LG CU515 (AT&T)

I bought this to replace an old Motorola v551 with battery issues.
I liked the design and it seemed a bit more solid than the RAZR. I liked the large screen on the flip side, the large, easy to read keypad, and the slim feel in my hand. I also saw the battery life was rated well for talk and standby time. The speakerphone has an excellent volume.

Though it has a large color screen on the inside, the text is too small with no option for enlarging it. The outside display is B&W and could have been larger.

I almost immediately ran into annoyances. The PushToTalk button is located on the side of the phone. You almost can't help but activate it when you open the phone to answer a call. Opening it is also not as easy as you'd expect. The design gives no "grab" area for a thumb to lift the clam. Expect to use two hands. At least it prompts you to decide if you want to be charged for PTT before it connects. There is no way to disable this function from activating. Just before writing this I got off the phone with my provider. The tech "thinks" he might have found a way and is going to email me the instructions. I can only hope.

Internet connection is way too easy to inadvertently start. Too many options for connecting and I'm not really appreciative of my phone loaded with connections to the their Internet Mall where they try to sell you something.

Navigation isn't easy. Nothing seems to be simple. Menus to scroll through and I have yet to find a way to reassign the keys because the user manual, though thick, is poorly written in giving instructions. It tells you what the phone CAN do, but doesn't give stepped instructions on how to get it done. Print so small, I can barely read it.

I also have a data cable for it, but it doesn't seem to accept downloads from my computer of MP3 music. If you ever used Motorola Tools and are familiar with the simple procedure for downloading music and photos to your phone, don't expect anything simple with this phone.

Speaking of music, it has 10 preloaded ring styles. I don't like any of them, but until I figure out how to get my own music in this phone, I'm stuck.

Volume during a speakerless conversation is good, though voice quality isn't the best. My old v551 sounded better.

Bluetooth: You'd think it wouldn't be a big deal, but I have 3 separate earpieces I keep in different environments I may be in. This phone found and accepted my first one, but refuses to accept, or even find my other two. Don't know if this is intentional, but now I have to make sure my earpiece is fully charged at all times because I can't switch out to any of my others.


Overall, it is a great phone for those who just want a simple phone to make and receive calls, but for those who plan on personalizing it, using it for pictures, music, texting, and all that can be done with cell phones these days... it is only a GOOD phone, that could have been designed better - both its' functionality and user friendliness. Maybe the next version will see improvements. This one had potential, but fell short.