- Prepaid flip phone provides double the amount of purchased minutes for the life of the phone
- Pay for only the calling time you use with minutes purchased from Tracfone–no annual contract required
- VGA camera for still photos, full-duplex speakerphone, SMS and MMS messaging, dual LCD screens
- Up to 3 hours of talk time, up to 192 hours (8 days) of standby time
- What’s in the Box: handset, battery, travel charger, getting started guide, user manual
Amazon.com Product Description
The perfect complement to Tracfone prepaid wireless service, the sleek, lightweight LG 225 offers an affordable way to stay in touch with family and friends across town and around the globe via voice communication and text messaging. And this phone offers Double Minutes for the life of the phone. That means when you add a 60, 120 or 200-minute card, or a 1 Year of Service Airtime Card (which adds 400 minutes), you’ll receive double the airtime for the same low price. Packaged within a sleek, black clamshell, the 225′s VGA camera lets you take color photos, show them off on your rich color display, or send them to friends via MMS. With its full-duplex speakerphone you can talk hands-free while on-the-go.
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Tracfone Service
Tracfone provides nationwide prepaid wireless service using the nation’s leading cellular providers to create a national footprint covering 99 percent of the U.S. population. This gives you connectivity everywhere cellular service is available. You can use your Tracfone across the U.S. and if you move, you can relocate your wireless number with just a phone call.
You can buy bundles of minutes (which must be used within a set time limit of between 90 to 365 days) from the Tracfone web site on your home PC or directly from your phone’s web browser. For example, if you purchase a block of 120 minutes of airtime, you’ll need to use that within 90 days of your first use. When you buy additional airtime minutes, your Tracfone service is extended automatically by another 90 days. Tracfone also offers international long distance calling to over 60 international destinations (including Argentina, Brazil, China, Mexico, most European countries, and many more), which deducts the same amount of minutes from your phone as when you make calls to destinations within the U.S.
This phone ships with a number of handy Tracfone services, including free voice mail, free caller ID, and free call waiting. And perhaps most importantly, the integrated TracFone Airtime Balance Display shows you how much airtime you’ve used and how much is left, so you can control your costs. You must activate your cell phone before use either by calling the Tracfone toll-free number or going to the Tracfone web site.
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Phone Features
Offering quad-band connectivity for global roaming, the LG 225 clamshell phone has a stubby antenna and dual LCD screens. The internal display measures 1.5 inches and has a 128 x 128-pixel resolution and support for 65K colors. The external monochrome screen has a fixed color background, and it measures 96 x 64 pixels. It displays date, time, battery life, signal strength, and caller ID phone number (though no photo ID). You can also view the last 20 dialed/received calls for easy redialing.
The internal phonebook can hold up to 255 contact entries (in addition to 250 contacts stored on your SIM card), and each contact has fields for three phone numbers and an email address. You can assign callers to groups and pair them with a picture for photo caller ID (viewed only on the internal screen). The phone features eight speed dial entries as well as a default voicemail speed dial.
The VGA camera has three resolution options (640 x 480, 320 x 240 and 160 x 120 pixels) and it offers a 4x digital zoom, multi-shot capability (allowing you to take 9 pictures in fast succession), brightness and white balance controls, and a self timer. You’ll be able to store up to 75 photos on the phone’s internal memory at the lowest resolution setting, or seven photos at the highest setting.
Support for basic text messaging and multimedia messaging (MMS) are built into the 225. When used in combination with the phone’s built-in camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. The T9 predictive text entry technology is built into the unit, which makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets–a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.
Other features include:
- Tracfone Airtime Balance Display shows you how much airtime you’ve used and how much is left
- Multi-lingual support (English, French, Spanish)
- Personal organizer (calendar with scheduler, alarm clock, notepad)
- Calculator, world clock, unit converter, tip calculator
- Preloaded games
- WAP 2.0 browser
- Full duplex speakerphone
- 8 unique ringtones with vibrate and silent modes
Vital Statistics
The LG 225 weighs 3.26 ounces and measures 1.89 x 3.36 x 0.9 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3 hours of talk time, and up to 8 days of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies.
LG 225 Prepaid Phone with Double Minutes for Life
The connection is good only at home. 20 miles away from home, you get connection only by LUCK. Do NOT depend on it.
To add airtime from Tracfone is extremely painful:
If add it from their website (most of time it ends up ERROR and ask you to call the service representative), the webpage asks a lot of unnecessary information, then sends hundreds digits you have to key in to your cell phone.
If add it thru calling their service representative, the representative will try to STEAL YOUR IDENTITY by ask you all unrelated information. Besides credit card and your cell phone ID, they ask:
* Name
* Address
* Other cell phone numbers
* Social Security Number!!!!!!!!!!!!!
* Birthday?????????????????
If you refuse to answer the question, they will argue that ‘Our System Requires It’. Who cares about their system? I do care about my own IDENTITY SAFETY.
However, if you still want to jump into the trap, there is a way to beat their stealing:
***** Besides credit number and you cell phone ID, give them all FAKE information. ****
I tried the strategy, and it works
Rating: 1 / 5
I would have given this no stars if Amazon provided that option! I can’t say enough bad things about Tracfone and its terrible customer service. I purchased a Tracfone online and tried to carry over my old cell number. It was a nightmare; the phone itself was ok, but activation was impossible. I can’t even remember how many hours I spent on hold to India trying to work things out (note: the customer service reps did their best despite language issues, clearly they are not equipped to solve customer problems and are probably directed to just string customers along or inspire them to give up). After a month, I gave up, lost my old cell number, and had no phone for weeks. I had to work hard to get a refund, they really make it impossible for you if you have any problems. Spend a few more bucks and get one of the other pay as you go plans, Tracfone is not worth the headache.
Rating: 1 / 5
This is a review of Tracfone’s service, not this particular phone. I purchased a new Tracfone in 2007 and used it for months no problem, adding minutes and time via their web site whenever I needed them. That same year, when my family and I were vacationing in Florida, my daughter was burned in an accident and spent three weeks in a Florida hospital. All of the calls I had to make during this time ate up my minutes (roaming), even though I still had tons of airtime left before my next “due date.” I went online to buy more minutes, but instead of adding them, somehow the code I entered cancelled my phone number. I called customer service, and was put on hold for at least 10-20 minutes each time while I was shifted from “supervisor” to “supervisor,” each of whom offered a different explanation for my problem. All of the explanations were wrong: I was told I had let my airtime expire (nope). I was told I had requested a new phone number online (nope). I was told that my type of phone had never been registered with Tracfone (nope). I was told that my phone was too old to use with Tracfone, and that they had tried to contact me months before to get me to buy a new phone (nope). I told each “supervisor” that I was in an emergency situation with my daughter, and that I needed my phone service restored immediately, but all they would do was offer fictitious reasons that the malfunction was my fault. NO ONE HELPED ME. When I said that if they wouldn’t help me, they needed to refund my money, they told me they couldn’t give refunds on prepaid minutes. Finally, after over an hour of this nonsense, I lost it and screamed at the call center person. I demanded that they give me the phone number of their headquarters. Their response? They gave me the exact same number of the call center I was already dealing with! As soon as we were settled back in Maryland, I Googled Tracfone to find an address for their headquarters and sent a letter detailing everything that had happened. I also copied the body of the letter into an email and sent it to their customer service contact online. For over a month, I heard nothing. Then I got an email from customer service, asking if anyone had contacted me yet. I replied that they had not. I never heard from them again. THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS: NEVER, NEVER USE TRACFONE! IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG, THEY WILL NOT HELP YOU!!!! Read online comments–there are hundreds of Tracfone customers out there who have had horrible experiences with the service!
Damage Resulting:
$85–never refunded. An hour plus on the phone trying to resolve the situation, another hour spent writing letters and emails that got ignored. Frustration levels through the roof with a company that could have cared less.
Rating: 1 / 5
The standard shipping was over 10 days but arrived intact. The phone is great. The features on the phone are easy to use. Set up was a little dicey. I had to call the Tracfone customer service, but this was very easy.
Rating: 4 / 5
I also purchased the ‘Ultimate Bundle’. Awesome deal – except the charger.
I was really SAD to see the old motorolla type of charger on it: you push a button on each side of the charging plug, insert the plug into your phone where it is connected and charges by 2 tiny metal pieces.
Problem: I’ve had 2 other phones with this type of plug.
BOTH began to malfunction and were ultimately useless because of the charger. Apparently the ‘connection’ would deteriorate over time, meaing you would need to ‘jiggle the plug’ to get it connected, until in the end the connection/charging failed to function at all.
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sigh
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I decided to keep the phone, HOPE & PRAY the charger doesn’t give out on it… and wait for a charger to come along that will charge the batteries OUTSIDE of the phone itself.
Be Blessed! Buy one. Give one away.
Rating: 4 / 5