Posted in Hardware, Technology |

I’ve been with Orange now for 9 years, and every year or so I like to upgrade my phone.  I do it, usually, just for the sake of it, rather than any real need to upgrade, but this year i had my eye on a particular phone and couldn’t wait until i was out of Contract, so I could get it for free.

The phone i opted for, in all it’s beautiful magnificence, is the LG Viewty.  How could i no fall in love with a mobile phone boasting a cracking five mega-pixel camera, with flash and high quality video feature?

As you”ll soon see, i opted for the Purple version, although given the choice i’d definitely have gone for black, but there weren’t any left at Orange and i didn’t want to wait any longer. 

Upon opening the box and clawing at the contents inside, i was quite taken by how sleek this little number is.  The camera face on one side, is very sweet indeed.  Complete with flash, wheel for zooming in and out, etc.

The actual phone face is very nice too.  Very nicely sized, meatily wide and perfect for touch-screening and viewing photos and videos.  Especially when the phone is rotated 90 degrees and used for widescreen.

The Phone

The settings and configuration were all pretty easy to work out, even before reading the manual.  Although getting used to having very few buttons was a struggle at first, but as I got used to the touch screen interface, it became a dream to use.

The volume and clarity in actual phone calls is quite good, quite crisp and clear.  One thing i definitely struggled with was while phoning Orange and going through the “press 4 for blah..” routine.  Because there are no number buttons, i had to use the provided stylus (or thumb nail as became the norm) to click on virtual buttons.  Again, once i got used to this, it was fine.

The same is true for messages, be it emails or sms and mms.  But not only can you click on virtual buttons for your texting, which in itself is quite easy and quick, but you can also enter handwriting mode.  It’s not perfect, as with any stylus-writing there were a few difficulties, and i had to learn how the device best likes certain letters written, but again, after a little time it works great.

The Web

As with text messaging, web browsing can be done by using the virtual keypad to enter addresses to browse at, or you can use the nifty handwriting feature.  Handwriting is quite decent, whereby you can write 2 or even 3 characters at a time, thus quickening the whole process.

A great feature for browsing is the ability to flick between full screen, half screen, and even rotating the phone around to get widescreen.  Making it pretty clear to view any website, and not have to squint.

The Camera

First and foremost i was impressed by the look of the camera face, complete with flash, and big circular lens, etc.  It just gives it that proper camera look which you don’t get on mobile phones.

The quality of the photos, at five megapixels and jumped right up to super-fine picture quality, is decent.  In daylight or at least in some form of natural light, the pictures are quite good.  Obviously no quite up to the standard of a digial camera, but good all the same.

In low-light or no light at all, using the flash, the quality of the picture degrades.  It’s probably fine for taking pictures on a night out, or catching something in the spare of the moment, but you wouldn’t take it to a concert or special event, unless you don’t actually own a proper camera, which would give much better quality.

The camera is very easy to use, and there’s a good few settings to play about with.  Zoom is digital, so not worth much, but it’s there all the same.  Lots of ISO modes, picture qualities, etc.

The video recording is decent and gives up to 640 x 384 (widescreen).  It also allows recording at speeds up to 120 frames per second.  Which means you can record things then play them back at decent quality in slow-motion.  Very nice.

I’ve not really had time to use all the features yet, or properly mess around with it, but after a day of owning the phone, i’m very impressed.  Even the provided headphones and mic are pretty good, with good quality audio and with leads of a good length, where you don’t have to crouch over like a character from Lord Of The Rings to be able to reach the mic.

I’ve ordered a 2GB memory card (MircoSD) and will soon fill it up with music, games, and other such treats, then i can get a real idea of how good things really are.  But for now, it’s a big thumbs up.  Totally recommend it. 

Similar Posts:

• August 11, 2008 -- Phimosis - My story so far (1)