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Introduction
This is a review on the LG U8360 handset now available on the '3' network on both contract and Threepay.

People wanting a contract can pick this phone up for free from any 3 point store with the actual price depending on which plan you sign up for.

You can also get this phone from 3 or from Argos on Threepay costing £249.99 but you do get £30.00 credit out of the box (this is down to 3 and may be removed at any time).

New features over the Other LG Models

This LG has much more to offer than previous models.

You now get 2 colour screens, bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera and expandable memory included.

How Does It Look?
In all honesty the 8360 does not look anything special.

This is mainly because LG have flooded the UK with too many phones with the same spec but a different look. the first 5 LG phones were the same but 1 improvement and a new look which is why this 8360 does not look anything special.

Open it up however and you are in for a pleasant surprise. The colour screen can display 262,000 colour's. The screen does seem slightly smaller than the one on the LG 8120 which I have recently used.

When the flip is closed you get to see an outer colour screen. This screen can display 65,000 colour's and is used to show information so you don't have to keep the phone open. This screen will show you how much battery you have left, and how much signal you are getting. It is also there to show you who is calling by displaying the number or the name. You can also see if you have any missed calls or messages. Just below the 3 logo is the speakerphone and is very handy for video calling or media playback.

The left side of the phone is where you find the volume up/down key. Under that is a button which opens up the camera/video recorder with 1 press.

The right hand side of the phone is where you will find the headset port. Under that is where you can find the transflash slot (with the label T-Flash).

The bottom of the phone is where you find the charger port.

Open up the flip and you get a traditional LG keypad which a picture can be found just above.

Incoming & Outgoing calls (Including Handover)
You will again get the handover problem when switching from 2G to 3G and back again unfortunately. This is because the phone is only on 3 and they cannot offer handover because they use a different network for 2G (O2).

However the phone itself is very nice and good to use

When someone calls you, the outer screen will display the incoming call number or the name if you have them stored in your phone book. Also if you receive a message this screen will tell you. When the flip is shut closed you get information on the current signal strength, battery life and you also get a colour wallpaper which you can change as you wish.

Voice calling on the 8360 was very good indeed. I was getting full 3G signal on the 3 network and experienced no dropped calls and the quality was very clear. Even when the signal dropped to 2 bars the audio was clear and did not break up.

Video calling on a LG I find better than on most other mobile phones. When using the 8360 to video call another phone on the same network the quality was fine, although you do need to have good signal to get the best out of it. Only having 1 or 2 bars of 3G signal might effect the overall quality.

I was a little disappointed with the video services from 3 however. 3 offer a special range of services where you video call a short code and you get connected. I tested the Dateline service and found it poor. The picture would go very blocky and the sound was rather bad too. When you consider it costs 75p a min to dial this service it was very much a let down. You also get sent texts nearly every day telling you that you have a match. However I live in South Devon and kept on getting messages saying I have someone in my area, only to find out they lived in Manchester and Birmingham which is no where near me.

Video calling someone on a different network such as Vodafone or O2 was just like calling someone on 3. I noticed no drop in quality when video calling any network. The only problem on the 8360 was the video calling would go very blocky at times which might put me off if i was going to use it a lot

Connectivity
With the 8360 now having bluetooth you can do so much more. One example is if you have taken lots of pictures, you can send them via bluetooth to another device. You can also send files to the phone so you can use your own ringtones or wallpapers.

You can also use bluetooth to work with a bluetooth headset. This means you no longer have to hold the phone to use it. This is especially handy if you travel in the car a lot because it is illegal to use your phone whilst driving unless you use hands free.

You now get a Transflash slot for expandable memory. You do get 24mb on the phone memory but having Transflash means you can store up to an additional 256mb on a removable card. Of course these can be swapped around so you can have one card dedicated to MP3 music and another for content and you can get other size cards than 256mb.

Battery Life
LG manage to get good battery life when it comes to 3G phones. Whilst others were only lasting a day, LG launched the 8110 which had a much better standby and usage time which can be compared to GSM phones.

The 8360 has just gone one better and can last 3-4 days before needing a charge.

The official battery times quoted from 3 are:

Standby: 221 hrs
Talk time: 220 min's
Video Call: 147 min's

While LG can be commended for igniting people's interest in 3G, with the launch of the compact U8110 handset back in June last year, the South Korean company didn't really build on this promise.

Admittedly, other models in the 8100 and 8200 series sold well enough, but these handsets just seemed to be adequate clones of the original clamshell mould. Prosaic in design, the phones lacked certain features (Bluetooth, a powerful camera and expandable memory) to really rival the big boys. With stylish handsets like the Samsung Z500 and Sony Ericsson K600 enticing punters to sample the virtues of 3G, it's time for LG to step up and show us what it's really got to offer.

The manufacturer's new flagship model, the U8360, is, disappointingly, just another LG by numbers. Sure, it has the feature set we've been hollering for – Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera and TransFlash card slot – but yet again the design lacks serious imagination. The U8360 is another archetypal LG clamshell complete with a tube-hinge swivel camera and hideous protruding antenna. It's Groundhog Day for phones.

Compared to its predecessors, the U8360 is more squat in size and a tad squarer jawed. It is still quite pocketable (although this is slightly hampered by the aerial) with a solid build. There's nothing flash about the front fascia and until you flip it open, the whole phone is pretty uninspiring.

One thing that LG does get right is its keypads. Not only are they nicely spaced and convenient to operate but they have shortcuts galore. The U8360 is no exception. Dedicated buttons for the menu, Today on 3 portal, and video calling compliment the four-way navigation pad, which also gives access to contacts, messaging, profiles and a quick menu to specific content on the portal. Most services and features are just a button away, and the two-inch screen is more than adequate to handle video footage but doesn't really rival the likes of the Z500 and Sharp 903 for sharpness and clarity.

LG's army of handsets has always provided a competent 3G performance and more recent models have had Windows Media Player embedded for playback of all multimedia content. 3's strong 3G signal means video streaming is smooth, and with the help of a sound buffering mechanism, footage like Premiership highlights are rendered coherently. You will experience some digital noise but really it couldn't be faulted. However, download the footy action and you will receive a more polished performance. One sticking point is the playback of music videos through the Media Player. Occasionally, instead of filling the whole screen (like the footy and film trailers), videos appear in a narrow widescreen strip across the display. Unless the footage features close-ups, it can be hard to distinguish what's going on. However, the substantial front-loaded speaker means video audio like commentary and film dialogue can be enjoyed without headphones, although music is best sampled using the supplied stereo earphones.

Music playback is also mainlined through the Media Player and you can now download full tracks via 3's fledgling library. These tracks reach your handset in the WMA format and cost £1.50 a pop. We purchased a range of tunes from the portal, which encompasses rock, pop and dance genres. Sadly, the U8360 doesn't offer any sound enhancements to boost the tunes so, while the quality is more than capable, the songs lack any depth or warmth. At times they even sound a little faint and you will have to whack up the volume to eke out the finest fidelity.

The U8360 flaunts a rotating 1.3-megapixel camera with the lens doubling up for photography and video calling. We made a video call to our 3G phone of the year, the Sony Ericsson V800, and the results were impressive. You still get the pixelated mug shot but as long as you keep movement to a minimum you can still enjoy a decent conversation. Again, we recommend using the headphones to clearly hear what your recipient is saying.

As a still photographer, the U8360 is moderate. The photos come in 1280x960-pixel resolution but the lens finds it hard to focus. While not completely ruined by the fuzz, if you're looking to print them, you'll find isolated patches of blur. Colour presentation lacks impact too and the snaps can appear a little sallow and washed out at times. The camera also overblows highlights. Similarly, the video recording facility isn't the most perceptive, suffering from digital drag and posterization.

We expected more from LG but the fact is the U8360 remains the workhorse of the 3G fraternity. Its stale design doesn't do it any favours. When you have handsets like the Z500 and K600 why would you turn to the U8360 for 3G shenanigans? The only plus point is that the handset arrives on 3, which still has the best 3G reception and coverage of all the networks. But is that enough to sway you?

Best Parts

• 3G Data (up to 384k)
• GPRS Data
• Tri-Band
• 1.3 Megapixel Camera
• Video Calling Option
• 262,000 Colour Screen
• Expandable Memory
• Bluetooth
• Camera Flash
• Speakerphone

Disappointments

• Slow Texting
• No 2G/3G Handover
• Loose Camera

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