LG Viewty hands-on
We had the opportunity to spend a bit of quality time with LG’s new Viewty handset today at CES. After a bit of menu and feature exploration, we can say that this is a pretty nice high-end feature phone. The Viewty’s biggest claim to fame is it’s optical lense and imaging features, which allow for 5 megapixel shots, 120 frames-per-second video capture, auto and manual focus, an 800 ISO mode, and onboard image stabilization. We don’t have any hard data to prove this, but image quality felt on-par (or perhaps even a bit better than) the camera on the Nokia N95. The menu system is classic LG: simple and straightforward. Haptics feedback provides ample tactile response from the touchscreen, and everything felt nice and quick. Overall, it gets our stamp of approval. Hit the gallery, guys!
On Jan 9, 2008 @ 10:55 pm, ... Said:
The link to the gallery isn’t working for me.
=[
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On Jan 9, 2008 @ 11:04 pm, Eric Said:
ditto
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On Jan 10, 2008 @ 12:42 am, Dtest54 Said:
much better iphone clone. looks like a very good device if the specs are right.
only thing im wondering about is the $$, im thinking in the (n95) 700-800 range.
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On Jan 10, 2008 @ 5:08 am, adonisdemon Said:
Looks too fat for an iPhone clone. Impressive specs, but would have been a better proposition if it was thinner.
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On Jan 10, 2008 @ 6:08 am, Paul Said:
I got this phone as an upgrade and returned it three days later. Whilst the specifications of the phone are great, LG’s implementation isn’t. Here are my gripes.
Camera
Having a 5MP is great but even with the camera set to the factory defaults, pictures were still pixelated on a 1024×768 screen. On top of that, the shutter lag was so long I would not recommend taking pictures of anything other than idle subjects (i.e. not kids, animals, sports, etc). The pictures tend to be slightly overexposed and this comes down to shutter being kept open for too long.
Interface
The device uses a proprietary OS with a Flash interface to make it look pretty. Whilst it is pretty easy to use (it’s pretty basic), it is not very well thought out. One of the quirks that really annoyed me was the fact that you could use a full QWERTY keyboard for sending a SMS text message but you could not use it anywhere else (e.g. entering a URL in the web browser).
Unlike the iPhone, it does not have an accelerometer to change the orientation of the display from portrait to landscape so you have to do this manually. Also unlike the iPhone, scrolling with one finger by flicking does not always work (most of the time) meaning you will have to use the miniscule scroll bars on the side (which is why it ships with a stylus that falls out)
Internet Speed
Despite this device having HSDPA 3.6, I failed to achieve anything over 400k in my house. Standing in the exact same spot, my Treo 750 running Windows Mobile 6 will achieve over 1Mb/s using the exact same SIM card. I repeated this test a few times over and the Viewty failed to get any faster than 3G speeds.
Quality
The back cover is a cheap bit of plastic and every time I took it out of my jeans, it would come off, resulting in just in the battery area.
There are some good things about this phone and some people do love this phone but too many bad ones that made me send it back. My advice is if you want an iPhone, get the iPhone. It may not do many things, but what it does, it does well.
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On Jan 10, 2008 @ 7:12 am, Sascha Said:
The LG Viewty has been available in the UK for quite some time now. I’ve had a chance to play with one and use it as a primary phone for 2 days (as a pose to my iPhone which I missed really badly. Anywho, it’s a fine phone, I think it lacks a bit on feeling good (as the person mentioned above), it’s cheap plastic.
I found the connection speed to be fine, we have 3G pretty much throughout the UK here and I found the phone to be pretty quick.
The interface is the same as the Prada’s, and things you’d expect it to do (the interface that is), it doesn’t. Maybe the iPhone has spoint me interface wise.
That said, I personally wouldn’t buy one, I’d rather be stuck with my old Sony Ericsson W850i.
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On Jan 10, 2008 @ 4:40 pm, Billy Said:
It’s funny how people use the iphone as a basis for comparison. I understand why this is, but LG hasn’t marketed any of their devices as an “iPhone clone” like everyone refers to them. I’m sure everyone remembers the old “KE850 and iPhone separated at birth article.” It’s somewhat depressing that this phone (as well as many others) which offers a wide array of advanced features, is going to be graded for what it does wrong (not being an iPhone) instead of what it does right. I’ve held the device and used it and have had no qualms with it. The iPhone is great because it is forcing the industry to move forward, but it’s sad that everyone compares all phones that come out to it. The fact of the matter is that the average consumer doesn’t even know all of the specs and features of the iPhone, they just know it’s cool and think it’s the best because it’s an apple product. Don’t get me wrong, I love apple products, but I’ll take my Blackberry 8830 over an iPhone any day.
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On Jan 10, 2008 @ 6:27 pm, FyreStarrter Said:
Well I have a Blackberry 8830 & the only thing it does better than an Iphone is push email. BUT I do agree with you that its sort of sad that everything has to be compared to the iPhone BUT that just shows how Apple has caused the rest of the industry to have to measure & man up!!
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On Jan 10, 2008 @ 8:11 pm, Jeff B, Said:
Done. Where and how much?
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On Jan 11, 2008 @ 11:21 am, Billy Said:
Push email, and integrated keyboard are the two big reasons for me. Using opera mnin as my web browser also gives a more than satisfying web experience. I think the only thing that I wish I had on here that the iPhone has is the youtube support. The blackberry 4.3 OS supports streaming video, so I’m hoping that once that OS is available for the 8830 that youtube will come soon after
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On Jan 12, 2008 @ 5:36 pm, tmobilizer Said:
Why because apple is a company that overcharges for simple products for simple minded people. Don’t get me wrong the iphone is a device that is pushing the industry in certain ways. If apple wanted to set standards please release a phone that can MMS. Ooooo cool it has a touch screen that blows as a qwerty and they didn’t even design!?#**!!!! Awesome. I might not agree with all the kids on here that have an orgasm at the though of an , series nokia device. But the iphone should set the standard? Ya. Right after that we can say that hyundai sets the standard for luxury cars.
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On Jan 16, 2008 @ 7:48 pm, Kunikos Said:
tmobilizer: the Hyundai Genesis sedan is their new luxury RWD V8 (Lexus ES/GS killer), so be careful what you wish for
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On Feb 27, 2008 @ 3:24 pm, Kevin Said:
I agree with almost all of what you say here. In fact I agree with it all. I’m most disapointed with this phone. I had Sony Eric 850i before and, while I never enjoyed looking at it, feature wise it was brilliant. Mp3 player was superb, Viewty version is almost impossible to find let alone get it to play an album. Cammera on the Sony was really good and quite quick.Unlike the LG. Too slow and not great pictures. I’m wishing I’d have gone with another Sony or maybe the N95 Nokia. Video is quite good though, I’ve made more use of that feature lately. No accessories yet! That’s annoying.
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On Apr 21, 2008 @ 8:34 pm, Rick Said:
Hey guys I just got the viewty as a gift from a relative but I live in the U.S.A. Florida to be exact and as I of right now i have a local carrier but it doesnt require a sim card. So in order for me to use the phone i need to purchase a sim card for it.
Here’s the deal, I know the phone works great in the UK with tmobile and all but does it work with a tmobile sim here in the U.S.?
I’ve tried a few of my friends sim cards in the phone but they all say the same thing: “sim locked”.
Can anyone help me?
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