Customer Reviews

LG Prime Prepaid GoPhone (AT&T) with $15 Airtime Credit

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(54)

 

 

I don't quite understand why so many people complain about the phone locking after receiving a call. The answer is very simple. It locks so that when you put the phone to your head you don't activate commands via the touch screen. Think about it. You place the phone against your ear and the side of your face which can, and would, cause enough pressure on the screen to activate various commands. Also, there is a button conveniently placed on the side of the phone that activates and deactivates the screen lock. If I need to key in a number or get access to the touchscreen for any reason during a call just hit the button on the side, and Viola!, you can use it at will.

Overall, this is a great phone, with great features, great quality at a FANTASTIC price. Plus, there is a nice feature with AT&T's Go phones. Say you have a standard phone account with AT&T but want to upgrade your phone for cheap without having to sign a new multi-year contract. Just buy the Go phone of your choice and instead of using the SIMM that comes with the phone use the one from your old phone. I bought the LG Prime and installed the SIMM from my old phone and it operates like an unlocked phone. I have done this for my past two phone upgrades. It allows me to operate my AT&T account without having to continually lock into a contract just to get a decent phone at a decent price. Doing this, I can drop my plan anytime I chose or change it anytime I want.

I purchased this phone to replace my New ATT GoPhone Samsung A177. Now that phone was pretty slick and looked very simiar to a blackberry. It got great ratings on Amazon. However, each key on my previous Samsung was about half the size of a sunflower seed! Does your phone have buttons that small? Now in the heck do manufactures expect people to use those keys? I just couldn't stand it any longer and I had to get a new phone with bigger buttons.

Enter in my new LG Prime!

----
Pros
----

What can I say that hasn't already been said? This phone has pretty much everything you would need in a touch screen phone.

1) Still Camera
2) Video Camera
3) Audio or voice recorder
4) FM Radio! Which is unique!
5) Music Player
6) Scheduler, Calander, Note Pad,
7) Clock and Alarms
8) Email, Web, Text Chat, I.M.,

And two of my most favorite features:

9) Standard head phone plug jack which does not require an adaper. Not a proprietary connecter like some phones have.

10) Standard mini USB port for charging and data transfer. Not a proprietary connecter like some phones have.

11) Micro SD port so that you can put a micro sd card up to 15 Gigs in this baby and store all your videos and music and remove the card, put in a different card with more songs or transfer them from your pc to the phone. So in other words, you're not limited to just storing data on the phone only.

12) Speaker Phone! Contrary to what other people have said, this speaker phone works GREAT. I have had no problems with other people hearing me or me hearing them.

... And more!

What makes this phone easy to use is the fact it is touch screen! It's almost like a little iPhone without the expensive price tag or cell phone contract. Apps are available but not as abundant as the iPhone. But for the price, you can't beat this phone!

The MAIN reason I love this phone is the dial pad is touch screen and when you click on the dial pad icon it pulls up a large set of keys! About the size of your pinky finger. Easy enough to dial with your index fingers.

Entering data for text chatting or schedules, pulls up a touch screen keyboard that is easy to use, the keys are big.

As the date of this posting, AT&T has two really cool plans you can use with the GoPhone. You can pay-as-you-go by adding a dollar amount to your GoPhone and just pay a per min. charge for your airtime. The other option is you can pay a single rate each month and get unlimited calling, text and web WITHOUT signing a contract!

Additonally as the date of this posting, if you search on Amazon for the key word: LG Prime, there are some nice accessories you can get for this phone. Such as: cases, headphones, screen protectors USB data cables and such.

The LG Prime GS390 is light weight, slim (not bulky). The screen is is about 2/3 of the overall phone's total size, which means that the screen is big enough to see the dial pad and other options without having to squint.

The screen resolution is high enough that all the graphics and text display with smooth edges. The benefit of this means that everyting on the screen is nice looking and easy to see.

The screen is very clear and bright when viewed indoors. Outdoors In bright, overhead sunlight, the screen is bit harder to see but not impossible. In the shade or showdows the screen is much easier to see. Sitting parked in your car on a bright, sunny day without the sun directly shining on you, the screen is bright and clear and almost as bright as being indoors.

----
Cons
----

Nothing major that I can think of at the moment.

The only thing that can be difficult to get used to is the touch screen controls. once you get used to that the phone is easy to use.

---------
Conclusion
---------

The LG Prime GS390 is a techologically advanced, touch screen phone that is very affordable. It has many of the high tech features of more expensive phones. Call quality and the graphical user interface and dial pad keys are great. Best of all you can add a dollar amount to the phone and do a per min charge, or pay a monthly, flat fee and get unlimited air time. All this without a contract. A great deal!

------------------------------
If you enjoyed this review you might enjoy other reviews from me. Please click the text link at the top of this review called: "See all my reviews". I have more than one page of reviews and additional pages can be accessed by clicking on the page number on the bottom right corner of my total reviews page.

I recently got this phone because I am now off my family's cell phone plan and I wanted a cheaper alternative to getting a contract. I was hesitant at first to get a pay-as-you-go phone, but as soon as I saw this phone being offered at at&t I thought I would give it a shot. I use my phone mainly for text messaging and the occasional call, so this phone is perfect for me (I got a $10/month for 1000 text message plan added to the $1 mobile to mobile plan).

As for the actual phone, I think it is great. I have never had a touch screen phone, so I don't have much to compare it to, but for a first time user of a touch screen phone it has been fantastic. It took some getting used to, but I love it. I haven't experienced any frozen screens as I have heard people complain about on other touch screen phones. The ring can be nice and loud if you want it, and the screen is very easy to read. You can change the font sizes too, which I know is useful for some people.

The only negative thing I can say about this phone (and maybe it is something that can be fixed but I haven't figured out yet) is that during a phone call the screen will lock. This is fine, but if you are calling your voicemail, or a number where you have to select options from a menu, it can get to be pretty annoying. Other than that, the complaints I have had about phones in the past (bad voice call quality, bad battery life) have not been present with this phone. That being said, I have only had it for about a week so we'll see.

Oh and the $50 credit makes this phone totally worth the money.

*Update*

Ok, I have had this phone for a month now. And there are a few things I have noticed. Sometimes when I use the camera feature on the phone, the screen will flash and act really weird. But this is resolved from just turning the phone off and turning it on again. Also, I will sometimes press a button to get the screen to display so I can see the time, and the clock on the phone is not correct. Again, this is resolved from turning the phone off and then on again. These are pretty minor problems, but I thought I would add this to my review and let people know.

I am cheap when it comes to cell service. That's not to say I've never had a contract, I just didn't feel that I was getting my moneys worth. I overpaid even with the cheapest of plans. I don't talk very much and I'm a light texter. So for the last few years I've used prepaid services with cheap phones. I recently saw that not only did AT&T go to 10 cent a minute, they had added some better phones. I wanted to try a full qwerty phone, be it touchscreen or slider. Then I saw the LG Prime that not only was it feature rich but came with a 50$ credit. I did some research and red a ton of reviews and decided to give it a shot.

WOW.

Pros:
Being that I am a bit behind on current cellphone technology(I came from a LG600G, Tracfone) I instantly had a phone with a touchscreen, usable web browser, 2 mp camera, camcorder, FM receiver and -OMG- an MP3 player. Little did I know how awesome it was to have all this on a phone.

Music: By far the best feature to me is the MP3 player hands down. While its not the best sounding player I've ever had it is nice and loud. I can listen to it w/o headphones. I put an 8gb card in it and went to town. The FM receiver works ok but I mainly use the MP3 player. O yea, Praise God there is a standard headphone jack.

Internet: As I said the browser is usable. I will load full pages but I mostly go to mobile versions of my favorite sites(tomshardware, facebook, wikipedia).

Camera: 2mp takes decent shots and the camcorder is nice to have in a pinch.

Touchscreen: The screen is resistive but is responsive and doesn't require a lot of pressure and the menus scroll and navigate pretty fast, there is some lag when loading the music player but I have noticed this get longer with the more songs I have on my memory card.

Cons:
Data/Internet: This could be a deal killer for some people. Data is very, very expensive. I really think AT&T could do a lot better on the rates. 5$ for 1mb and 20$ for 100mb. This is ridiculous. If you are a heavy user then get a data plan otherwise you will get taken to the cleaners.(see Conclusion)

UI: Unless I am missing something, I do not see a way to customize the UI beyond adding a few widgets(6 to choose from, whoopee). While the clock, calender and note widgets are very useful I wish there were a way to add other tools to the shortcut menu or even the screen. The calculator, unit converter and tip calculator are buried in the menu and should be easier to navigate to.

Conclusion: Even with the ripoff prices for data and issues I have with the UI, this phone is an incredible deal. As for the data, I purchased the 20$ 100mb feature and I have it renew the 5$ 1mb every 30 days so that my 100mb balance will roll over. So far I am using approximately 5mb a week, It will take me 5 months to use that data at my usual rate. during those 5 months I will renew each month 1mb for 5mb to roll over my balance. So 6 months of data service will cost me 45$. So thats approximately 7.50$ a month to have email and light surfing access, 5$ a month to have 200 texts and if I use 100 mins a month(typical for me) Im'm in for 22.50 per month with no crap fees. Thats an average I know I will sometimes use more or less.

For the price of the phone (80$) minus the 50$ airtime this is a great deal for light phone users who don't want to have a 80-100$ cell bill.

I like the sound quality of the phone and the ease of making the ring and volume loud or soft.
The battery life is good and I have had no sim problems. What I dislike about the phone, however, is the continued locking when you are on a call. Trying to deal with a menu selection is very difficult as you have to constantly keep unlocking it. If you receive a second call while you are on the phone, you cannot see who is calling you because the screen keeps locking up. The phone would be very good if they could fix the locking issue.

The delivery, the free air time, and the SIM:
My LG Prime was delivered at a great price, and came a day early - thanks for another great experience from Amazon and their suppliers. Tracking worked, too. The LG Prime had a sticker on the back upon delivery telling me to boot up with my old SIM card, and that I could receive the free air time when I did this - worked great for me, but I caution that Amazon, LG, and AT&T did not know how the phone would be received, or if this was possible - so maybe it changes by area.

BEFORE I DID THIS, I backed up my contacts on my old phone to my SIM, then transferred the old SIM to the new phone. My contacts transferred perfectly, and my phone number was in tact, no problem - fired right up, WITH MY FREE AIR TIME. Worked nice.

AND I DID NOT START MY NEW PHONE WITH THE NEW SIM CARD, SINCE THAT NEW SIM CARD WOULD HAVE A NEW PHONE NUMBER - I ONLY STARTED WITH THE OLD ONE - NOT SURE IF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM AS FAR AS THE FREE AIR TIME - I STRONGLY SUSPECT IT COULD BE, BUT MAYBE NOT. In that event, you should be able to use the new SIM until the credit is gone, and maybe switch back and forth as needed. TALK TO AT&T FIRST if you did this by mistake, or for the best advice.


The touchscreen:
The LG Prime is a good entry level touch screen phone. Others say the touch screen is not very sensitive, but it is easy for you to get used to it. If you never had an iPhone, or a highly sensitive 'capacitive' touch screen, you likely will not notice this. In the past, I had a capacitive touch screen, and it still doesn't bother me. In the future, when I spend a lot of money for a top-of-the-line smartphone, I will insist on a capacitive touchscreen, or AMOLED - but mostly because I am paying for it.

For the price, I have seen touchscreens which are much worse than this one (usually resistive with thin, soft plastic screens), and even require a stylus - not the LG Prime - my fingers work fine, and the screen is glass (or very hard plastic which looks like glass - not 100% sure, seems like glass - I haven't scratched it yet either, but hasn't been very long either - seems like it could be pretty good surface. Screen protector might make the screen less sensitive, also.

If you really want the best touch screens, 'capacitive' and 'AMOLED' touch screens are the best - AMOLED promises to be the best by far, and takes less power because it is LED. At the time I am writing this, it seems to me that the 'capacitive' touchscreen phones start around 200 bucks, and AMOLED touchscreens 600 bucks.


The OS:
In the past I had an iPhone 3G, and loved it. LG Prime does not really compare to that very much - only in some ways. The power and speed of the phone hardware/connectivity make me feel like I will not fully use the very good Android OS which is installed - mostly just talk and text. (However, you might be in an area where you are less capable on speed anyway - see below). Android looks very good to me, but look to other reviews for full web/email functionality of this phone, also.


The connection speed:
This phone is not terribly slow, but this is not a 3G phone, is not UMTS/HSDPA, and does not have wifi. If you want high speed data transfer, (with AT&T or through a wifi), you MIGHT need to go to another phone with better network connectivity, wifi, and/or even a phone with a better processor. HOWEVER - if you live in an area where 3G, or UMTS/HSDPA, or EDGE/GPRS capabilities are not available anyway (meaning your area is 2G/GSM only), maybe this can work for you since you will likely be slow with any phone.

If you don't know about your network, check AT&T maps for your areas coverage - make sure you click 'voice, data, go phone, 3G' tabs above the map, also:
[...]

Although I have not fully tested the web/email capability of the LG Prime, I checked the weather with the web browser once - speed was OK, not great - looked at radar maps on weather.com, (2 different maps) - costed me $2.50 to do this - took me 90 seconds or so - in what is a very good AT&T area, (best AT&T GSM color on the map linked above). OK - maybe i had my $1/day charge included in that, but I don't think so.

Either way, if your web browsing/emailing everyday, you should get a data plan. In fact, unlimited data plans might make this worth while for some people, but for me, my laptop will do this faster for now. In my opinion, if I will attempt to replace my laptop, (or even tether my laptop, which LG Prime will not do), LG Prime won't do it - not very close - whereas the iPhone3G was close - I would often pick up my iPhone3G instead of my laptop - not with the LG Prime, not in my area, not for me. This also does not speak against the Android OS, only the fact that the phone has lower technology connectivity, and therefore lower speed. (Near my signal bars, the phone always reads 'E', and this phone will never be able to say '3G' or 'EDGE' the way it is built).

If others say they are good with the web/email capability of Android OS - I would say they are right, I'm mostly saying look at this phone's capability versus a better connected/higher processing phone - if it is important to you, or even available to you.


USB Cable connectivity:
This phone is an LG Prime GS390. DO NOT BUY A USB CABLE for any other type of phone. I bought the cable:
USB Sync Charging Data Cable for LG Vu CU915 CU920, GT365 Neon, VX10000 Voyager

LG Customer service told me this cable would work on the LG Prime and it did not! My only other experience with them was OK, but not this bad - hit and miss - like most customer service these days, right? (LG says it's a new phone and they didn't have the specs at customer service yet - but they said it would work on my first contact with them. So help me, or buy/send me a cable, right? Nope, not even after I requested a new cable.) Then they updated the webite after the mistake with me (next day), to include the LG Prime, (wasn't listed before this) - so you're welcome - but still no cable. :-)


The phone/software speed:
The processor/software is very adequate for talk and text - it can slow the screen, but only rarely it seems, and never for a long time - mostly it keeps up and is highly responsive, but not instant. (I put an 8GB microSD in to store my contacts, photos, etc., also - cost me 15 bucks - probably helps the speed a little). As far as I know, only most expensive and newest smartphones will respond instantly - seems to be true in my experience and reading.



The Apps:
For now, AT&T has an app store, and so does Android - hopefully another reviewer will clear up where the best apps are for the LG on the Android platform. Hard to say for me, but I will post again if I learn more about this.

You can do a google search for the best Android Apps and learn a lot that way, also - depends what you want - I think the options are very good now.

LG also states they plan to have apps available in their app store worldwide - the USA Appstore is the last to come on line on the LG website. USA does not have a date posted for LG to start up the app sales - not that I have found. Likely, Android and AT&T have apps covered very well, and you don't need LG, but it might be interesting to see what LG puts forward for their phones.


Overall:
For the price, the good delivery, the 'seems very good so far' Android OS, the smooth SIM change, being able to transfer my free air time, keeping my contacts, and for a nice looking phone/touchscreen/display, I give 5 stars. After I shopped, I couldn't find a glass touchscreen phone with this kind of capability at a better price. And I am very pleased to not be using my entry-level Nokia go phone anymore. If the price was higher, I would remove a star for the screen locking/unlocking button, and how it functions - but I am used to it already, and who am I to complain about one semantic when the price is so very right. And if it bothers me later, I will make it better by gently filing the top of the button down so it can't be bumped anymore. So 5 stars it is.

This was a great deal by Amazon at the time I purchased it. (My local AT&T store didn't even want to try to match or beat this price, either.) With all of this, my satisfaction level is very high, but know what you are buying, also. My review is not negative on the LG Prime, but rather intends to help you understand what you are reviewing/buying.

So, I've only had this phone for one day, but so far I love it. The features are unbelievable for a "go" phone. The camera's pretty good, and it also has a video recorder. It has bluetooth and internet capabilities, and you can also download apps from AT&T. The touchscreen isn't overly sensitive.. so you have to get used to touching the screen with more pressure than what you would with an Iphone. There are also widgets you can drag onto your main screen, which is pretty cool. There's also a button to unlock the phone on the side if you don't want to have to push the unlock button on the screen. The ring can get VERY loud if you want it to. Call quality has also been fine so far. I will update if I need to, or if something goes wrong. I recommend this phone if you want a 'smart' phone, but don't want to pay $400 for one.

This phone is a nightmare, and I am stuck with this until I save enough money to get a much better phone and get away from AT&T altogether.

I am on my SECOND LG Prime phone and ALL of the exact same problems have arisen.
Half the time my texts arrive to the recipient blank, the rest of the time in fragments of TEN, and none of them in correct reading order! So in other words, if you type more than a few words, the text arrives in several fragments and not in the order you typed!

OH...there's more. When texting, you have to turn on spell check every single text! Sometimes even a few times PER text! It does not stay on or do it automatically. That is extremely inconvenient and annoying.

The phone also locks immediately, no matter how many times you set it to "every 45 seconds" or OFF completely. In other words...you can't control the locking. Period. It is very, very annoying to have to unlock it every few SECONDS.

The camera is terrible. Grainy, dark, etc. It is hardly worth using unless you are in absolutely perfect daylight.

You have to click over to answer a call waiting, and when you do, it often disconnects both parties. Not good. As well, the other party can hear the beep of any call or text you receive, which is not good if someone is calling or texting obsessively while you are on the phone.

You have to SET the phone to where your voicemail will give you the time and date of the call! Who on earth would ever choose not to get a time and date when they retrieve their messages? Why must we use a setting for this?

After I returned the first LG Prime and got a new one, ALL of these same problems arose. If you are unfortunate enough to be with AT&T, because you are not in a million dollar a month contract with them...they send you to a DIFFERENT tech support. It is CLEARLY in the Philippines and with all due respect, they don't appear to know ANYTHING about these phones, what-so-ever!
They CANNOT fix the issues I mentioned. LG Prime themselves play dumb and try to blame it on AT&T. AT&T blames it on LG Prime. So we get nowhere. I am stuck with this thing. I'd like to add...NO ONE I know has this phone or has even heard of it. I got it after I lost two horribly expensive iPhones (which I loved). I mistakenly, VERY mistakenly, thought this was "the next best thing." IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM is this similar to the iPhone.

The good points? It's small and makes calls. Other than that, it is totally useless. In all truth, they had no business releasing this thing to the public.

UPATE: March 16th. Phone is still terrible and all problems remain. NO ONE at AT&T or LG Prime would take any responsibility for the issues with EITHER of the LG Primes I bought (the original or replacement). So nothing was ever accomplished. I love these new oh-so-happy reviews! I'd love to hear from them all a few months down the line! This is a bad phone by default. Now that work has picked up for me again, I am going to take a hammer to this phone in the alley. I will leave AT&T (along with everyone else) and get a Droid phone and accept the $99 or so a month. After experiencing this phone, I am willing to accept a contract after all.

I just received my phone yesterday. After monkeying around with it for a while, I started to see that this phone isn't too bad for a touch screen. Well, it's my first touch screen. I just need to learn now to apply the correct pressure in order to scroll properly.
1 thing I cannot stand about this phone so far, it locks after a call comes in. I know others also complained about this feature, even when you turn off the auto lock feature, if a call comes in or if you even make a call it locks....and why? LG must have been drinking some pretty good stuff when they decided to go there with this phone. Calls are clear, texting is nice because you can see the previous texts sent. The camera isn't too bad. It's a keeper. Plus you get $50 airtime if you had your current sim card for 4mos or more, it loaded right into the phone, no need to call cs. I had no problems adding my current bluetooth to this phone as well. I would have even it a 5 rating but I only had it for a day. It's worth the $79.99 plus you get $50 airtime added to the phone, sounds like a good deal.
Enjoy!
tj

......for someone who has never owned a `touch screen' phone. This is a veritable bargain at $99.99 or less, and I couldn't resist getting it to initiate GSM service with AT&T. I liken going from a conventional flip phone to this touch screen to putting someone in a stick shift car that's driven an automatic for the last 40 years. The munchkin sized owner's manual is the worst I've ever had the misfortune to try to use. No meaningful index, very vague tutorial on features, pictured icons (in the manual) so small as to be illegible. Sadly, there isn't (yet?) an online manual which one may print out.
.
Still....I think I'm going to really like this phone. (nawwwww....see update) FM radio with or without a wired headset, very good volume in ALL functions including speakerphone, a whole bevy of intriguing foo-foo features. Bluetooth wireless headset stereo capability on music IN the phone, FM radio wired headset only (or no headset).
.
I was able to assign this phone to the standard AT&T minutes plan rather than their prepaid "GO" plan. Strangely, about half of the AT&T and independent stores said it HAD to be a "prepaid GO phone", half had no problem using it with a conventional plan and SIM card. Happy days! A conventional plan, month-to-month WITHOUT a contract. I'm thrilled.
.
I'll shoulder most of the blame for the problems I'm having with the touch screen. I don't think it's the most user-friendly touch screen (particularly compared to my GPS units), but I'm learning.
.
This LG Prime LGS390 phone has (at least initially) had the most favorable feedback from users of ANY cell phone. IMHO it benefits in quality from being made in Korea (LG is Korean) rather than China. Just an opinion.
.
I find it interesting that LG initially stood for "Lucky Goldstar" for years. Now it's either "Lets Go" or "Life's Good". Sounds more `Western', I guess.
.
A good phone. Go for it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
ADDENDA: A few disappointing qualities have arisen since my initial report. This phone WILL NOT work with a (blue tooth) "X Link". THIS IS A BIG ISSUE FOR ME!! First phone EVER that wouldn't. X Link even has a downloadable "LG patch" to correct problems. This with the latest X Link software is of no use. In addition, the voice recognition is very poor, and takes three operations to access that function. Also, there is apparently no way of enabling any audio notification of messages received and waiting. (At least as far as I'm able to discern with the nearly worthless owner's manual) Some silliness from the owner's manual pages 98 & 99:"Hold the phone as you would any phone with the antenna pointed up and over your shoulder." ..."Do not touch the antenna unnecessarily when the phone is in use". Gee! I was shorted the aforementioned "antenna".
My wife absolutely hates this phone. All the `bling bling' features (FM Radio, etc.) don't get it with her. I am forced to get her a conventional flip phone. This is NOT a user friendly device for placing phone calls QUICKLY without an error every fourth time or so.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
ADDENDA II: 8-29-10 I had to throw in the towel on these phones. Squeeked by on the 28th day of my 30 day 'satisfaction guarantee' and sold 'em back to AT&T. It is absolutely ESSENTIAL that my Intellitouch X Link be operational. My wife was about to throw hers over the fence into the neighbor's swimming pool. I am now using two bare-bones Nokia 2720. And I REALLY mean bare bones. The bluetooth connectivity is fantastic! They're either $7.99 -referb. or $9.99 brand new from AT&T. Just like finding them! No micro-sd capabilities, very limited internal memory. These'll do while I regain my sanity and move on to something similar but a little more 'feature rich'. $9.99 for a brand new phone? Try to beat that!