LG KU250: 3G For All
I sold the Alcatel mobile phone I bought to replace the Sony Ericsson K800i that I lost a few months ago, after I found out that the Samsung D600 that my wife thought to be defective is working once I cleared the address book memory. Apparently after a few months of use, that mobile phone of 2 years is showing intermittent restarts and freezes, causing me to miss SMS messages and some calls.
Looking for an inexpensive phone that I can use to replace it, I chanced upon a phone by LG that seems to be the most inexpensive 3G phone currently in the market.
The LG KU250 was the winning proposal for the 3G For All programme started by the GSM Association. The 3G for All programme’s aim is to produce an affordable 3G handset “that would bring 3G multimedia services and mobile internet access to a mass-market user base around the world”.
If you’re wondering how affordable a 3G phone like this can be, I got it for less than Php5000 (open line, no free prepaid SIM included) from Mega Cellular Network Inc.’s SM San Lazaro shop.
What does a Php5000 3G phone has in store? Read further:
- Tri-Band GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz), UMTS 2100
- Dimensions: 111 x 47 x 15.6 mm
- Weight: 85 g
- Battery: Li - Polymer, 950 mAh (230 min Talk time, 17 days Stand-by time)
- Screen: 1.76 inches, 176 x 220 pixels, 262,144 colors, TFT
- Camera: 1.3 megapixels (Back), VGA (Front)
- Memory: microSD support, 10Mb internal (approx.)
- Internet: WAP 2.0, xHTML
- USB: Yes
- Bluetooth: 1.2, Stereo Bluetooth
- Connectors: Proprietary
- PhoneBook:
Caller groups, 500-names capacity, Multiple Numbers Per Contact, Picture ID, Ring ID - PIM: Alarm, Calendar, Calculator, TO-DO, Memo, Secret Memo
- Voice: Recording, Speaker Phone
- Email: IMAP/POP3/SMTP
The whole package includes the phone itself, user manuals, a battery, a handsfree set, a mini CD for the drivers, a power adapter, and a USB cable. The phone comes only in one shade, black. The keypad is made of soft plastic, which can be quite noisy for those who write SMS using multi-tap. The USB/Charger connector is located on the side of the phone, as well as the microSD slot. A hole for attaching a lanyard and a connector for an external antenna are also present on the top side of the phone, near the rear camera. Build quality is okay, spare the creaks that you hear every now and then as you dial in numbers or compose SMS.
I wasn’t expecting anything that is extraordinary about it. Yes you can change ringtones, download them over-the-air (OTA), use the Bluetooth transmitter to connect it to your computer and use it as a 3G modem, create MMS, browse the internet using its internal browser, make voice and video calls, take pictures and movies, and load Java applications. However, when you think about it for yet another moment, these features cannot be found on mobile phones that are in the same price range as the KU250!
Kudos to LG for showing the consumers that these features can be obtained without the exorbitant prices that other manufacturers extort from their customers.
Now if we could just convince the carriers to lower their 3G/data rates to close to zero…
16 July 2008, 10:34 pm
Gah.. I so need a cheap phone with wifi capabilities
24 August 2008, 12:35 am
Hi Ronnie. If I may suggest, maybe you should make use of the lanyard loop of the KU250.
Confucius say, “Anything put on lap when sitting down, will always fall.” 
Seriously, the KU250 looks good, and useful. Nice find! (And yes, great site, too!)
24 August 2008, 12:52 am
Actually I was looking for a small chain to put the phone’s lanyard loop into use. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.
Thanks for visiting my site, Ced!