LG LX150 (CDMA)

Description

 If you're one of the many consumers who shun complicated cell phones in favor of simple cell phones that make and receive calls, the new LG LX150 from Sprint should serve you well. Sporting a minimalist yet attractive design and basic features, the LX150 concentrates on what a cell phone should do best. The front and back covers are composed of a slightly cheap-feeling plastic, but the hinge mechanism was solid. There's also no external antenna. Phone has external (96x64 pixels) four-line external screen shows the date, time, battery life, signal strength, and caller ID. What's more, because it's monochrome, it remains visible even when the backlighting is off. The LX150's internal display measures 1.75 inches (128x160 pixels) and shows 10 lines of text. Color resolution is 262,000 hues, which is above average for a phone of this caliber. You can change the backlight time and the font size, but not the brightness. There's also a dedicated speakerphone button (nice) and a unique Text key that serves as a shortcut to the messaging menu. And speaking of shortcuts, the toggle can be set to give one-touch access to four user-defined functions. The LX150 includes all the essential features you've come to expect from a cell phone. The phone book holds 500 contacts with room in each entry for five phone numbers, an e-mail address, a Web address, and notes. Callers can be organized into groups, and you can assign them one of 24 (32-chord) polyphonic ringtones as well. You also can pair them with a photo. Other basics include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, voice dialing, instant messaging and POP3 e-mail, a scheduler, an alarm clock, a voice memo, a notepad, a calculator, a world clock, and the handy LG tip calculator. The LX150 also supports Bluetooth and a full duplex speakerphone, both of which are nice to see on such a low-end model. If you're bored with the integrated options, you always can download more choices with the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser.