I have found a lot of weak areas on this phone. That being said however, does not mean that I don't like it. I would not however buy one again.

I will be comparing this phone to a Kyocera 3035. If you are not familiar with the 3000 series from Kyocera, then some parts of this review will be unclear to you.

Brief Overview: The LG5350 is a compact, yet sturdy little unit. The controls are easy to figure out and use. The phone has 40 polyphonic ringers that come with it. Decent sound quality. Good reception.


Sturdiness: First of all it's a flip phone, so when I say sturdy, I mean sturdy for a flip phone. My 3035 blew it away in that area.

Controls: It uses a similar layout to the 3035, but is much easier to use. The center button on the LG phone is not nearly as finicky. But it also is not as quick. But the center button push is much more reliable. The 5350 has two extra navigation buttons that the 3035 did not have. These are very useful. The 5350 also has an 'ignore' button which shunts the caller off to voice mail. I like having this.

Ringers: Some of these are really cool. Ring 1 sounds just like an old fashioned bell ringer. On the other hand some are lame, e.g. ringers 4, 5, and 6 are virtually identical, just played in a different key. A unique ring-tone can be assigned to every person in your phonebook.

Sound Quality: is not bad. There is slight distortion at higher volumes. Both of my old Kyocera phones were clearly superior in this area. But for sound quality they were the best I have ever heard.

Reception: Superior to the 3035. I can pick up a signal in basement rooms where my Kyocera dropped off.

Transmission: My friends complain that I break up a lot. That NEVER happened with my old kyocera phones.

Accessories: The phone is a little bit finicky going onto the charger. There is also no option to charge a second battery, as on Samsung chargers. The Kyocera 3035 plug in was much easier. One nice thing, is that it takes a standard headset. I use my old one from my 3035 and it works fine. One thing that bothers me is that the phone does not ring in the ear-piece, so I sometimes miss calls when there is background noise.

Full Color Screen: This is kinda nice. But the screen is hard to see in daylight. You can assign a unique picture to everyone in your phone book. You can't do *that* with a 3035!

Ergonomics: The 5350 flips open easily, and is easily pinned between one's face and shoulder. This is one area where it clearly outclasses the 3035. The ear-piece is also not screwy like on the 3035, so no special training is needed to hear the other party. I find that gripping this phone with the antenna between the index and middle finger makes it very easy to hold.

Appearance: The 5350 comes in blue/silver or just silver. Open or closed the phone is very attractive. I like the bright blue back-light.

What I absolutely do not like about the 5350 is that it heats up with constant use. This to me is a bad sign. It suggests to me that the phone does not have proper voltage regulation. Mind you I am no electrical engineer. But still, it shouldn't get hot, but it does. Battery life is also a little weak. Wouldn't surprise me if the two things are related.

And again, this phone breaks up a lot when I am talking.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 150