The LG VX-6000 has a sharp 230,000 color active matrix transreflective LCD screen (completely visible in sunlight with backlight turned off), 640x480 pixel camera, large internal phone book, OEL external display, voice dial, voice memo, SMS built into the hardware, wireless web, Get It Now, support for MMS, sending pictures over the 1xRTT network, obviously support for 1xRTT 144kbps data, etc. etc.
Unfortunately, as an actual cellular phone, with no analog network support, stub antenna, and using the 1x network that crams the same number of users into 1/2 the spectrum, it totally sucks at its primary function, being a cellular handset. (Mostly Verizon's implementation shortfalls but one of my friends has also had shitty signal on 3, going on 4 of these phones now.) Verizon mashed all their CDMA users into the 1x bandwidth to make room for the final 3G rollout dubbed 1xEV-DO, once that stage is complete, 1xRTT will be used JUST for voice and 1xEV-DO will be used JUST for data with speeds up to 2.4Mbps.
Until that time they decided to use the 1xRTT bandwidth to beef up current data services and offer features like cameraphones (like the LG VX-6000) and their new horribly laggy Push-to-TalkTM (By Nextel Apparently) which is all fine and dandy except when regular cellular users can't make calls reliably anymore and the calls constantly chop up as packets are lost due to cell takeover by data services.
Yeah, that inner display is so sweet!
The Nextel i95cl uses a network that, at least on paper, is well-inferior to Verizon's CDMA. The top data thoroughput is about 9600bps vs. Verizon's 1x top speed of 144kbps. Data speed isn't everything however.
As mentioned above, Verizon's 1xRTT network is MUCH faster, but bear in mind before 1x they were only running at 14,400bps with their regular CDMA, and the CDMA vocoder they used then, and still now, dubbed "EVRC" for Enhanced Variable Rate Codec only runs at 8,000bps so it could easily fit in Nextel's bandwidth fine.
Nextel uses a proprietary TDMA system called iDen, developed completely by Motorola, it's mean, lean, powerful, disrupts speakers and monitors at close range, but completely functional, especially when implemented right.
From a service provider angle they seem to have their act straight, they have their network tuned up good before even thinking of messing with something like a camera phone, which they will be rolling out next year.
As for Push-to-TalkTM, they have had it for 11 years now so they kinda know what's going on!
Until Verizon gets a grasp on reality I think I'm sticking with Nextel! The handset itself is constructed more beefily than the LG. The battery compartment has moisture gaskets, the inside of the handset is all sealed with moisture gaskets. RF shields over every component. Even the speakerphone speaker (the LG doesn't even have one, well, aside from a quirk one newsgroup user experienced at any rate!) is made of a synthetic rubber material and sealed around its edges so it's functional and also seals the unit internally!
The display itself is only 256 colors vs. the LG's 65,535 and like the LG, it is also transreflective so it is visible in sunlight.
More to the point though, as a cellular handset, it's primary function, it RULES! The speakerphone is so loud it can be heard across my apartment. (Doesn't work too well the other way tho! ;) ) It's a little bulkier than the LG but well worth the size and completely understandable since the entire casing is sealed to take a beating.
The external display is your standard calculator-issue black & white LCD screen, with a cool blue backlight. Unlike Motorola's Verizon counterparts they put the battery gauge and signal strength on this display as well as inside. Probably something the iDen group won't let the rest of Moto use in their handset designs...or the rest of them are just stupid! ;)
It has a phonebook, supports wireless web, J2ME Java which is real cool instead of Verizon's Get It Now that is proprietary to Qualcomm. From an app developer's standpoint you need to pay obscene licensing fees to develop and attempt to market a GiN app, while J2ME is FREE FREE FREE! (To the end-user it does make a difference, apps developed for J2ME can generally be made cheaper since the developer doesn't have to pay all those fees.)
The text messaging is web-based, kinda like Sprint PCS's Vision, which I was leery about at first, but somehow Nextel implements their wireless web browsing service different than Verizon/Sprint because it is FAST. It appears to always leave a packet-switched data session running on the handest from boot, which would explain how it is always able to connect to the net so fast. I could not believe how fast wireless web browsing is! It honestly feels like a local phone-based application, not something running over the network. Because of this text isn't too painful, and yes, it means I have to be on their network to send text messages, but even with Verizon's built-in SMS on their handsets, you still need a digital signal to send or receive SMS (well, receiving can be done in a D-AMPS/AMPS hybrid network but I've only seen one out in California myself.) so there really isn't much difference.
One totally cool feature, is that when new handset software becomes available, Nextel lets the USER download the flash to their own home computer and update their handset themselves. This is contrary to Verizon where you not only have to pray the store READ the memo pertaining to the update, that they HAVE the update, AND the cable, AND actually know how to do it without toasting your phone. Oh yeah, you also have to hope they care, which our local Verizon store definitely doesn't.
One odd quirk that I am totally lost about, however, the phone book has no field for a contact's E-Mail address, but it DOES contain a field for IP ADDRESS?? Why in the world would any user but a hardcore computer geek (granted I like it) want to store a user's IP ADDRESS??? I don't get it at all, and the manual only mentions something to the effect, "Your phone book is capable of storing a user's name, several phone numbers, private ID, and IP address," but no mention as to WHY you would want to do this! Other than that very odd quirk I love the handset and the service!
This phone works so awesome!