Review: LG LX350
Intro:
Positives: The LG LX350 has a sleek design, user-friendly controls, and a solid feature set that includes Bluetooth, a megapixel camera, and a speakerphone. Negatives: The LG LX350 suffers from inconsistent voice quality, and its Bluetooth does not allow for file transfers. Facts: If you can get over the sometimes muddy voice quality, the LG LX350 for Sprint is still a satisfying midrange phone. Just don't expect too much.
LG LX350
There's not a lot you can say about the LG LX350 for Sprint. It's attractive without being stylish, it's functional without being remarkable, and its call quality is serviceable without being exceptional. In all, it's a quality middle-of-the-road cell phone that performs its basic functions relatively well, and it manages to pack in some bonus features, including a 1.3-megapixel camera with admirable photo quality, a speakerphone, and Bluetooth. Although the last offering is relatively half-baked, a fact that won't please hands-free fanatics, less-demanding users should find little to complain about. The LX350 is much too expensive if you pay the full price of $229, but service rebates can knock it down to a more reasonable $49. Like the proverbial little black dress, the similarly hued LG LX350 goes with just about everything. The basic black and bright-silver touches make for a pleasant overall design that's attractive but unlikely to turn heads on the street. The compact (3.6 by 1.9 by 0.9 inches), lightweight (3.7 ounces) form factor makes for a phone that's easily portable but doesn't sacrifice a solid construction or a comfortable feel in the hand. In the center of the front flap is the postage-stamp-size (96x64 pixels; 4 lines) external display. Supporting a bright 65,000 colors, it shows the date, the time, battery life, signal strength, and photo caller ID. You can change the wallpaper and the backlighting time, which is a good thing, since the screen disappears completely when dark. Above the display is a camera lens, as well as a flash that doubles as a status light that glows when you're on a call; you can also turn it off. There's no self-portrait mirror, but you don't need it, as the display functions as a viewfinder for those vanity shots. Completing the outside of the handset are a camera key on the right spine, along with a volume rocker, a headset jack, and a voice-dialing key. The sleek LX350 has some nice design touches. Inside the LG LX350, you'll find a 262,000-color main display. At 1.8 inches diagonally (128x160 pixels; 11 lines), it's a decent size, and though colors are sharp, smaller objects and gaming graphics are somewhat fuzzy. It's fine, however, for scrolling though the simple menus, which are available in two styles, and you can change the backlight time and the font size. Below the display is the spacious navigation array, consisting of a five-way toggle, two soft keys, and the traditional Talk and End/power buttons. All keys are tactile and easy to use by feel. The toggle doubles as a shortcut to four user-defined functions, while the soft keys open the Web browser and the phone book when the mobile is in standby mode. Below the array are dedicated keys for the speakerphone and the camera, as well as a Back button. Despite their thinness, all three controls make for an intuitive user experience. The midsize, round keypad buttons are spaced far apart and raised above the surface of the phone. The numerals on the keys are big, but the backlighting is dim. We liked the LG LX350's photo quality. The LG LX350 has a decent feature set that includes all of the essentials and a few extras. The address book stores 500 contacts, with room in each entry for five phone numbers, an e-mail address, a Web address, and notes. You can assign your friends to caller groups or pair them with a picture or one of 20 polyphonic (72-chord) ring tones. The handset also offers Sprint's new Wireless Backup service, as found on the Samsung SPH-A580. Basic offerings include a vibrate mode; an alarm clock; 3 minutes of voice-memo recording time; voice commands and dialing; text and multimedia messaging; a calculator, a world clock; support for e-mail and instant messaging; a notepad; and LG's handy tip calculator. On the higher end, the LG LX350 comes with a full-duplex speakerphone, which can be activated before you make a call, and Bluetooth, though not the most user-friendly implementation of it. While you can use Bluetooth to connect to a headset, support dial-up networking, and send an electronic business card or a calendar appointment, it doesn't support file transfers--an unfortunate and restrictive move on Sprint's part. Alternatively, you can order prints from your Sprint online album, or you can send them to a computer or a printer with the carrier's PictBridge service. You'll need a USB cable for the latter, though, and it doesn't come with the phone. The 1.3-megapixel camera takes pictures in only three resolutions--960x1,280, 480x640, and 240x320--but you get a fair number of editing options, including three quality settings; four shutter sounds, plus a silent option; adjustable brightness and white-balance settings; four color tones; a 5- or 10-second self-timer; a 15X digital zoom; and a flash. The camcorder records 3G2 clips in one resolution (176x144) with sound. Editing options are similar to the still camera's. For saving your work, the LG LX350 comes with a healthy 30MB of shared memory. At the most, it will hold 66 photos at the highest resolution. Photo quality was quite good, with vivid colors and sharp object outlines. The LX350 is one of the better megapixel camera phones we've seen. You can personalize the LG LX350 with a variety of clock styles, screensavers, color skins, and alert sounds. More options and ring tones are available from Sprint via the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. What's more, you can save your own voice memos as ring tones. Gaming options are limited; demo versions of five Java (J2ME) games are included--2Fast 2Furious, Midnight Pool, Tetris, Ms. Pac-Man, and World Poker Tour--so you'll need to buy the full titles. We tested the dual-band, dual-mode (CDMA 800/1900; AMPS 800) LG LX350 in San Francisco using Sprint's service. Call quality was good overall. There was plenty of volume, but audio quality sounded a bit tinny, almost as if we were talking to a robot. Callers reported the same on their end and could tell we were using a cell phone. It wasn't a huge deal, but it was noticeable nonetheless. Speakerphone calls had about the same quality, and volume was satisfactory. We paired the LX350 with the Plantronics Explorer 320 Bluetooth headset; call quality was fine but nothing special. The LG LX350 has a rated talk time of 4 hours and a promised standby time of just more than 14 days. In our tests, we found the LG LX350 had a tested talk time of 3 hours, 45 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the LG LX350 has a digital SAR rating of 0.75 watt per kilogram and an analog SAR rating of 1.12 watts per kilogram.
Our recommendation: Buy
Contributed by Charles Partin - Berkeley, California
Keywords: virginia tech cell phone case, mobile phone esn sharing
Samsung SPH-M610
Intro:
Positives: The Samsung SPH-M610 has an attractive design, a fantastic internal display, and admirable performance. It also offers a solid set of features including Bluetooth, a 2-megapixel camera, and EV-DO support. Negatives: The Samsung SPH-M610's volume was a tad low, its external display is too small, and it lacks stereo speakers. Also the microSD card slot is in a poor location. Facts: Despite some minor performance and design issues, the Samsung SPH-M610 is a strong addition to Sprint's lineup and a great choice for a slim phone.
Samsung SPH-M610
Photo gallery:Samsung SPH-M610
Our recommendation: Buy
Reviewed by Ruby Avila - Blanket, Texas
Keywords: cell phone secrets, cheap mobile phone memory
Up next: LG CG300
Intro:
Positives: The LG CG300 has a VGA camera, PTT functionality, Bluetooth, a spacious keypad, and a speakerphone with great audio quality. Plus, it's a quad-band world phone and enjoys admirable talk-time battery life. Negatives: The LG CG300's external screen doesn't display photo caller ID, and its design is rather boring. Facts: The only Cingular push-to-talk phone to have a camera (thus far), the LG CG300 is a decent choice for a midrange cell phone with international capability.
LG CG300
Now that Cingular has brought push-to-talk (PTT) technology to the GSM world, its popularity has gone beyond industry professionals to the young and hip crowd. Of Cingular's first PTT phones launched early this year, the only two cell phones available were the LG F7200 and the Samsung SGH-D357. Designed to appeal to a business crowd in a security-conscious world, they lacked a VGA digital camera and focused on basic work-friendly functions. Well, now there's another member in the Cingular PTT family: the LG CG300. Like the other two handsets, the LG CG300 has a pretty basic design and is relatively small compared with many of Nextel's PTT clunkers. Yet, it also offers Cingular customers a bit more variety by including a built-in VGA camera. You can get it from Cingular for $50 after a rebate and a two-year contract. Otherwise, it will run you $99. The CG300 has an average size for a flip phone. As said previously, the design of the LG CG300 is simple and nothing to write home about. It has a black and silver color scheme, a slightly curved body, and a sturdy antenna stub. At 3.58 by 1.9 by 0.94 inches and 3.8 ounces, it's not terribly bulky, and it fits easily--if a bit snugly--in the pocket. The phone feels pretty comfortable in the hand, and when opened, it cradled our ears without any discomfort. One design feature of the LG CG300 that stands out is the large speaker at the top. Although it makes the phone look like a walkie-talkie, which goes nicely with the PTT functionality, it isn't very attractive. Underneath is the thumbnail-size external screen (96x64 pixels) that is monochrome in standby mode but displays a bright fixed-color background when the phone is open and during a call. The color filter can't be deactivated, but it's easy to see in both environments. The external screen displays the time, battery and signal strength, and caller ID (but not photo caller ID). On the left spine are the headset jack, a PTT button, and a volume rocker; on the right spine is a dedicated camera button. In a nice touch, a dedicated speakerphone button is located on top of the phone. The VGA camera, the flash, and a tiny self-portrait mirror are on the back, but you have to be careful not to cover the lens with your finger. When opening the LG CG300, you're presented with a disappointing 65,536-color, 1.75-inch-diagonal (128x160 pixels) internal display. Although it's fine for scrolling through the simple menus, it has an overall washed-out appearance, especially when compared to other phones with 262,000-color displays. You can adjust the backlight time and the contrast, but there are no brightness or font-size settings. Underneath the display are the navigational controls made up of two soft keys, a shortcut to the photo gallery, a dedicated camera button, and a five-way navigation toggle that also provides shortcuts to text messaging, instant messaging, the contacts list, and the MyStuff folder. When in standby mode, the OK button defaults as a Web-browser shortcut, but none of the shortcuts are user-configurable, unfortunately. At the bottom of the array are the Talk and End/power keys, with the Cancel key in between. Below the navigational controls is the spacious keypad, which has buttons that are raised enough to dial by feel. All the keys are tactile due to their large size and spacious layout. Also, they glow a bright blue for easy dialing in the dark. The LG CG300 comes with a small 255-entry address book, and each entry can accommodate three phone numbers, an e-mail address, a note, and a picture. The inclusion of a picture ID doesn't make too much sense to us, since the external display can't show photo caller ID. Each entry is assigned to different caller groups, but only the groups will accommodate one of the 10 polyphonic ring tones and 10 monophonic ring tones. Organizational features include a calendar, an alarm clock, a voice memo, a calculator, a notepad, a world clock, a unit converter, and a tip calculator. You also get instant messaging (with AOL, ICQ, and Yahoo), text and multimedia messaging, a 30-second voice recorder, a WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser, a vibrate mode, a speakerphone, and Bluetooth. There's also a neat feature that lets you send photos wirelessly to a Bluetooth-enabled printer. Although the CG300 has a dedicated speakerphone button, you can activate it only after you make a call--weird. For a complete description of Cingular's new push-to-talk service, please see our review of the LG F9200. The CG300's camera is fully equipped with a flash and a self-portrait mirror. While the LG CG300 comes equipped with a disappointing VGA camera, it was a nice change from the previous Cingular PTT phones that ditched cameras completely. You can take photos in 640x480, 320x240, and 160x120 resolutions. Other camera options include a brightness setting; Auto, Daylight, Incandescent, Cloudy, and Fluorescent white-balance options; three color effects (Color, Sepia, Mono); a 5- and 10-second self-timer; a multishot feature of up to 3 shots; and three different shutter sounds (there's also a silent option). The camera's flash is simply a bright flashlight that you can turn or off. Photos were predictably washed out and grainy but fairly standard for those of a VGA camera. The CG300 comes with 7.9MB of built-in memory, which is fine for a few snapshots, but you might quickly fill it up if you have a camera trigger finger. The CG300's image quality was typical of VGA cameras. You can personalize the LG CG300 with a variety of wallpaper and graphics, with the option to download more from Cingular. There are also multiple key tones, as well as ring and message-alert sounds. You can choose how you wish to answer calls by flipping open the phone, pressing any key, or pressing the Send/Talk key only. As for Java (J2ME) games, you get a demo version of Tetris and BlockBreaker. We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS) LG CG300 world phone in San Francisco using Cingular's service. While there was some minor static and interference typical of a cell phone call, callers could hear us loud and clear and vice versa. The speakerphone had similarly good audio quality, with almost no difference when compared to the speakerphone from a landline phone. The GPRS Media Net Web browser was predictably poky, taking a long time to connect and disconnect in between sessions. The LG CG300 has a rated talk time of 3 hours, with an exceptional tested time of 4.5 hours. The rated standby time is 10 days, but we got only 6 days in our tests. According to FCC radiation tests, the LG CG300 has a digital SAR rating of 1.04 watts per kilogram. While the LG CG300 may have a mediocre design and a low-resolution display, it does have great audio quality; plus, it's a quad-band world phone. Sure, the VGA camera may be a turnoff to some, but it's the only Cingular PTT phone with a camera, making it slightly better than the other two. Overall, the LG CG300 makes for a decent cell phone if you are into push-to-talk technology, want a simple camera for quick snapshots, and need a world phone to use abroad.
Our recommendation: Buy
Contributed by Jessica Cameron - Williams, California
Keywords: what is the fastest cell phone technology, mobile phone tool
In our lab: Sony Ericsson K750i Unlocked SILVER
Intro:
Product Short Spec: Band / mode: GSM 900/1800/1900 (Tri-Band) Talk time: Up to 550 min Combined with: With digital camera / digital player / FM radio
Sony Ericsson K750i Unlocked SILVER
Our recommendation: Do not buy
Provided by Beth Becher - Hatch, Utah
Keywords: game format for samsung m510 cell phone, mike jeffs mobile phone stores australia
Up next: Sanyo 6600 Katana (Blue Sapphire)
Intro:
Positives: The Sanyo 6600 Katana has a slim silhouette and offers a VGA camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, text messaging, voice dialing, a voice recorder, and a wireless Web browser. It has a large external screen. Negatives: The Sanyo 6600 Katana's feature set is rather underwhelming and doesn't have 3G support like many of its slim counterparts. It also suffers from flat keys that are slippery and difficult to dial by feel. Facts: The Sanyo 6600 Katana pales in comparison to the Motorola Razr and the Samsung MM-A900 in terms of design and features. But on its own, it's a pretty good midtier phone. Note: This product is part of the Sanyo 6600 Katana series. .
Sanyo 6600 Katana (Blue Sapphire)
When the Samsung MM-A900 arrived from Sprint late last year, we called it Samsung's answer to the Motorola Razr, thanks to its slim shape and similar, flip-phone design. Fast-forward several months, and Sprint has yet another Razr competitor on its hands: the Sanyo 6600 Katana. Having named it after a type of samurai sword, Sanyo clearly has high ambitions with this slim and slender handset, perhaps aiming to draw people away from the widely popular Razr. But without features such as a megapixel camera, a music player, or 3G support, the Sanyo 6600 Katana pales in comparison to both the Samsung MM-A900 and Verizon's Razr V3m. On the upside, its retail price of $279.99 is markedly cheaper than that of the Samsung and Motorola phones, and you can get it for $79.99 after a two-year service contract with Sprint. It also comes in Mystic Black, Sapphire Blue, Cherry Blossom Pink, and Polar White. The white phone is sold exclusively at RadioShack. The major draw of the Sanyo 6600 Katana is, obviously, its design. It has a superslim form factor that measures 3.9 by 2.0 by 0.6 inches, much like the MM-A900, and it weighs a very light 3.4 ounces, much like the Razr. Its thin profile means it slips into a pocket easily, and we found the phone comfortable to hold in hand and next to the ear. The Sanyo 6600 Katana has a VGA camera. At first glance, it's easy to confuse the Katana with the Razr. The camera is located at the top of the front flap with the external display just underneath, which is very similar to the Razr--although the Katana has a slightly beveled front, while the Razr's front flap is flat. We liked the Katana's large, 1-inch-diagonal, 65,000-color external display; it demonstrates the usual signal strength, as well as battery life and time; plus, it shows photo caller ID and acts as a camera viewfinder for self-portraits. On the left spine is the volume rocker, while the right spine is home to a dedicated camera button. Flip open the phone and you'll find a large 65,000-color, 2.2-inch-diagonal screen, which is rather disappointing when compared to the 262,000-color support of the Samsung MM-A900. What's more, the screen was difficult to see in bright sunlight. You can change the display's backlight time and font size, but you can't adjust the brightness or contrast. The menu design has a brushed-metal look, which we found boring, but it was easy to use. Below the display are the navigational controls and keypad, which are arranged in a blocky, gridlike layout. The navigation keys consist of two soft keys and a five-way toggle that also act as shortcuts to text messaging, voice recording, the My Content folder, and the Web browser. These shortcuts are not user-customizable. Below the left soft-key is the dedicated camera button and below the right soft key is the Back button. Above the keypad are the Talk and End/power keys, with the speakerphone key in between. As with the MM-A900 and the Razr, the keys are flush to the surface, making them difficult to dial by feel. Perhaps worse than either of the two, the keys on the Katana are terribly slippery, which made navigating the menu even trickier. The keys glow bright blue when activated, and you can adjust the backlight timer on the keys. Behind the Katana's slim silhouette is a disappointing feature set. It doesn't have nearly the multimedia clout that the Razr and the Samsung MM-A900 have in terms of a megapixel camera, media-player functionality, and 3G support. Yet the Katana has several basic features that should satisfy most users. The 500-entry address book holds up to seven numbers per entry, an e-mail address, a Web site URL, a home address, and a memo. Plus, you can assign a contact to a group, a photo ID, and one of 16 polyphonic (72-chord) ring tones. There's also text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail, picture mail, voice recording, Bluetooth, a calendar, an alarm clock, a countdown timer, a stopwatch, a world clock, a calculator, a vibrate mode, a speakerphone, and a wireless Web browser. We liked that you could activate the speakerphone before you make calls. The Sanyo Katana produced disappointing picture quality. The Katana offers a VGA camera, which produced predictably disappointing picture quality with washed-out colors (not to mention way too much orange) and blurry object edges. You can take pictures with three different resolutions (640x480, 320x240, or 160x120 pixels), three quality settings (Fine, Normal, Economy), and the choice of either two shutter sounds or silence. Other camera settings include five picture modes (Normal, Beach/Snow, Scenery, Night/Dark, and Soft Focus), a self-timer of up to 10 seconds, multiple shot, stitch shot, 10 picture frames, eight color tones, brightness, and white balance. You can customize the Sanyo Katana with a variety of screensavers and animation graphics, though there doesn't seem to be an option to change the wallpaper. Plus, you have the option of downloading more screensavers, graphics, and ring tones from Sprint via the wireless WAP 2.0 browser. On the gaming front, the phone comes with Midnight Pool, World Poker Tour, and demos of Ms. Pac-Man and Tetris. You also have the option of downloading more games from Sprint. We tested the dual-band, trimode (CDMA 800/A900; AMPS 800) Sanyo Katana in San Francisco using Sprint's service. Signal strength and call quality were great, as both parties could hear each other loud and clear. Speakerphone quality was similarly good, and we were impressed with how loud the calls were. We successfully managed to pair the Sanyo Katana with the Jabra BT160. Browser speed was predictably poky, taking a few seconds to load each page. The Sanyo Katana has a rated talk time of 3.5 hours and a rated standby time of seven days. In our tests, we eked out an impressive 4 hours of talk time, but battery life fell short at just four days. According to FCC radiation tests, the Sanyo Katana has a digital SAR rating of 0.678 watt per kilogram.
Our recommendation: Buy
Reviewed by Tina Palmer - Pleasant Lake, Michigan
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