LG U880 Review

Overall Rating

Physical design and features.

Battery life (24 hours after 6 weeks).
Call waiting only displays caller's number despite their name being programmed in the handset.
Silent does not mean silent.

I got the LG U880 mobile phone 6 weeks ago, and after giving myself time to get used to the differences from a Nokia, I actually fell in love with it. This was until I received my first "call waiting". I was already on a call, heard the beep, checked the screen and just saw a number I didn't recognise. Later, upon checking the call records I saw it was actually someone I knew and who was programmed into the handset. It seems that the U880 isn't capable of displaying a caller's name, just their number. I emailed LG about this and they came back saying "These 'faults' you refer to are down to design features which you personally find unhelpful". Well I think all of us would find a caller's name appearing helpful, don't you!!? So it's a bit backward to be calling the lack of a feature an 'unhelpful feature'. If Nokia were capable of call waiting caller display 7 years back, I don't see why LG can't have it as a standard feature in the 21st century!

The second thing is the fact that audio playback is capable via the buttons on the front, despite the phone being switched to silent. I discovered this when crossing my arms in front of me during an outdoor briefing (I had my phone in my top pocket), only for a loud rendition of 'All Sparks' to emanate from my person, much to the disgust of my manager.

And last but not least, the battery life. It seems for the past week that I'm now charging the phone every 24 hours, despite not using it to make calls at the moment. I'm not looking forward to when it's back in full use again! So much for the 10 days or whatever it is they claim!

All in all a cracking phone, but with some very basic design flaws on it which undermine the whole phone. If you know your friend's names off by heart and can afford a new battery or two, then crack on. But if you're looking for a reliable phone with all the basic features you'd expect on one nowadays, I'd personally recommend a Nokia.