LG 225 Tracfone Review

The LG 225 is a compact flip-style prepaid phone with a camera. It comes with double-minutes for life, a feature that should save you money over the long haul, well for a couple of years at least.

Note: This phone is no longer available (probably as of 2011) and the information below is for reference and comparison.

So let's break down some of the important features and see if this LG phone might be right for you.

Compact, Light and Durable Flip Phone

Compact

As you can tell, it is an attractive compact black flip phone. It will fit into your pocket or purse, even your small ones.

Light

The LG 225 weighs only 3.26 ounces, which is on the low-end for cell phones. Remember, if you have to carry more than one gadget, these things do add up.

Durable Flip Phone

The phone may even be more durable than a non-flip style because the buttons on the keypad aren’t exposed and bumped when you’re not using it. Also, you don’t lose minutes from accidental calls because the button of the phone your pocket get pressed when you bend down to pick up something.

Color screen and second external LCD display

Color screen

The LG 225 has a nice color screen, which allows a little more space for functions like the calculator and games which we'll get to later. Unfortunately, it also encouraged the designers to make some fancy icons for selecting these functions which makes them a little difficult to read at first.

External screen

One drawback of flip phones without an external screen compared to an open face style phone is that you have to always open up the flip phone to check the time and date. Or whether you missed any calls or messages. Luckily the external LCD is large and easy-to-read so you don't have that problem.

Great Keypad

The phone has a really nice keypad layout. The numbers are nicely spaced, and even the menu keys above them are place in a way that makes them really easy to use.

The buttons are real separate buttons. Because the buttons are not covered by a separate rubberized layer, they are comfortable to touch and press (though it does make them slightly more vulnerable to spills).

External Antenna

The LG 225 antenna sticks out slightly but it's good that it's there because it does make a difference. Compared to a Motorola W175 or C261 which do not have protruding antennas, the LG 225 is definitely able to show a higher signal strength.

In places where I barely got one or two bars of signal strength with the C261 and W175, I got three or four bars with the LG 225.

Camera

The LG 225 has a basic camera (sample pic) which is good enough for emailing or just looking at on a cell phone. And there are still a bunch of things you can do with it, such as . .

Record special moments

Even when you don't think you need your digital camera, you always have these unexpected moments, such as meeting a friend you haven't seen in years. And when that happens, you can . . .

Share Your Pictures Immediately

Send your pictures to your friends and family without the delay of getting on the computer. You can send them via picture message to their cell phones or email addresses.

Stuff Happens - Document It

Stuff happens. If you have a fender bender, not only can you call for help, but you can also document the damage, and how it, hopefully, wasn't your fault.

Record Donations

Keep track of all your donations. Even if you don't itemize your tax deductions, in many states you can still deduct your charitable contributions from your state taxes. Taking a pic is a good way of keeping records.

Camera Details

I've been pleasantly surprised by the camera. It behaves like an auto-focus camera. When it's pointed at an object, the image is a little blurry at first, but then it comes into focus. This makes it an improvement over the camera of the Motorola C261 which was the first camera phone offered by Tracfone.

You can make a few more adjustments with this camera than with previous Tracfones, such as the image size, the digital zoom, and the color settings. You can even take pictures of your friends and add that picture to your phonebook so you can really "see" who's calling.

Camera Lens

The LG 225 has a prominent "smart" lens in the front of the flip handle. I think the "smart" refers to its autofocus capability.

The lens has a focal length of 3.6 mm and an aperture of f1:8. You don't really need to know anything about that other than at plus the focal length of the lens means most everything in your shot will be in focus. In fact, even professional photographers have the saying "Be there and F8". Okay. No more technical mumbo jumbo.

You know I haven't even told you one of the main reasons for getting this phone, which is that the LG 225 Tracfone offers "Double Minutes".

Double Minutes Tracfone

The double minutes for life feature is included in the price of this Tracfone. This will bring your yearly costs way down from what it would be otherwise. For example you can bring your rate down to . . .

10 Cents per Minute

When you buy a one-year card for $100. That normally gives you 400 minutes good for one year. Double that and you get 800. Then use a current promo code to get an extra 200 minutes for a total of 1000 minutes which works out to 10 cents per minute. And if you don't use your phone much, and buy just that one card per year, it works out to less than $9 a month!

LG 225 Tutorial

For more information, you can check out the LG 225 Tutorial.

So if the LG 225 meets your requirements in a prepaid cell phone here are a couple of reminders about some standard items.

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