LG Motion 4G MS770 - 5GB - Black (Metro PCS) Smartphone

The LG Motion  4g represented my first venture into the world of the so-called smart phone.  Having had a voice-only device since back when cell phones were still rather of novel, I'd essentially "fallen asleep at the wheel" & realized on day that I was paying the same for my voice-only flip-phone that I would for a full-blown text, data & voice plan through Metro PCS!

Upon this discovery, I couldn't get down to my local Metro PCS office fast enough!  A the time of purchase, they were offering a special which shaved $5.00 off of the monthly fee of each phone (bringing it to $35.00/mo per) when purchasing two... great thing since the wife wanted one too!  At that particular time, Metro was offering the Motion 4G for $150.00, but promotional discounts brought the price of the phone down to $50.00.  So... with everything factored in, we walked out of the store having paid $100.00 for two phones/lines & a $80.00 monthly bill with the first month waived (before you correct my math, I'll just mention that we opted for the $5.00/mo replacement coverage for each phone).  Considering the amount of sheer functionality I was getting over my previous voice-only phone, I was thrilled with the cost & the fact that I wasn't tied to a contract.

Before I get to the phone itself, I'll just mention that Metro offers three monthly plans that offer various levels of accessibility... the top of the line is the $60.00/mo plan which avails the user to unlimited talk, text & 4G web.  Below that is the $50.00/mo plan which is similar to the above, but with a 2.5GB cap on data.  The most modest plan is the $40.00 which limits the user to 500MB/mo.  At the beginning, I opted for the $40.00 arrangement in order to see if such a data cap would be a serious limitation.  While I found it to be adequate in most cases, I tended to hit the data limit pretty quickly (I'm not one to necessarily stream endless HD video or anything like that, but I do have a ritual of listening to the live stream of my favorite radio station during my daily commute, thereby burning through quite a few megabyte every day).  After about four months of watching my data usage with an eye toward conservation, I decided to fork out the extra ten bucks for the 2.5GB ceiling, which is plenty for my needs, it seems.

As I say, I essentially have nothing to compare the Motion 4G to (from a perspective of past experience) so I'll just tell you what I think of it.

I was initially impressed by it's size & how well manufacturer utilized the limited face size in integrating the screen.  In these days of "really big phones" like the Samsung Galaxy, I wondered whether I migh feel a bit inadequate when working in my little motion 4G, but the fact is that doing anything at all that involves complexity on a smart phone is going to be a challenge though  one learns to adapt quickly (I did & my wife took to hers miraculously fast & can operate the thing like it's a desktop computer!). 

I suggest that you immediately get a protective case and screen cover for it, and not from the Metro PCS store... way too expensive for what you get... go on ebay and score one for three bucks. 

Chargers are another matter; I have found (almost without exception) that aftermarket chargers have a miserable reliability reputation.  It's pretty much necessary to fork out the requisite buck to get a good one art the PCS store, unfortunately.

The Andriod OS which came installed at the time of purchase (I'm afraid I can't tell you which version) was quite intuitive & easy to navigate from the outset (one measure I have of a product's utility & intuitive usability is how long I can go before referring to the user's manual.  Thus far, I've yet to do so).

It is here that I'd like to point out what I believe to be the phone's singular flaw; that is the fact that (when the battery level falls below a certain amount) the phone has to be manually recharged back to a certain level before it can be used.  Maybe this is common for modern smart phones, but the fact is that I can't recall owning any piece of electronic equipment that can't be used right off the charger even if the internal battery is completely spent.  That said, an adequate amount of charge needed to enable the phone only takes a minute or two, but that could possibly be a crucial amount of delay if you really have to contact someone or if there's an emergency.

This is (ultimately) a smart phone that does pretty much what other phones of it's ilk do.  It would be silly (& largely irrelevant) of me to go on and on about call quality, connection reliability, etc. since those factors are almost completely the responsibility of the cellular infrastructure of whatever location the user is in at any particular time (too many people expect land-line quality form their cellular phones when in reality the things are, essentially, just glorified walkie-talkies).  Where I live (in the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles) my connection quality and reliability have been better than I could have ever expected, but I suppose that some users in more rural areas of the country might have difficulties typical of such locales (but that's pretty much par for the course with cell phone in general).

To summarize... I have found the LG Motion 4G to be everything that Metro PCS claimed it would be.  Because the phone is really just an extension to the notwork in which it operated, this review is more an indictment/endorsement of the Metro network itself & I can say with confidence that it was never once let me down from a reliability standpoint (blaming a phone for connection problems is about as logical as blaming a car for having a bumpy ride while driving over cobblestones). While I'm not one of those who constantly has a cell phone pressed against their ear for hours at a time, I do, none the less, subject mine to a fair amount of use.  Thus far (after five months) it's functioning as new & I have no real complaints.

And as a side note, I'd like to compliment Metro PCS for having (at least from my experiences) in-store personnel who are genuinely helpfull.

Recommend this product? Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 50.00
Recommended for: Professionals On-the-Go - Internet and Email is a Must!