TracFone LG 501c Review
The LG 501c is a budget qwerty keyboard phone offered by TracFone. As features and functionality go, it's a little sparse. But for the average basic cell phone user it should satisfy. The 501c has a nice pocket-able form factor and a nice in hand feel. Features include 2.5 inch LCD display as well as the physical full qwerty keyboard on the device's front. The 501c might not be TracFone's best offering, but it delivers enough for people to be content.
Hardware:
The LG 501c sports some very manageable dimensions. It is surprisingly thin for a cheap TracFone, at only about 13mm thick. It is 114mm tall, 58mm wide, and weighs in at only 2.8 oz. It is constructed entirely out of black/gray plastic and has a very nice in hand feel. In fact, the LG 501c is one of the best as far as in-hand feel of TracFone's offerings. Despite feeling great when you hold it, the TracFone does not have the world's best build quality. Don't get me wrong, the 501c seems strong enough to hold up to a few drops, but LG could have put a little more effort into making it even more structurally sound. The plastic is prone to scratches and overall, the handset seems slightly delicate. As for design, the 501c is pretty bland looking and doesn't have a ton of style. It looks similar to most qwerty handsets on the market. The display is raised slightly off the surface, which is somewhat interesting. Also, the curved and tapered edges add some visual interest to the device, but these features are not enough to make it look stylish. Lets take a look around the handset now. On the right side we have the volume rocker and on the left is the microUSB port, which is protected by a thin plastic flap. The volume rocker has ok tactile feedback, but feels quite mushy. Anyway, the 2.5mm audio jack (protected by another flap) is on top, while the lone microphone pinhole is on the device's bum. The back of the 501c houses the 1.3MP camera lens as well as the mono speaker. And finally, on the front is the gracious home to the 2.5 inch display, full qwerty keyboard, and earpiece. Now, speaking of the display, it is a 2.5 inch TFT LCD panel with a resolution of 176x220 (about 113 ppi). The display's size is adequate, but the resolution is not. The low-resolution screen is grainy and you can easily distinguish individual pixels. Color accuracy is decent, but not wonderful. All in all, this type of low-quality panel is to be expected on a low priced phone like this, but I can't help but wishing it were better. Below the display is where the full qwerty keyboard lives. The keyboard is the main feature of this handset and will be the reason most people purchase it. The keyboard has very nice tactile response and the keys are domed, making them feel wonderful. But the bad news is that the keys are far too small and close together. This makes typing somewhat difficult, especially if you have big fingers. Regardless of this, the LG 501c still does manage a better typing experience than some of TracFone's other basic phones like the LG 231c or LG 100c, making it seem more appealing to buyers. But to sum it up, if LG had make the device itself a little larger, there would have been more room for the keyboard, making for a better typing experience.
What's in the box:
- LG 501c
- Wall charger
- 950mah battery
- Back cover
- Services Guide
- Activation Card
Software:
The LG 501c runs TracFone's proprietary custom operating system. It is very simplistic and basic, especially when compared to the modern smart phone operating systems of today. When you start up the phone, you are greeted by the home screen. This screen is comprised of text readouts of your current amount of minutes and service days, the time and date, shortcuts to the main menu/browser as well as the usually status bar up top. This status bar includes a service strength monitor, battery monitor, and any current notifications. If you press the left soft-key (located above the device's qwerty keyboard), the main menu will open up. The menu consists of 12 applications, most of which are, for all intensive purposes, the same as on other TracFone's, such as the LG 231c. (For more detailed information about these apps, read my LG 231c written review). But the LG 501c does contain some additional applications that other basic TracFone's do not. For example, the 501c has a "Games" application. This app is essentially a folder to hold Java games/apps that the user can put on the device. From the factory, this TracFone comes preloaded with Chequered Flag, an F1-inspired racing game as well as a puzzle/word game called WordAttack. Other unique apps include My Schedule, with groups the Alarm Clock, Calendar, and Notepad together. The Bluetooth application is also rather special. It allows you to see your paired devices, turn the function on/off as well as giving the ability to view information on the Bluetooth functionality. Most menus look similar throughout the operating system, with scrollable lists of headings. The web browsing experience is not very intuitive on the LG 501c. The browser itself is not a great performer and is not laid out all that well. Combine this with the fact that the 501c only supports up to 2G data speeds, and you have a browsing experience that isn't really worth wasting you time on, unless you really need to. Texting on the device is relatively decent, with the app being pretty standard fare. But the qwerty keyboard still lets the whole exploit down. Call quality is just slightly above average, although not quite as good as the LG 231c or LG 100c. Tones from the earpiece were pretty crisp and we could hear our callers fine and vice verse. Another feature to point out is that if you want to avoid butt-dialing someone while the phone is in your pocket, you can hold down the lock button on the keyboard to prevent this. It requires a series of button presses to unlock, so no need to worry about accidentally calling or texting someone.
Camera:
The LG 501 features a 0.3MP rear-facing camera. It is a fixed-focus lens that produces mediocre results. Photos are very grainy and lack any sort of detail. Low-light performance is also quite poor. The lens does not have the ability to shoot video. The built-in camera application is not very good and is not laid out smartly. From within the app, you have the ability to adjust brightness, resolution, color effects, white balance, quality, and shutter sound. Also, you can turn night mode, self timer and multishot on or off. For such as low quality camera and camera app, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of adjust-ability. But these settings do not change the fact that the LG 501c camera is shoddy and the experience is not hugely pleasing. Although, on the bright side, the 0.3MP lens is slightly better than some of TracFone's other basic devices, such as the LG 231c, which also features the same resolution camera.
Conclusion:
The LG 501c is an overall average phone from TracFone. It has average features and it's functionality is, again, just average. It does have the added bonus of the full qwerty keyboard, but this doesn't yield very good results. The 501c is great for people who want or need the ability to have a slightly better texting experience than on other basic phones, talk on the phone, or snap a few pictures. Nothing more. For someone who doesn't need a smart phone and who doesn't want to spend a fortune on phone bills, the LG 501c is an attractive option.
*It is always possible that some specifications or facts may be incorrect. We try our best at MobileTechnology Reviews to provide accurate information, but we occasionally make mistakes. If you notice that something is wrong or incorrect, shoot us an email at [email protected] and we'll fix it!
Hardware:
The LG 501c sports some very manageable dimensions. It is surprisingly thin for a cheap TracFone, at only about 13mm thick. It is 114mm tall, 58mm wide, and weighs in at only 2.8 oz. It is constructed entirely out of black/gray plastic and has a very nice in hand feel. In fact, the LG 501c is one of the best as far as in-hand feel of TracFone's offerings. Despite feeling great when you hold it, the TracFone does not have the world's best build quality. Don't get me wrong, the 501c seems strong enough to hold up to a few drops, but LG could have put a little more effort into making it even more structurally sound. The plastic is prone to scratches and overall, the handset seems slightly delicate. As for design, the 501c is pretty bland looking and doesn't have a ton of style. It looks similar to most qwerty handsets on the market. The display is raised slightly off the surface, which is somewhat interesting. Also, the curved and tapered edges add some visual interest to the device, but these features are not enough to make it look stylish. Lets take a look around the handset now. On the right side we have the volume rocker and on the left is the microUSB port, which is protected by a thin plastic flap. The volume rocker has ok tactile feedback, but feels quite mushy. Anyway, the 2.5mm audio jack (protected by another flap) is on top, while the lone microphone pinhole is on the device's bum. The back of the 501c houses the 1.3MP camera lens as well as the mono speaker. And finally, on the front is the gracious home to the 2.5 inch display, full qwerty keyboard, and earpiece. Now, speaking of the display, it is a 2.5 inch TFT LCD panel with a resolution of 176x220 (about 113 ppi). The display's size is adequate, but the resolution is not. The low-resolution screen is grainy and you can easily distinguish individual pixels. Color accuracy is decent, but not wonderful. All in all, this type of low-quality panel is to be expected on a low priced phone like this, but I can't help but wishing it were better. Below the display is where the full qwerty keyboard lives. The keyboard is the main feature of this handset and will be the reason most people purchase it. The keyboard has very nice tactile response and the keys are domed, making them feel wonderful. But the bad news is that the keys are far too small and close together. This makes typing somewhat difficult, especially if you have big fingers. Regardless of this, the LG 501c still does manage a better typing experience than some of TracFone's other basic phones like the LG 231c or LG 100c, making it seem more appealing to buyers. But to sum it up, if LG had make the device itself a little larger, there would have been more room for the keyboard, making for a better typing experience.
What's in the box:
- LG 501c
- Wall charger
- 950mah battery
- Back cover
- Services Guide
- Activation Card
Software:
The LG 501c runs TracFone's proprietary custom operating system. It is very simplistic and basic, especially when compared to the modern smart phone operating systems of today. When you start up the phone, you are greeted by the home screen. This screen is comprised of text readouts of your current amount of minutes and service days, the time and date, shortcuts to the main menu/browser as well as the usually status bar up top. This status bar includes a service strength monitor, battery monitor, and any current notifications. If you press the left soft-key (located above the device's qwerty keyboard), the main menu will open up. The menu consists of 12 applications, most of which are, for all intensive purposes, the same as on other TracFone's, such as the LG 231c. (For more detailed information about these apps, read my LG 231c written review). But the LG 501c does contain some additional applications that other basic TracFone's do not. For example, the 501c has a "Games" application. This app is essentially a folder to hold Java games/apps that the user can put on the device. From the factory, this TracFone comes preloaded with Chequered Flag, an F1-inspired racing game as well as a puzzle/word game called WordAttack. Other unique apps include My Schedule, with groups the Alarm Clock, Calendar, and Notepad together. The Bluetooth application is also rather special. It allows you to see your paired devices, turn the function on/off as well as giving the ability to view information on the Bluetooth functionality. Most menus look similar throughout the operating system, with scrollable lists of headings. The web browsing experience is not very intuitive on the LG 501c. The browser itself is not a great performer and is not laid out all that well. Combine this with the fact that the 501c only supports up to 2G data speeds, and you have a browsing experience that isn't really worth wasting you time on, unless you really need to. Texting on the device is relatively decent, with the app being pretty standard fare. But the qwerty keyboard still lets the whole exploit down. Call quality is just slightly above average, although not quite as good as the LG 231c or LG 100c. Tones from the earpiece were pretty crisp and we could hear our callers fine and vice verse. Another feature to point out is that if you want to avoid butt-dialing someone while the phone is in your pocket, you can hold down the lock button on the keyboard to prevent this. It requires a series of button presses to unlock, so no need to worry about accidentally calling or texting someone.
Camera:
The LG 501 features a 0.3MP rear-facing camera. It is a fixed-focus lens that produces mediocre results. Photos are very grainy and lack any sort of detail. Low-light performance is also quite poor. The lens does not have the ability to shoot video. The built-in camera application is not very good and is not laid out smartly. From within the app, you have the ability to adjust brightness, resolution, color effects, white balance, quality, and shutter sound. Also, you can turn night mode, self timer and multishot on or off. For such as low quality camera and camera app, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of adjust-ability. But these settings do not change the fact that the LG 501c camera is shoddy and the experience is not hugely pleasing. Although, on the bright side, the 0.3MP lens is slightly better than some of TracFone's other basic devices, such as the LG 231c, which also features the same resolution camera.
Conclusion:
The LG 501c is an overall average phone from TracFone. It has average features and it's functionality is, again, just average. It does have the added bonus of the full qwerty keyboard, but this doesn't yield very good results. The 501c is great for people who want or need the ability to have a slightly better texting experience than on other basic phones, talk on the phone, or snap a few pictures. Nothing more. For someone who doesn't need a smart phone and who doesn't want to spend a fortune on phone bills, the LG 501c is an attractive option.
*It is always possible that some specifications or facts may be incorrect. We try our best at MobileTechnology Reviews to provide accurate information, but we occasionally make mistakes. If you notice that something is wrong or incorrect, shoot us an email at [email protected] and we'll fix it!