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It’s not the sexiest of mobile phones, and when you look at LG’s other creation, the Chocolate, this LG U400 looks like the ugly sister of the group. But if you want a phone that also has good MP3 facilities then the LG isn’t all bad, and it does have some nice features in between the bland looks, like for example the scroll wheel, the 2 megapixel camera and 3G connectivity, it all adds up.
Design
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| It must be hard being the uglier sibling of the clan. You’ve got the LG Chocolate with all the style of a Parisian princess and then you’ve got the LG U400, which is more the country cousin. But when standing alone, the U400 doesn’t look that bad. Yes it’s got the generic black surface that collects greasy fingerprint marks all over it, but it’s also got a large (3cm x 4cm) 256k colour display and a rather attractive metallic blue scroll wheel which rather than being touch sensitive like the iPod actually clicks around leaving you feeling more assured. On either side of the dial there’s a button, one for accessing the MP3 player and the other for accessing Planet 3, the Internet service homepage. Just below you’ll find the menu button which gives you access to the on screen circular menu. To the far right of the scroll wheel are the send, disconnect and lock buttons. The actual phone itself only measures 4.8cm x 10cm x 2cm so it’s quite a small thing. But in that tiny body you’ve got a 2 megapixel camera on the back which comes with an LED photo light, a 0.3 megapixel VGA camera for filming, and a slot for the microSD card. At the bottom of the phone is the charging port which also cannily doubles as a USB and headphone port. Slide the phone open and you’ll discover the keypad which has soft keypads which are well distributed for easy texting. However it’s a bit difficult shutting the phone once open. |
| Setup/Installation |
| Get set up to a network, charge the phone up and you’re ready to start dialling. Transferring music is fairly painless too through the USB cable provided. |
| Features |
| While LG might be trying to sneak into the music market, essentially this is a phone and therefore does what all mobile phones do; make calls, text, calendar, calculator, java games, to do list, and alarm clock. Then you have the extras that shift the U400 from basic mobile phone to must-have accessory. These include the music facilities; the LG U400 supports MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, ADPCM and AMR, as well as video playing including MPEG4, H.263 and WMV videos. Your options of listening to the music is either via the loudspeaker, through headphones or through stereo Bluetooth headsets thanks to the U400 supporting A2DP. The LG U400 comes with 68MB of internal memory but luckily you’ve got more room thanks to the microSD slot should you want to store even more movies and music. There’s a small 2 megapixel camera with an LED light that comes in handy when taking photos and video footage – the only criticism about this is there’s no cover on the lens so you have to be careful not the scratch it. |
| Performance |
| Using the phone is very easy. The navigation around the phone is made simple thanks to the round menu functions. The buttons that give you immediate access to 3 music and the Internet give quick access and allow you to easily download music over the air, or you can download music via your USB cable easily too. The display on the camera is very good, giving crisp, detailed images and being able to make video calls through 3G is fun. The 2 megapixel camera was a very average, the pictures were a bit shaky, mainly because there’s no focus button the U400. The colours weren’t too bad but everything was a bit blurred, particularly the VGA facilities. Having said that when you were making video calls, provided it was a headshot, the quality wasn’t too bad. The U400 supports A2DP Bluetooth which is good as you can wirelessly stream music to your headsets or if you want a higher quality headphone there’s a 3.4mm jack so you can connect them up too. Once hooked up you realise the sound quality of the LG U400 is actually very good – even on full blast the bass is good and distortion a minimum. And to add to sound there’s a fun My DJ function that allows you to play Norman Cook. |
| What's In The Box? |
| LG U400 mobile phone, USB cable, headphones. |
| Overall Opinion |
| On the whole the LG U400 has everything you could want from a modern phone. It looks pretty funky with its black exterior and eye-attracting metallic blue wheel scroll. It has 3G facilities, music and a camera. While none of the facilities are outstanding but considering it’s the debut from LG, it’s not a bad music phone. |
