The LG Viewty
This so called “iPhone killer” is probably going to kill itself.
The Good
Based on the LG Viewty’s microsite alone, the most touted feature is clearly the 5 megapixel camera on its back. It has flash, a manual focus, and an image stabilizer as well. On the front, it features a smaller camera for video conferencing. It’s a 3g ready phone so its network should be able to handle decent quality conversations. There’s an included speakerphone on the back, the MicroSD supports up to 2 gigs, and its screen is a 3 inch touch display. It also supports DivX playback in both portrait or landscape modes with resolutions up to 640×480. Another solid feature for this phone is its ability for TV out. It’s currently on schedule for a Europe release. But don’t fret too much, here’s why.
The Bad
On immediate touch the phone feels light, plasticky and a bit thick (I’m assuming having a 5 megapixel camera stuck to your back adds on a few centimeters). Not having any internal flash probably makes the phone a bit cheaper, but without any expanded memory it will only get you to about 90mb. And only supporting up to 2 gigs, that’s not very many DivX if you think about it. I live in the US, so the phone wasn’t activated leaving me without the opportunity to test out the voice quality, video conferencing, or the web. No the phone doesn’t have WiFi either.
Booting it up was simple and quick. It has three buttons on the front, call send, clear, call end. On the left side it has a single port for charging (and I’m going to come back to this port), the right side had the lock/unlock button, camera button, and photo view, camera, or video camera selection. Top nothing, Bottom, nothing. Headphone jack? That’s where the bad comes into play. The charging port on the left side is a stock LG port featured on other phones such as the LG VX8600 (chocolate flip phone). The phone requires a unique LG adapter which plugs into the charging port to provide a headphone/earphone jack. What’s that mean? It means one more thing to carry around AND you can never charge your phone while having headphones plugged in at the same time. Those long road trips will just have to do with alternating between listening, watching and charging.
The Ugly
The touch aspect of the phone isn’t very sensitive. It requires a bit more force then I expected and it’s not always so accurate, but I imagine most touch devices aren’t. Scrolling is frustrating because more often then not it will end up selecting an item instead of scrolling. The phone does feature stylus recognition, much easier to navigate with, but slower to type with. By default, messages are set to a numeric keypad similar to most phones and features T9 writing. You can switch to a landscape full QWERTY however. The most frustrating aspect of the device was its UI. I had to click things just to figure out where I was, where I could go, and what I could do. It took me entirely too long to figure out how to landscape my videos. There is no button for it, and it doesn’t do it automatically when you turn it sideways. You tap the playing video and it’ll switch for you. Similarly when typing with the QWERTY I couldn’t find a backspace. Every time I messed up (frequently) I couldn’t find a way to go back, or delete. I ended up resorting to highlighting my word with my finger and retyping it slower. I can’t express to you how frustrating that is. Fortunately, after two more people gave it a try I learned that hitting the clear button in between the Call Send and Call End works as a backspace. The physical key is off the right as you type in landscape so you can reach it, I just didn’t know how I was supposed to figure that out. You’d assume on a digital screen, you’d have a backspace button. There is a button on the screen that looks like one, so don’t get confused. That instead is to return you to the previous screen. So accidentally hitting it while typing will ask you if you want to save your message, or delete it.
This review may be a bit biased but I find it to be reasonably so. If a company is entering a market with a new device, they should have the foresight to innovate. And if the company is entering a market where there’s competition, they should heed the practices of others and implement what works.
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#1 htiawe says:Don’t review something that you havent tried to the max. If you cant get hold of a activated phone then let someone that has access do the review.
#2 Matt Radel says:The site looks good, but if I didn’t know better I’d say it was for a camera.
#3 menneke says:“…a bit thick (I’m assuming having a 5 megapixel camera stuck to your back adds on a few centimeters).”
I guess you meant “a few millimeters”? Adding a few centimeters would make this thing at least 3 centimeters thick, assuming a minimum thickness of 1 cm and “a few” being at least 2.
#4 jbelkin says:UI is the key - just look at the icons of the LG - what do they mean and then what are the four icons on the side?
Another thing people fail to bring up is the bnackup/sync. The iphone backups EVERYTHING you sync - does the LG do that? And the iphone genius bar to go for questions and repairs?
The LG is yet another cell phone with lots of features but three buttons and menus to activate “quick dailing.” designed by engineers and not for actual use.
#5 htiawe says:I find it interesting that people are willing to bash on a product that they havent read a proper review of and they havent touched them selves.
You know nothing about the UI, functions or what the buttons do but you are willing to say that its designed not for actual use?
Come back when you have tried and tested it. No, i don’t have one and i dont have an iphone either and i wont buy into the hype of any of them before i have tried them.
#6 Arvin says:-htiawe
I’m not sure if your last comment was directed at me, or if you misunderstood my post. I did have a chance to physically test the phone and play with it for a few days. I was unable to test the phone reception (making and receiving calls), and the web. So I left those out of the review.
-menneke
I did mean a few millimeters, but the phone is exceptionally thick compared to the iPhone, so in my haste I over exaggerated. My apologies.
As always I’m just giving my feedback, be sure and check out the phone for yourself if and when you have the chance. Compare it to others in its category and let me know what you think.
#7 IanS says:The Viewty could’ve been a really great phone but LG have made the cardinal error of focusing on the hardware and skimping on the software. As the review mentions the UI is far from self-explanatory and I swear my phone will go out the window the next time I select an item while attempting to scroll a menu.
The UI is also completely inconsistent with different screens operating completely differently (though this could be caused by the modifications made by Orange to the UI).
And does anyone know how to control the volume during a call? As far as I can tell it can’t be done leaving me either getting my ears blasted or straining to hear the caller.
Overall it’s a good phone but could have been so much better. The one real positive I see from the iPhone is that it will hopefully force other headset manufactures to really think about how they design the UI because at the moment virtually all of the major players at woeful when it comes to software.
#8 PaulUK says:I had this phone for a week and ended up returning it to my phone provider. I found the interface a little slow and not well thought out. For example, you can use a QWERTY keyboard for text message but no where else like entering a URL, etc.
Pictures that I took with the phone (set to 5MP) were pixelated though I am led to believe this may have just been the phone I had as other people have had good results.
Shutter lag was a huge problem with this phone and I was not the only one. Taking a picture of anything that is not stationary e.g. babies, animals, etc, was a mission, as the lag between pressing the shutter and the picture being taken was about 1-2 seconds.
Poor finish - The back cover kept coming off when taking it out of my pocket, allowing dust and fluff into the battery area.
Touch screen responsiveness - This is one of the areas I was impressed with the Viewty. I didn’t have any problems.
No mac compatibility. The OS is LG’s propertiary operating system with a flash interface sitting on top to make it look pretty. The software (Windows only) that comes with the phone is on a slot loading unfriendly half size CD, so I had to use my wife’s laptop to grab the software. It is exactly the same software that Samsung use with their phones and gives you the basic functions of adding and removing contacts as well as adding and removing content (using the phone as a mass storage device).
Call quality was good and data speeds were reasonable. I am on 3’s HSDPA network over here in the UK and could not fault the call quality. Data speeds were only 500Kb/s at best (my Treo 750 peaks at over 1Mb/s in the same spot) but still better than regular 3G speeds.
Overall there were too many things not to like with this phone that I sent it back to 3 for a tried and tested Sony Ericsson K800i (which thankfully also sync’s with iSync).
#9 Nick says:If your not bright enough to find out the c button ist used to clear what you typed, then its probably not the phones fault.Maybe reviews should be done by people who are a) used to handle modern cellphones and b) actually use the cell phone to full extend first.
Besides: The charging or listening thing is neither a great flaw or a big problem. Thats how most of the sony ericsson phones work, including the K750i.i agree that it would have been better to have 2 plugs, but since i seldomly ride the bus, listen to music and charge my phone at the same time, its barely a problem.
#10 Ben XO says:I have to say, despite the (arguable) flaws in this review, the Viewty is far from perfect. Having had one for a couple of days (having upgraded from an N73 - eech) and tried to use it as a normal phone, here are the major flaws:
* tiny phone book. I had 580 people in my N73 and the Viewty will only import 500.
* tiny inbox. The N73s was unlimited, and the solution to my messaging woes is NOT to cap my inbox at only 300 messages.
* the handwriting recognition is basically useless; it may as well not be there.
* there is no web browser, only a WAP browser. even my abysmal N73 had Opera!
* the input methods are inconsistent. What’s the point in a full-keyboard input for text messages when you only have the keypad input method in the browser?
Although the interface is slick and not slow as hell (like my N73), I am not in need of a mediocre camera with gimmicks I will not use (divx playback, 120fps video) when the phone can’t even handle the basics properly - so I’ll be sending mine back to the shop.
#11 mark uk says:viewty or iphone, no comparison to me! i have had a play with the iphone and was blown away with how fluent everything runs, how pretty it looks etc etc and yes now i really really want one. wait wait hold on a second, i must think with my head because phew - i was nearly willing to part with over £250 AND commit to a contract aswell. neither phone is perfect i’m sure, but if i’m buying a phone the viewty sounds the better option. sorry apple but if your to make a phone and charge soooo much money for it i would expect it to abomb all opposition into next week. so use your head get a viewty, that way you can afford an ipod to go with it, and you get to keep your sanity
#12 Steven says:Hmm funny that probably one of the only sites reviewing the LG Viewty and giving it a poor rating is from a apple fanboy.
The Iphone is nothing to live upto and the sooner people realise this the better apple products are way over-rated and over-hyped and are often just style over function for example the Iphone claims to be good at internet browsing and yes it has wifi but to be honest if ur in a area of wifi ur more than likely at home or work where u could probably use a computer instead which of course is much better and since the Iphone has no 3G then wanting to view the web anywhere more “mobile” is gonna be painful. Then theres the terrible camera and comon using it as a mp3 player? for a start ipods have bad sound quality next to alot of other mp3 players.
This phone however delivers a good camera a amazing 120fps video recording, 3G etc etc
Iphone can’t even do basic functions like copy and paste or foward text messages or delete contacts without a computer.
#13 PaulUK says:@Steven - My review wasn’t to suggest that I would have the iPhone either. There are quite a few things that need to be done to it before it becomes a decent product offering which is why I use a Treo running Windows Mobile. That being said, there are some fundamental flaws in the execution of Viewty that made it too painful to live with like shutter lag.
Are Apple’s products over rated? I believe that it just a matter of opinion. For some, it is but I prefer the simplicity, ease of use, and the lack of frustration. It just works and for me, that is what justifies it prices. I get enough “challenges” from Windows at work, don’t need them when I come home
Another argument would be that Apple uses grade A components (unlike the likes of Dell) and if you were to specify a machine to the same level, it would cost around the same sort of money or more. In fact PC World recently concluded that Vista runs fastest on a Mac.
#14 Ben XO says:@Steven, although it may seem unsurprising to you that the Viewty is given a bad review by an Apple fan, he’s certainly not the only one to give it a bad review:
http://www.yourmobilephonereviews.co.uk/lg_ku990_viewty_reviews.htm
plenty of people raise the same points - and more - as this review does.
#15 Arvin says:@Steven: What sets the Viewty apart from any other phone? It has a touch screen, but does it offer something new, something tangible to actually require the need for a touch screen? Everything this phone offers, I get more efficiently done on a Sony Ericsson W890, or any other phone for that matter. You need to ask yourself where the world would be without innovators such as Apple. I defend them, yes as a fan boy, but have you ever asked yourself why I, as well as all these other people are too? The iPhone offers true value in a market full of “me too’s”. If you want to test out my theory, go OS X for a complete month. Don’t just berate it, give it a chance, ask questions when you need help, learn and discover more. Then come back to me and let me know your thoughts.
@Nick: Yes, I, who probably is more tech savvy then your average user, didn’t think to use a physical hard key to clear, instead of the full QWERTY on screen choices surrounding it. Don’t forget it took a few others to figure that out too.
Rant over, sense back. The Viewty’s phone offers 5 megapixels at what cost? Size? Lag? Memory? If I want to print shots that big, I’m getting a real camera, like a Nikon. Just something to think about. Maybe I’m settling in the eyes of a few, but for the record I don’t have an iPhone. Yet.
#16 Steven says:@Ben funny you should mention that since on that site the viewty gets 85% out of a hundred and the iphone gets 60%.
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39030107,49292601,00.htm
http://www.dialaphone.co.uk/blog/?p=575
http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_ku990_viewty-review-167.php
All good reviews for the viewty
@Arvin Are you joking Innovators like apple haha more like rip-off merchants and as for the viewty having lag and being big well no one has complained off lag the size is practically same as iphone and the memory is enough especially as you can have unlimted cards think about it.
as for the mention of getting a “real camera” would you carry it about all the time ? i could say why get iphone when u could get a “real mp3 player” and i’m not talking about that other junk known as ipod i mean something like a sony who actually know what sound quality is.
#17 Steven says:@Ben that site shows more people like the viewty than the iphone. and just go to dialaphone or cnet.co.uk etc for a proper viewty review who actually give it a great score.
@Arvin Apple Innovators Haha hmm i would call them Rip-Off Merchants.
As for saying the viewty is 1) big hmm about same size as iphone.
2)lag? really i have’nt heared an review mention this.
3)memory seeing as you can have as many sd cards as you want and the fact people have got 4 and 8 sdhc cards working with this then memory is not a problem.
And of course having a dedicated camera is gonna be better but will u always carry a mobile and then a digital camera around? its the same as me saying why get iphone when u could get a better phone and then buy a better dedicated mp3 player something with decent sound quality as well like a sony or samsung.
#18 Arvin says:@Steven: Size is almost twice an iPhone. I held and compared them together. The phone supports a MAX of 2 gigs, meaning you get the joy of carrying more than one card around if you want 8 gigs worth of content.But I do agree the camera thing, I probably won’t always be carrying around a camera AND a phone, unless I’m traveling.So it would be nice to have a better quality camera available on hand more frequently, especially for those that love quick shots at a seconds notice.
#19 Steven says:@Arvin Er no its not twice the size of a iphone http://www.sizeasy.com/page/size_comparison/8020-Iphone-vs-LG-Viewty
infact the iphone is bigger in height and width just the lg is a bit thicker.
and again your wrong about the only 2gb it support it will only show 2gb but a bigger card does work.
#20 yohan says:Why compare this to the iPhone? LG doesn’t claim it to be an iPhone killer. It’s a camera phone. And comparing the cameras of the iPhone and the LG, the LG is the clear winner. All the rants in your last chapter don’t say anything about the phone; it’s more about you not being able (or willing) to read the manual
#21 Steven says:@yohan The LG beats the Iphone hands down camera phone or not.
#22 smoq says:Hahahahaha, horrible review of a guy with a piece of apple in his eye - good luck you there buying taiwan cheepshit for 1000Euro for piece
with design and interface candies as the only goods it has. BTW I am a mac user, but iPhone is just for making money. Viewty rocks
#23 Arvin says:Well naturally my opinion is something that reflects a small percentage of readers and that’s fine. But out of curiosity what do you love about the Viewty so much? I’d love to hear your favorite features, I’m sure it’ll make this review more complete. Also I’d love to hear your displeasure for the iPhone, what you think it’s lacking and what would make up for it? Thanks
#24 htiawe says:This isnt really a review, this is more of a thin preview. Is this what someone would expect when they need help byying a phone? No.
It feels like you havent really used it and well, you havent really because it wasnt activated. Get a real review copy, spend some time with it and write up a proper review.
#25 Suki says:The IPhone is a mp3 player combined with a phone and the Viewty is a camera combined with a phone. I don’t understand why these two phones are being compared against each other. They are not even in the same category.
I’m currently using Viewty and I don’t understand what is so difficult about the UI . . . I’ve never used a LG phone before and I picked it up fairly quickly.
My favorite part of Viewty is, of course, the camera. It has all the basic function of a regular DC. Red eye reduction, hand stablizer, zoom in/out, panorama etc etc Unlike my previous phone, saving pictures take almost no time at all. The additional effects that I can add to a photo is an added bonus! I’m a major fangirl to the apple but just the camera alone was enough to convince me to buy the Viewty.
#26 Steven says:The Fact is:
Apple computers get outclassed by both Microsoft and Linux
Apple Ipods have poor sound quality and get Outclassed by Samsung/Sony/Creative etc etc
and the Iphone is a joke and gets outclassed by pretty much every phone company.
#27 htiawe says:Oh please, lets not get into a format war because of a poorly written review.
#28 Steven says:Just telling the Truth.
#29 Silver says:Okay, I have an 8Gb SD card in mine and it works fine. The phone has a firmware glitch that only allows it to tell the user there is 2Gb of space but everything on the 8Gb is usable. The touch is most certainly not as good as the iPhone’s (which I’ve had full use of for a week) but then how could anyone ever match Apple’s Multitouch (I get sued for saying it?) as there are so many patents on it, anything that detects touch in two places on it’s surface and fits in your pocket is an infringement.
The Viewty is a marvelous phone with a fair few defects but then that’s just technology all over. The iPhone had plenty glitches at release. I seem to remember hundreds of hacking sites opened before it’s international debut? Aaaanyway, 5MP camera is brilliant, DivX converter (included for free) is smooth but (encoding video is always…) SLOW! Playback is great. No ability to do too much at once (e.g. play music and play a game at the same time) due to lack of system memory but then this is sold as a CAMERA-PHONE not so much as a multimedia device. The browser isn’t “all that” but does the job. Some hackers over at ku990.co.uk forums are working on flash plugins. It’s runs Opera mini, Google Maps and plenty other mobile apps with touchscreen-support.
In my opinion the only features that the iPhone beat the KU990 Viewty are the mineral-glass, scratch-proof screen, rapid multimedia plaback, accelerometer, multitouch and Flash support. But then the iPohne isn’t 3G meaning no video calls (complete lack of front camera anyways), lame internet, heck, you can’t even picture message. The internet on it is only so fast with a wi-fi connection and to be honest, normally, where there’s a wi-fi connection, there’s a PC.
Also the iPhone’s camera is probably the worst available on contract on the market, it costs £900 over 18 months including £269 for the phone itself (My Viewty is £30 for 12 Months, Free, 200mins, 200txts, O2), I’m forced to use DRM-infested iTunes with the iPhone, the iPhone’s at war with hacks, whereas the Viewty’s communities are very hackful and amongst all that, it’s a bit girly.
#30 Amn says:Silver great review I would advise the original author of the article replace theirs
#31 Rajat says:I think this is a decent review…a bit biased, but that is human nature. I love macs and have been using them for 5 years..have 2 ipods and love them to bits. I was chuffed to use the iphone, but could not use the keyboard to either dual or type into the web browser. And the cost ..oh my God. I tried the viewty…and though not as slick as iphone, it is a superb phone. I do not think there is any comparison with iphone..they both do different things…but just because of the cost factor, I am buying the LG….sorrt steve jobs, you have lost a loyal customer to LG.
#32 Matty says:OK review and i actually begrudgingly agree to the majority of the article, Ive had the viewty for a week now and its wearing a bit thin… the camera is great for taking pictures and video although the shutter is a bit naff, I can live with it, much better than the VGA camera in my razr lets put it that way. screen, Im intreagued by the whole touch screen no keypad thing as i had the sony ericsson W910i which has 4GB of internal memory and was for the most part the best media player i could ever want, however useless at calls or texts… this phone (viewty) is great in terms of making calls and yes i will agree the touch screen is a bit touch, usually because they put so much plastic between the touch screen itself and the protector screen. saying that i find the screen better than the iphone, i trialled the iphone in the shop and from a friend and i find that the touch screen is far too sensitive selecting letters that i didnt want where as the viewty does it just fine. the interface is a bit noddyish, I would prefer a bit more function for the Techy in me… for example user applications dont suit this phone, bot mine and my partners viewty crash and restart when running 3rd party applications or Flash apps. my sony ericsson didnt and i loved it for that… give me symbian os anyday. you can keep your mac os
i work with it enough thanks.
#33 Mosey says:I have to admit reading the review put me off a little, but reading subsequent comments, particularly those by Silver and Matty really helped! As others have written already, plenty of other sites have given it a thumbs up more than a thumbs down,so this is probably the first complete blog review that I’ve read which has so much negative stuff to say.
If i can remember the blog addy, I”ll come back again in aweek’s time and let everyone know what I think about the phone, since it’s just arrived in the post today.
First impressions? Orange (UK) packages it beautifully. (very compact) the phone itself is not less robust than I thought. I am leaving it to charge fully for the day until I start using it. I was surprised to find that the battery cover was actual METAL rather than plastic. The box came with extra screen protectors.
#34 Matty says:excellent
you may find that the screen protectors get scratched easily, but i dont use them anyway, my partner does, I bought my own leather pouch to put it in so no scratches lol.
I got it on orange too, so far sterling service, not too sure on their choice of plans, would much prefer to get free mobile net 24/7 as i check mail and stuff on the train/bus to and from work but it nothing against the phone itself.
has anyone tried to use google’s mail app on their phone?
#35 Andrew says:Guys whats with all the arguing? The reviewer obviously has some agenda in the post I can imagine Apple have paid thousands of digital PR people to come online and slag off this phone, they are scared. All the whinging and whining over qwerty keyboards and an extra 2 mm of thickness bla bla bla both phones have faults I have owned them both, but for the money, one being £280 plus ridicolous contract and totally rubbish camera and the other being 5mp camera free on a standard contract, there is no comparison whatsoever.
Little between the phones MUCH between the prices
#36 Josh Pigford says:@Andrew: What’s with the accusations? You “obviously” aren’t too sure of what you’re talking about. We don’t take paid reviews and I take it as an insult for you to say that.
Don’t come here starting crap like that. Period.
#37 Alwyn says:Please try reading the operation manual before handling the phone. If anyone is to operate a phone or other equipment without reading the manual, these sort of comments will appear. Please try to ask anyone to operate the iphone or any other phones and see if they can use them well without explaining to them the operation guide.
Many of the comments seems that you have not read the Viewty manual at all. Try reading it. It will help to solve most of your problems.
#38 bganon says:I was also put off the viewty by the review but after reading more reivews and comments am convinced that this is the phone for me.
I did consider the Iphone but the ridiculously high price and lack of a decent camera put me off.
The holy grail? Great camera, great MP3 player and great design. Until we get that in one it will be the Viewty for me. Message to Apple you lost a potential customer. Stop overcharging your customers in Europe.
#39 Satyajit says:Hi….how can the phone book memory on the viewty be increased from the present 500….any clues ????
Redgs
#40 Brett says:I can only hope that people interested in the Viewty look beyong your pretty sad attempt at a review. The Viewty is a nice little phone.
#41 Matty says:Satyajit - try heading over to ku990.co.uk and sign up to the forums, they would be able to help you more.
#42 vince says:i have one. first 2 days i was a bit disapointed. some same points as described in review, i.g. scrolling with touch screen.
now, after 2 days, i’m used to it, and scrolling is easy as hell and is really good feature to me. design (software & manufacture) is good.
nice gadget. and the pix ar ok as well.
#43 Andrew Yates says:This is NOT a review! There are plenty of inconsistencies to it, and it generally lacking any real detail.
One absolutely key point that was absent is the fact that this phone is NOT compatible with iSync, and therefore cannot synchronise contacts, calendars etc. Considering this is an Apple related website, any decent, credible review would mention that this phone cannot in fact be used to its full capability on an Apple computer. You have obviously never used this phone in any depth.
Anyone can write this sort of thing - Sloppy work.
#44 vince says:i have this phone and i must say hands down it beats the iphone the camera the user interface FLLLLLLLLLLLASH more pocket freindly and hsdpa and umts for anybody who wants to back up the iphone by saying it has wifi well wifi isnt everywhere is it so what im basically saying is iphone is s**t
#45 Matty says:i wouldnt say the iphone is s**t, it has a better glass screen and has much bigger internal memory/media player than the viewty (basically a glorified ipod) i would love the addition of wifi to my viewty but i wouldnt want it at the expense of 3g… each phone has its good and bad points neither are deserving of the s**t marks imo
#46 Dominic says:I bought a viewty 5 months ago. Mainly i wanted the qwerty keyboard and touch screen but didn’t want to spend £200+ on an iPhone. Not tooo disappointed. Scrolling is a nightmare and i only read manuals when i’m bored or desperate (like all real men) so a more intuitive interface would be good. Camera don’t care though while playing i did notice a sizeable shutter lag. I carry a smallish panasonic camera with a proper lens all the time. I have macs at home, pcs at work and have used computers for 30 years. With computers, mac’s win hands down in my opinion. With phones? How can i tell? i’ve only “played” with an iPhone. Htiawe and Steven … your comments are those of ill mannered idiots. To those who were constructive in their comments - thank you.
#47 htiawe says:I feel its more idiotic to review a product that you havent even used.
Its like reviewing movies or books by reading the cover.
#48 Mosey says:Back after a few months of using the phone. There are pros and cons. The scrolling isn’t that bad once you get used to it, so I don’t know why people would complain about it. Of course, I don’t own an iPhone or iTouch(?) but I have played with one, and the ViewTY is less responsive, but once you get used to scrolling throuh content and touch screen, the next time you pick up another phone, you wonder why it’s not the same?
IN terms of usability, I have found the ViewTY to be just fine for what I need. I tend to message about 5-10 times aday on average, and just use the keypad option rather than the keyboard+stylus (although the latter is great when you’re wearing gloves) The interface is well designed, and is pretty intuitive.
The only thing that really gets me down is the camera. After being used to Sony Ericsson and hoping that the 5mb ViewTY would take far better pictures, I can’t help but conclude that SE is definitely further down the road than LG at this stage. I’ve played around with the settings a bit, and there must be something I’m just not doing right to really maximise the camera.
Music wise, I find it great for listening to music (I use it in place of an iPod) but it does drain battery life, and it helps if you have your own good earphones (I’m using Sennheiser - haven’t tried the ones provided).
The annoying thing is that with Orange, they don’t give you an extra memory card for free, which you’ll need for music and pictures and video. I got mine (a 2GB Sandisk inc. postage) for 7 GBP from a seller on Amazon which I would recommend.
Reception is generally good for this phone, although I have noticed it isn’t as good as my old Sony Ericsson w810i. But mostly I have no problems at all.
Oh and finally battery life: I don’t feel that my ViewTY has an extremely short battery life, but it is shorter mainly because I use it so much for music. However, I do occasionally go through the whole thing of letting the battery drain completely to recharge; and making sure that the fewest number of processes are running at any one go (it drains battery life)
Would I recommend it to people? Yes, if you want something a bit different that will change the way you think about phones, stylish and practical (it’s pretty solid - I’ve dropped it a few times) then I’d recommend you try it out before you buy for at least a week before saying yey or neigh (it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it will provide you with hours of entertainment -with a charger - as you can spend your time editing photos etc. on the go if that floats your boat) but if you’re looking for something with a good camera, I would say wait for LG to improve their technology in that area.
Hope this helps
p/s:I tested the document/pdf viewing function, and it works a treat
#49 Emily Shah says:Hi I’ve had this phone a few days - I do love it and the backspace when writing text is very logical to me. Yes, either the c hard button or a backwards stroke with either your finger or the stylus will delete the character before. I also think that the reviewer failed to notice that there is a hardly noticeable clear plastic cover on the lcd display - it protects the screen but if you remove it the touch sensitivity doubles and is a very responsive and accurate screen. For me the bad side is battery life - if you use the web it won’t last an hour, and it is not compatible with apple, and does not have wifi…but if you can live with these it’s a good phone. And pretty.
#50 Dan says:hi, i’ve only had the lG Viewty for a few weeks and i’ve noticed a problem, the battery life..I don’t no if its faulty or something but i have to keep recharging it daily and yet it still dies at 3pm each day or if im lucky 6pm this is after a WHOLE night of charging! I was wondering if anyone else is having the same problem, i don’t use it frequently so i’am complete confused as to why this is happen, other wise i’m more than content with the phone
#51 Matty says:I dont have this problem and i had it for quite a few months, take it back to the shop or call the people who provided it and ask for a new battery.
#52 Domichan says:Dan, i had the same prob initially and taking it back for new batteries solved nothing. the cause of the problem was that i kept the phone in a case with magnetic catches. new case … problem solved. i’ve had mine for about 5 months now and the battery life issue is a thing of my distant past.
#53 Dan says:i see what you mean Domichan, i work with magnets every day so thats what it could be thanks very much for the advice and i’ll keep it out of the way if i doesn’t work after that i’ll take it back to have it looked at as suggested
best regards Dan
#54 graeme says:Dan you are not alone, my battery dies very quickly also, it has to have a full charge EVERY day which is very frustrating, domichan thats an interesting point you raise about the magnet thing, il try it out
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