AT&T LG Incite Review

Brad Molen  By on 06 Dec 08

Out of all the phones in the massive holiday lineup AT&T produced in November, the LG Incite has been the shyest. There was very little fanfare. Few rumors flew about its release beforehand, and when it did finally release there was no buzz about it. I found this to be quite interesting; a LG touchscreen Windows Mobile phone not getting any pomp and circumstance when it finally comes out?

After having the opportunity to play around with it for a while, I could understand why that was the case — because there’s really not much to it other than being a LG touchscreen Windows Mobile phone. Allow me to share with you my experience with the LG Incite.

First Impressions of the LG Incite

My first overall impression of the Incite? A bit boxy and larger than it needs to be. It features a 3.0 inch screen, which is not much smaller than the 3.2 inch screen the Eternity packs in. However there is a lot of unused real estate bordering this screen, so in my opinion the phone could’ve been either smaller to condense the space, or they could have made the screen much larger to fit the extra space.

Other than that, I was glad to notice the Incite has both GPS and WiFi, as well as quad-band GSM/EDGE and tri-band 3G, as well as a 3 MP camera to go along with it. Frankly, any smartphone that does not have these features is pretty much obsolete at this point, so I find it crucial for it to have these features. Otherwise it should be a lot less than the $199.99 price tag after contract.

The Incite was also thicker than I was hoping. For a smartphone with touchscreen only, LG needs to get an edge on competition by making their device thinner. Otherwise, slap a slide-in keyboard on the thing.

AT&T LG Incite Design

Most of the design issues I touched upon in the first impressions, mainly because they are quite noticeable. Boxy, thick, and contains a touchscreen that should be larger for the body it was put into.

But I’ll set that aside for the moment. On the left side I was pleased to find a scroll wheel, thus adding another option of navigating through WinMo, as well as MicroSD port and menu and camera buttons.

The right side is a bit more simple: a hole for resetting the Incite, MicroUSB port and volume control.

Not much to the back of the Incite. Camera is the only real thing keeping the back from being completely blah and boring. The back is certainly nice and shiny, though, I’ll give LG that much.

The front offers just two physical buttons, a call and hang up button. Everything else is done on the touchscreen itself.

For physical dimensions, the LG Incite weighs 4.23 ounces and the size is 4.21 x 2.2 x 0.55 inches.

One other major flaw of design, in my opinion, is the stylus. When I first used the Incite I instinctively began looking around for the stylus. I figured it had to be somewhere in it, just tucked away perhaps. Wrong. The stylus is in the box, but the only way to attach it to the Incite’s body itself is via lanyard. As you see in the above picture, the stylus has a cap as you would normally see on a pen; whenever you’re done using the stylus you attach it to the cap that’s attached to the phone. In other words, when you’re not using the stylus, it’s just dangling off the side of the Incite. That’s just not my cup of tea.

LG Incite Features

The only truly unique feature this particular smartphone has is a favorites bar at the bottom of the today screen.

This bar gives you some much-needed shortcuts; quick buttons to the phone screen, messaging, as well as a couple other options as well. I do find this convenient so as to not have to go through the Start menu for some of the basic functions of the phone.

The LG Incite also offers up Bluetooth 2.0, a-GPS with AT&T Navigator, Cellular Video, Direct Push capabilities, and accelerometer. It also includes the other typical features of Windows Mobile 6.1, such as ActiveSync and media player.

One thing I do find interesting is the use of the accelerometer to make the today screen more user-friendly in landscape mode. Turn the Incite to its side, and the today screen transforms into a LG Vu-style menu, which I find more effective.

Same goes with texting in landscape mode.

LG Incite’s Performance

I have always been impressed with the performance of LG phones, and the Incite appears to be no exception. It is rated at up to 8.7 hours of talk time — unheard of on a 3G device — and 21 days of standby.

The touchscreen is heat-sensitive, so there are times I had to push a little harder than usual on the screen to get it to work. This didn’t seem to happen all the time, but it was noticeable. I also experienced some lag, which I wasn’t sure if it was due to the OS or the phone’s processor. Perhaps both.

My verdict is so-so. I wasn’t a big fan of the overall look and design, but the device itself performed okay. Though there wasn’t anything brand new or innovative compared to the Blackberry Storms and HTC Touch Pros of the world, it is a decent WinMo offering.

Here at Unwired View, we love comments. If you have used an Incite or are thinking about getting one, let us know your feelings!

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  • abcyesn

    You can edit Microsoft Office documents – Mobile Word, Excel, OneNote. View PowerPoint and Adobe® PDF attachments. The LG INCITE has a full-color LCD screen that auto-rotates as you turn it to display pictures in beautiful clarity. Get both style and power with the LG INCITE.
    For http://www.LG-Incite.com

  • abcyesn

    Good review, I was going to get this phone, but after seeing all the bad reviews on http://www.LG-Incite.com I decided not to. It just doesn’t fit my needs.

  • abcyesn

    Good review, I was going to get this phone, but after seeing all the bad reviews on http://www.LG-Incite.com I decided not to. It just doesn’t fit my needs.

  • Cheryl

    I was thinking bout getting the LG Incite for the past few days, but I don't know if I want to. I been reading reviews trying to decide if this phone will be better then the Blackberry Curve. The LG Incite does look kind of big and bulky. Also, I was thinking about all the stuff the would go unused if I bought this phone. If you don't have e-mail or internet is there any use for this phone? Also, I am afraid that the phone would easily break.

  • Ben in CA

    Cheryl,

    I have been looking at this phone for a little bit as well and reading all the reviews I can find. I am not sure if you have made your choice yet, but here is my opionion. After reading a lot of reviews, it seems that a revewers seem to be trying to find things wrong with it and the fact that it came out after there have been a good number of touch screen phones on the market and this phone doesn't have anything extreamly new and exciting, they seem to say it is so so. That seems to be a theam now days with revewers of phones. Unless the phone has a extreamly new feature that is so cool, the phone gets only a so so review. And so what the stylus is outside the box. At least they put it on a lanyard so it is connected to it, good enough in my book. They probally didn't have the space for it. They did pack quite a lot into that unit.

    As for size, I would say it is not much bigger than any other touchscreen phone aviable now, if not the same size. The Blackberry storm for example, I think was a little bit bigger and heaver. I would recommend go to go a store that has functional models on desplay and play with it for a long time. That is what I did and I want one now.

    As for not using email and internet, the device would be “overkill” for you technically, but just about all phones do those now days. It would be that this one could do it easier than most non smart phones out there and some smart phones as well. You never know, you just may like having it there on the phone and start using it. I know that at most AT&T proper stores (not another company selling at&t pones under their name) have functional units for you to play with and you can use all the features except for the GPS. You can go on the web, send text's, and make calls so that you can try out all the functions.

    ok, this was just my .02 worth. Good luck.

  • Vilay

    Hi Cheryl,

    I got the Incite a couple of weeks ago. There are both pro's and cons. It has most of the things u need from a smart phone and it has decent wifi. The browser on the other hand is tricky to use and it's not like the Iphone. the response time on the touch screen seems to be a little laggy. You can view word documents and edit them. The phone isnt too big and bulky. I think I like the design. The downfall itself is from texting. I tried both landscape and t9 mode and it was just very difficult to text. and my fingers keeps hitting the t9 button to bring up the keyboard. So in the middle of texting i would accidently hit the key and the keyboard would disappear. I owned a blackberry curve and if u like texting that would be a better choice.Otherwise if u like the windows mobile platform then i would go for the Incite. oh and LG includes a stylus that dangles like a keychain off the phone. I wish they would've made a place where u can slide it in.

  • Matthew (teoami)

    I have owned my Incite for a few weeks now and I am loving it. The only complaints I have are a few quirks with Windows Mobile not the phone itself. The Incite has one of the best GPS receivers I have every experienced in any device. If you recalibrate the screen correctly (don't use the factory setup) you won't ever need the stylus. If you want to know how the Incite truly performs and what it is capable of, head over to the forum at http://www.lg-incite.com. You can hear all kinds of stories about the Pros and the Cons of the phone from real users instead of lame reviewers who just want something to pick up and be overly amazing right out of the box.

  • Arin

    I think a big plus for the LG Incite is that it offers all of these features, without requiring a data plan with at&t… if you get a Blackberry or almost any other smartphone that is packed with all the features the LG Incite has, chances are there is at least a $30 monthly fee tagging along for the ride. If you can handle the bulkiness, I think it offers more options for cheaper.

    It can also handle up to 32GB of expanded memory via MicroSD. With an included media player, equalizer, and 3.5mm headphone jack, it is nice to be able to use your high quality mp3 player headphones, without buying a new set of headphones or an adapter for a 2.5mm headset jack. For perspective, I got an 8GB MicroSD card on eBay for $16.99.

    From the college student's perspective (we have extremely thin wallets), the Incite offers high capacity music storage, wi-fi for on campus connectivity, and it can be ordered online for $99.99 brand new from at&t with a new plan. It's a serious package for a small price.

    This is a great review physically and technically, but that's my two cents on how it fares fiscally, as well. Hopefully it's helpful information…

    Good luck with your phone shopping!!

  • Devo

    The phone is wi-fi capable, so you'd be able to use the internet when you are out. Many restaurants and other places have wi-fi. Heck, the Subway in my Wal-Mart has wi-fi.

  • Lynn

    I was thinking about getting this, LG Incite or the LG Viewty. The only reason why I would buy this is because of the WiFi. Since I don't pay for the internet on my phone, plus I have WiFi at my house. This review was definitely helpful. I was hooked on this phone but had a couple questions that you answered. But, for texting; can you text in portrait mode with t9 or abc? Sometimes I'm not the best with keyboards. Or does the keyboard have predictive texting so if i mess up a word it will change it? Like the iPhone? Also, would you say that the camera is good? Does it have flash? And if you could maybe see the LG Viewty and tell me what one you think is better.

    Thank You.

  • byron

    Does the Lg need a data plan to go with it?

  • http://www.club-penguin.org/ Club Penguin Cheats

    The LG Incite does look kind of big and bulky. Also, I was thinking about all the stuff the would go unused if I bought this phone. If you don't have e-mail or internet is there any use for this phone?

  • jay_2012

    yes its considered a PDA and its $30 for the plan.

  • jay_2012

    yes its considered a PDA and its $30 for the plan.

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