LG PM-225 Cell Phone (Sprint) Review Review

The LG PM-225, an ever-so-slight upgrade to the excellent VI-125 voice phone, adds a very basic camera and a color external screen for a little extra money. It should satisfy entry-level camera-phone users who don't want to spend a lot.

The tiny, rounded PM-225 feels great in your hand and shares its small size, as well as very good battery life (4 hours 21 minutes of talk time), with its cheaper sibling. At 3.4 ounces, it's heavier than the 3.1-oz VI-125, but not noticeably so. Sound quality and reception are both very good, and we especially appreciate the prominently marked speakerphone button.

The camera may be one feature the PM-225 has over the VI-125, but it's not very good. This basic VGA camera has only enough built-in memory to hold a mere 20 photos before you have to send them to yourself through Sprint's network, but it's still better than nothing. In our testing, low-light shots were blown-out, blurry, and noisy, and our simulated-daylight still life came out muddy and grayish.

Still, the camera is no worse than we expected at this very low price, and it's no worse than what we saw on camera phones a year or two ago.

There's no flash, but there are brightness and white-balance settings, and you can use the external display as a viewfinder for self-portraits when the phone's flip is closed.

Otherwise, the PM-225's features are pretty basic. It can send and receive text and picture messages, surf WAP sites (rather slowly), and play games. It tries valiantly to stream video, but lacks Sprint's new satellite-radio-over-cellular service.

We're rating the PM-225 pretty low because it's at the very low end of the feature-phone market. If you're serious about taking photos with your Sprint phone, pick up a higher-end model, such as the LG MM-535. But if you are looking at voice-only phones and wouldn't mind a camera as a frill, the PM-225 adds that frisson to one of the best voice-only models out there.

Key Features

CAMERA
• VGA CMOS Digital Camera
• Self-Portrait Capability with Flip Closed
• Save up to 100 Photos1,2
• Digital Zoom: Up to 8x2
• Resolutions: 640x480 (VGA), 320x240 (QVGA), 160x120 (QQVGA) Pixels
• Self-Timer: 5 and 10 Second
• Customizable Color Effects, White Balance and Brightness
• Customizable/Recordable Shutter Sounds
• Send Pictures to E-mail, Phone or Store Online
• Assign Pictures to a Caller ID or Screen Saver

MOBILE MEDIA
• Mobile Web Capable – WAP 2.0 with one-touch access button†
• Openwave Browser including JPEG, BMP, WBMP, GIF, PNG & WPNG Image Support†
• Assign Pictures to a Caller ID or Screen Saver
• Sprint PCS Vision Enabled – download pictures, ringers and J2ME games†
• Two-Way Short Message Service (SMS)† Send and Receive E-mail†

TOOLS & DATA
• Personal Organizer: Calendar with Scheduler, Alarm Clock, Notepad
• Tools: Ez Tip Calc, Calculator, World Clock
• Available in 2 Colors: Silver and Red
• Unobtrusive Internal Antenna
• Full-Color Internal and External LCDs
• Customizable Screen Saver & Theme Skins
• Address Book with 500 Contacts – each stores up to 5 phone numbers, 3 e-mail addresses, and 1 web address
• Speed Dialing (99 Entries)

VIDEO/AUDIO
• Full-Duplex Speakerphone
• CMX 32-Chord Polyphonic Sound Support
• Voice Memo Recording – up to 30 memos for up to 3 total minutes
• Send and Receive E-mail†
• Voice-Activated Dialing – up to 30 entries
• Recordable Voice Ringers
• 30 Unique Default Ringtones plus Vibrate and Silent Modes

GENERAL
• FOTA Capable – upgrade firmware over the air
• Airplane Mode (RF Off)
• T9 Predictive Text Input
• TTY/TDD Support
†Sprint PCS service required.
1 Depends on unused memory.
2 Depends on image resolution.

Specifications

Technology                CDMA
Frequency                 1.9 GHz CDMA PCS, 800 MHz CDMA/AMPS (Tri-Mode)
Data Transmission     1xRTT Voice & Data Capable
Memory                    16 MB Flash/8 MB SRAM (download up to 1,024 KB)
Dimensions             3.53" (H) x 1.76" (W) x 0.93" (D)
Weight                     3.35 oz.
Display                     Internal LCD: 65K Color STN, 128 x 160 Pixels, 9 Lines
                               External LCD: 65K Color STN, 64 x 96 Pixels, 3 Lines
Standard Battery        1,000 mAh Li-Ion
Talk Time                 Up to 3.2 hours*
Standby Time            Up to 6.88 days*
*Certain features may use more power and cause actual standby and talk time to vary.

• Standard Li-Ion Battery (1,000 mAh)*
• AC Travel Charger*
• Extended Li-Ion Battery (1,700 mAh)
• Contact Synchronization Software
• Portable Hands-Free Kit
• Headset
• Vehicle Power Charger
*Included with phone

LG PM-225 Cell Phone (Sprint) Review

Post your review for this phone