Customer Reviews

LG Shine CU720 Phone, Black (AT&T)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Pros:
- Good sound quality.
- Good reception.
- It is a nice sleek looking phone. Really handsome with simple lines and shape. Has a nice feel on your palm. I like the color of my wife's "Shine" even better which is deep red. Mine is silver.
- MicroSD for additional memory.
- Capable to record short videos
- Long battery life (I tested the phone for a week without using the MP3 player and video. It lasted longer than my older phone which has a smaller screen). If you use the phone as an mp3 player, then that is another story.
- Bluetooth, games, calculator, notepad...

Cons:
- The joystick is not quite a joy to use.
- The back of the phone is too scratch prone.
- Keypad has grooves to to help with identifying the keys by touch but it is not as intuitive as a regular keypad. It is difficult for texting.
- Interface is a bit annoying. Got a little learning curve to get used to.
- Heavier than most phones.

Speaker phone is usable but does not sound very exciting. I like the easy slide that has a snap feel of the front cover to expose the keypad. It feels pretty solid.
The camera is OK. Very slow lens, but I am not really expecting much because most cell phones have extremely small lenses to gather enough light. 2 megs of resolution. Surprisingly it is equipped with a flash albeit it is tiny winy and almost next to useless. I am happy that It is big enough leap from my previous phone.

I replaced a 2 year old Samsung slider with this instrument (necessary after dropping the Samsung into cole slaw--don't ask). It's very similar in size and shape to the Samsung and seems to be of similar construction quality, which is to say, pretty good.

Reception is excellent and I live in a weaker signal area.

My main objections are two. The voice dialing function in the LG is markedly INFERIOR to the Samsung. The old phone almost always recognized my instructions and the internal voice responses were clear and useful. The LG has difficulty recognizing my commands, even after training, and it's internal voice responses are very hard to understand. This may be minor, but after knowing how well the function COULD work, it's a disappointment.

Second annoyance is the scarcity of USB connectors that fit the phone (I ordered one from Amazon that did not fit the connector). Also, it seems, even after you get a USB connection, it will not sync with common computer contact lists such as outlook. This is a major annoyance in this day and age.

One other minor note, compared to the Samsung, the camera, while superior, has an external lens even when the slider is closed. Some may consider this an advantage, but the Samsung's slider covered and thereby protected the lens while it was being jostled in a pocket or out in the weather.

All in all, it's a good choice for a modern slider phone, but has some limitations.

I was upbeat about this phone when I first got it. It has a nice screen, sufficient size and the slider works solidly. The music feature is virtually worthless on this phone. The one wired set of ear buds made by LG are pure garbage. If you like music loud they are totally worthless. Apparently there are some Bluetooth headsets, but from what I have seen they are also cheaply made. Good Luck on that one. The joystick on this phone is tricky at best. You can bounce over four functions before you know it. After some practice I only miss what I zero in on every 5th time or so! I have dropped this phone one time with a slightly noticeable ding to the metal case and the face scratches very easily, since there is so much of it. (the shiny part...which is mainly ok, if you are female, then you have an extra makeup mirror). After a few weeks it started going blank on me for no reason. (I don't think it was from the drop because I have a friend who has dropped his numerous times with no problem). When it goes dead it requires me to remove and reninstall the battery...sometimes several times before it works right again. And, it is NOT a power issue as it does it when fully charged also. I am seeking another phone. Defintely NOT recommended.

I have owned this phone for about a year now. I actually do not have the original phone I purchased a year ago. This is something that a potential customer should be aware of before making a purchasing decision..

My first phone worked perfectly at first. It had the features I was most wanting at the time. As far as the phone itself, it is 5 stars *when working properly* About 4 or 5 months into my first LG Shine, it would turn itself completely off every once in awhile. When I had an incoming call, about every 1 in 4 times it would should itself off when I tried to answer the call. It would also shut itself off once every 4 or so times I slid it open to check pictures or texts. The same 1 in 4 shut off rate applied when I slid the phone down after a call, or checking media. This was very unreliable at the time and I could not risk missing a call from my significant other, so I sent the phone back, and recieved a replacement. Everything went well for some time, but it has recently started to do the same exact thing, turning itself off every now and again when sliding up or down.

The phone itself is cool, but with 2 different LG Shines I have had the same exact problem, it was not an isolated incident. Take this into consideration before claiming yours.

Also, texting with this phone can be a pain in the you know what. The numerics are small and at times unresponsive. Then again, the phone I owned before this was a Samsung Sync, and that phone was great to text on.

Prior reviews have done a thorough job discussing pros and cons of this phone, so I'm going to add the few that were missed or skipped or occured only to me.
First, the stick grows loose and insensitive with constant use. It may be mine alone that does this, but this phone will go back to the store if it gets worse. This issue on top of the size of the stick, which is not designed for large hands. As stated in other reviews, if you have large hands, look seriously at other options. You will regret not doing so.
More seriously, my Shine has an annoying habit of navigating menus while locked and on my belt. It hasn't cost me any money so far, but ghost/incidental calling could be an issue.
Battery life seems to be only a mild issue if you keep the settings on minimal battery consumption, but constant use does run it down rapidly. Constant charging is a must is you use this phone more than a few times a day.
Picture quality is good for a cell phone, but buy a real camera if you want to take real pictures.
As far as the menus go, this is almost as bad as some Japanese phones I've seen-- Menus all over the place, and if you make one miss-click or tap of a button, you will likely have to go back to the beginning and try again. In all, not very intuitive.
Bluetooth connection is problematic between my laptop and phone-- Despite my best efforts, my phone will not recognize my (very talkative) laptop. It picks up other devices fine, but refuses to see my computer and my computer can't see it. This suggests some kind of setting conflict, or would if I hadn't gone through every option in both devices. So don't rely on this thing to tranfer data wirelessly-- SDMicro is the only reliable way.
And as for the music player function, which has been mentioned in several other places to a greater depth-- This isn't a music player. Buy another phone or an ipod if you want to hear music. The speaker on this phone isn't nearly loud enough. Try the Sony Ericsson W580i Unlocked Cell Phone with 2 MP Camera, MP3/Video Player, Memory Stick Micro Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Urban Gray)-- I know that's the one I'm going to get if this thing breaks on me.
In short, skip this phone. It looks good, but isn't worth it.
Good luck in the hunt for a phone.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this phone! It has sooo much storage space and options and it takes some nice pictures/videos too! The only issues I have come across is that it does not hold a lot of text messages nor does the charge hold on the battery for a long time, you must charge close to 2 times a day :(.

Stylish, suggest LCD screen cover & cover for entire phone due to subject to scratch. Battery life sucks, charging every two days. Ringer volume extremely low even witht he setting on the highest level. Ear volume is great tho. Not fond of the joystick. Regret buying this phone. Unable to return so I'm stuck with it. I should've read more reviews on this phone before buying.

I owned/used this beautiful phone for over several years.My mom and her sister also chose the phone.The pink color is very glossy,some shimmering.I recall loving all of its features.Took excellant pictures.Sound quality was great.Picked up strong signals in areas where other cell signals were weaker.Loved the outer screen display.Liked the different profile choices available.Had decent ring and alert/message tones that came with the phone.My favorite was 'Nostalgic',which sounded as the old rotary dial home phones did.Had no problems with the charger.Kept a good average 3 day charge.I have of course kept up with the newer model phones out today,I still like Nokias.I would very much like to own this phone again and have decided to try to find one.Pearl Pink of course.Model came in black but It was how pretty the pink was that attracted me to this phone immediately.

I have received nothing from this sellor not even an explenation for not shipping I have cancelled the order .Product was advertised as refurbished . I bought one 10 dollars cheaper and NEW on eBay..

Background: Over the past two months, I have spent a great deal of time debating between whether to get the Sony Ericsson W580i or the LG Shine CU720. After making numerous threads at various forums regarding this question, reading countless reviews, watching many videos, looking at hundreds of pictures, and mapping out the pros and cons of each one multiple times, I have settled on the Sony Ericsson W580i. Since my family just got a family plan with ATT (3 lines/550 minutes shared) and one of my sisters got the Shine, I was able to do a comparison between the phones.

Battery Life: The claim that Sony Ericsson has poor battery life, in short, is complete bull ****. Those that say they had short battery life... you just got a lemon (or are trying to reason yourself out of the fact that buying a shine was actually a poor decision). My OTHER sister, who also got a Sony Ericsson, also gets great battery life with hers. Rather than the claimed "3-4 day charge" that many people on this forum and others are claiming, I have found that the phone will last over a week (11-13 days). The LG Shine, which is said to have poor battery life, disappoints: its battery life is indeed very short. The papers that the LG Shine comes with claims that battery life is around 3 hours of talk time, up to 240 hours (10 days) of standby time, is standard marketing bull ****: through a test of 10 different charges with three different batteries, the phone has lasted no more than 3 days before it required a charging.

SE: 10/10 Shine: 3/10

Durability: People say the LG Shine has a stronger build than the Sony Ericsson, but if you actually compare the two, you find that you cannot actually compare the two... Why? The SE is a plastic phone; the LG shine is a plastic phone with metallic components. One thing that is not usually noted is that the Shine actually has VERY little metal in its body; it's only the battery cover and some of the front. The LG shine doesn't really feel that much more durable than the SE. If you drop the shine, you will certainly damage the screen, and/or scratch the body, and/or break the phone. With something plastic, eg. Sony Ericsson, a drop will do no more than give a few scratches. Regarding the slider mechanism, the LG Shine's "snaps" when you open and close it, whereas the SE's slider is not as snappy. Due to the difference in the way that the phones slide, it isn't really accurate to say that one feels more durable than the other. Since the durability was one of my biggest concern in getting the phone, I did a test of each phone upon cracking open the box: I opened and closed each phone 300 times. Results: The LG Shine's slider remained the same; the SE's slider got smoother after the test.

SE: 9/10 Shine: 6/10

Fingerprints/Scratchability: The claims that the Shine is a fingerprint magnet could not be more true. The Shine cannot stand to be touched at all. Walking around with the Shine put in my side jeans pocket for a day, the Shine went in looking stellar and came back looking pretty poor. The back plate had obviously been rubbed on, the front plate exhibited small, but noticeable scratches. I'm sure you could prevent the Shine from getting scratched by getting a screen protector and/or case, but the hassle of one is not something that I'd want to deal with (not to mention such protection would take away the "beauty" of the Shine). The Sony Ericsson, as one may predict, does not scratch easily. Same jeans, same walk, and the SE still looked great after. There was something that looked like a small scratch on the front screen on the SE, but nothing a wipe could clean off. Speaking of which, with the LG Shine, you cannot wipe the phone with any shirt; it will scratch if the fabric of the cloth/shirt is rough. A BIG reason people get the Shine is because it looks good. Well, if you don't take care of it like a newborn baby, it's going to look like **** and ipso facto, it was a poor decision to buy the phone for its looks.

SE: 9/10 Shine: 1/10

Keypad: People always complain about the keypads of the Sony Ericsson and the LG Shine and say how small they are and how difficult it is to text with them... Most of these complainers are complaining from hearsay (they repeat what they read/hear from others, not from their own experience). The problem of cracking keypads is also a huge concern for potential buyers of the SE. First, to address the keypad. The size of the keypad is very usable for texting and other usage. I have 6'2" and have large hands and I can still manage to comfortable use the phones' keypads. Texting with both is very easy (albeit not as easy as texting on a RAZR). The SE's keypad is not as responsive as the Shine's, meaning the click down are not as solid, and that the row of numbers are connected so that one press on a number slightly depresses the row, but nonetheless, it is very solid. The LG Shine's keypad is like a smaller version of the RAZR. Regarding the cracking keys on the SE, I performed a test to see if this rumor was true. Over a period of 2 days, I had the phone off and during my spare time (which is a lot since it's summer), I've been clicking away at the keys (with a good amount of pressure I might add), and the keys exhibit no sign of cracking. Clearly the cracking keys is an issue with older phones (which you could potentially still buy if the reseller of your phone has old stock).

SE: 9/10 Shine: 9/10

Navigation: Those that say navigation on the Shine is difficult are clearly retarded: physically or mentally. The joystick on the Shine takes no practice to nail. It is very easy to use, and is not too small. The SE, with no joystick, as imagined, is also very easy to use. My only caveat with the SE is that there's no dedicated end call button like my old Nokia. The numbered menus in the Shine are very easy to use.

SE: 9/10 Shine: 9/10

Reception/Sound Quality: I live in Northern California in a well populated city, and everywhere I go, I get 5 bars with the SE and from 3 to 4 bars with the Shine. I have found the number of signal bars that you get has a big impact on the call quality (as it should)... The Shine frequently echoes what the other person says, and a background static seems to be present in all calls. To ensure that I didn't receive a lemon shine, I tested a friend's shine and sure enough, it was the same. My friend told me they didn't notice the static (he probably got use to the poor call quality)... The SE's reception and sound quality it top notch. No complaints whatsoever here. Even with 3 bars (in a tunnel), the call was still strong.

SE:10/10 Shine: 5/10


Features: SE wins hands down. Read the features at each phone's respective website; I won't waste your time here. The LG Shine is the most basic of phones. The only thing its got over the SE is 3G. The Shine is all looks.

SE: 10/10 Shine: 2/10 (absolutely pitiful for a phone be so lackluster in features)

Other concerns and notes:
- The speaker on the SE kills that one which is on the Shine
- Both phones have ringtones are loud enough to be heard
- Both phones can [be modified to] receive games and , but with the SE, you have more options.