct was to gently uh, mmm, present it back to verizon the next day. But the feel of the phone combined with the working toys made me keep the phone. I still have 14 days to decide if I need to buy a different phone that will actually talk to my PDA. You can get a one gig mini SD for it which will allow you to do the MP3 and photo thing without using email to get your photos out of the phone. A basic 126 or 256 chip would have been nice if it came with the phone.
So in summary, I like the phone. But the one glaring bad thing is the bluetooth OPP being turned off. It has enough good things to outweigh that one bad thing. -
you will need to get your firmware upgraded, go to your local verizon store not the ones in the mall and go to technical support and tell them you want to update your firmware. It works like charm.
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12-26-05
I was due for my 2 year upgrade on my phone. I had an LG6000 and was happy with it. I didn't like to reception or the tone on the phone.
I was considering upgrade it to the LG8100 until I read your review.I can say I'm very happy I took your advice. It cost me $50.00 since the E815 is $50.00 more than than th LG8100 but it was work every penny.
This phone is so much easier to use, and program I was totally amazed It almost programs itself.. I just had my phone book flashed over and bingo I was off and going.
Now my calls aren't all cracky and diffuclt to hear.
The Speakerphone is awesome, didn't have that on my LG6000..
This phone is durable, feels good in the hand. Easy display to read and it does what a phone is suppose to do make and receive calls without dropping out.
Thank you for your spot on advice you saved me from a huge mistake. -
Since April I have been through one LG VX6100 and three LG VX7000 all with the same problem....reception. Both phones had many nice features, but very poor reception. Convinced Verizon today to made a change. It was a fight but I ended up with the Moto E815. Amazing...reception problems are gone!
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Thanks. I also could not decide between the two phones.
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It's cool to read all the differing opinions and preferences of cell-phone users. The most important feature to me is a loud, clear speakerphone (for both of the parties on the call). The most logical place to use the speakerphone is hands-free driving. I make 90% of my calls driving down the highway. I want a speakerphone that's loud & clear enough to be heard clearly over road noise at 70 mph. If I have to put in my earbud, or use a bluetooth earpiece, to hear clearly, then what's the point of the speakerphone feature. I'm not going to use it at home (I'll use my land line and avoid using cell minutes), and I don't use it if I'm out of the car, 'cause now my hands are available to hold the phone to my ear. And the speakerphone must transmit my voice clearly to my listener, with no feedback or background noise. That's the promise of a good speakerphone, which both the LG 8100 and the Moto 815 are supposed to posess; Verizon said those two models had the best speakerphones available.
Well I'm here to tell you they both stink, the whole thing's just a tease for technology that just doesn't exist yet. I tried both phones from my car at highway speeds. Even at full volume, I can barely hear everything being said. Plus, at full volume the LG starts distorting and rattling. And my listeners constantly complain of feedback and background noise. My wife says the Moto is a tiny bit better in the background noise department, just a tiny bit, but essentially they're both inadequate. All the Verizon salepeople say, "Use the Bluetooth (sounds equally crappy and keeps handing off the signal back to the phone, even when it's only 3 feet away), or, "Get one of those bulky speakerphone amplifiers that plug into the lighter socket". Sure, but then we're back to spending extra money on extra attachments and asking, why offer a speakerphone in the first place, it's just a tease. Any comments or suggestions? -
High end audio transmission sounds like you are talking through a pillow. Easy test, have several of your friends call your answering machine & leave a mes.(assuming they are not using an LG8100) then call it with the LG8100 & listen to how muffled it sounds compared to others. The sibilant part of your voice will be weak or absent. If you like being mis-understood or enjoy repeating most of what you say then you will like this LG model. Strange, several other less expensive LG models didn't display this problem (transmitting via digital also) If LG spent a few more pennies on the mic portion of this phone, it would be a winner! Duh!!
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Almost all of those problems have been fixed thanks to the new upgrade.
I have both phones in my posession right now as well, and I'm pretty sure I'm keeping the 8100.
If it wasn't for the update, although, I wouldn't be. -
Had this phone for 15 days Love it all works very good, the sp/phone need to be louder,,,,,
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Thank you! I have been trying to decide between the LG 8100 and the Motorola E815 and your opinion has made my decision definate, I will get the E815! Thank you!!!
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Funny thing is that I just did the opposite.
I traded my Moto 815E in for the LG 8100. The 815 had problems from the start. Very hard to add contacts into the address book. I had to close the phone and reopen it every time I wanted to add a new entry. What's up with that!!! The voice command did not work at all. It keep asking the same questions over and over and then just stopped working! I never did get it to work period. I have another Motorola (V265) phone and the command works fine without any problems.... so I know how it should work! If you don't have the EVdo feature disabled, the phone will search every few minutes until your battery is toast. It will kill your battery in 4 or 5 hours if your lucky. That's why Verizon recommands turning off that feature if your not in an area that receives this service. They disabled this for me when I exchanged the phone. After I was not very happy with the 815 phone and wanted to exchange it for another exact phone, the Verizon Tech admitted that they didn't like that phone and recommended the LG 8100. They said you will be much better off with the LG 8100 than the Moto. Go figure!!! Maybe they know more than we do?
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