Review: LG VX8350 from Verizon

Summary

The LG VX8350 is probably the most accessible off the shelf cell phone for blind or visually impaired people, due to the fact it has an easy-to-feel keypad, several voice command options, and one can make phone book entries independently. In general, this phone is an improvement over the previous LG phones from Verizon.

Keypad

• The LG VX8350 has a fairly tactile keypad, with a detectable nib (which could use improvement) on the 5 key.
• It also has raised lines just above the Send and End keys, giving you tactile clues to quickly find those keys.

In our judgment, the convex nature of the keys makes it much easier to use this phone than many others on the market.

Accessible Documentation

• The LG VX8350 does have a text manual on the Verizon website; a braille version is also available. The text manual is unformatted and difficult to follow. If there was better formatting, such as separate headings and page numbers, it would be more usable.
• The braille version does have appropriate formatting.

In our view, You have to experiment with sighted assistance to really learn how to use the phone. Feedback we have received tells us people are definitely not getting enough from the manual.

Voice Output

• The LG VX8350 uses a clear, human voice for most of its speech output. It has the most voice command options to choose from among all the LG phones on the market, and it also has the most as far as spoken menus. The problem is that many of the menus lead to dead ends where the speech quits. For example, you can independently dig through 5 levels of menus to find the control for the speaker phone, but the speech output stops at the final screen where you have to choose whether to turn the speaker on or off.
• It has a mediocre synthetic voice to handle text-to-speech for reading names you have entered into contacts. In our view, the voice is still poor by today's standards.

Battery Level

Accessible through voice commands.

Roaming Status

You can learn your roaming status through voice commands.

Text Messaging on the LG

• Creating text messages is accessible, and you just follow the voice prompts. You use the multi-tap method for composing the message, pressing the 2 key once for the letter A, twice for B and 3 times for C, etc.
• There are some inaccessible aspects, e.g., The pound sign (#) is the space bar and the OK key sends the message, which you wouldn't know without a good manual or learning with a friend. Punctuation is accessible . You press the 1 key once for a period, twice for a comma and it reads it out to you.
• Important Note, the LG VX8350's voice cannot read text messages you receive.

Message Indicator

The message indicator for both voicemail and text messages is accessible through voice commands.

Phone Book

• The phone book is accessible through voice commands. You can add, read, and modify contacts independently with the LG. In an improvement over former LG phones from Verizon, you can now add more than just one number for a contact, so you can now add a home, mobile, work, and cell number for a contact.
• Modifying entries, however, is difficult, as there are no speech prompts to assist you when changing the numbers--you have to do it from memory.
• You can search for contacts using the contacts application on the phone.

GPS Feature

The LG's speech will tell you the status of the GPS feature, such as 911 only. However, if you would like the GPS turned off, you cannot do so independently.

Phone Lock

You need sighted assistance to lock the phone.

Keypad Lock

It is a flip phone, so there is no need for this.

Power Indicator

The phone makes an audible tone when turned on/off.

Ringing/Vibrate Indicator

You can change this indicator independently by just pressing and holding the star key.

Caller ID

When a call comes in, the LG VX8350will announce the name of the caller if it has been entered into the phonebook. If the caller is not in the phone book, it will announce the caller's number instead.

Speed Dial

Setting up speed dialing is inaccessible with the LG VX8350. You need sighted assistance to set it up, but if you memorize the speed dials you have set, you can just press and hold the number to dial.

Other Things Tested

Volume Indicator

You adjust the volume with the arrow keys on the left side of the phone, but speech does not support this unless you first go to the main menu. Once you have set the volume, you can also use voice commands to check the volume level you have set.

Ringtones

You can independently choose from the phone's various ringtones if you know the following: Speech supports you as you navigate through the menus to find the ringtones. You then scroll through the list of tones, press the left soft key to hear the tone played, then press OK to choose it.

Voice Recognition

You can improve the voice recognition functionality by "training" the phone, but this feature is not accessible.

Voices

The LG VX8350 uses a high quality recorded human voice for nearly all of its speech output. However, it uses low quality synthesis for reading names you have entered into the contacts application. It is a much lower quality than Eloquence and other top synthesizers of today.

Low Vision

This phone has not been designed to specifically accommodate people with low vision, so most people with low vision will have to use tactile techniques and the phone's speech output to use this phone.

• There are no settings to adjust the display's contrast or to increase the size of the information on the screen. However, when you dial a number, the digits are displayed in a large 24 point font.
• You can adjust the amount of time that the screen's backlight stays on. However, access to this feature is compromised because speech output supports the process all the way through the menus until you have to choose the setting.
• On the keypad, the white labels contrast well with the black background of the keys, but the labels are too small for most people with low vision to read.

Products included in this review are not necessarily endorsed by the American Foundation for the Blind.

January 2008

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