With its boxy, yet thin design, the LG CU575 Trax has a unique brushed-metal look. Distinctiveness is what the makers of this phone were definitely going for. Unfortunately, the results in other areas aren't particularly innovative. The touchpad on the outside of the phone allows you to access music without opening the phone, but the details for its operation are confusing. Basically, it is a thin strip that allows you to advance or backtrack within your song or playlist. But because the strip is not divided into dedicated buttons, and because the strip does not provide feedback when an area is touched, accidents easily happen. On the whole, the music player software is nothing stellar either.

Above the music controls is the 65K-color LCD. Though the graphics aren't exceptional, they're good enough for photo ID, as well as for displaying standard information such as time, battery life, and signal strength. The LCD itself is shiny and doubles as a self-portrait mirror, which unfortunately means that bright-light conditions make for difficult reading. Above the LCD is the 1.3-megapixels camera's lens. Pictures taken with the camera are better than average, with the videos being a little less desirable.

Inside the phone is a large 2.2-inch LCD, making for easy viewing of web pages. But the color is not particularly crisp, utilizing a 65K-color screen. Meanwhile, the dial pad suffers from similar problems--the music pad in that the buttons are not very distinct from each other. Moreover, they're definitely cramped together, making it difficult to operate the phone without looking. This issue is especially apparent when trying to text message.

But the area in which the LG Trax excels is its broadband network. The phone uses HSDPA (a 3.5G network), so uploading and downloading occurs at exceptionally fast rates. This is especially useful when watching television shows through streaming media. Hiccups were extremely rare and shows could be watched without the distractions that plague less advanced phones. Again, because the screen supports only 65K colors, the quality of the viewing experience is diminished. However, the speedy network is great for downloading MP3s. There is a MicroSD slot so that you can build a large library of music.

Call quality was middle of the road, with occasional problems with patchy connections. But outgoing sound was good, and the speakerphone worked well. Battery life was about three hours of talk time and up to 12-1/2 days of standby. Overall, this is a decent and fairly inexpensive phone for people that want access to a high-speed network.

Pros: Thin design, HSDPA network, excellent streaming video
Cons: Poor keypad ergonomics, both LCDs are 65K, cramped keypad

Warranty
1 year, limited