My New 4G Android-Powered LG Esteem with MetroPCS
My wife and I recently upgraded our cell phones. For about 7.5 years my wife and I had Sprint paying about $62/month total. Over the years I looked into upgrading to a smartphone but just couldn’t justify going from $62/month to at least $130/month for 2 phones. I figured we’d just wait until prices dropped a bit. Additionally, if I ever switched to a smartphone I wanted everything to be unlimited. I didn’t want to monitor my data, minutes and text messaging fearing additional charges.
After much research I found the best deal with MetroPCS. For $80/month total (includes tax and fees), my wife and I get unlimited everything (minutes, data and text). However, I got a smartphone, the LG Esteem and my wife got a regular phone, the LG Beacon. My plan is $50/month and my wife’s plan is $40/month, however, since we are on a family plan, we each get a $5 discount which drops the price to $80/month. The LG Esteem costs $249 after a $100 rebate and the LG Beacon costs $39 after a $30 rebate.
The Phone
I must admit that I’m extremely satisfied with the LG Esteem. I absolutely love the phone and it has exceeded my expectations. The screen is big at 4.3”, crisp and bright. If you are looking for a small phone, this phone isn’t it. I considered a smaller phone, but couldn’t resist the screen size.
The menus are well thought out and extremely easy to navigate. I like the GPS navigation which is big improvement to our old Garmin GPS. Voice recognition used in various software and features such as text messaging is very good. The camera takes very good pictures and video quality is excellent.
The LG Esteem features 4G LTE connectivity, Android Platform 2.3 Ginerbread, 4.3” touch screen with damage resistant Gorilla Glass, 1.3 MP front-facing camera, 5 MP camera with 720p HD Video, HDMI Output and Dolby Audio.
The one disadvantage to the LG Esteem is battery life isn’t that great. If you use the phone a lot you may have to recharge after about 5 to 7 hours. If or when I have to change the battery I may consider purchasing an extended battery, however, it will make the phone bulkier.
Service
Fortunately, 4G service is available in my city so streaming video is flawless and browsing the web is fast. MetroPCS 4G is only available in 14 cities which include Atlanta, Boston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Detroit, North Florida, Central Florida, South Florida, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, LA/Bakersfield, New York, Philadelphia, Sacramento and San Francisco. If you don’t live in one of these cities or travel a lot, getting 4G service will be an issue, however, I’m certain over time additional cities will be added.
MetroPCS claims their phone service covers 90% of the U.S. We recently drove from Atlanta to Chicago and never witnessed any loss of signal or dropped call. Sound quality was always good anytime we made a phone call. Although there was no 4G service outside Atlanta checking email and sending text messages was never slow.
Conclusion
So far I’m very happy with the LG Esteem and with MetroPCS’s service. For $45/month, I get unlimited minutes, text, data, picture messaging, international text messaging, GPS navigation, 4G (if available) and much more. You sure can’t beat the price. The larger carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Sprint) charges much more for these services but have better 3G/4G coverage than MetroPCS. However to me, the savings more than offset this fact.
The downside to the LG Esteem is battery life and the availability of 4G in limited markets. However, if you are fortunate to live in a city where 4G is offered and don’t travel too much, this is a non-issue. If 4G isn’t available, you can always connect to Wi-Fi to get similar 4G speeds.
Overall, I highly recommend MetroPCS and the LG Esteem. You won’t be disappointed.
One last thing, overall, my wife is very pleased with the LG Beacon and her service as well.
Update (Added 2-5-2012): Due to some of the comments below about MetroPCS’s 4G Service, I made the quick video below highlighting the 4G Service in the Atlanta area. (Sorry about the audio!)
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3:16 am on January 30th, 2012
You are either an employee of Metro Pcs or LG. The Esteem is a piece of garbage! I’ve had nothing but problems with it since I bought it! It constantly reboots even after updating to the svc fix! LG says I have to send them my phone and they may or may not repair it. So what am I supposed to do about a phone in the meantime? According to LG, it isn’t their problem! Metro Pcs won’t replace it either! Also, the battery dies in under 3hours even with WiFi and Bluetooth shut off!
As for 4g service: it doesn’t exist. I live in San Francisco and only get data via the ‘no-g’ service for about 10 minutes in a month if I’m lucky! I can’t use the navigation app without the data service!
Many people have the same problems as I do. So do yourself a favor and don’t buy anything that is made by LG.
By the way Metro and LG, don’t be surprised by the class-action lawsuit headed your way!
6:14 pm on January 30th, 2012
Wow, your experience is far different from mine. PF I can assure you I don’t work for MetroPCS or LG.
My phone has rebooted a few times for no reason. It happened maybe 5 times in the about 2 months. The 4G in Atlanta does works flawlessly. I have watched movies and videos and it streams with no problem. I listen to Pandora and Google Music at the gym and it plays the music tracks with no problem. I drove from Atlanta to Chicago and the GPS worked fine. The only problem is that every once in while the GPS program would close for no reason.
My battery last more than 3 hours, at about 5-7 hours, which is annoying. What’s weird is that when I listen to music streamed via 4G the battery seems to last longer, which is weird.
I guess 4G in SF isn’t working as it should. Sorry to hear you are having problems with your smartphone and service. But overall I’m happy with the smartphone and MetroPCS service.
7:19 am on January 31st, 2012
I’ve been with Metro PCS since I was 11 and all I can say is that they have improved tremendously! I recently purchased the LG Esteem and I’m very satisfied. My only complaints would have to be the battery life along with my 4G tripping out at times. I love the big screen and the front facing camera. All my apps work fine and I can even listen to Pandora without any interruptions! This phone is definitely worth the money.
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4:30 am on February 2nd, 2012
Phone sucks! Constantly locks up & crashes!! I never dropped it or got it wet & have a case on it in case it falls! Many times i’ve shut it down & it wouldn’t completely shut down. Have to take the battery out to shut it down! Save your money & wait for Samsung!!