LG Fusic / LX-550
Phone Scoop Review
Jul 7, 2006 by Eric Lin
Our In Depth review of LG's stylish and unique new 3G music phone for Sprint. NEW: Video Tour read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Awesome phone, superb background noise cutting
My 1st LG and 1st Sprint phone. Chose fusic over 920 & glad.
I agree with the previous posts on the pros, and never have the vibrate problem the way mine's set. Here are some very important new PRO's that I didn't see mentioned...and a strange CON.
PROs
1) I can drive through traffic in my convertible with the top down downtown at 40mph and noone can tell I'm in my car. That is the #1 selling point to me, and noone has even mentioned that, so I just lucked out. My GF's old LG was also multitudes better at this attenuation than every other phone I've ever had with cingular (which is about 10 of the top phone's they've made..never tried an LG though). I run a business from my cell phone, and with the top down, couldn't even hear other people, and they sure couldn't hear me with all the background noise on any other phone I have used. The fusic's handset and headset volume is more than adequate for me to hear, and it's great to be able to put the top down on my car again and not have to pull over asap to try to receive a call.
2) Everything else that everyone says: MP3's, evdo, good reception, size is good,
CONs
1) If you have any stubble greater than 5:00 shadow, this phone pinches like a mf'r. Seriously, it's unbelievable how well this phone works as an epilady razor that pulls facial hair out instead of cutting it. I think it's because of the tiny gap between the hinges. I've learned not to press that close to my face (and shave more often), but I've never had this problem before and it is annoying. I'm thinking about just putting a piece of tape or something over the gaps. It's not enough to keep me from loving the phone, especially with the speakerphone available and since I usually use a headset.
2) I wish it came in black, and maybe a little less slippery... no big deal at all.
3) Would be nice to have a separate standard headset jack so you didn't need to carry the included adapter around to listen in stereo to the mp3's.
I love this thing!
Ok so I just got my new Fusic yesterday from Sprint.
So far I love the phone!
Here are a few of my Pros and Cons.
Pros:
I love where there is access to the music player and camera whether or not the phone is open or shut.
When using the camera you have the option to use or not use the flash.
When using the camera if you have the phone open and look at the external display you will see yourself.
The size for me is perfect and itâs lighter then I thought it would be.
Love the display. The screen savers and themes have a lot of colors in them as well as smooth animation.
Micro SD slot works awesome. Iâve read other reviews that say that the user was limited to 64 MB even with a bigger SD card. I bought a 512 MB Micro SD card and so far have had no problems putting more then 64 MB on it.
The Music Composer to compose midi like ring tones is kind of cool if you donât want to pay for downloading ring tones.
The phone comes with a 64 MB Micro SD card, stereo ear bud headset with a button to answer the phone if youâre listening to music when a call comes in, and a data cable; this will save you if you donât have money for a lot of accessories right away.
Cons:
The speaker volume is good but if you max out the volume it does distort.
The Themes are ok but there are very few and you have to pay to download additional ones plus there is no way to create your own.
All the games but one are demos and to continue to play you must pay.
if it wasn't for xanax...
i love this phone. i do. it's just the coolest thing ever but it's far from perfect. i got it 2 days after it debuted (june of 2006) and still have it but not without heartache.
pros:
lightweight, cute, easily spotted in the bottom of a black purse, interchangeable faceplates that coordinate with the tons of themes i've purchased, AWESOME battery life, great ringtone volume, and the coolest feature of all is the fm transmitter!!!
but, as we all know, nothing is perfect.
cons:
javascript errors caused random reboots, powerjack became loose causing status light and power indicator to flash/beep relentlessly when charging, speaker static on a couple of different replacements and the latest snafu is that my (brand new) replacement turns off randomly when closed. i am on my 9th replacement. NINE!!! but because i am haplessly addicted to the fm transmitter and use it daily, i keep going back for more. i've heard that others don't have any issues with their fusics but for some reason, i do. if it wasn't for my insurance, i'd be furious. everyone at the sprint store knows us by name...we walk in and it's just like a scene from cheers. not good. my husband and i joke that going to the sprint store to get a replacement or have it fixed is our monthly date. sad but true. i just ordered yet another handset because, yet again, the phone is turning itself off randomly and this, mind you, is a BRAND NEW handset i got 4 days ago (started on my way home from sprint to pick up said handset). if you have the paitience of a saint, this phone is for you. if you are an unmedicated bipolar with a propensity for violence and throwing things, you might want to reconsider. if it wasn't for xanax and lithium, i probably would have shattered it, set it on fire and mailed the ashes back to lg within the first couple of months. but thanks to modern psychopharmacology, i have not been forcibly removed from the sprint store and no one has had to have a fusic-ectomy. yet.
THE SCREEN
Ok, let me just say that this phone is amazing, so why the 1.5 rating? The screen. It is always breaking. I have had 3 of these, each the screen has gone out on them, and it has beenn normal use.
Best phone I've ever ownded
I loved everything about this phone! Unfortunately, it was only on the market for a short amount of time, so when I needed to replace mine, it wasn't being sold anymore.
PROS:
-The Sprint menu we all know
-Music store that was easy to use
-Front keys easy to use for music
-Great keyboard
-Easy to use
-Came with colored faceplates
-Good sound
CONS:
-Slow internet
-Bad camera
I loved this phone and I would have had it longer, but I had an accident with orange juice. :/
Amazing phone, I wish it was still on the market, considering the new Muziq is a terrible follow-up.
Decent phone...somewhat dissapointed
When I managed a 3rd party sprint store, and heard about this awesome phone with FM tansmitter, I immediately ran to the nearest corporate store, and checked it out. It seemed pretty decent, the screen wasn't bad, it had the one thing my blade didn't have that I desperately wanted...external memory. Years go by and my blade finally calls it quits (camera died, and battery wouldn't last half a day, and if I made a phone call...) And the radioshack I worked at had a fusic in the back. With my one year upgrade, I paid a whole 5 dollars in tax for my fusic, not a bad deal right? After a couple of months, I wish I still had my rebates to grab the instinct when it comes out, because the fusic has been almost as frustrating as the 225 I previously owned! The screen is terrible for a phone of this magnitude, and my T9 has went completely haywire!!! The mp3 and fm transmitter still work great, but I can't for the life of me get the stereo bluetooth to work. As much as I looked forward to owning this phone when it came out...I still miss my blade, and wishing it had external memory.
PROS:
+ FM transmitter, albeit staticy, is a pretty convenient feature in a city where there are 2 stations I can deal with, and even they suck sometimes
+external memory: I can finally store a decent amount of songs I download from sprint when a song pops into my head
+battery life: AMAZING, even when I use my mp3 player, talking, texting, ALL day, I still have battery life when I get home
+ GPS nav: Another thing I really wanted that my blade couldn't do, it's saved my @ss many times
CONS:
+ external speaker blows. It distorts, and the speaker phone leaves alot to be desired
+T9: although it's a learning one, there's been some software glitch somewhere that turns my smileys into .1000
+Sprint TV: WAY TOO QUIET!!! I don't know why, but on my blade, it was perfect, on this, it's impossible to hear it unless you're in complete silence
+sprint barrel plug...broken like the rest...
Great!
It is great. I love how you can replace the faceplate. Very loud and a great vibrate. I love the buttons. Very Easy to text on. great phone!
Top 5 phone ive ever owned
Well i have to say this phone is great. ive had good expirience with lg in the past but this thing takes the cake. it has every single feature i want in a phone and great service from sprint!! and the price is right cant argue with free can ya. the only gripe i have so far is the feel of the phone is a little cheap, i know its not cheap its just the feel. ive owned some great phones like the moto v60, razr, krazr,slivr,vx6000 which was the first camera cdma phone released, and nokia 6620. just to name a few of my top ten. thanks lg for making an exceptional phone!!
Fun phone
I've always used cell phones strictly for calls and never bothered to get an MP3 player, so the Fusic's music player is a cool new toy for me. I bought a 2GB microSD card and copied a lot of music from my PC with the USB cable. (Although the manual says the Fusic only takes up to a 1GB card, I read reports that with the newest firmware it works with 2GB. So far it's been great.) I half expected the FM transmitter to work poorly, based on some reviews, but it works quite well for me, especially at home. In the car (Mazda 626 with the antenna in the back window) it can sometimes be a little shaky, but usually it's fine.
As far as the basics go, reception, battery life, and call clarity are good. Menus are generally laid out pretty well, so I don't have to spend a lot of time looking for something. I did switch to list mode, as I didn't care for the grid, but since I've customized the Shortcuts and the Favorites list, I never seem to go to the main menu anyway.
I haven't used the texting or Internet functions and probably never will. I spend many hours on email and the Web on my PC every day, and I have no interest in carrying those things with me on a cell phone. I do appreciate the Net Guard feature, which means I don't have to worry about connecting accidentally and running up charges.
I haven't had much luck with the camera so far, which seems to need fairly bright light and a very steady hand to take a decent pic. I expect it will help to practice and figure out the best way to hold the phone when using it as a camera.
The one con for me is display legibility. I'm sure the target audience for the phone is too young to have even heard of presbyopia, and menu and display fonts are small. Also, in both display themes that come with the phone, text on the basic screens (time, date, etc.) is black with a thin white line around it, which I find a bit hard to read unless it's on a white background.
That's a minor quibble, though, for an overall great phone.
