Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wings]

I'm looking at taking over a contract form someone who is leaving. The phone is an LG U+ SKY A725L it is 3G.

I don't know anything about smart phones but my students tell me this is "not good" and that I would need 4G. They are all in their 20's and have very fancy phones.

Also the contract is with LG and my students also wrinkled their noses about that!

I don't use my phone too much, but of course I want it to be reliable.

Any feedback would be appreciated!

Cheers!

[pzebra]

I think LG is the cheapest of the three. I have an Lg phone on Lg though not by choice. Though it is a good value and if you get a prepaid plan, they give you more minutes and texts than the others. Their 3g is a bit slow but if you don't watch a lot of video it should be enough.

[Nismo]

Don't take advice from shallow, materialistic Korean youth. They would probably also tell you to skimp on meals (like eat rice balls three times a day) so that you could finance an overpriced Audi A6. LG is fine, and I'm sure the phone you get will do its job as a phone.

[ajuma]

I've used LG since I first got my phone (back in 2002-3) and have never had a problem. They even send my bills in English!

As for 3G vs 4G, it depends on what you're going to do with your phone. If you just need it to make calls, send messages and look up a random fact, you'll be fine!

On the other hand, if you want to download movies etc. to watch on your phone (and I have NO idea why people do this!), then you'll need the 4G.

[cj1976]

I think LG is the smallest of the networks so presumably it has the worst coverage. Not sure if that really is the case though.

[allan of asia]

think of LG as the verizon of Korea - they use CDMA for their 3G that is not as fast as the other 2 carriers, and when you get a call the data stops too...their 3g system doesnt use sim cards (some phones have them but they only use them for when they are out of Korea) and as a result it is much less flexible than SK/KT BUT for 4G they are using LTE the same technology as the other two, so I would say for 3G yes its slower and not as reliable as the other companies but I used it for 2 years before switching to SK and had no issues...although the lack of roaming on LG 3G was annoying when i was on holidays in SE asia etc.

If you just want a cheap smart phone, got for it but their phones are worth much less to resell later as they are often KOREA ONLY phones.

[Jake_Kim]

This might be close to nitpicking, but LGU+ never ran a proper '3G' system. What they've been marketing as 3G (until they started pushing for 4G LTE) is in fact an upgraded-&-boosted 2G spec, CDMA EV-DO Rev.B. In comparison, Verizon Wireless in the US runs Rev.A, which then corresponds to SKT's old 2G network in Korea.

Without knowing what purpose you would be using this phone mainly for, I can't say whether you should take up the deal at hand or instead go for a 4G scheme. What I could tell, with regard to SKY IM-A725L model in particular, is that it is indeed a 'In-Korea only, LGU-only' smartphone. You can't take this phone to anywhere else, not even on roaming. The device simply doesn't have a module to support other band and frequencies than that of LGU+, which uses a unique frequency to begin with.

As far as you stay in Korea, on the other hand, it might as well be a good chance to use an Android-based smartphone at an affordable price. Now that you're fully informed, choice is yours.

[JustinC]

They're probably just being traditionally competitive young Koreans and not considering reliability or cost, just whats the brightest, blingest, fastest, newest, most expensive and all that jazz. Pay no attention.

Just be ready for a reason when they ask why you bought it; they will likely not understand 'I just want a normal phone for calls and texts' so you'll need to be a bit more creative. Maybe you've taken over the contract for a friend?