Weighing in at only 3.6 ounces and measuring a diminutive 3.3 by 1.8 by 1.0 inches, the LG 5250 is one of the smallest phones we've seen. Don't be fooled by the tiny size--the phone is comfortable and easy to use, whether you're making a phone call or surfing the Web.

The phone's flip design and silver and blue matte-finish casing are a welcome respite from the sea of black phones dominating the market. The external LCD screen was quite useful, letting us see who was calling without even opening the phone. The extendable antenna seemed a bit flimsy the few times we used it, but with a bit of care, most callers should have no problems with it. The only noteworthy design issue we had was with the battery, which seems to pop off of the phone very easily. During our testing, the battery came off twice, once while sitting in a briefcase and once when dropped on a carpeted floor. While we don't have a huge quibble with this, it's worth a gentle warning: avoid dropping the phone, especially in crowded areas like buses or busy sidewalks.

Powering up took only 10 seconds, a welcome improvement over the 25 seconds it took the older TP5200. The seven-line screen, with six clear lines of text and a status bar line, was easy to read. On the compact keypad, dialing numbers and moving through menus with the large directional key was smooth and simple, although a friend with slightly larger fingers did have to take a bit more care when dialing. Changing the phone's settings and ringtones was intuitive, and a few of the ringtones seemed to be a bit louder and more piercing, making calls easier to hear than on the TP5200. The silent vibration mode is noticeably improved as well, more than making up for some of the quieter ringtones. The phone is also equipped to work with downloadable ringtones, available from Sprint PCS for a minimal fee.

We were delighted to see that LGIC has also improved the phone's functionality, as evidenced by quicker surfing through menus like call history, options, and the address book. Now, when in the middle of a menu of options, hitting the Back arrow doesn't take you back to the main menu, which was a frustrating trait of the TP5200. Instead, the Back arrow now works much like the Back button on your computer's browser window, taking you back to the screen you visited immediately beforehand, as opposed to taking you all the way back to the main screen. A small tweak, yes, but one we found particularly helpful while using the minibrowser. Browsing the Web was a breeze. The pages loaded quickly, and the phone includes a large list of shopping, news, and entertainment sites preprogrammed and ready for use.

One of our favorite features of the phone is the ability to program it for voice-activated dialing. Such programming is especially useful for those with larger fingers who are more likely to misdial on the small keypad, or just anyone who doesn't want to spend the time dialing. Preprogramming the address book to respond to our voice commands was a snap. In no time, we were impressing our friends as we whispered a name into the phone, who was called immediately. The voice command capability combined with the monitoring function came to the rescue during busy times. We were able to tell the phone whom to call, and when the person put us on hold, we set the phone to monitor (much like a speakerphone permanently on mute) and continued cooking dinner until taken off of hold. No matter what mode the phone was in, the sound quality was clear for both the caller and the listener, even when we held a conversation as police sirens wailed nearby.

Above and beyond calling capabilities, the voice-memo recorder, phone book, calendar, calculator, and two-way text messaging could make the phone an invaluable tool while traveling, or even when you're just out of the office for the day. Or, if you're just looking to kill time, the phone includes two games: the helicopter madness of Comanche, and a visually stunning version of blackjack that helped ease our longing for another trip to Las Vegas.

Battery life was right on the money in our testing, with the phone holding a call for 3 hours, and remaining on for 140 hours in standby mode, compared with its manufacturer rating of 2.5 hours digital talk time and 135 hours of digital standby time.

In the end, we are thrilled with the improvements LGIC has made in this update of an already outstanding phone, and think of it as a perfect example of all that's good in the new generation of phones.

--Heather Campbell

Pros:

• Tiny size with sleek design
• Intuitive Web browser
• Clear, easy-to-read 7-line screen
• Voice-command capability
• External caller ID screen

Cons:

• Battery pops off easily
• Antenna not overly sturdy
• Some ringtones too quiet

How We Tested Battery Talk/Standby Time

When reading our reviews, you should view the test results of mobile-phone battery talk time and standby time as relative information only. Many variables, including carrier signal strength at your location, signal consistency (including incoming and outgoing calls), display and ringer settings, and battery charging methods and history, will affect performance. When handset manufacturers and mobile phone carriers list talk-time and standby-time ratings, they usually include disclaimers about variable performance and often refer to the times they publish as maximum times. Some quote expected battery life ranges, and in this case you're probably safe to assume you'll experience at least the minimum rated range. Note that manufacturers of dual-mode digital and analog handsets publish battery-life rates for both digital and analog modes, as analog mode consumes much more power than digital mode.

Our Tests: We tested digital-mode talk and standby times with each phone. Prior to each test, we fully charged the phone's battery according to the manufacturer's directions. To test digital-phone talk time, we turned the phone on, established a digital carrier signal, dialed a number in our test lab, and, when the call rang through, took the receiving phone's handset off the hook. When all went well, we didn't do anything else except record the time when the phone died. In a couple of cases, the phones lost the signal and dropped the calls. If we were right there and could redial, we did so immediately and continued running the test. Otherwise, we halted the test, recharged the battery, and started the test over. Assuming consistent carrier-signal strength, this test should represent best-case talk time. And it's worth noting that several phones' talk-time performance significantly exceeded the manufacturers' ratings.

To test digital-phone standby time, we turned the phone on, established a carrier signal, and left the phone in standby mode. We checked the phone every few hours (for what was often days on end) until the phone finally cut out. Since no outgoing or incoming calls occurred during testing and because the phone was not moved, this method should represent best-case standby time, again assuming consistent carrier signal strength.