LG Optimus Zip

Sometimes, a phone can hold so much promise that it ends up disappointing on the day of its actual launch. That’s pretty much what the LG Optimus Zip is all about. It’s a fine-looking, albeit chunky, CDMA touchscreen Android smartphone with a slide-out hardware keyboard. It can easily look the part of a truly versatile Android smartphone. However, it is seriously limited in the features department, which is a little mind-boggling given that it runs one of the later versions of the Android software by default.

The Optimus Zip is fitted with an zippy 800MHz processor in order to handle the default operating system, Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It offers a measly 150MB of internal storage space which, fortunately, can be expanded further with microSD cards. The built-in touchscreen display measures 3.2-inches diagonally and features a native resolution of 320×480. This seriously under-utilizes the default operating system, Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It’s a good thing there’s an included slide-outQWERTY keyboard, which makes typing out longer messages and navigating the system menus a lot easier.

When it comes to wireless features, it comes equipped with all the latest. All the latest except wireless NFC, that is. So it has 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, GPS with A-GPS, and Bluetooth connectivity. And it can interface with any compatible PC via its microUSB port. The back of the phone holds a 3-megapixel autofocus camera that can take pictures and record videos of somewhat low quality; while it’s fairly unimportant, it’s still worth mentioning.

As terrrible as the Zip’s overall feature-set might be, it’s still better than many alternative options in its price range simply due to the fact that it has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. If you’re okay with carrying around a little extra heft and weight in your pocket in exchange for a better typing experience, then this might be a budget Android smartphone to consider.

Need To Know: LG Optimus Zip

1. Slide-out QWERTY keyboard is great to type on; much better than the virtual Android keyboard, for sure. (The Good)

2. The default operating system has plenty of official and third party software support for extra functionality. (The Good)

3. The built-in screen is small and low resolution, making it difficult to enjoy stuff like Web browsing or watching videos. (The Bad)

4. Very limited amount of internal storage fully necessitates the use of external storage cards. (The Bad)