LG Viewty (KU990)

Features
Compared to the majority of other touchscreens, the KU990's screen is very responsive and can be set to vibrate when you touch it, which provides more tactile feedback than when you simply tap a flat display. Similar to the LG Prada's interface, the KU990's software interface features finger-friendly icons and an attractive layout. Many reviewers have said they found it difficult to tap the small icons but we didn't have any problems with them at all.

Dialling and messaging is straightforward via a numeric or alphabetic keypad that works identically to a standard mobile phone keypad minus the mechanical keys, and is aided by the vibrating feedback feature. The messaging interface also allows for handwriting input but we found it slower than just tapping the virtual keypad.

The KU990's proprietary Web browser is one of the best browsers we have seen on a mobile phone. Similar to the iPhone's browser, you can view full-sized Web pages at a reduced size and then zoom in on the sections you want to see properly. Web pages loaded relatively quickly but we did notice some lag, which may have been caused by network issues or possibly our review unit. The KU990 comes with HSDPA, so theoretically you should be able to download pages at up to 1.8Mbps, which is almost as fast as many people's broadband connections at home.

There's no Wi-Fi, which is a shame but if you're on a flat-rate data plan then we think HSDPA is a better option, otherwise watch out as data charges can be hefty.

Interestingly, you can upload videos directly to YouTube and download them too, but unfortunately our review model didn't have the app pre-installed so we're not sure how well it works. We're assured it will be installed on the final model.

We could test out the camera though, which curiously can shoot video at 120 frames per second. At first we weren't entirely sure why this was necessary but it's actually great for capturing fast-moving action and then viewing it in slow motion.

As for taking normal pictures, the 5-megapixel camera is very capable and of a similar quality to the Nokia N95's camera. You can adjust the size of images, picture quality, ISO and white balance, among other things.

The digital stabilization feature reduces blur but don't expect the same level of quality as optical stabilization. Equally, although the KU990 has a xenon flash, we didn't find it as bright as a standalone camera's flash, but it is better than an LED photo light.

Viewing photos is surprisingly cool given that the KU990 comes with a photo viewer that can display pictures as if they were thrown on a table, letting you flick through them with your finger, or you can just use the standard mode that lines them all up.

Once you click on a picture you want to see, you can zoom in and move around it by brushing your finger across the screen as if you were physically pushing a real picture about. You can also edit photos using the KU990's photo-editing app.

As camera-phone photo-editing apps go, the KU990's is one of the best we've used, offering users the option to add text, doodles, effects and fun things such as morphing effects, all of which look good when viewing on the KU990's large screen. It's not Photoshop, but it's not bad for quickly editing a photo before sending it to a friend via MMS.

An interesting but not highly advertised feature is support for DivX playback, which as enthusiasts will know, means you can store films on a microSD card and watch them on the KU990's screen, a feature we would like to see on many more handsets.

Other features include an attractive calendar, a fun 3D shoot 'em up game, speakerphone mode and a music player that supports MP3, AAC, WMA, WMV and AMR formats. The music player works well and lets you sort through artists and album art, similar to on most standalone MP3 players.

« Design | Performance »

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