LG Stylo 2 Prepaid Carrier Locked - Retail Packaging (Virgin Mobile)

UPDATE: LG/Virgin just pushed an update for this phone to Android 7.0 (Nougat). It hit my phone this morning 2/20/2017 and took a while (over 20 minutes) to install. So far so good. Can now reply to text and WhatsApp in notifications without leaving foreground app. Also fully implements multi-screen apps. This phone could do it before but now it's properly baked into the OS. In fact, I'm editing this review on my phone right now in the Amazon app on the bottom half of my screen while I have one of my forums open in Chrome on the top half. Nice.ORIGINAL REVIEW: Finally! 16gb internal storage on a budget VirginMobile phone means that it's not completely crippled like all previous VM phones I've had (Tribute, Volt, original Stylo); even when I rooted and removed much of the bloatware on those phones. No more hunting through all my apps every week to clear data. No more searching through the Play store for the lowest memory apps. Sure, the 2gb internal memory and snapdragon processor are "adequate" but what do you expect for a $100 phone? It suits my needs perfectly and runs all my apps just fine. Be aware that Android 6+ does not allow you to move apps to the SD card; but I always found that doing that on older versions slowed things down, broke widgets and never saved that much memory anyway. I'm happy with just photos/videos/music living on the SD card.I have a few puzzle games installed but it's not up to running demanding graphics-intensive games. But that's why I built my i7/Nvidia 970 beast of a desktop PC. :)Anyway, general thoughts:- screen: good, crisp, 720 resolution is appropriate and easy to read. Don't expect full HD for this budget. Max brightness is a little less than other phones I've had but still readable outside in full sun.- connectivity: pretty good cell-network connection and speed compared to other phones I've had although it ONLY does 2.4gHz wifi, it does NOT do 5gHz. That might be a deal-breaker for you.- form factor: I LIKE THE POWER BUTTON/VOLUME ROCKER ON THE BACK! Good for LG for giving us that choice despite the tyranny of side-buttons (that I accidentally press) on every other phone! I don't *need* the huge phablet screen but it is nice and it does barely fit in my pocket when walking/standing - but I can't sit or bend down to tie my shoes! The bezels could have been smaller, though; especially at top and bottom of screen. Wasted space. It is a very thin phone, though, which helps a lot.-battery life: very good. It lasts a full day of medium use just fine. 3000mAh battery with low power processor and low res display are a good combo for decent battery life. Android 6 is getting pretty smart about battery usage as well.- camera: shockingly high res for this budget. Photos are decent but not spectacular but I'm still experimenting.- voice calls: what are those again? :) Sounds OK, better than previous phones. But I wish max volume was a little louder for noisy environments. People say I sound fine from their end so microphone is doing its job.Overall verdict: perfect budget phone for me. It's not *amazing* but it has no major drawbacks (other than the lack of 5ghz wifi.)

Unless you're a snob about smartphones and have specific demands, this is simply amazing for the price, and will satisfy the average smart phone user. I'd say the biggest advantage to it is how much internal space it has. You'll never have to worry about not having enough space just to simply UPDATE your apps. I never thought I'd use the Stylus pen, but it's WAY more user-friendly than what I was used to: you can just take the pen out and immediately jot down a note, and save it instantly -- that's right, no extra steps, and there is no lag or anything; it's flawless. When you remove the pen, you have a LOT of options as to what you want to use the pen for, and it's easy to configure this once you decide how you want to use it. You can take screen shots (of something funny for instance) and then draw on it (comment on it), save it, and send it to someone. Those are just examples. Overall the features of this phone are EASY to figure out and use, and most importantly, they WORK. The camera is MORE than adequate for simply capturing moments, unless you're a snob about that kind of thing (anyone who wants a nice camera should buy an actual camera, not use their phone)... Battery charge should last one full day for average use, but definitely less if you watch video. It comes installed with a lot of apps that you simply CANNOT uninstall, so you will actually only have about 8-9GB of free space upon fresh setup. You can at least disable all of these apps and remove them from your home screen, of course. Activation was absolutely flawless and took only 10 mins (no activation fee either from Virgin, if you're swapping phones). It's been an awesome experience. I was previously using an LG Tribute for 2.5 years, which I had a great experience with, and this phone is definitely a step up from that. I expect the same durability as my previous LG (dropped it several times). Be sure to invest in a a durable cover.Edit: After having the phone for a few months now, the only complaint I have is the power button. It's on the BACK of the phone, and it's very awkward to find without physically turning the phone around and looking, because the power button is situated right between two other buttons (which are volume control). So in order to turn the screen on, I have to tap the screen twice (which the phone doesn't recognize sometimes), or else reach for the awkwardly-placed power button on the back of the phone. Horrible design. They should have kept the power button/screen wake button on the SIDE of the phone!!!Second Edit: It's almost October 2018, which is 2 years since I purchased the phone, and I finally had to replace the battery. (It wouldn't hold a charge for even half a day with average use). But I'm glad to report that the phone feels brand new with a new battery!