smittythepig
06-22-2005, 02:19 PM
Preface: I used a PM-325 for 6 months up until a few days ago. The LG-125 is very similar in terms of software and internal hardware. The 125 does not have bluetooth or a camera, and obviously the form factor is different (slider vs. flip). But aside from that the User Interface is pretty much the same aside from a few minor details added to the 125.
Reception:
The 125 seems better than the 325. Some people complained about the weak reception of the 325 and, though i would agree that it is not the best in the Sprint lineup, I always found it adequate. Again, the 125 seems a bir better. Unfortunately, I have yet to examine the debug screen that shows the Rx info more accurately. Though we would all agree that bars don't mean much, the 125 shows more bars than the 325 in general. But the 125 seems to fluctuate more often as well. What I can say for sure is that my new phone was able to, for example, hang on to a call several times while riding the elevator in my office building. Practically-speaking I think the reception is good. SCORE: 8/10.
Sound:
One of the best things about the 325 was the awesome incoming sound quality. This is one of the biggest things I look for in a phone and the 325 may have been the best I had used. Up until the 125. The 125 is as good if not better. I can't hearing any static or "comfort noise" and voices are more on the treble than the bass side. I find it easier to understand people when there is less on the bass side. And it still sounds very natural. In noisy situations it can be a bit hard to hear at times since the volume does not go way way up like on some phones. But in most situations it is more than adequate. In fact, I usually have the volume set at low or medium low. There are several levels but not much difference between them. As for outgoing sound quality, I have had no complaints. As for the speakerphone, I tested it by leaving myself a voicemail message on my home phone. It sounded fantastic. And it's full-duplex. The volume is the only problem with the speakerphone. It's plenty loud in most situations but I think not quite loud enough in very noisy surroundings. And like with most speakerphones when you increase the volume above medium you get too much static. I'll also mention that I sort of heard a faint echo of my own voice at one point. It wasn't enough to be a problem but I just thought i'd mention it. And you can't use the speakerphone with the phone closed. Finally, as for ringers, the phone is 32-chord polyphonic-capable. It has a number of unique standard ringers as well as several multi-chord ringers. They sound good and the ringers can get very loud. On a side note, the vibration strength of the vibrating option is very strong for a phone this size. SCORE: 9.5/10
Design:
The design of this phone is fantastic. The build quality is excellent. Solid as a rock, even with a battery door. More so than my 325 which, though it held up as well as any other phone i've ever owned over that 6 month period, didn't feel as solid. There are subtleties in the design that appear to have been very well thought out and the phone is overall very sexy (I can't believe I said that). Smooth lines and contours as well as a great color. Speaking of the color, I love the light, metallic purplish front cover that surrounds the black. And the little area that surrounds the external screen looks gray in some light and teal in others. But whatever light you look at it with, it always looks great. A wonderful combination of colors on a simple and sleak design. The flip opens very nicely and "locks" into place solidly. I like that there is a tiny rubber piece at the hinge that the hinge-side portion of the flip rests against. And of course there is no antenna which is a big plus in improving the look and feel of any phone. The keypad uses slightly raised rubbery buttons that feel great. The layout is simple and attractive. And the blue backlight is great. SCORE: 10/10
Screen:
The screen has the same specs as the 325 but for some reason seems a little better. I think the 325 was a little too washed out. LG seems to have darkened the colors a bit and it's a nice improvement. And I love the external screen. In my opinion external screens with color or much less useful than monochrome displays. They are just too hard to see most of the time when outdoors. The display on the LG is large enough to hold all the info you need on an external screen and is always easy to read. I would have liked there to be some options other than just "Time Only" or "Date & Time" like there are on many samsungs. Like maybe a few analog clock options just for more customization. SCORE: 8.5/10
Battery:
So far so good. I imagine it will be as good as the 325 if not better (many have said it's very good whereas most people thought the 325 average). I always thought the 325 had perfectly acceptable battery life, especially considering that the battery is SO TINY! IF you factor that in, the battery life is exceptional. The 325 and 125 use the same battery. SCORE: 8/10
Vision:
Seems a bit better than the 325 which was on the slow side compared to most newer Sprint phones. But it's still at best only about average in the speed department. It uses the Openwave browser which I like just fine. It has a good number of customization options and loads most pages without a hitch. SCORE: 7.5/10
Extras:
Just some other things to mention for those who don't know anything about this phone. IT has a cool little AOL-like avatar feature that allows you to build avatars for caller ID using tons of different styles of hair, eyes, faces, clothes and accessories. It's fun to mess with. There are also a few "skins" that allow you to change the coloring of the background and menus as you scroll through them. Nothing very dramatic but it's still a nice touch. There is a very easy to use alarm clock with several alarms capable of being set as well as the ability to set one snooze alarm. There is also a tip calculator. Like most phones it somes loaded with several game demos and a number of built-in screensavers. And you have several options in how you want to be notified that a test or voicemail message has arrived (ringer, several beeps, one loud beep, one soft beep, etc.). And finally, the 125 has another nice feature that the 325 didn't have - a status light indicator. Like on the samsungs, you can set the light on the front to continue to light up every 7 seconds or so when you have service. For a simple phone the LG has many unique little features. I won't score this category since it's too miscellaneous.
Overall: Great, simple, no-camera, vision flip phone with excellent sound and build quality in a nice little package.
AVERAGE SCORE: 8.6/10
EMOTIONAL SCORE 9.5/10
Reception:
The 125 seems better than the 325. Some people complained about the weak reception of the 325 and, though i would agree that it is not the best in the Sprint lineup, I always found it adequate. Again, the 125 seems a bir better. Unfortunately, I have yet to examine the debug screen that shows the Rx info more accurately. Though we would all agree that bars don't mean much, the 125 shows more bars than the 325 in general. But the 125 seems to fluctuate more often as well. What I can say for sure is that my new phone was able to, for example, hang on to a call several times while riding the elevator in my office building. Practically-speaking I think the reception is good. SCORE: 8/10.
Sound:
One of the best things about the 325 was the awesome incoming sound quality. This is one of the biggest things I look for in a phone and the 325 may have been the best I had used. Up until the 125. The 125 is as good if not better. I can't hearing any static or "comfort noise" and voices are more on the treble than the bass side. I find it easier to understand people when there is less on the bass side. And it still sounds very natural. In noisy situations it can be a bit hard to hear at times since the volume does not go way way up like on some phones. But in most situations it is more than adequate. In fact, I usually have the volume set at low or medium low. There are several levels but not much difference between them. As for outgoing sound quality, I have had no complaints. As for the speakerphone, I tested it by leaving myself a voicemail message on my home phone. It sounded fantastic. And it's full-duplex. The volume is the only problem with the speakerphone. It's plenty loud in most situations but I think not quite loud enough in very noisy surroundings. And like with most speakerphones when you increase the volume above medium you get too much static. I'll also mention that I sort of heard a faint echo of my own voice at one point. It wasn't enough to be a problem but I just thought i'd mention it. And you can't use the speakerphone with the phone closed. Finally, as for ringers, the phone is 32-chord polyphonic-capable. It has a number of unique standard ringers as well as several multi-chord ringers. They sound good and the ringers can get very loud. On a side note, the vibration strength of the vibrating option is very strong for a phone this size. SCORE: 9.5/10
Design:
The design of this phone is fantastic. The build quality is excellent. Solid as a rock, even with a battery door. More so than my 325 which, though it held up as well as any other phone i've ever owned over that 6 month period, didn't feel as solid. There are subtleties in the design that appear to have been very well thought out and the phone is overall very sexy (I can't believe I said that). Smooth lines and contours as well as a great color. Speaking of the color, I love the light, metallic purplish front cover that surrounds the black. And the little area that surrounds the external screen looks gray in some light and teal in others. But whatever light you look at it with, it always looks great. A wonderful combination of colors on a simple and sleak design. The flip opens very nicely and "locks" into place solidly. I like that there is a tiny rubber piece at the hinge that the hinge-side portion of the flip rests against. And of course there is no antenna which is a big plus in improving the look and feel of any phone. The keypad uses slightly raised rubbery buttons that feel great. The layout is simple and attractive. And the blue backlight is great. SCORE: 10/10
Screen:
The screen has the same specs as the 325 but for some reason seems a little better. I think the 325 was a little too washed out. LG seems to have darkened the colors a bit and it's a nice improvement. And I love the external screen. In my opinion external screens with color or much less useful than monochrome displays. They are just too hard to see most of the time when outdoors. The display on the LG is large enough to hold all the info you need on an external screen and is always easy to read. I would have liked there to be some options other than just "Time Only" or "Date & Time" like there are on many samsungs. Like maybe a few analog clock options just for more customization. SCORE: 8.5/10
Battery:
So far so good. I imagine it will be as good as the 325 if not better (many have said it's very good whereas most people thought the 325 average). I always thought the 325 had perfectly acceptable battery life, especially considering that the battery is SO TINY! IF you factor that in, the battery life is exceptional. The 325 and 125 use the same battery. SCORE: 8/10
Vision:
Seems a bit better than the 325 which was on the slow side compared to most newer Sprint phones. But it's still at best only about average in the speed department. It uses the Openwave browser which I like just fine. It has a good number of customization options and loads most pages without a hitch. SCORE: 7.5/10
Extras:
Just some other things to mention for those who don't know anything about this phone. IT has a cool little AOL-like avatar feature that allows you to build avatars for caller ID using tons of different styles of hair, eyes, faces, clothes and accessories. It's fun to mess with. There are also a few "skins" that allow you to change the coloring of the background and menus as you scroll through them. Nothing very dramatic but it's still a nice touch. There is a very easy to use alarm clock with several alarms capable of being set as well as the ability to set one snooze alarm. There is also a tip calculator. Like most phones it somes loaded with several game demos and a number of built-in screensavers. And you have several options in how you want to be notified that a test or voicemail message has arrived (ringer, several beeps, one loud beep, one soft beep, etc.). And finally, the 125 has another nice feature that the 325 didn't have - a status light indicator. Like on the samsungs, you can set the light on the front to continue to light up every 7 seconds or so when you have service. For a simple phone the LG has many unique little features. I won't score this category since it's too miscellaneous.
Overall: Great, simple, no-camera, vision flip phone with excellent sound and build quality in a nice little package.
AVERAGE SCORE: 8.6/10
EMOTIONAL SCORE 9.5/10