Hands on with Verizon's latest batch [Updated]

Earlier today I spent some time with Verizon’s latest devices. Was I impressed? Sort of. Was I disappointed? Sort of. We pretty much knew what to expect, but the hands on with all the devices wasn’t that bad. The Samsung Juke was pretty cool. It’s a tiny and slim phone with a 180 degrees keypad. It does have 2GB of internal storage, which is pretty neat. Stereo Bluetooth is always a plus and the VGA camera took decent pics. But it’s a kiddie device because of Chaperone. It comes in blue, red and teal.

[Update]: All the pics are up now.

We knew about the CDMA BlackBerry Pearl. It comes with GPS and VZ navigator service. The microSD card slot has been relocated to the side for easier access. It comes in a tinted silver-grey shade.

The LG Voyager is ok, IMO. It does have an external touch-screen and full QWERTY, but it sort of felt cheap. It’s a power user device as I’m told, but it’s sort of meh. It’s nice that it can handle up to 8GB thanks to the microSD slot, but I wasn’t all that impressed.

But the LG Venus certainly grabbed my attention. It will come in black and pink with dual front screens. The lower half of the screen is touch sensitive with vibration feedback. It’s a music-centric phone with a microSD slot and 2-megapixel camera and video recorder.

Overall, I wasn’t that impressed because I’ve seen most of the phones before, but I really liked the Venus regardless of the feminine name. All the devices will be available before Thanksgiving.