Verizon has an impressive smartphone lineup-- from the capable HTC Touch Pro2 to the Moto Droid and Palm Pre Plus, if you want it, it seems they've got it (as long as it's not an iPhone you're after). And that's the LG Fathom's biggest problem; Verizon's selection and even LG's own solid Ally eclipse this Windows Mobile touch screen phone. The specs are good: 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, a high resolution 800 x 480 resistive touch screen, a large hardware QWERTY keyboard, GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth, EV-DO Rev. A and GSM roaming too. But the design is just plain bland as is vanilla Windows Mobile. Yes, it's Windows Mobile Pro 6.5.3, and this is the first US phone to get that .3 tacked to the end, but the changes are marginal. The Windows Start Menu button is enlarged and moved to the bottom of the display as is the once too small "x" close box. Tabs have grown bigger to be more finger-friendly, but the built-in applications' user interfaces are still tiny and stylus-centric.
If you're a Windows Mobile person, you may well like the Fathom since it's fast and stable, but if you're not a hardcore WinMo guy or gal, there are more compelling phones on Verizon's network. For example, the HTC Touch Pro2 (also with GSM) offers the same specs except CPU, and it has a larger display and a more modern and enjoyable TouchFLO 3D user interface. If you're considering Android, Verizon's line is deep with the excellent HTC Incredible, Moto Droid and LG Ally singing their collective siren song. And then there's the Palm Pre Plus running one of the most exciting and fresh operating systems on a mobile phone with excellent Exchange sync built-in.
Since this is bare naked Windows Mobile, you will need a stylus for many things. Thankfully the LG has a stylus silo that's rather ingeniously located on phone's back running horizontally rather than the usual vertical. Though there's a capable hardware keyboard, you can use an on-screen software keyboard everywhere text input is possible and there's an xT9 option.
The hardware keyboard is large and clicky, and it's nearly identical to the Android-powered LG Ally. It's a 4 row keyboard with a dedicated number row, and we found it easy to use, though we disliked having to hit the Fn key to enter a period and comma. The backlighting is bright and the keys are clearly visible in the dark. The d-pad on the right is handy for navigating text precisely without having to whip out the stylus.
LG keeps buttons to a minimum with call send and end buttons and a Windows Start Menu button up front, the power button up top (much better than combining it with the call end key), volume controls on the side, a camera button and a side button for the task manager.
We wouldn't call the Fathom an attractive phone by a long shot. The Ally was innocuous, but not ugly. The Fathom isn't as attractive as the Ally. The front has a rough brushed metal finish and the back is blue-black plastic with a dot pattern. The phone does feel very solid and durable, and the slider is tight with no play.
The display is sharp given the high 480 x 800 resolution crammed into a small 3.2" display. Text is quite small and we prefer larger displays when working at this resolution. The touch screen is remarkably responsive to touch and if we didn't know better, we'd mistake it for a capacitive touch screen. Scrolling is smooth and we had no problem selecting the smallish icons in the Windows program launcher, though tiny web links and drop-down lists are better handled with the stylus.
Specs:
Display: 3.2" resistive touch screen. Resolution: 480 x 800, supports both portrait and landscape modes via accelerometer and keyboard slider. Has ambient light sensor, haptic feedback and proximity sensor.
Battery: Lithium Ion rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. 1500 mAh. Optional extended 2200 mAh battery available separately.
Performance: 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8650 CPU.
Size: 4.53 x 2.20 x 0.65 inches. Weight: 5.36 ounces.
Phone: CDMA dual band digital with EV-DO Rev. A for data. Quad band GSM for worldwide roaming (Vodafone SIM included, locked to Verizon/Vodafone). 3G HSDPA/HSPA on the 2100MHz band.
Camera: 3.2MP with autofocus lens and LED flash. Can shoot video up to VGA resolution.
Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack. Voice Recorder and Windows Media Player Mobile included. Has speaker independent voice commands and dialing.
Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. Bluetooth profiles include headset, hands-free, dial up networking (DUN), A2DP stereo, phone book access, basic printing, object push for vCard and vCalendar, FTP, basic imaging, HID and serial port.
Software: Windows Mobile Professional 6.5.3. Microsoft Mobile Office suite including Mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Internet Explorer, and Outlook. Also included are the standard Windows Mobile calculator, messaging, Bing search, Windows Media Player Mobile, Microsoft MyPhone, Marketplace, ActiveSync, Task Manager and Solitaire. LG and 3rd party apps: Adobe Reader LE, World Clock, RSS Viewer and Nuance Voice Command. Verizon software: VZ Navigator, City ID, Mobile Email and Visual Voicemail.
Expansion: 1 SDHC microSD card slot.