Review LG distinguished itself recently by releasing the UK’s first smartphone with a dual-core processor. But while the Optimus 2X grabbed all the headlines, LG also delivered another high-end handset – single-core, this time – the Optimus Black.
Optimus Black: are LG bosses JK Rowling wannabes?
The name Black hardly distinguishes it, since it’s a colour it shares with 90 per cent of its rivals. The entire front is covered by a single sheet of glass, with a touch-sensitive strip beneath the screen for the four standard Android buttons. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Fancy a Nintendo 3DS so you can play 3D games on the move but don’t have the pocket space for a console and a mobile? LG has come up with an alternative in the (sizeable) shape of its Optimus 3D. Like the Nintendo games machine, this phone offers 3D without those darn glasses you need at the cinema. And it also has twin cameras, so you can shoot 3D stills and video.
LG’s Optimus 3D adds a new perspective to the gamephone combo
Nintendo has this too, but here the Camera is made up of two 5Mp sensors. The Optimus 3D also has access to the selection of 3D videos available on YouTube, though this is not huge, yet. So, how does the 3D effect work and is it worth the bother? Read the rest of this entry »
There was much talk of dual core handsets at this year’s Mobile World Congress – devices which effectively double the processing power available on smart phones. Samsung Galaxy S II and the Motorola Atrix are coming soon, but the LG Optimus 2X is first out of the traps, and also includes Android 2.2, an 8Mp Camera and an HDMI connection.
Dual core: LG’s Optimus 2X
It’s a sophisticated looking handset, with the glossy black front entirely covered by a sheet of glass, iPhone-style. The four familiar Android controls are rendered in touch-sensitive fashion beneath the screen. The curved sides are bounded by a metal strip, with volume buttons on the side, micro USB power/sync port and Stereospeakers on the bottom, and power button, 3.5mm headphone jack and covered HDMI port on top. Read the rest of this entry »
Review LG has produced a slew of good-looking handsets recently, not least with its sleek ‘n’ smooth Chocolate series. With its S-class UI it’s also got a snappy icon-based interface which gets a little bit of an update with the LG GM750.
LG’s GM750: all the trimmings, but lacks finesse
The phone is exclusive to Vodafone and echoes the good looks of LG’s higher end smart phones as well as much of their specs, including a 3in touchscreen, Windows Mobile 6.5, a 5Mp Camera, Wi-Fi and HSDPA 3G with downloads up to 7.2 Mbps. Even so, actually using it turned out to be a bit of a pain
Looking not hugely different from other LG touch screen phones such as the Arena and Cookie, the GM750 is fairly chunky at 110x54x13mm and 120g but it has slick bevelled sides and corners to lessen the effect.
Above the touchscreen is a VGA Camera for video calls, light sensor and speaker, with touch-sensitive call start and stop buttons below with a navpad in-between. This is nicely sensitive by the way, and often proved preferable to using the screen itself, as we’ll see. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Less, they say, is more, and that’s certainly a maxim LG believes in if the Pop – aka the GD510 – is anything to go by. This is one small phone, yet it presents a full touch-based user interface and simple, clear styling that will make some wonder if it’s one answer to the long hoped for iPhone Nano.
LG’s Pop: nice and small
Should Jobs and co worry? Alas no, because as impressive as the Pop looks, it’s let down by its key component: the touchscreen.
The phone we use every day has a capacitive screen, but we’ve been testing phones with resistive touchscreens for years – HTC offerings, mostly. After all that stabbing away with fingers and stylii, not triggering a tap unless we pushed really hard, here, thanks to capacitive touchscreen tech was a display that was never less than totally responsive.
Capacitive is, without question, the way all of today’s touchscreens should be.
And LG’s gone and put one of the old-style ones on the Pop. Right from the off, it makes using the phone more of a chore than it ought to be, simply because it slows you down. If a tap or a swipe of your fingertip doesn’t work first time, you have to try again. And sometimes one or two times more. The Pop’s display will respond eventually, but how much time will you have wasted? Read the rest of this entry »
