Venture Prepaid Android Phone (Virgin Mobile)

I got one of these for three reasons: I wanted to try a phone with Android and a keyboard. I wanted to try Sprint/Virgin Mobile again because they said their coverage was improved. And I found one of these at Amazon for $15.00 plus shipping--under @5.00 in all.I found the combination of the keyboard and touchscreen very usable. This keyboard is one of the better ones on such a phone. Unfortunately, that still leaves the keyboard inferior to my old Nokia E5, or all the non-smartphones that have QWERTY keyboards. Still it offers faster typing than virtual keyboards on anything smaller than a 3.5" screenUnfortunately, I still found that where I work is in a near deadzone for Sprint. I considered looking into getting this flashed to Cricket, but since they had a similar phone with a slightly bigger screen, and managed to get it for about $50.00, I didn't. I replaced that phone with a more typical Android phone because the keyboard, though faster in ideal conditions was unusable it the light wasn't perfect. I might have held off longer on changing if I had worked with this one.The keyboard has drawn a lot of criticism, but it is a very good size for both one and two-finger use, while slide-out ones are generally too wide for one-finger. But the wedge-shaped keys designed for thumb use are actually problematic if you do the one-finger typing that phones often call for, or use fingernails as likely with large fingers. The numbers are near-illegible, but the arrangement is standard, and when you are dialing you use the onscreen keypad anyway.The other criticism has been battery life, and it is shockingly short compared to my old Nokia or the non-smartphones I have had. But compared to two subsequent Android phones I've used, and comparing notes with friends who have a nice Samsung phone and an iPhone, this isn't that bad--the worst, but not by much. I suspect a cheap phone like this draws people moving from old school smartphones and non-smartphones, used to going days between charging, while people using expensive smartphones for a while have developed strategies for keeping them charged.Mine has some problems with the headphone jack. It works with headphones, but not with most external speakers I've tried. That is probably why I was able to get the used one so cheap, but it might indicate something likely to break on a new one or perfect used one.And I find that it has very little internal storage. That isn't really a serious constraint on adding apps, because a lot will fit on even a 2GB micro SD card and the phone will take up to 32GB. But a lot of the factory installed apps will not move off internal storage. I find I can't upgrade one because the new version is about twice the size of the original.A really good-looking phone, and inexpensive, if you can live with its limitations.

I actually thought this phone was going to be a bueaty! When I got this I expected so much more, but I guess you pay for what you get. This phone has such a small memory, you can hardly ever download any games as long as its under about 20 MB, or else this phone will keep telling you that you have low space. i literally bought this phone about a month ago, at first I did like it, but once I started to realize how much of a piece of junk it is, the more I want to sell it to get a better one. The camera is horrible, and the flash is useless. the keyboard is somewhat nice if you can get used to it, i have extremely large hands and I certainly got used to it quickly. The battery dies quickly! it only last me 4 hours for about texting, and making a couple phone calls, and also for making maybe 3 trips to the internet, I have to constantly make sure I have my charger with me, or else this piece of junk will just die on me, also I have to kill apps constantly just to get even more time with it. Also, sometimes I don't get my messages or notifications, so I have to restart it a couple of times in order for me to get my notifications, or else people will just wonder why I didn't text them back. All in all, this phone is useless you're near a plug, and if you would only be needing it for texting or making a few phone calls.-Stewart

I bought my mother this phone after coming off of Sprint with a Blackberry (a very faulty one). I wanted to introduce her to touch screen, but she still wanted a keyboard to type on. its a slow responding device that often gets frozen and doesn't send text messages on occasion (though I blame the virgin mobile coverage on this one). The photo quality is pretty terrible but she doesn't take too many pictures. If I could, I'd buy her a new phone but my budget is lacking. I thank Amazon for the lowered price though, it's a little more expensive at our local virgin support store. I'm not sure If i'd recommend this phone to my mother again, but for those who don't want to do much but call and text with a limited touch screen, this is for you.

This phone can do just about everything all my other smart phones could do. I can access YouTube, Facebook, e-mail and I can Google. The only thing I can't do is play Facebook games and I cant get instagram. The camera is not the best but I use it to post pics on Facebook. The battery life is ok., and sound quality is good. Over all this little phone gets the job done.

I purchased this phone for my daughter's 13th birthday. I was looking for an Android phone that wasn't too pricy but had enough features to keep a teen happy. This covered all bases! The combination touch-screen and QWERTY keyboard are easy to use for small hands and Android Gingerbread offers the features and speed that my teen daughter enjoys. The monthly cost works for me as well - I chose the $35 plan which includes 300 minutes, and unlimited data and texting. Since my daughter texts and uses email more than she talks this is a great phone at a great plan that works for Mom and teen.

hi i ordered this phone last week but hasnt had the time to swap my intercept to this phone yet. i was wondering if your able to download instagram for this phone. on my intercept i couldnt since i figured it was a 2.2 android and gave me tons of problems im hoping the venture is a bit better.

Not a bad phone for someone just starting out with an android, but the battery does die very quickly. I have to disable the data to conserve the battery. Keypad is very small, so you need to be careful when texting to avoid mistakes. Overall, it is an okay phone, but if you have a little more money, it is probably worth it to invest in something a little nicer.