Thank your “Lucky Goldstar”, dear Techies, because LG gives you an A-class budget phone in the form of the Optimus Me. This modest touchscreen phone not only looks good, it feels good, too—but as the Latin would say, is it “optimus” enough to go head-to-head with the other, much knownKorean company that’s luring converts left and right?
Looks Good
We’re loving its slim physique and smooth corners, which is good news for Techies who love wearing tight maongs. (Yes, you too, Mr. Super Junior wannabe.) And unlike most budget phones that sport the cheap plastic, LG Optimus Me doesn’t skimp on the good looks—even if it’s mostly plastic, too. The simple front screen looks classy and all the phone and action shortcuts are permanently docked above the call buttons. Flip the phone over and you’ll get a seemingly metal back cover (comes in silver, black, blue, pink, and red)—plastic never looked this good.
Android-Powered
There’s not much to say about the phone’s OS. If you’ve seen an Android phone in action, you’ve pretty much seen them all. But LG made sure it made its presence known in the phone’s software; take the touchscreen keyboard for example, you have an option between the “Android” and the “LG” keyboards—but there’s really not much difference if you ask us.
Running on Android 2.2.1, the possibilities for the Optimus Me is endless and you’ve got the whole Android app market to thank for that. But we’re not sure if the Optimum Me is quite ready for that much action yet; it breaks our heart to report that it crashed on us a couple of times, went autonomous mode when it was bored (a.k.a. standby mode), and gave us the black screen even if the RAM wasn’t in overdrive. We were disappointed, but it was nothing a reboot couldn’t fix.
Mali-cia Keys
We weren’t too fond of the LG Optimus Me’s QWERTY keypad. The capacitive multi-touchscreen’s response may be smooth as silk, but the phone’s 320x480 pixel screen was just too darn small. Even in horizontal view, it was difficult to punch the right buttons with your thumbs (Note: We tested this with several thumbs), and fumbling while texting made us miss punching real buttons. But for those who use their pointer finger to do the typing for them, then it won’t be much of a problem. And there is that other option: the alphanumeric keypad, assuming your texting skills aren’t dusty.
Camera Shy
The LG Optimus Me sports a 3MP camera, which has been around as the “standard” for camera phones for too long if you ask us. Though it takes decent photos, we can’t help but be disappointed. And aren’t camera flashes uso anymore? Where have they all gone? So if you’re looking for an excellent phone-camera combo to save pocket space, better look elsewhere.
Connectivity
On the upside, you’ve got everything you need to stay connected. It’s 3G and Wi-Fi cable, and all the major social networking apps sit snugly on the phone menu, waiting for your worldwide announcements. Continuous Internet usage will give you about a good 3 to 4 hours.
The Verdict
The LG Optimus Me P350, being the cheaper version of the Optimus One P500, may not be the best budget phone out there, but no competition comes close when it comes to looks and overall features. We may have encountered a few system crashes throughout the course of our review, but we’re still hoping it was just the demo phone… and for some tiny improvements here and there
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