Review of the LG CU500 for Cingular

I am posting this in the Cingular forum because so many of this phone's features are tied to the Cingular configuration and 3G service. I have incorporated some of my comments in other threads into this review because I wanted it all in one place. I am in a Cingular 3G area and have had the phone for about two weeks.

Part 1:
Construction
Speakers and General Audio
User Interface and Controls
RF

Construction

This is a fairly slim black flip with solid construction. The top of the flip has developed a bit of play (wiggle) around the hinge, but it's not objectionable, if it doesn't get any worse. The hinge itself seems beefier than on many flips.

Speakers and General Audio

The earpiece and speakerphone volumes are both quite good, although the sound is a bit scratchy/tinny. They are plenty loud and the specs claim they are stereo, but I don't know what that really means, since they are less than an inch apart.

The speakerphone and "mobiradio" audio (more on this later) come out of the same location, so either they turn on additional speakers or just crank it up even more in those modes.

My wife says that on her end it doesn't sound as good as my previous Nokias.

The phone does not come with headphones. It has a 2.5 mm jack and bluetooth, though.


User Interface and Controls

The internal screen is big and bright with information/icon lines at the top and bottom and plenty of room for photo wallpaper, if you are into that. The external screen has the essentials - big, easily readable clock and date digits, indicators for signal and battery, icons for voicemail, text message and alert mode. Of course, the external screen shows caller ID on incoming calls. The font for this could be a little bigger and it's not modifiable. Below the external screen are control buttons for the music player. The intent is to allow you to use the player with the phone closed. This phone also has "flight mode" which turns the cellular radio off.

There is a fairly conventional menu to access the phone's features. Two of those are unique to 3G phones: Cingular Video and Cingular Music. The ever-present Cingular Mall icon is at the center and selected by default.

One nice touch is a customizable menu called My Menu where, for easy access, you can assign any of 12 entries to any function, however deep it is in the menu tree. You can order and reorder this to your heart's content. When the phone is in normal resting mode, the right softkey brings up the My Menu.

Some users have complained that the phone has a loud menu confirmation sound that it plays whenever you change a setting, quit out of MediaNet, etc. The only way to turn this off, as far as I can tell, is to put the phone in Vibrate mode. It does not have multiple "profiles" as some phones do, where you can set up different combinations of call ringer, message alert, key tones, etc.

In addition to the music player buttons below the external screen, there are two side buttons: 1) an up/down rocker that can be used for changing the earpiece volume during a call or sending an incoming call to voicemail. 2) A "task" button that brings up a mini menu on the external screen :
MP3 player
Take Photo
Record Video
Cancel

Since you have to press this side button and then the center button on the front of the case, you probably won't take a picture by accident with this arrangement. Of course, there is also a button dedicated to the camera on the inside keypad.


RF

RF reception is good to very good. Given the way I have used it, I can't really compare it to my old Nokia 6200 (known for great RF). As opposed to the Nokia, where I had a blue AT&T SIM, this CU500 is a 3G phone with a new orange SIM. It tries to stay in 3G, if it sees the 3G signal. I have always had trouble with reception in my house and this phone is better than my 6200 on that score. I don't know, however, if this is the effect of the 3G or the overall RF performance.

Sometimes there will be 1/5 bars, or even no bars, but the 3G icon will still be there and I can make a call. Call quality can be good even with no bars !?:headscrat 3G penetration inside buildings is also pretty good - at least as good as my Nokia 6200 in 2G.


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Part 2:
3G
Battery life
Bluetooth
Camera
Java applications
Pros and Cons


3G

I love the speed of the 3G while on the Web. I like to read CNN.com, and on this phone pages load very fast - even the CNN home page - often in 2 - 3 seconds.

While on a call in 3G mode, you can hear the other person clearly, and also a normal level of background hiss. When there is a pause in the conversation, that hiss goes away - it is virtually silent. I find this a bit disconcerting. It sounds like the call has been dropped, but (usually) this is not the case. It's as if it holds the connection but momentarily stops transmitting any sound. Maybe I will get used to it, but I haven't yet.

The above is not a real complaint, just a peculiarity. I assume this is related to the phone's efficient use of bandwidth in 3G, but I'm just speculating.

I have mentioned that it is dropping calls more than my old Nokia 6200. But I don't think it has dropped any calls when I was standing still, even if the signal strength was low. It drops calls when I am driving while on the phone (don't even go there ) . Maybe it has to do with 3G handoffs working poorly? Maybe this will improve? I have read some speculation on this issue.

Battery life

The battery life is not great. I usually turn my phone off when I go to sleep, and I only have bluetooth on when I am transferring files (no bluetooth headset yet!). Even so, I am getting about two days of moderate use on this phone. In my opinion, it's not bad enough to be a Con, but it's a neutral. With two bright screens and 3G, I didn't expect it to last as long as my old 6200. I may feel differently if I start using the music player or BT headphone a lot and I can't make it through the day.

Bluetooth

I have exchanged files easily over Bluetooth with my Mac Mini, my Palm T2, my wife's Mac Powerbook and her new Samsung t509 (T-Mobile). The only device I have had trouble pairing and exchanging files with is my work IBM ThinkPad X32. Go figure.

Camera

The 1.3 Mpixel camera is only adequate in bright sunlight. It has no flash and indoor shots are dark and grainy, even in what appears to be adequate light. Also, it has no zoom and doesn't tell you when the subject is in focus. So it's not a replacement for a real camera, but it's OK if you see an Aston Martin while strolling through town, and want to have a record of it. Below is a picture of a DB7 Vantage.


Java Applications

As has been mentioned in several places, the Java implementation on the LG CU500 has a major limitation. Applications you download, such as Google Maps for Mobile, ask for a confirmation every time they go out to the Internet. This, of course, makes them unusable. I haven't downloaded Opera yet, and probably won't unless they get this fixed. I'll also be very curious to see my data bill after panning around the satellite images on Google maps!! Anyway, I had to show my wife the images of our house on this phone, just to brag.


So in summary:

Pros:
Solid construction
Big, bright internal screen
Nice external screen with the essential information
Straightforward menu system
Customizable personal shortcut menu
3G for fast Web browsing
Loud, adjustable earpiece speaker/speakerphone
Expandable memory via microSD cards
Music player with external controls and "flight mode"

Cons:
Cingular's 3G network appears not to handle cell handoffs well - many dropped calls while driving.
Java implementation makes 3rd party Internet-based programs unusable.
No PC sync software and no support for SyncML.
USB cable, for transferring many files to/from the phone is an expensive accessory.
Only cases currently available are generic pouches. No form fitting case you can leave on all the time.
"Radio" is actually streaming audio, for which data charges apply

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You're welcome. Yes, the pic is OK, which means that with a still subject in sunlight, you can get a decent shot. I resized it to 60% in Photoshop, but that's all I did.

I didn't list the camera as a Con, because I don't expect much from it. It's never going to touch my 6-year-old Nikon Coolpix 990, much less a modern camera. I just think that if people want a really capable camera on their phone, they might look elsewhere.

I'm still playing around with music, and to a lesser extent, video, on the phone and hope to write a bit about using it as a music player in the near future. Waiting for my microSD card and USB cable to arrive!!

 

Well it obviously still has a few rough edges, but I'm hoping that a combination of software updates (this phone can get them OTA) and the maturation of the 3G network will address the worst issues over time.

I was still hoping to have the option to ditch it and go to the 6126, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen before my 30 day trial period runs out.

And anyway I'm finding that I like playing with 3G before you and the other experts get it (walkguru excepted, of course). It's fun being on bleeding edge.

On the CU500 these are the choices that pop up:
Yes, Always Ask.
No, Never Grant.

Now wouldn't you think there would be a third alternative?

Despite what I said, I actually have tried this in Opera Mini (forgot I had done this) and it's the same as in Google Maps. The word is that this is a Java issue on this device, not anything to do with the applications.

Hmm, I'm pretty sure there is a spiffed up historic part of town where you are. Do they drive tractors up to the Yacht Club? :lmao: