LG Fusic (LX550)

This month, the new LG Fusic hopes to fair better. Ushering in the next generation of music phones, it adds features previously missing in former devices while improving ease-of-use and performance. Looking, feeling, and playing like a portable music player, the Fusic offers instant access to the Sprint Music Store. Having access to full songs over-the-air, customers can download tracks onto microSD cards and play them through the radio or car stereo from the integrated FM transmitter.

Able to use wireless headsets, the Fusic is also one of the first devices to incorporate A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) Bluetooth for wireless stereo headphones. Coupled with Sprint Power Vision services, the Fusic has fast access to information with On Demand and Sprint TV, boasting more than 50 live and prerecorded channels.

Exclusive to Sprint, the Fusic is the latest breed of music phones, bringing not just top-notch audio features, but going further by integration innovative technological advances and online services, such as Sprint Music Store and Sprint TV, for a seamless experience.Being a music phone, the Fusic looks oddly similar to an iPod, featuring a boxy exterior with right angles and perpendicular lines. Rather stiff and unappealing, the Fusic goes against current mobile trends of sleeker rounded curves or edgy angular lines. On the contrary, the Fusic projects a rather dull boring feel. Fortunately users can liven up the handheld with faceplate covers. Packaged with Blue, Pink, Green, and Black colors, consumers can change the Fusic depending on their mood.On the front panel, a color external screen allows users to glance at frequented information and control the MP3 player through the external navigational pad below. Up / Down, Rewind, Play / Pause, and Fast Forward Keys let music listeners conveniently control tracks without having to open the phone. Slightly awkward in design, the directional keys don’t actually depress like the middle key, causing overly-touchy actions that cause frequent mis-presses and scrolling

The external speaker port is located on the bottom right corner. When the Fusic is flipped open to watch streaming videos, the speaker points in the opposite direction of the internal screen, blasting sound away from the watcher. Rather ineffectively placed, consumers will unfortunately need headphones to clearly hear audio from streaming videos.

Turned around, the lens to the 1.3-megapixel camera captures photos up to 1280 x 960 px in resolution. A built-in flash nearby ensures consumers can get shots in low light conditions.

The left and right edges integrate convenient keys for shortcuts. The left contains a microSD expansion card port, Volume Keys to adjust the ring and voice volumes during standby and calls, and a Voice Services Key to let users dial contacts or record voice memos. On the right, a Camera Key lies below a 2.5mm Headset Jack for handsfree communication or private music listening. The Charger and Accessory Jacks are located on the bottom side.

Flipped open, the Fusic reveals a brilliant internal screen. Ideal for watching streaming videos, the 262K-color LCD is capable of displaying clips at a large 176 x 220 px resolution. The 5-Way Keypad is flanked on both sides by Left and Right Keys, and dedicated Speaker and Camera Keys. A soft touch numeric keypad illuminates a light blue glow in the dark for convenient text messaging through T9 predictive text.Out of the box, the LG Fusic comes with a Standard 1000 mAh Li-Ion Battery, AC Travel Charger, USB Cable, Stereo Headset, Accessory Faceplates (Blue, Pink, Green, and Black), 64 MB microSD card with SD Adapter, Sprint Power Vision Guide, and User Manual. The placement of the lens on the back requires users to hold the Fusic in an uncomfortably upright manner, but fortunately the external screen doubles as a compact alterative viewfinder when closed. It also works for self-portraits and group shots when open and turned around.

Compared to other camera phones on the market, the Fusic’s 1.3-megapixel camera is in the middle of the pack, much better than VGA cameras of last year, but trailing the 2.0- and 3.2-megapixel pioneers. Encoded in JPG file format, users are limited to 36 photos at 1280 x 960 px, each approximately 150 KB in size. But to save space, users can lower resolution to VGA (640 x 480 px) for up to 72 photos, and QVGA (320 x 240 px) for up to 144 photos.

The navigation pad adjusts Brightness Level (-2 to +2) and 4x Digital Zoom (15 steps). Unfortunately Digital Zoom is not available at the highest resolution. The placement of the lens on the back requires users to hold the Fusic in an uncomfortably upright manner, but fortunately the external screen doubles as a compact alterative viewfinder when closed. It also works for self-portraits and group shots when open and turned around.

Compared to other camera phones on the market, the Fusic’s 1.3-megapixel camera is in the middle of the pack, much better than VGA cameras of last year, but trailing the 2.0- and 3.2-megapixel pioneers. Encoded in JPG file format, users are limited to 36 photos at 1280 x 960 px, each approximately 150 KB in size. But to save space, users can lower resolution to VGA (640 x 480 px) for up to 72 photos, and QVGA (320 x 240 px) for up to 144 photos.

The navigation pad adjusts Brightness Level (-2 to +2) and 4x Digital Zoom (15 steps). Unfortunately Digital Zoom is not available at the highest resolution.The Fusic bundles other features commonplace among camera phones including Flash (Off, On This Shot, and Always On), Self-Timer (Off, 5 Sec, and 10 Sec), Color Tone (Normal, Black and White, Negative, and Sepia), Brightness (Auto and Manual), White Balance (Auto, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Sunny, Cloudy, and 6 Manual Settings), Quality (Fine, Normal, and Economy), Shutter Sounds (4 Preset Sounds and Off), Full Screen, and Image Enhancer.

Taking great photos for prints, the Fusic gives consumers multiple ways to offload the images. Using Bluetooth technology, users can wirelessly transfer images to PCs or Bluetooth-compatible printers. The Fusic can also connect directly to PictBridge-compatible printers via USB cable, printing images from the memory card directly to a printer, bypassing the need for a computer. To order prints through printing services, Sprint lets customers send the photos to Fujifilm Retailers for pickup or to online sites for home delivery.

In Camcorder Mode, the Fusic can record a maximum of 36 videos up to 30 seconds in length in Video Mail Mode, or 30 minute long clips in Long Video Mode (videos over 512 KB cannot be uploaded, sent, or posted). Camera functions such as Flash, Color Tone, Brightness, and White Balance can be applied to the Camcorder as well.

Encoded in 3G2 format (MPEG-4 Video and QCELP Mono Audio), videos are recorded at 176 x 144 px in resolution at 15 frames per second. Too grainy and low quality for actual usage, the Fusic’s video recording is more of a novelty; capturing amusing clips for vague recollections later on.
The Fusic’s menu can be displayed in a 12-icon grid structure or list view. As one of the newest devices accessible on Sprint’s Power Vision, the Fusic integrates online services into the menu to check the news through On Demand, listen to and buy music through the Music Player, or download multimedia through My Content.

Miscellaneous features include Airplane Mode for operation where radio frequency may be a disruption, TTY/TDD support for the hearing impaired, and English and Spanish language support.

Rating the 1000 mAh Li-Ion battery at 4.5 hours and 7.5 days (180 hours) of talk and standby times, actual times will be slightly less. However, these times are under optimal conditions. Handset manufacturers and carriers often list talk and standby time ratings with disclaimers about variable performance and often refer to the times they publish as maximum times. Actual times will vary.The Fusic comes with some essential tools commonly found on handhelds, such as Alarm Clock, Calculator, Notepad, Scheduler, Task List, Voice Control and Memo, and World Clock.Several games come included on the Fusic as well. Gamers should be familiar with some classics such as Ms. PacMan and Tetris, but other preinstall games include the World Poker Tour to satisfy the recent popularity of Texas Hold ‘Em, Midnight Pool for action-packed billiards, and Zuma for a strategic shooting game. Unfortunately all games are demos with the convenient option of purchasing the full version through Sprint’s Power Vision online service.

But users can also download and install more applications through J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition). As the most popular platform for mobile devices, developers have already released mobile versions of popular computer programs and video games reminiscent of old 90s-style console titles.

The Fusic is heavily integrated with Sprint Power Vision for added features to connect with multimedia and users around the country. Sprint Game Lobby lets customers match skills in real-time competition against other customers across the country. Advancing past single-player entertainment, gamers can find competitors, post scores, and see additional game recommendations.

To pass the time, customers can access Sprint TV for a monthly subscription fee. Depending on which Sprint TV package enrolled in, users can stream live and prerecorded TV from popular stations. Access Pack gets ABC News Now streaming live news channel and Sirius Hits. Plus Pack subscribers get additional channels such as NFL Network, Fox Sports, Fuse, and Fashion TV. And for heavy mobile television viewers, the Ultimate Pack includes everything previously mentioned plus ESPN, Fox News Channel, NBC, The Weather Channel, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Toon World, Looney Tunes, Comedy Time, and Music Choice.

Users can watch TV in full screen mode (horizontally) for added resolution. Overall the quality was mediocre. While images were somewhat small, scenes could clearly be made out, although action sequences can be a bit haphazard and choppy.

To get news and information, the Fusic can connect to On Demand. By subscribing to a wide range of channels, customers can get breaking news, sports scores, stock quotes, and weather reports, or look up movie times and TV programming, directory and dictionary services, and online maps.

The Fusic wonderfully integrates Sprint Power Vision for TV streaming, music purchasing, and information services. However, the drawback is the extra monthly charges. Costing around $15-25 extra per month, the multimedia features are an expensive addition. Without access to Sprint Power Vision, the Fusic loses a good deal of functionality, unable to realize its full potential.Through the included USB cable, users can activate the USB Flash Drive option, making the Fusic look like an external drive from a PC. Offering conveniently drag and drop function to and from a PC, users can offload photos taken with the camera or store music on memory cards.

But the Fusic also comes with Bluetooth wireless technology. Not only letting consumers transfer multimedia, synchronize files and contacts, and use it as a modem when paired with a PC, the Fusic is also one of the first devices to integrate the A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) Bluetooth profile.

Giving music listeners the freedom to enjoy wireless stereo streaming, A2DP lets users walk around without the constraints of wires. To use A2DP, consumers must purchase an A2DP-compatiable Bluetooth headset and load MP3s through the microSD card. Songs purchased from the Sprint Music Store do not have the option to use A2DP. Bluetooth has a range of 10 meter (30 feet).LG Fusic (LX550) Specs

Technical Specifications
Network: CDMA 800 / 1900
Form Factor: Clamshell
Dimensions: 97 x 48 x 20 mm
Weight: 119 g
Antenna: Stub
Navigation: 5-Way Keypad
Battery Type: 1000 mAh Li-Ion
Talk Time: 4.50
Standby Time: 180
Memory: 23.5 MB
Expandable Memory: microSD / TransFlash

Imaging
Main Screen: 262000 colors (TFT)
176 x 220 px
External Screen: 65000 colors (TFT)
96 x 96 px
Camera: 1.3 MP / 1280 x 960 px / Flash / 4X Zoom / Video Recorder

Audio
MP3 Player: Sprint Music Store
FM Radio: FM Transmitter
Speakerphone: Yes
Push-To-Talk: No

Multimedia
Wallpapers: 176 x 220 px
Screen Savers: 176 x 220 px
Ring Tones: MP3
Themes: Yes
Games: J2ME
Streaming Multimedia: Sprint TV

Messaging
SMS: Yes
EMS: Yes
MMS: Yes
Email: PCS Mail
Chat: AOL / MSN / Yahoo!
Predictive Text: T9

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