The LG CU500 Mobile Phone offers some high-end features along with access to high-speed 3G networks. The biggest selling point of this sleek flip phone is its ability to connect to UMTS/HSDPA networks. Once connected, you can stream video and audio or download files at rates close to 2Mbps. Most phones that promise streaming video deliver pixilated and hiccup-y files, but the CU500 gives you surprisingly clean content. Shows and clips are delivered via Cingular Video (a fee is charged), but if you are more of an audiophile, Cingular Music offers the latest content as well. MP3s can be stored on the phone, and while the player is not superb, the dedicated buttons on the outside of the device make for easy listening. In addition, the CU500 now supports one-way video conferencing, and there's a setting for airplane travel where the wireless features are turned off.

Aside from the high-speed advantages, the LG CU500 also offers a 1.3-megapixel camera with a 4x zoom and numerous editing options. The camera itself swivels, making self-timed shots a lot easier to set up, and picture quality is good, as is the quality of recorded videos. Both are well displayed on the 65K-color 2-inch LCD. Meanwhile, incoming calls can show picture ID information on the smaller exterior LCD, which also supports 65K colors.

The phone is quad band, so you can take it pretty much anywhere, and call clarity is better than average. The CU500 offers a full-duplex speakerphone, so you don't have to worry about your caller's sentences getting clipped by your own. The one downside of all the multimedia gadgetry is that battery life suffers. You should be able to get about 5 hours of talk time with around 10 days of standby. Other features include: stereo Bluetooth, vibrating ringer, a 500-contract address book, support for two e-mail addresses, and a Micro SD card slot. Overall, this is a very inexpensive phone given its high-end features.


Pros: 3G network, MP3 player, good call clarity, two good LCDs, swiveling camera, quad band, price
Cons: mediocre-to-average battery life

Warranty
1 year