LG Optimus Me P350 Review

Introduction:

The teen-oriented LG Optimus Me P350 Android handset looks pretty cool, shaped like a bar of soap, and having five colored battery covers to choose from in pink, gray, black, blue and red. The specs are rather low-end, but the phone is not pretending to be anything but a budget Android 2.2 solution, and even throws in a 2GB memory card for good measure.

It can be viewed as the younger brother of the successful LG Optimus One, from where it borrows the 600Mhz chipset, but can it achieve the same popularity in the bargain Android niche? Read on to find out...

Design:

The first thing that comes to mind when you grab the smallish LG Optimus Me P350 is that the designers haven't put much effort to slim it or lighten it - it is actually pretty heavy for such a tiny handset. Not that 4.59oz (130g) are heavy, but for a phone of this size, carrying a 2.8” LCD display with 240x320 pixels of resolution, it is quite the heft, considering phones with 4”+ screens now weigh less than that. On the other hand the weight makes it feel solid when held.



You can compare the LG Optimus Me P350 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The screen itself is one of the most basic capacitive displays you can find these days, and, as such, doesn't shine in the brightness or readability departments, especially when staring at text while browsing or reading emails, due to the lowly 240x320 resolution. Underneath the display are four capacitive Android navigation buttons, which are not the most responsive we've tried. A welcome element is the ellipse-shaped elongated key below them, which serves as send/end and power/lock keys when pressed in both ends. Always good to have a physical button when you end or answer a call, makes the action feel complete.


The battery cover comes in a variety of youthful colors, as we mentioned, and the two ends are elevated, making for a “valley” in the middle, which firms the grip while talking. The back hosts the 3MP camera, which doesn't sport an adjacent LED flash.


At the curved top we find the standard audio jack, on the right is the easy to feel and press volume rocker, and the left is reserved for the microUSB port with a protective cap.


All in all, a pleasant, unassuming design in a phone that is easy to hold despite its small size, and feels solid thanks to its weight. Adding comfortable physical keys to answer or end a call, which provide a good tactile feedback, is certainly an advantage, too.