LG VX-8350 Cell Phone

Cons: No camera flash, not easy to open with 1 hand

Summary: Sept 2007 - Upgraded from the LG VX8300 - cracked the screen so the VX8350 was a natural step up. Camera pictures don't seem to be nearly as sharp as the VX8300 - dropped the flash (though the flash wasn't real helpful anyway). My first VX8350 had an obvious speakerphone defect - TERRIBLE echo and "feedback" but was promptly replaced on day 2 and have only had the problem 1 time since. Still have the external MP3 player controls which is VERY nice - some times I set off the MP3 player with phone in my pocket - even with the ringer off the music will play (same on my prior VX8300). Pretty much just like my VX8300 but a lot slimmer, stereo speakers on the back instead of the sides - this slimed the phone down a lot. Standard trans flash SD card - using a 2 GIG card for lots of MP3s and picture storage. With USB cable attached the computer can see the phone as a mass storage device. Camera is not nearly as easy to operate, you have to play around within the menu to switch from video to camera (on the VX8300 you could just tap the side camera button to switch between video and camera). Phone may seem a little basic but it's not nearly as basic as it looks. Keypad "dims" off instead of just turning off, nice touch. Probably my biggest complaint is that the speaker phone will only stay active for 1 call, then automatically turns off again, really annoying - if you forget to turn the speakerphone on before hitting send the speakerphone button does nothing until the call connects (which can take several seconds) after a software upgrade to my VX8300 the speaker phone number would instantly turn on speaker phone no matter what. LG dropped the battery conserving OLCD external screen, and also dropped the battery mAh from 1,200 to only 1,000 - so the battery does not last as long as the VX8300 - not sure why the made the battery weaker and the phone suck more juice. I simply charge the phone every night - usually I consume about 1/2 the battery on a standard day, before on my VX8300 after 2 years of ownership the battery would MAYBE drop to 3/4 bars after 1 day usage. The lower mAh battery is probably because of the slimmer design - the battery is smaller. None of my VX8300 accessories work on the VX8350 - you will have to buy all new spare batteries/chargers/USB Cables etc. Phone can now send longer video text messages, before I believe I was limited to 15 seconds - I can do 30 seconds now. I talk about 3,000 minutes a month. Just recently the phone told me it was over heating and to promptly turn off the phone and remove the battery (I had left it in my car in hot FL summer weather) I thought that was pretty neat. Great quality from LG as expected - would have liked to have seen a few more advances on this newer model - especially a better (or same) quality camera. I have lowered my screen / key light setting to try and conserve the battery a little more - so far I have not seen the need to buy a car charger or carry a spare battery.