The LG 505c, first and foremost, is NOT a smartphone. You will NOT be able to add Android or iPhone apps. Because of the smartphone-like appearance, some people seem to have the mistaken impression that they will be able to use the 505c like a true smart phone. As long as you get past that important point, there are definitely some positives about this model.

First, the 505 is available from TracFone, Straight Talk, and Net10, with regular price of $89.99 on all three. This phone uses the Verizon network, which is an absolute requirement for many people as Verizon offers the best coverage in the U.S. as a general rule (though this, of course, may vary locally).

If you happen to go with the TracFone version of this model, you’ll also get the “triple minutes for life” feature, which can save you a lot of money.

The large screen size makes for easy viewing of whatever is on the display. The QWERTY keyboard gives nice flexibility for quickly composing longer text messages, although you can also use the on-screen keyboard on the touch screen if that’s your preference.

As far as the “extras” on this device, there are some pluses and minuses. The ringtones and contact list works very efficiently and met all my expectations. The built-in mp3 player, also, works quite well and I found it nice to carry only one device instead of a separate phone and mp3 player. The camera, however, left me wanting more. On a device of this price, I expected more than 1.2 megapixels. Further, it does NOT have video recorder.

In summary, this is probably the most full-featured non-smart phone from any of the three prepaid carriers listed above, if you want something on the Verizon system. But I still feel like it’s kind of stuck in the middle. For another $100, you can get a very solid Android phone in the Samsung Galaxy Proclaim that uses Verizon, though that will require you to get on the $45 monthly plan.

If you prefer to keep your costs down and go month-to-month for your service, the LG 501c, LG 235c, or Samsung r355c provide a similar set of features at a lower cost (though lack the triple minutes feature on TracFone). So if you are one of those consumers who find yourself looking for something in this middle ground, you might want to check out my full review at the link below:

http://www.prepaidphoneguy.com/lg-505c-review-index

Then around the beginning of September, I was notified that wordpress.com had suspended my old blog. This was done because the blog was too “commercial” in nature as it focused on three brands of cell phone companies. Though I have no way of knowing this, I suspect that the change in Google rankings and subsequent drop in visitors to the blog may have played a part in wordpress.com’s decision to suspend my blog.

Either way, I don’t fault them for it as I should have been more careful about selecting my blogging platform. And the result of all this change is that I am at a crossroads with my blog. I can choose to fold up and quit doing what I’ve done for the past 4 years, or start from scratch in a sense, and continue publishing on a new site of my own.

The good news is that WordPress has allowed me to download a complete backup of my old blog, including all the posts (over 300) and pages (over 50) I wrote, as well as all the comments (in the thousands). I have been able to import that entire set of data to pbush14.com, where I will maintain indefinitely for reference.

Going forward, though, my new posts will be published on PrepaidPhoneGuy.com. I started that site over a year ago with the intention of moving all of my content there, but things were going along so well at wordpress.com that I just kept going with that. Now, however, I’m excited for the fresh start I’ll get at PrepaidPhoneGuy.com (and rest assured, I’ll be spending some time to improve the design and formatting of the site!).

I’m far from an expert in trying to understand what Google is looking for when it comes to designing a website and publishing content, but my hope is that by establishing a brand new site and basically starting over, I’ll get a do-over with Google and therefore be able to reach a large audience and continue to help a lot of people with their Tracfone, Net10, and Straight Talk questions.

Further, I want to make it easier to subscribe to my posts, so that people can have the posts delivered automatically rather than needing to go out and find them. I plan to do this by encouraging people to sign up for my email list and YouTube channel. I will also be adding a Facebook page where you can “like” my blog to be notified of new content, as well as a Twitter account for people that prefer to follow me that way.

And if you’re already subscribed to my email updates, you shouldn’t need to do anything. I will change the email list software so that the delivery of posts from PrepaidPhoneGuy.com will resume where the wordpress.com updates left off. However, if you subscribe in this way, you may want to update your email filters and watch your junk mail folder, just in case the change affects the way your email program filters my updates.

Finally, if you’re reading this now it probably means you’ve been following me for a long time, and I want to sincerely thank you for that. While I definitely enjoy working with all these new phones as a sort of hobby, I frankly wouldn’t do it if there weren’t so many of you supporting me and appreciating what I do.

If you have any tips, suggestions, or questions about the future of my prepaid phone blog, please let me know about it by contacting me directly using this form.

Thank you, and I look forward to continuing to share prepaid phone news with you, and also participate in the helpful discussion that has developed around my reviews.

Sincerely,

pbushx2, aka PrepaidPhoneGuy

Like I pointed out on the first two posts of this LG 501c review, I am not the author of this critique. Credit for that goes to long-time TracFone user and commenter on this blog, Otis226. I have also used the 501c myself, and I compared Otis’ written review with my own experience, adding and editing where necessary. The result is a combined effort that I feel presents a very accurate evaluation of this device.

This phone is available for both TracFone and Net10. You’ll find links to all portions of this review on the LG 501c review index page.

Connectivity

The 501c can connect up to bluetooth-enabled devices. That’s the short answer. I’ve tried to test this function as carefully as I know how, using both a Windows based PC and an iMac. The phone is easily recognized. Getting ,sending and exchanging vCard info, as well as calendar events works well and easily. But that’s where bluetooth connectivity seems to stop with this handset.

What made this confusing to me, is that since the LG500g has full bluetooth connectivity, I assumed the LG501c, being so similar in appearance, as well as being a newer offering from Tracfone, would have it also. My mistake, but the real capper was that the owners manual for this handset states, in the section on transferring photos from the phone to another device, that the choice includes sending via MMS or bluetooth. This is incorrect, as the only choice given with the 501c is via MMS messaging.

So, it seems that bluetooth connectivity is quite limited by Tracfone for this model. I am unable to test the capability of communicating with a vehicle bluetooth device, but I believe it should work at least for voice calls. I would be surprised, however, if the phone book function or voice commands work over bluetooth.

Further, USB connectivity is limited as well. I tried connecting via USB to both a Vista and an XP windows machine, and in both cases the phone was recognized by the PC as a “USB modem.” I found no options within the “settings” menu to change the USB connection mode to “mass storage,” which is the setting used on other phones (like the LG 500g) to allow for file transfer via USB.

Camera

The VGA (.3 mp)camera seems sub-standard in terms of resolution, when you compare it to the other 1.3 and 2.0 megapixel cameras on most new TracFone and Net10 mobiles. That being said, it works as well as any I’ve used with a Tracfone. It includes the standard adjustments for brightness, resolution and multishot functions, (3 or 6 shot). Also available are 5 options for ‘image effects and 5 options for ‘fun effects’. If the phone is held still in moderately bright light, you will get a passable image. There is no video option on this phone.

To sum it up here, as long as you know you won’t be getting a low-resolution image, you won’t be disappointed. The camera works fine, but is hindered by the VGA resolution, lack of video, and lack of airtime-free methods of downloading the pictures to a PC.

Extras

Internal memory is limited to 75 mb, approx. 2.7 which is reserved for messages, contacts, etc. Included ringtones number 32, but that includes 9 message tones. Additional ringtones can of course be purchased.

The same two games included on the LG500g are also available here, Chequered Flag and WordAttack, with the option to buy others. You can also add java apps, as I successfully installed the opera mini browser by navigating the 501c’s native browser to m.opera.com. Further, I logged into Facebook, and was promptly greeted by a suggestion to install their app, which I did without a problem.

I did not try any other apps from sites like getjar.com or umnet.com, but apps from those sites should work as well as long as they are compatible with this phone (look for .jar files). One thing to keep in mind as far as installing apps, though, is that there’s no apparent easy way to get java files from a computer to the LG 501c. With bluetooth blocked from transferring files, no removable memory, and with USB not functional for data transfer, you’ll be limited to downloading any jar files via the phone’s browser, therefore costing you airtime.

Speaking of the browser, I was happy with the speed of the connection. I tested it by loading ESPN.com, which has a lot of information on the main page, but is also a very main-stream site with plenty of resources for optimizing the mobile version of their site.

It took approximately 8 seconds from when I pressed the “browser” button until I was ready to enter the URL. After I clicked “ok” on the URL entry, it took around 20 seconds for the page to load. I then repeated this by clicking on ESPN’s “NFL” page, and it again took approximately 20 seconds to load the page. This isn’t blazing fast by any means, but then I don’t expect people to be using this type of phone for long web-browsing sessions.

A couple of complaints I do have on the browser, though. First, most other TracFone and Net10 handsets I’ve used will allow the user to select “browser” from the menu and then enter a destination URL BEFORE activating the browser. On the 501c, however, selecting “browser” from the menu launches the browser immediately, and therefore the airtime meter begins immediately. It’s not a huge amount of minutes, but I’d rather enter a URL airtime-free if possible.

My other complaint is one that I’ve made dozens of times before – the “browser” shortcut button on the home screen cannot be re-programmed. As I’ve said before, this can result in the accidental activation of the browser, thus costing airtime. You’ll have a couple of seconds before your charged, but this could be a real problem if the browser is activated while the phone is in a pocket or purse.

Moving on, the tools included are; a calculator, EZ tip calculator, world clock, stopwatch, and unit converter. The ‘My Schedule’ submenu brings up the alarm clock, which allows 5 individual alarms to be set.The phone must be powered on for the alarm to function.

A standard calander function, which allows 300 different events to be saved, with or without alarm function. And finally, a notepad, where up to 100 short, 150 character notes can be stored.

Perhaps the “extras” on this phone are more notable for what’s missing – in this case, an mp3 player and microSD card reader. Both of these options are something that I’d expect on this type of phone these days (and indeed are included on the LG 500g, the very similar GSM equivalent to the LG 501c).

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you are looking for a QWERTY keyboard on a Tracfone or Net10 handset, and you must have CDMA coverage, I guess this is the phone for you. Or at least until the release of the recently-announced LG 505c, assuming that comes to TracFone and Net10.

I still can’t understand why this phone’s price is more than the LG500g ($39.99 compared to $29.99), for what apparently is so much less. Perhaps that will change with time. All I can assume, is Tracfone wants to make using CDMA as unattractive as possible for people that don’t really need it in their area, and for folks that must have it, you take what you can get.

The LG 501c is not a bad phone by any means. It excels in terms of signal reception, and provides adequate call quality in a nice compact form factor.  However, the low-resolution camera, locked-down bluetooth, and lack of USB connectivity, expandable memory,  video recorder, and mp3 player make it hard for me to recommend this phone wholeheartedly.

All things considered, the QWERTY keyboard might be enough to influence some CDMA-using Tracfone and Net10 customers to make the switch, and I can’t disagree with that either if you are a big texter. But I would recommend this as an upgrade only for those who definitely want a QWERTY CDMA phone now. If you can afford to hold off a few months, though, you might want to wait and see what the price tag on the LG 505c is when it is released.

TracFone

Net10

[NOTE: As more info becomes available, I'll update this post with more links. You can also check out this page for more information: http://www.samsunggalaxyprecedentreview.com/]

A really surprising development has sprung up in the Straight Talk world. In fact, I’m not completely sure what to believe about this. But rumor has it that there will be an Android phone coming to Straight Talk.

Specifically, there’s a video showing up on DailyMotion.com introducing the Samsung Galaxy Precedent. According to the video, the phone will be available in September, and the price will be $150.

Whoever posted this video has a strange user name that doesn’t sound like anything officially endorsed by Straight Talk, yet they have also uploaded 9 other videos related to either Straight Talk or Net10. The production value on these videos is good enough that I have a hard time doubting their authenticity.

Now, assuming this is indeed accurate, there are still a lot of questions to be answered. Of course users will want to know about the technical specs on the device. Some observers in the Straight Talk forum HowardForums have pointed out that the phone in the video looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy Prevail available on Boost Mobile. While those same people pointed out that the Prevail is not a highly regarded phone, I think we also need to keep in mind here that the bar isn’t very high when it comes to previous Straight Talk phones. The Samsung Galaxy Precedent won’t have to do much to become the “best” phone offered by Straight Talk.

The next big question is which network it will operate on. Since the aforementioned Prevail device uses the Sprint network, there is speculation that perhaps the Precedent will also be a Sprint device. However, I am a little skeptical that after all these years of not having a relationship with Sprint, America Movil would start now. Of course, Sprint might have their own motivation for getting on board as they fight to retain a subscriber base in the face of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger.

There are a couple of further reasons why it might NOT be an AT&T or Verizon phone. First, if the Precedent is indeed very similar to the Prevail, then know it would be an easy transition to make this one work on Sprint’s network. Next, all three America Movil brands have recently seemed to push customers away from Verizon-based phones which seems to indicate that perhaps America Movil doesn’t make as much money from it’s Verizon-based customers as those on AT&T and T-Mobile’s network.

At the same time, if it is an AT&T phone, that could open another can of worms. An AT&T-based Android phone on Straight Talk would mean that the SIM card could be swapped into any other unlocked GSM phone (assuming it supports the proper GSM bands). And I think that Straight Talk, for the purpose of keeping customer support calls to a minimum, might not want a whole slew of different handsets coming on board.

Well, as I pointed out at the beginning of this post, I’m not entirely sure what to think of this video. I definitely have more questions than answers at this point, but I do think that we can reasonably expect to see the Samsung Galaxy Precedent make an appearance on Straight Talk very soon.

Special thanks to The_Sweeper and Tracfancier, each of whom took time to send me an email to let me know about this development.

StraightTalk.com

This device is currently available for both TracFone and Net10. You’ll find links to all portions of this review on the LG 501c review index page.

General Phone Function

Reception on this handset has been good to excellent for me during the several weeks I’ve been using it. I’m located in a GSM/CDMA overlap area, where I feel that GSM has a slight edge on call quality. My main Tracfone is a CDMA, LG290C, and this LG501C was every bit as reliable for signal strength, reception and call quality.

I still judge all Tracfones by how they compare to the Motorola W376g when it comes to call quality. I would give this handset a 3.5 to 4 rating if the 376g is a 5.

Volumes on this handset seem adequate to me. I can clearly hear the ringtones on volume level 4, (they are adjustable from the side buttons, with options ranging from silence all, alarm only, vibrate only, 1 beep, and volume 1-5). The in-call volumes are good to very good and fair to good in noisy, outdoor situations. I found the speakerphone to be excellent, and it is easily turned on and off with the press of a button in the lower right hand corner of the keyboard.

There are 99 speed dial slots, with #1 reserved for voicemail. Each contact can be assigned their own distinctive ringtone. The contacts can also be broken down into 1 of 5 different groups: Business, colleagues, family, friends, school, and no group.

The 950mAh 3.7 V Lithium Ion battery is identical to the one used in the LG500g Tracfone, (LGIP-531A), as is the charger. Here it is rated at 10 days of standby time and 2.5 hrs. of talk time. Interesting as this talk time is only half as much as is stated for the LG500g! I guess it depends on your source of that information. Anyway, I’ve found while testing, and considering that this phone doesn’t have the mp3 player or video capability of the 500g, battery life is fair. Of course if your web browsing and bluetooth use is less than average, your talk time per charge should be substantially better.

Display/Keypad

I find the display on this phone to be bright and crisp, and very similar to the LG500G. When viewing photos taken and using the slideshow feature, the viewing is comfortable, taking into consideration the size of the screen. Viewing the screen from an angle seems better to me than many former models. The only place where the display completely fails is trying to view the screen in full sunlight. Without shading it with your hand or a building, you’re going to have a great deal of difficulty seeing very much on the screen. I would look for a shaded area before attempting to use this handset out in the sun.

Having kind of gotten used to the menu set up on the LG500G, it seems that LG has once again slightly changed their menu format for this handset. Instead of the 9 options offered on the 500G, here you are given a choice of 12 submenu choices, (bluetooth, my schedule, and voice commands get their own submenus on the LG501C). I do like that they once again included numbering the submenu items so that hitting the corresponding number on the keypad brings up that submenu without having to scroll to it. I still feel more comfortable with the menu layout on my 290C, but I’m certain that anyone using the LG501C for a short time will find the menu and submenu display fairly easy to navigate.

Using the full ‘QWERTY’ keyboard is really what this phone is all about. If you need a CDMA-connected handset and you like the speed and ease of text input using this type of keyboard, you’ll love the LG501C. I’ve mentioned that I’m not an avid texter by any means, but using the QWERTY keyboard really does make it fun and so much easier than hunting and pecking with a standard numeric keypad. I would hope that in the future Tracfone would offer a model that includes a touchscreen as well as the full QWERTY keyboard, so users could have the option of using a touchscreen keyboard, or the real thing.

The tactile feel and response of these little keys seems just right to my thumb pressure. Add to that the general comfortable fit when holding this phone, and I think it’s a really good combination.

If you press the ‘CLR’ key from the home screen you will be brought to a screen that shows you the functions of the central shortcut keys (up, down, left, and right). As previously mentioned, I don’t believe these keys are programmable. They appear to be locked to the “Messages,” “Sound,” “Contacts,” and “Games” (clockwise, starting with the “up” key).

That’s all I’ve got for now, but there’s one more installment of the LG 501c Review coming next week. In that final article, we’ll go over the connectivity, camera, extras, and the final recommendation on this device. If you want more details from the sellers of this phone, here are the links:

TracFone

Net10

A couple of points to add on this one – first, I don’t know how long it will last, as the E71 had already appeared to go “out of stock” once earlier today, thought it is back at the time I am writing this. If you want either of these phones, I’d suggest jumping on them quickly to make sure you actually get one.

The other caveat is that you are required to purchase an airtime card when you buy from StraightTalk.com. And since these phones both require a $45 monthly plan, that increases the total cost to purchase. However, you’d need the airtime in order to activate the phone anyway, so it’s really not costing you any extra – just forcing you to make the payment up front.

Click here to learn more about these offers at StraightTalk.com.

On the TracFone side, TMFL (Triple Minutes for Life) is coming on strong. I previously reported on several handsets available from HSN.com with TMFL included. Now a couple of TMFL phones have finally made their way to TracFone.com. Both the Motorola EX124g ($79.99) and Samsung t404g ($59.99) are being offered with TMFL at no extra cost from TracFone.com.

And if you didn’t notice, the Samsung t404g is a new addition to the TracFone lineup. This model was previously available for sister companies Net10 and Straight Talk, but it’s a first for TracFone. It provides a nice alternative as a slide-out qwerty device, and also includes an mp3 player and 2.0 megapixel camera with video recorder.

I haven’t yet personally reviewed the t404g, but I will now. I previously used the t401g and was very happy with it, and the t404g is essentially a very similar sequel to that model. Based on my experience with the t401g, and now the fact that the t404g includes TMFL, I can confidently say that the Samsung t404g is a very appealing phone to those shopping for a new TracFone handset. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with this phone at the price of $59.99.

Check out the Tracfone TMFL Samsung t404g and Motorola EX124g by clicking here.

]]> http://www.pbush14.com/2011/08/11/half-price-straight-talk-tmfl-on-tracfone-com-samsung-t404g-now-for-tracfone/feed/ 5 http://www.pbush14.com/2011/08/10/lg-505c-review/ http://www.pbush14.com/2011/08/10/lg-505c-review/#comments Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:57:36 +0000 pbushx2 http://pbush14.wordpress.com/?p=2793 Continue reading →]]> LG 505c Review

Another new phone is apparently headed in our direction. Thanks to The_Sweeper and TracFancier, both of whom pointed out that a tutorial is up for the new LG 505c. The big news here is that it’s a CDMA touch-screen phone, something that Net10, Straight Talk, and especially TracFone users have been waiting on for a long time now.

UPDATE 8/12/2011: TracFone and Net10 have apparently corrected this issue. For more, read this post.

First, some news about the LG 800g. As I previously reported, this phone has suffered from a major issue with text messaging, basically rendering the device unusable in many cases. Because of that shortcoming, I advised against buying the LG 800g in all cases. At the same time, the phone was not available from either TracFone’s or Net10′s website.

Now, however, it appears they have fixed the problem, and the phone is back on both sites. After reading through some blog comments about this issue, it seems there is an updated software version for the LG 800g. The flawed software was version V10d, while the newest is V10e. Some people with problematic 800g’s were given replacements that had the newer software, and it also seems that devices purchased directly from TracFone or Net10 now include V10e as well.

One thing the watch out for on this is that other people have reported buying the LG 800g in stores (Target, Walmart, etc), and getting the old software. As far as I can tell at this point, there’s no way to determine the software version based on the packaging. So if you buy from a store, before you activate the phone you’ll probably want to check the software in the phone’s settings menu. Go to Menu>Settings>Phone>Information>Device Information and look for “S/W Version.”

And of course if you have a device with the old software, do not hesitate to call TracFone or Net10 and request a replacement device if you’ve had even a hint of problems with receiving text messages.

Finally, the fact that this phone is now being sold again means that I’ll revisit my LG 800g review and finish it up (though I’m currently also working with the LG 501c, Samsung t528g, and Motorola EX124g, with the Nokia E5 also around the corner). For now, though, I think it’s safe to say that as a general rule, I think the $50 800g is a better value than the $80 EX124g. In fact, even ignoring the price difference, I think the 800g might be a better phone in many important respects.

Updated TracFone bonus codes

I updated the list near the end of last week, and made a few changes. I didn’t find a lot of changes, but I think that it’s safe to say at this point that code 65901, which had previously given 100 bonus minutes on 60, 120, and 200-minute cards, is no longer valid. I had left it up simply because it was such a large bonus, but a sufficient number people have found it to be invalid that I have now marked it as such on the main list.

There were also just a handful of new codes to add to the list, and none are very exciting:

• 83118 for 20 bonus minutes on a 60-minute card
• 86380 for 30 bonus minutes on a 120-minute card
• 40305 for 50 bonus minutes on a 450-minute card

Here’s a link to my TracFone Promo Code list.

Upcoming Posts

As I mentioned above, I have a lot on my plate in terms of reviewing phones, and I’m still struggling to find time to address all of those. Once school is back in session, though, I should be able to take care of them in rapid succession.

Coming up this week, I’ll have some news about a new handset in the America Movil lineup, and this time it’s a touch-screen CDMA phone. I’ll also post more on the LG 501c review, and later this week or early next I’ll continue with the t528g review.

TracFone

Net10

This is the first installment of my detailed Samsung t528g review, which I’ve broken down into installments to make it easier to manage. For more about this phone including links to other portions of the review (as they are published), please see this review index page.

General Overview

The Samsung t528g is a GSM phone, using the AT&T and T-Mobile networks. It’s also 3G-capable, which will provide much faster data transmission than the previous EDGE technology offered by most previous Straight Talk (and TracFone and Net10) GSM phones. Another nice feature on the t528g is Wi-Fi. If you are within range of a hotspot, you’ll (most likely) get even faster data connections using Wi-Fi than on 3G.

It’s a candy-bar-shaped touch-screen phone (no physical QWERTY keyboard), and looks quite narrow and sleek. Measurements are 4.33″ x 2.01″ x 0.47,” with a weight of 3.24 ounces. The overall appearance is very long and narrow to me especially when compared side-by-side with the LG 800g and Motorola EX124g from TracFone and Net10. This compactness makes it easy to carry, but also could potentially be somewhat limiting on the screen size. In this case, however, I don’t feel like the screen (3.0 inches) is cramped.

The feature list also includes a host of interesting items:

• Touch screen
• 3G
• WiFi
• Mp3 player
• Java support (games/apps)
• Facebook/MySpace apps included
• E-mail apps
• MicroSD card slot (up to 32 GB)
• Voice recognition
• 2.0 megapixel camera
• Video Recorder
• Mp3 ringtone support
• HAC compatible
• Bluetooth capable
• Handsfree speaker

It also has all the other things you’d expect on a phone these days, such as MMS/SMS, voice mail, callerID, alarm, calendar, calculator, stop watch, etc. And it has a huge phone book, with room for 2000 entries.

External/Appearance

I really like the appearance of this phone. I’m comparing it to the two other recent prepaid touch-screens I’ve seen lately (LG 800g and Motorola EX124g), and this is the best-looking device of the three in my opinion. I don’t think anyone will be able to tell at first glance that it’s a prepaid phone, unless they recognize the small TracFone logo just above the screen.

I think it also feels the most solid and well-constructed of the three phones. I don’t have any concerns about the durability of this device, although I would suggest using an adhesive screen protector to guard against scratches that might impair the clarity of the display.

And due to the rounded corners and slim chassis of the t528g, it’s extremely easy to slide in and out of a pocket, and while carrying it in a pants pocket I found myself forgetting it was even there. Possibly the only complaint I have here is that it would be nice to have a little better texture on the sides and back of the phone. As it is, the glossy finish can make it somewhat prone to slipping out of your hand. Both the EX124g and the 800g have a tackier texture on the sides and/or back, making for a more secure grip.

General Phone Function

The call quality has been good if not great. I compared it side-by-side with each of the following phones: Nokia E71, Motorola EX124g, LG 900g, and LG 800g. Of these five phones, the Nokia was definitely my favorite in terms of audio fidelity. As I noted in my initial review of that device, audio was crystal clear. After that, things are very evenly matched among the phones. The Motorola might have a slight edge in this category, but at most I would say it’s half a point on a ten-point scale, if anything. Rounding out the group was the LG 800g, which was a notch below the others due to a slight hissing in the background. I would score the group as follows:

Nokia E71 – 10

Moto EX124g – 8.5

Samsung t528g – 8.0

LG 900g – 8.0

LG 800g – 7.5

Signal reception so far has been very good for me. I have found that it pulls in a signal wherever any other GSM handset can pick it up, even in fairly weak areas. I have also seen a few other reports on the web that the reception has exceeded expectations.

The volume on calls is good both through the earpiece and on speaker phone, although the distortion at the higher volume settings was a little distracting on speakerphone. It wasn’t anything that prevented me from using the phone at that volume level, though.

Ringtone volume is very good on the included ringtones. You can also have custom ringtones whether you create your own or download them from a site like myxer.com. I was unable to set a full song as a ringtone, but increments of up to 30 seconds worked for me.

The t528g allows for separate ringtones for individual contacts or for groups of contacts. You can also assign message tones to individual contacts, but you’ll have to choose from among the 8 pre-set message alert tones. For your general text message tone, though, your options include the default text tones as well as the pre-installed voice call ringtones.

Battery life for me has been less than three days with moderate usage, but I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that I set up my t528g to link to my email account, so the phone is regularly (it seems like once every 15-20 minutes) going out and checking whether I have any new messages. Without setting up email, I think you could expect to charge this phone just twice per week, although three times a week might be a more likely scenario for Straigh Talk users.

In addition to the email, another way to drain the battery fast is to stay connected to wi-fi and/or bluetooth. Wi-fi and bluetooth each require separate radios inside the phone, and running these features regularly will sap your power.

I’ll wrap up this section of the review here, but I’ll have more about this phone later this week or early next week. If you’re convinced now that the Samsung t528g is right for you, check out more at StraightTalk.com.

StraightTalk.com