Will the LG CU500, Cingular's first foray into the speedy world of HSDPA handsets, lure customers to all that 3.5G has to offer? Philip Berne puts the new clamshell through its paces.
Review summary of the LG CU500:
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 The speedy, HSDPA-enabled LG CU500 clearly feels like a step into the next generation of phones, more so than most so-called 3G phones on the market, but it stumbles with its confusing menus and iffy extras. Plenty of great video programming is available, and streaming quality over the HSDPA connection was first-rate, but finding those videos on Cingular's deck is needlessly confusing. Meanwhile, the camera, with its impressive features and usability, is rendered useless by poor image quality. And while the CU500's music quality is good, organizational options are poor, whether you are looking for streaming content or transferring your own files to the poorly placed microSD card. Release: July 2006. Price: $50.
Pros: Download and buffering speeds for streaming content are among the best we've seen, thanks to speedy HSDPA connections. Loads of great content wait to be found on Cingular Video and MobiTV, including various HBO series and clips from The Daily Show.
Cons: LG should include a USB cable so users can take advantage of the high-speed modem capabilities out of the box. Content needs to be consolidated and organized better.
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Full LG CU500 Review:
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Editor's note: Check out our coverage on the LG CU500v video calling phone, which is now availble on AT&T.
Multimedia - Very good
The breadth of content on Cingular's network is staggering, although most of it is available only as premium content with a monthly fee. HBO series (including "The Sopranos") and specials are available in serialized pieces, as are programs from Comedy Central and ABC. The content often overpowers the simple interface –- occasionally it was difficult to navigate to the same program twice. Video content downloaded in seconds over Cingular's 3.5G HSDPA network, and streaming quality was excellent, with hardly a hiccup in the framerate. Streaming speeds seemed to be quicker, and quality better, than on comparable EV-DO services, such as Sprint TV, though Sprint's offering boasts a larger screen size, so comparison was difficult. Unfortunately, the video image on the CU500 is less than half the size of the screen itself; a landscape mode, or at least a full screen view, would have made the content more compelling.
Music - Good
Audio quality, streaming or playing files from memory, was excellent. MP3, WMA, and AAC files can be stored on the phone's paltry 16MB of internal memory or on a microSD card (the slot is hidden -- annoyingly -- beneath the battery). The phone's stereo speakers were better than an average speakerphone, although declaring the phone capable of "3D Stereo Sound" is clearly an overstatement. That said, we were pleased to note that Bluetooth stereo headphones are supported, and you can play music without opening the phone using buttons under the external screen. Unfortunately, without an included USB cable or management software, keeping your music organized is prohibitively difficult. Also, though Cingular does sell a plethora of popular ringtones, unlike competitors Sprint and Verizon, Cingular is not selling entire tracks over their 3G network. Cingular does offer an interesting MusicID feature, at $0.99 per ID, that will identify songs and find the appropriate ringtone, if available.
Camera - Good
The swiveling 1.3-megapixel camera on the LG CU500 is located on the hinge of the clamshell -- nice, but we were annoyed that flipping the camera does not flip the image on the viewfinder; instead, you'll have to dig through the menu to make the adjustment. The snapshots we took were fairly low quality -- blurry with colors that run together -- while videos were shaky with an almost liquid quality, especially while the camera was moving. Too bad, because the phone offers a wide range of settings and features: for example, you can crop images and add sepia tones or photo negative filtering, and you can even create animated GIF files on the camera. Transferring pictures and video to your computer is snappy over the Bluetooth connection.
Messaging - Good
Compared to the multimedia features on the phone, messaging on the LG CU500 is quite bland. AIM, ICQ, Yahoo!, and MSN messaging are all supported, though it is difficult to switch between the protocols. SMS and MMS are also featured. The phone's messaging interface is simple and bare, though functional. There is enough room for an entire SMS message, or a picture and a line of text in MMS. The keypad on the phone is nearly flush with the brushed aluminum plate, but the buttons stick up just enough for a pleasant, tactile feel.
Calling - Very good
Call quality on the LG CU500 was fine, but not excellent. Because the microphone extends closer to your mouth than on other clamshells we've tested, the CU500 does a good job of picking up soft voices, but it also picks up breathing sounds a bit too loudly -- indeed, callers reported static that was revealed to be breathing sounds. Still, we were able to speak softly on a crowded New York street and be heard by our callers and voice mail recorders. No voice dialing is available, which is a strange given the phone's music ID capaibilities. Conference calling is easy: while on one call, you simply dial the second number and join the two. The dedicated application switcher also allows you to access any of the phone's other functions during a call. Battery life on the CU500 was stellar: we got almost seven full hours of chatting during our talk-time test.
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Price and availability
The LG CU500 will start selling for $50 ((AT&T)) in July 2006.
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