TechXplosion

Thanks to Lily and Louis, LG New Zealand and Telecom NZ, we have had the privilege to review the above unit.

I have also had the pleasure to have Tony Clark, a senior engineer at Fuji Xerox who is a heavy user of Windows Mobile device (6.5) giving his opinion. His review:

First impressions of this phone are very favourable.  It is quite a heavy phone, but this just adds to the impression that it is very ruggedly constructed, and would withstand a lot of hard use.

The touch screen is very sharp, clear to read, and is very responsive to finger movements on the surface.  Flicking from screen to screen is very fast, and a joy to use.
Arranged around the sides of the phone are three sets of buttons, on/off, camera, and volume up and down.  These buttons are almost level with the surrounding surface, and are easy to use, without being accidently activated when the phone is picked up, as can happen on some phones.

When the phone is switched on, the Windows Phone 7 locking screen is displayed, and a flick up with your finger slides this up out of the display to show the home screen.  This consists of many square button icons that are shortcuts to various functions such as Phone, Contacts, camera, calendar, and any other shortcuts that are pined to this screen, so that you have a fast and instant way to run your favourite apps, or other any resident functions.
A side flick to the left moves the home screen out of the way to expose a list of all the apps, or settings that are stored within.
The whole operation of the phone through Windows Phone 7 is very easy, and for anyone wanting a good basic usable phone, it I would highly recommend it.

A couple of features impressed me, among other things.  The camera is very good, being 5 mega pixels, and it does take great photos.  The camera lens actually focuses when the shutter button is half pressed, and then further pressing of the button takes the photo.  It also has a flash, although this is somewhat limited, and the camera really only performs at its best when there is plenty of light.

The other feature that impressed me greatly was the “Play to” function that is on the home screen, or accessed through the apps screen.  This only works if you have got a DNLA device to play to, such as a network connected TV.  Most modern TV sets are now coming out with this feature built in.  If your phone and TV are connected to the same wireless network, then when you select “Play To” on the phone, you can send photos, videos, or music from your phone to the TV screen.  Playing photos from the phone to the TV is almost instant, with very little delay, and they look really good and sharp on the TV screen.

If you want a phone that you want to customise and set up with a lot of extra settings, such as IP addressing as in Window Mobile 6.5, then this phone will not do the trick.  I suspect though as time passes, Microsoft will perhaps, though updates, add a lot of extra advances features to set up and use, as users feedback demand.

Original Article