LG Muziq

The LG Muziq, the successor to the popular Fusic, improves on many of its predecessor's missed notes and adds a number of innovations, such as multitasking, a GPS navigation application, and a microSD slot that's compatible with new high-capacity 4GB cards, which gives the Muziq as much capacity as the iPhone, but for a fraction of the price. It also holds onto the features that made the Fusic stand out, such as the ability to transmit music to an FM radio, beam MP3s to a stereo Bluetooth headset or speaker system, and take advantage of Sprint's TV services. But despite these improvements, the Muziq, which will be available from Sprint on July 15th for $99 with a two-year contract, still feels like a cell phone with a music player stuck on (view photo gallery).

 

The Muziq also retains the Fusic's basic attributes: It's a dual-band CDMA EV-DO Sprint Power Vision flip phone with a multiformat MP3 player, stereo Bluetooth, an FM transmitter to broadcast your music through a car radio, and a 32-inch 2.5mm-to-3.5mm cable with an in-line mic that lets you use your own earphones without ripping them out to answer the phone. There's also a 1.3-megapixel camera and a 64MB microSD Card. The microSD slot is now located on the right spine rather than behind the battery cover, as it was on the Fusic.

 

Physically, the differences between the Fusic and the Muziq are literally black and white. Borrowing more from the aesthetics of LG's Chocolate than the satiny Fusic, the black enamel Muziq has red-backlit, touch-sensitive music controls on the front flap. We appreciated the vibration feedback on these buttons, but we found them to be too sensitive; we liked the Fusic's controls better. Direct-access keys for the camera and the music player are on the right spine. The key labels etched in black make them almost impossible to read, however. Inside, the Muziq has a flat black checkerboard dialpad.

 

The Muziq's main improvements come on the rearranged interface. The main screen contains four stacked icons: Main Menu, Music, Send Text, and an On Demand feature that produces a pop-up window with the latest news headlines and local weather, as well as direct access to news, weather, sports, movies, and money sections. A Favorites soft key lets you configure direct access to a host of operations.

 

True to its name, music is what really sets the Muziq apart. LG has separated the music player from the Sprint Music Store, so you don't have to wait for a Web connection to start listening to tunes. But once you click on Music from the Main Menu, you still have to hit "All My Music" and wait five seconds or so to get your track list. Tracks aren't listed in alphabetical order, but if you switch to Artists view, you'll see the songs listed by artist, which helps you find the one you're looking for.

 

The Muziq lacks an external Hold or Lock switch, which means you have to hold down the Camera key for several seconds to unlock the controls. The keys lock automatically, as merely waving your finger near the red array activates a function.

 

When you get your song list, the Muziq doesn't remember where you left off the last time you were listening, although it does remember whether you were in Shuffle mode. You can activate the music app from the spine Music key when the phone is closed, but an unnecessary "application running" message pops into the external screen for around five seconds before the first track plays. Music battery life is rated for ten hours, less than half that of most standalone MP3 devices.

 

The Muziq doesn't come with included earbuds, which we find strange for a music phone. We listened to our music with stereo Bluetooth headphones and found the Muziq's Bluetooth implementation to be awkward. First, LG illogically segregates Bluetooth activation (in the Setup menu) from visibility and pairing options (in the Tools menu). Second, you can't send pictures or data from the phone to your PC via Bluetooth.

 

Stereo Bluetooth doesn't sound as good as wired earphones, but at least this feature works with tunes purchased from the Sprint Music Store (unlike the Fusic). Stereo Bluetooth will also work with Pandora Mobile once this phone goes on sale in July. For just $2.99 per month, you'll have access to online radio stations based on what artists you like.

 

The Muziq is a better multitasker than the Fusic, but we wish it could do more. We like that you can hit End while listening and shift the still-playing music to the background while you send or receive text or e-mail messages or even while you play a silent game. If you want to surf the Web while grooving, however, you have to pause your tunes first.

 

The Muziq's FM transmitter worked as advertised. Start a song on the Muziq music player, hit Menu and Turn Transmitter On. Tune your car radio to any blank, or near-blank, radio frequency between 88.1 and 107.9 MHz (the lower end of the dial is usually more vacant), tune the phone's virtual radio dial to the corresponding station, and voila--Muziq's music in your car. How solid your reception is depends on just how uncrowded the frequency is and how close the Muziq is to the radio; LG recommends five feet.

 

In our testing, we knew a call was coming in because the car radio started blaring static with whatever real broadcast was on the frequency; we couldn't hear our ringtone, although Sprint says this shouldn't happen. You can answer the call, but you have to first turn down your car radio volume. When you hang up or hit Ignore, the music automatically continues its FM transmission (there's a Quiet option, but pressing it accomplished nothing), just as it does during regular music interruptions.

 

As a phone, the Muziq provided solid and loud connections with excellent voice quality, both through its earpiece and especially through the clip-on mic in the earphone adapter cable. The 1.3-MP camera produced surprisingly sharp pictures, but you can't transfer any files from the phone via Bluetooth--a major aggravation.

 

Data speeds were exceptional: a zippy three seconds to load CNN.com and ESPN.com, between 15 and 25 seconds to download "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, and around 12 seconds to get to Sprint TV's streaming video clips from E! and Fox Sports--among the fastest we've experienced. While the TV looked only moderately pixelated--certainly not as crystalline as V CAST Mobile TV--it was better than most streamed video we've seen. And videos still looked decent when we expanded the video window to full-frame widescreen mode, which you watch holding the phone sideways.

 

The Muziq doesn't measure up to the iPhone, but at only $99, it's not trying to. Although the identically priced Samsung UpStage is sexier, the Muziq sports a more practical design and lets you listen to your favorite tunes in the car without a bulky adapter. We just wish the touch-sensitive controls weren't so touchy and that the music player were faster and more polished.

 

 

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