Is LG Viewty Worth the Money?

LG Viewty presents itself as a sleekly designed phone which resembles exactly like a compact camera on its back. Unlike most other camera phones, the LG Viewty offers a wide range of advanced photography functions not commonly found, giving users the freedom to express their flair and creativity.

It measures about 103.5 x 54.4 x 14.8 mm which is pretty similar to the size of Sony Ericsson P1, HTC touch or for that matter even the i Phone. Similarities in design with the 'Prada' by LG can be spotted. But in spite of the similarities like large screen and Flash UI they are totally different. At 112gm, its weight factor is certainly outweighed by its utility.

It has a 3 inch (240X400pixles) TFT resistive wide touchscreen supporting an enhanced color detail of 262000 colors. It enables one to draw and write with either using their finger or the stylus. It has handwriting recognition engine. This comes in as a handy tool in case of browsing as well as other work involving text. Simply writing the name of the website on the touch screen with the stylus lets you browse to it. The stylus also acts the mouse and becomes an easy to use tool for multi directional scrolling. However, some users may find it inconvenient to use the stylus, which does require some time to get used to. Its 3G connectivity allows it to use HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) enabling its user to access internet at speeds up to 3.6 Mbps. The front panel has only three hardware keys, namely the green and red send and end keys and the correction or cancel C key.

A secondary VGA camera is there for video calls. Perhaps one of the most interesting features both visibly and intrinsically is the phone's 5MP camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics. Users are able to switch between auto focus and manual focus to suit their photography needs. The phone's camera has a striking resemblance in design with a regular digital camera. The jog-dial controls the digital zoom. The camera comes with a stunning 800 ISO sensitivity (though higher iso values are sometimes responsible for grainy pictures). This enables better photo clarity in low light situations. It also has a image stabilizer function. This can be a handy tool to capture moments on the go without worrying about motion blurs. It can record videos at up to 120 frames/sec, making it possible to capture details even at high speed. This also enables smooth video playback. The camera setup comes with a Xenon flash. Even with availability of higher ISO settings at times a simple old flash can be much more satisfying and effective.

The same jog dial that operates the focus also acts as the volume control, scroll key and navigator. There is a built in radio and the phone supports audio codecs mp3, AAC, AAC+, AAC++ and WMA and has selectable mono or stereo Bluetooth output The supported video codecs are MPEG4, WMV, H.263 and H.264.It also plays DivX videos up to 640 X 480 resolution.

Battery life is perhaps not the strongest feature of this phone but it is enough for daily usage. Additional accessories and add-ons are available to enjoy the Viewty experience even more.


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Sam Lee is a mobile enthusiast and runs the popular website Cellular Deals. For more cell phone deals and recommendations on choosing your next cell phone, go to => http://www.cellular-deals.com