40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sleek look, vibrant screens, excellent music player, July 31, 2007
This review is from: LG Muziq LX-570 Phone (Sprint, Phone Only, No Service) (Wireless Phone Accessory)
I got a LG 550 Fusic in June 2007 and traded it in for this one a month later, not knowing at the time that a successor was in the works. The Muziq is an excellent upgrade to its predecessor, but is similar or identical in most respects. Its footprint is a little larger, but the phone itself is slimmer and lighter, making it easier to fit in a pocket.
Unlike the Fusic, which had separate music players for memory card and downloaded content, the Muziq has one multi-capable music player which integrates the online Sprint music store. It contains most standard music player features, including shuffle and repeat. Although the music player is capable of displaying album art, this feature seems to be erratic. Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't, for content I've loaded from my computer using the bundled software (some of the artwork was manually added and some automatically added, all using iTunes), and the artwork didn't appear on the external screen either. Still, album art isn't a big deal if you're not staring at the phone constantly, and with a 2 GB microSD or 4 GB microSD HC card, the phone does a decent iPod Nano impression. The phone comes packaged with half a headset - it's basically the microphone/clip/button/cable assembly with a standard size headphone jack. So, once you insert your headphones of choice, the cable effectively turns the combination of the two into a headset. Naturally other cell phone headsets work as well without the adapter; I haven't tried a Bluetooth headset yet, though. The phone also includes an RF transmitter, which has decent enough quality and works well but has a short range (5-10 feet) which means results will vary widely depending on where your car's antenna is located. My Pontiac Vibe has no problems with it at all.
The Muziq's earpiece has a bit of a sweet spot, but the volume and quality are good once you find it. Use of the speakerphone, however, is not recommended. It sounds okay for music (certainly not as good as stereo headphones, but not too tinny and the volume range is passable), but people on the other end aren't able to understand me most of the time. This is disappointing, because the Fusic's speakerphone was much better. Call quality in general is good though the person on the other end can tell it's a cell phone. Dropped calls are typically not a problem.
Camera quality is to be expected. I use the 1.3 MP camera for caller ID photos and not much else. One setting, the "image enhancer", I highly recommend turning on. I don't know what it does, but it improves the quality noticeably. Although the camera has a "flash", it's not terribly effective. You can also take videos with it, though those over 500 KB can't be sent by picture mail. Still, the camera is good enough for what I use it for.
The side keys are reliable but impossible to read. I had to memorize their positions before I could use them effectively. Also, the power/USB port has a door that must be removed, making it somewhat annoying to plug in, but I certainly don't mind not getting dirt in there. The headphone port and microSD card port also have doors, but I found them easier to manipulate than the ones the Fusic had. Also, the music controls on the outside are tactile, but not in a standard way - they don't depress like normal buttons. Instead, they vibrate when you put your finger on them. You can also increase the vibration to a second, harder setting if desired. I've found that the keys are reliable but a tad disconcerting to use. There's a key guard setting, also, so you don't activate them when you don't mean to, and naturally this can be turned off.
Three major PC connectivity gripes: The phone comes with a USB cable, but it CANNOT be used to charge the phone; when the phone is in file transfer mode, it cannot receive calls; and there's no Bluetooth file transfer (though you can transfer contacts with another Bluetooth phone). Despite these glaring flaws, if you have a decent size microSD card, you can use this as a USB flash drive in a pinch; it just can't be a phone at the same time. For the mildly computer-impaired, the Muziq is packaged with Sprint proprietary iTunes-like music synchronization software which is more than happy to find all the music on your system and make adding it to your phone as easy as drag and drop.
I highly recommend switching the phone from the default theme to the LG theme. I found it to be ugly and washed out looking; that's probably why CNET's review mentioned that the screen looked washed out - once the LG theme is in place, I couldn't disagree more with that assessment, as both of the 262,000 color screens look vibrant and detailed. It dispenses with the options cluttering up the main screen if one does not or cannot use the On Demand or Text Messaging functions. Also, with this theme active, the four directional buttons can be set to shortcuts, similar to many other Sprint models.
The phone has many preset simple, MIDI and polyphonic ringers, but you can't use MP3 ringers unless you download them from the Sprint music store. There are ways of tricking the phone into accepting a user MP3 ringer for the resourceful, though the process is by no means straightforward (do a web search for adding MP3 ringers on the Fusic; it's similar for this one). It would have been nice if LG made this easier, but seeing as how it would most likely result in a sharp drop in music store sales, I'm not too surprised by it.
One big advantage, in my opinion, that this has over the Fusic is the ability to independently control the vibration ringer option. On the Fusic, you could only enable vibration by itself or with the lowest and highest ringer levels. With this model vibration is a separate option that can be enabled at any ringer level. It's a little thing, but it's little upgrades like this that make the Muziq truly superior to its predecessor.
I don't have a data plan, but the small amount of internet I've used on the phone has shown speedy downloads and good quality. I can't speak to the TV features of this phone as a result.
Battery life is excellent. I've had the phone on for nearly a week without having to recharge it, talking about an hour a day and not using internet or music. It would be nice if the included USB cable functioned as a second charging cable, though.
Overall I have found the Muziq to be an excellent phone in the short time I have used it, nearly three weeks now. Aside from the slight USB gripes mentioned above, I'm very satisfied with it and it definitely catches eyes with its sleek design. There's no way to know how it will hold up over time, but I'm hopeful it'll last out this two-year contract better than the miserable experience I had with the Sanyo 8200.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
reasonably happy, August 20, 2007
This review is from: LG Muziq LX-570 Phone (Sprint, Phone Only, No Service) (Wireless Phone Accessory)
Pros:
Lots of bells and whistles. Sprint navigation with GPS is very useful. The interface is good for common tasks (phoning, contacts, sms, web, calendar, alarm). The music and TV capabilities of the phone seem cool but I haven't used them much. It can take good photos and video for a phone (though you'll still get much better results with a real camera).
Cons:
I have problems hearing the other person in a phone call. My wife and I both got a Muziq and the problem is especially bad when we're talking to each other. I got a bluetooth headset and it didn't help much. The signal that I get is ok but not great. Same with battery life (acceptable but not amazing).
I would have liked a bigger screen. The screen is not small for a cell phone but still feels cramped for applications and internet.
Overall I would recommend this phone to a technophile like myself who is going to be using their phone more as a pda than for talking. If voice call quality is your primary interest then I'd recommend testing out some other phones for comparison before buying this one.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quality Phone, Quality Performance, August 18, 2007
This review is from: LG Muziq LX-570 Phone (Sprint, Phone Only, No Service) (Wireless Phone Accessory)
Due to the very informative review by J. Harvey, there is very little I can say without simply repeating what they said. However, I can attest to the fact that it is a good phone. My experience and satisfaction with the phone mirrors theirs. Here are some of the things that impressed me about the phone.
-Music: Adding music was a breeze, and the sound is good. The FM transmitter is a VERY NICE bonus and worked well. Being able to put the music in the background and use the phone for other things is great.
-Sprint Power Vision/Internet: Performance is good. Both regular speed and EV-DO are satisfactory, although EV-DO areas are somewhat limited right now.
-Tools: The usual suspects are here- Calendar/Scheduler, Calculator, Voice Memo, Note Pad, 4 Alarm Clocks, etc. It also has a Music Composer which allows you to make your own melodies/ringers by humming into the microphone, using your keypad, or scoring using bars and notes.
Overall, I love the phone and am very happy that I got it. It seems to be quite reliable and easy to use. If you are looking for a good phone/music player combo, you cannot go wrong with the Muziq.
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