Price Range:

Chocolate 3G with touch sensitive music controls

Using the design cues of the stylish icon, the LG Chocolate, comes the U830 clamshell 3G handset. Featuring a slender body, a luxurious black and silver glossy finish, a hidden exterior screen and hidden touch sensitive music controls the U380 is the handset for people who value style and require the latest features. Open the handset to reveal a large, well laid out keypad and a highly detailed colour screen.

The U830 is an HSDPA-enabled phone — our test sample was a 3 branded model — with two cameras — one internal VGA for video calling, and a higher quality 2-megapixel external camera for photographic use. The phone has 184MB of available memory for storage, which initially seems very generous, until you realize one of the key omissions on the U830 — there’s no external memory port whatsoever, so the 184MB you’ve got is all you’re going to get. The primary LCD is a 240 by 320-pixel, 262K TFT screen, while the smaller external screen is a 128 by 160-pixel, 65K TFT. A2DP Bluetooth is supported for those with stereo Bluetooth headphones.

A 2.0 megapixel camera is on board to capture life going by, and viewing your photos is a pleasure thanks to the 2.2″ QVGA TFT internal display. LG has included 185MB of on board memory, but this only goes a short way to alleviating the need for a memory card slot. The device is already being sold through network operator 3 in Italy, Hong Kong, and the UK, but so far no other markets have been announced.

The camera has also been hiked from 1.3 megapixels to a more respectable two and despite occasionally suffering from over exposure, the photo quality is decent enough.

Key Features:

Network WCDMA
Form Factor SHELL
Message Email
MP3 Player yes
Bluetooth yes
Ringtone 64ch
Internal Memory 128MB
Standby time(h) 180
Java yes
GPRS yes
3G yes
USB yes
Color Black
TV yes
Video Camera yes

Specifications:

Dual cameras
Dual colour screens
Wireless connectivity with Bluetooth
Multimedia at your fingertips
Video telephony
Flight mode
Maxisim
Email

Price Range: $199.99 - $409.99

Fast TV, Music and Data Downloads

The TU720 retains the Shine’s sliding screen, which moves up to reveal a fairly cramped keypad; a flaw that has not improved from the previous model. Not only is it rather compressed, but the buttons are quite stiff and unnecessarily difficult to press, which is going to annoy avid text writers.

The phone can be used as an MP3 player and includes headphones, but any 3.5mm headphones can be used instead. You can also use the Bluetooth 1.2 with A2DP support to stream audio to wireless headphones. A MicroSD slot allows the 140MB internal memory to be expanded by 4GB at any given time, though no card is included. Songs can be transferred using the included USB cable and the Titanium Shine can even be used as a modem with the included software and a PC.

Specifications:

Network 3G
Form Factor Slide
Message SMS, MMS
Pixel 2.0 Mega Pixel
Mp3 player Yes
Bluetooth Yes
Internal Memory 140MB
Memory Slot Yes
Standby time 250 hours
Java MIDP 2.0
Digital Zoom up to 4x
GPRS Yes
HSCSD 7.2
3G YES
Color Titanium
Pixel 262K COLOUR TFT
TV Yes
Video Camera Yes

Price Range:

The U8380 features an outstanding built-in 1.3 megapixel digital camera. This offers a high resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels providing you with high quality still and moving images. 180 Degree rotating screen allows you to capture images and video at practically any angle. Built-in flash and options such as brightness or white balance. 2x digital zoom.
Multi-shot and timer mode are other useful functions that are included. View pictures taken as a slide show.

Send pictures as you take them via Email, MMS or Bluetooth with the easy to use menu option that is displayed after each picture. (refer to MMS Support)
Pictures taken can be set as wallpaper on your phone.

The internal screen comes with a TFT type display which provides a 176 x 220 pixel screen resolution with 262k bright colours. The user can also view information on the phones external display which is a TFT 65k colour screen. The phone comes with a dual camera feature which allows the user to take part in video calling. The U8380 has a 1.3 megapixel camera complete with built in flash feature to ensure that photos can be taken in duller conditions. The user can use the second camera which is a VGA camera to record themselves as part of the video calling experience.

The U8380 is evolutionary and looks very similar to previous generations of LG 3G phones. It’s an attractive silver clamshell phone which is stylish (apart from the external aerial) but rather heavy. It has the usual features that you’d expect from a high-end 3G phone: a 1.3 megapixel camera, a high-quality video camera (0.3 megapixels), video calling, a music player, expandable memory and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. In addition the U8380 has 3D sound from stereo speakers, which is a welcome improvement over previous models, and it also has an improved external display using a bright TFT screen which can be viewed much more clearly in bright light.

Specifications:

Network WCDMA
Form Factor SHELL
MP3 Player yes
Bluetooth yes
Ringtone 64ch
Internal Memory 8MB
Memory Slot microSD
Standby time(h) 175
Java yes
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
3G yes
USB yes
Color Blue
Stereo Stereo
Video Camera yes

Price Range:

The U8360 features an outstanding built-in 1.3 megapixel digital camera. This offers a high resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels providing you with high quality still and moving images.
180 Degree rotating screen allows you to capture images and video at practically any angle.
Built-in flash and options such as brightness or white balance.
2x digital zoom.

Multi-shot and timer mode are other useful functions that are included.
View pictures taken as a slide show.
Send pictures as you take them via Email, MMS or Bluetooth with the easy to use menu option that is displayed after each picture. (refer to MMS Support)
Pictures taken can be set as wallpaper on your phone.

The LG U8360 comes with 3G technology which provides the user with a fast & efficient mobile phone. The user can connect to other devices using a USB cable which allows the user to transfer data using a wired connection. The user can use a Bluetooth® wireless connection to connect to any Bluetooth® compatible device including a headset, printer, PC or laptop. The user can access the internet using the WAP Internet browser which is fast due to the 3G technology on the U8360. The phone works over GSM 900, GSM 1800 & GSM 1900 networks & the phone will automatically swap between network bands without the user knowing.

The camera seems to work fine, but night mode isn’t that great. Images can be taken up to a resolution of 1260 x 960 pixels, which is very good by today’s standards. The mp3 player is easy to use and sounds great. The Mpeg4 video’s are shown vibrantly and fluently. PC connectivity is good, and files transfer quickly. I own the black version and the design is cool, but the antenna and more than average weight is not to good. Overall, the LG U8360 is a great mobile phone with lots of features, and I would recommend it to everyone who wants lots of features and who is not to fussy about weight.

Key Features:

TransFlash External Memory
65,000 Colour CSTN external screen
MMS support (video)
Enriching sound with 72 Polyphonic MIDI technology
262,000 Colour TFT screen
Embedded Java technology
MP3 Player
Video Calling
Audio and Video Streaming

Specifications:

Network WCDMA
Form Factor SHELL
MP3 Player yes
Ringtone 64ch
Internal Memory 32MB
Battery Capacity 1000
Standby time(h) 165
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
3G yes
Color Silver, Orange
Video Camera yes

Price Range: $499.25 - $591.15

The U310 is available in black, white, and hot pink. Answering and terminating phone calls is as simple as a fashionable flip of the lid. Call quality is sharp and clear, and the screen performs well even in sunlight. Like its sister the U300, the U310 features a 1.3-megapixel camera that rotates 180 degrees for self portraits and inconspicuous photo-taking, which doesn’t always produce the best of photos, but image quality is sufficient for an entry level phone.

On the outside of the clamshell is a 96 x 96 pixel display above three multimedia keys which control music playback and navigation. Of course, these keys would be of greater use if there was actually enough memory to store music, but we’ll come to that niggle shortly. The left side of the U310 has a port for charging and connecting the included stereo headset, as well as dedicated volume control keys and a camera shortcut button. On the right is a microSD slot for your expansion desires.

The multimedia keys and music player suggest a focus on tunes, but the paltry 11MB of internal memory and lack of supplied microSD card shut that idea down pretty swiftly. A high-capacity memory card is an essential purchase if you want to store more than a tune or two, so factor in the extra cost if you’re all about the music.

Specifications:

Network WCDMA
Form Factor SHELL
Message Email
MP3 Player yes
Bluetooth yes
Ringtone 64ch
Internal Memory Less 8MB
Memory Slot microSD
Standby time(h) 200
Java yes
GPRS yes
USB yes
Color Orange, Green, Chameleon, Black, White
Video Camera yes