SE S500i vs LG KF350

Over spring break, yours truly managed to break her phone! It was actually quite a funny story of how it happened, but I’ll spare you the details. I am still rather upset about it though…but thankfully, my friend had a spare one! Hurray for not being phoneless! Proud phone/text addict right here… =]

So since I’m not quite over the loss of my phone (trust me, I was so attached to it…I think I even named it Simba), I decided to write a review of sorts for my ex-phone (RIP) and the borrowed phone I’ve been using for the past few weeks. I’ll base it on four categories (or just the functions I use on a phone), but since I’ve only been using this new phone for a few weeks, my knowledge is rather limited…so my disclaimer for any bias you may find about these phones is right here! ; )

First off, the SE S500i is a Sony Ericsson phone. As far as I know, it was never widely released in North America (I got mine in Taiwan). The LG KF350, also know as the Ice Cream phone, is a flip phone from LG. Yes, both do come off as rather feminine (the Ice Cream especially with its soft colours), but they’re pretty neat.

Next, photos/random info for both!

SE S500i Ice Purple

So as you may or may not have noticed, the S500i phones are slider phones. They were not designed with a particular function in mind, like the Walkman for music or the Cybershot for photos. It was just meant to be an overall average phone that looks pretty spiffy (and awesome). And yes, it does look very similar to the Walkman series, but I definitely prefer the layout of the keys (and the colour choices) on this series over the Walkman ones.

SE S500i Mysterious Black

Back when I was shopping for this phone, I was deciding between the black and purple. I ended up picking the purple for two reasons:
1) black phone had a piano key finish, so fingerprints were easily visible on the front of the phone.
2) who else would have a purple phone?
I’m really fussy about visible fingerprints anyways. =]

SE S500i Spring Yellow

I believe that the Spring Yellow and Mysterious Black were the two original colours this phone was released in. However, only the black one has the piano key finish, this yellow one, like the purple, white and silver, are just normal plastic. But don’t underestimate the power of plastic, my phone survived quite a few drops before it left me, heh. Also, the plastic doesn’t get scratched up that easily…that, or I just happened to take extra good care of my phone (yeah right)!

SE S500i Contrasted Copper

The cover for the battery and SIM card area on the back is hard to slide off at first, but gets easier the more you use it. Now, the keypad on this phone is rather small, so I wouldn’t recommend this to the thick-thumbed. I also need to issue a warning about this keypad, as the keys do have a nasty tendency to break with a nasty crack down the middle! But they still work and everything…with the exception of my pound key, which takes quite a pounding to work…please excuse the bad pun, haha…

SE S500i Silver Steel

This particular colour I have never actually seen in reality, as it was released after the other colours were released. From the photos I’ve seen, the colour scheme doesn’t seem to be as vibrant as the other ones. If you’re wondering where the camera for this phone is, it’s located on the back of the part that slides up. So basically, the camera only works when the phone is slid open. The side lights are also more visible when you slide the phone open, as they are down the sides of the phone. They light up when you receive a text or a phone call, as well as when the screen is active. The main colour for the lights are based on what theme you pick for the phone, and the colours that light up for calls can be chosen under settings. Although the lights are pretty, they sure aren’t very subtle!

LG KF350 Ice Cream

And now we move on to the Ice Cream phones…I had the pleasure of using the pink one, as that is the one my friend had. Majorly targeting females, yes, I know. The area where the little orange smiley face you see is actually a LED light area, where it displays the time for you. It also displays the number when you receive a call. You can also change the animation that appears when it is on standby, or when you get a call or text. This phone is really good for those with a short attention span…it is loads, and I mean loads, of fun. =]

LG KF350 Ice Cream Blue

In addition to orange LED lights lighting up, there’s also a line of white lights that light up whenever you flip it open or close, as well as when you receive texts and phone calls. There is also the option of getting the phone to emit these peculiar noises when you press any key or flip it open or shut. By peculiar noises I don’t mean the ordinary click or key tones of a phone…I’m talking like weird choir sounds, as well as cute, futuristic sounds.

LG KF350 Ice Cream Pink

This phone is actually really long. At first it seemed awkward because of its length, especially when flipped open, but you can easily adjust to that. The keys of the keypad are bigger than the S500i keys for sure, so my only complaint about it is how the ‘end’ button is right by the ‘3’ key. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to go back into drafts to find my text since I would accidentally hit the end key while texting.

LG KF350 Ice Cream White

The camera for this phone isn’t hidden at all, as it is just part of the front of the phone. And as you can see, the three colour choices for the Ice Cream are all light colours. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of these colours since they’re not usual phone colours, but I wouldn’t mind if there was a slightly darker one, for more variety.

Anyways, moving on to the four categories…

Aesthetics/Appearance:

SE S500i: 4.5/5

• Unique, vibrant colours
• Good length when slid open
• Resembles Walkman a lot (aka you get asked ‘is that a Walkman?’ a lot)
• Sides have cool lights
• Has nature inspired themes that change according to time of day or season specifically designed for this phone
• Hook for cellphone accessories is under the battery cover lid; accessory has come off before when pulled at a bad angle
• Exterior buttons may be in the way when putting it into a pocket

LG KF350: 4/5

• Soft, pretty colours
• Slightly awkward length when flipped open
• Front has LED screen area for awesome animations (you can make 3 custom ones) and lighting effects
• No particularly interesting themes
• Sturdy hook for cellphone accessories in the top right corner
• Smooth exterior shell makes it easy to put into pockets

Texting:

SE S500i: 3.5/5

• Keypad is slightly too small and keys crack easily
• T9 works pretty well, and comes with a dictionary you can add words to; use direction pad to scroll through word choices
• Useful functions available: insert original message (into the one you’re currently writing so you can view it as you reply…makeshift threaded SMS view!), copy, paste, forward, and ability to choose from 4 different replies such as text messages, picture messages, emails, or voice recordings

LG KF350: 3/5

• Keypad is a good size, but ‘end’ key is too close to number/letter keys
• T9 works pretty well, and comes with a dictionary you can add words to; use the ‘next’ key and ‘previous’ key to scroll through word choices (but one is on the bottom left of the keypad and the other is in the top right)
• Useful functions available: forward message (and just type reply and delete as you go for a makeshift threaded SMS view), inserting contact info, and inserting images/videos/sounds

Games:

SE S500i: 3/5

• Mine came with Lumines Block Challenge and Brain Juice
• Brain Juice is geared for a younger audience as it’s meant to be educational
• Lumines game is tetris-like, but with four unit blocks and 2 or 3 different coloured blocks, which I absolutely love
• Can download more games

LG KF350: 3/5

• Has Sudoku Puzzle and Extreme Skateboard
• Sudoku is the Japanese number puzzle game, but you’re unable to make note of potential answers (ability to ‘pencil’ in answers doesn’t exist)
• Skateboard game did not make sense to me…perhaps I am just terrible at it =P
• Unable to download more games (according to my knowledge anyways)

Other Functions:

SE S500i: 4/5

• Camera: 2MP, captures colour really well, yet no focus, but has fun frames. Has the other average functions
• Alarm: can set up to 5, but snooze time is set for 9 minutes (why? I have not a clue why 9 of all numbers…)
• Notes: may display on desktop/standby screen on phone for ‘sticky note’ reminders
• Stopwatch/Timer: both are present

LG KF350: 3.5/5

• Camera: 3.15MP, captures colour well, a good amount of detail, the average camera functions
• Alarms: can set up to 5, able to pick snooze time length
• Memo: can only access using the menu
• Stopwatch: no timer for countdowns

Now, after all that… I’m looking into getting a new phone! I think I’m trying to pick between the SE Yari or the SE Xperia X10. They’re both really amazing phones, and I seriously can’t decide between them. If anyone has any input, I’d love to hear it! Here are more photos of both in case anyone was curious (yes, these are the colours I would get of both):

SE Yari

SE Xperia X10

…/end phone craze and rant here. =]

( On a completely different topic, I finally understand the Petals Around the Rose game. >=] )