LG Viewty
The LG Viewty is a 3G mobile touchscreen camera phone with an amazing 5.1 megapixel digital camera. The camera has a Schneider Kreuznach lens and Xenon flash, auto focus, image stabilizer and a dedicated camera key. The LG Viewty has a 3 inch TFT LCD 262k Touch Screen making it clear to see and easy to use. This sturdy Tri band phone has the capability of video calling and a photo phonebook. The LG Viewty is a 3G phone with the latest high speed technology including HSDPA, Bluetooth wireless connectivity, EDGE technology & USB connection.
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12 Apr 2008The LG Viewty is really a successor to the
LG Prada although without the designer brand. If it weren't for the mediocre music functions and the lack of storage space, this would be the handset
Apple should have designed instead of the
iPhone. But as a touch screen camera phone, this device, also known as the LG KU990 is a superb handset at a fraction of the price of many competitors with a similar feature set.
It's easy to start by looking at the design because the Viewty looks like a premium handset. This handset is in a quality black shell with smoothed edges. Much like the
iPhone, the focus is on a thin handset with a large touchscreen on the front. The 3 inch screen doesn't extend to the edges of the unit like on the
iPhone, but is sufficiently large to provide a great video and photo viewing experience as well as functional email and web browsing. At the bottom of the touch screen are convenient physical buttons for Call, Cancel and End Call. It did feel a bit odd having these buttons at the bottom of the handset as they would normally be at the top of a physical keypad. On the right side of the unit there is a switch for choosing between camera, video and playback settings, as well as a shutter button for taking pictures, perfectly placed for landscape shots. On the "back" of the handset surrounding the camera lens there is a jogger wheel that can be used for quickly scrolling up and down on menus, although its placement is perhaps quite likely to result in finger marks on the camera lens over time.
The LG Viewty touch screen is really easy to use and is almost as good as that of the
iPhone, and that is perhaps as much as can really be hoped for. The touch screen menu is easy to navigate and although there is a stylus to use, you probably won't need it for navigating the Viewty menus, but instead just for the drawing and handwriting recognition features. Like all touch screen mobile phones, proficient texting is still slower than on a physical touch-pad, but it is still very fast and efficient. The Apple-like greatness of the touch screen is easier to see when using the photo browser that allows you to drag photos around and zoom in all with a swift movement of your finger. An option that is quite popular although we didn't really like ourselves is to switch on vibration feedback that makes the handset vibrate slightly every time you successfully select something on the touch screen. However, if you text without watching your fingers this is useful as you know if each finger press has been acknowledged.
As far as features go, the camera is definitely the
LG Viewty's strong point. The 5.1 megapixel camera rivals that of the
Nokia N95 and
Samsung G800 in a much nicer package. The quality of the images from the Schneider Kreuznach lens on the LG Viewty doesn't quite match up to the quality from the Carl Zeiss lens of the
Nokia N95 but the Viewty still wins the prize for the best touch screen camera phone. It is the ancillary features of the Viewty's camera function that are more impressive. It has an image stabiliser that reduces blur when taking photos in those trickier or perhaps hurried situations. It also has the ability to take photos at 800 ISO improving nighttime shots even before you use the quality xenon flash. The flash is also a bit disappointing in comparison to other cameras with xenon flash but it is still far better than any LED light on a camera phone. The camera has both an autofocus (still a rarity on reasonably priced camera phones) and a manual focus. The manual focus is great fun to use as you simply jog the dial that surrounds the lens and the focus shifts as you desire. It can also film video at 120 frames per second which is great if you want to show an action shot in slow motion.
The LG Viewty does have a decent media player that can handle MP3, AAC, AAC+, AAC++ and WMA files as far as music. In terms of video playback the Viewty is unusual in its capability to play DivX files, alongside the standard MPEG4 and WMV formats. Unfortunately the Viewty only takes standard SD cards which come up to 2GB in size. This may be enough for some people but it stops it from being a serious contender when faced with the
Nokia N95 8GB and the
Apple iPhone 16GB alongside any other mobile phone handset that can accept the newer SDHC cards that come up to 16GB in capacity. At least 2GB SD cards are cheap so you can buy a few if you want to take a few videos with you for a trip. And there is also an FM radio.
The LG Viewty is capable of video calling via 3G using the second lower quality camera on the front of the handset. In fact, the Viewty is a 3.5G mobile phone handset with HSDPA, the fasting mobile phone browsing experience available in the UK short of Wi-Fi that the handset sadly lacks. The bluetooth capability can be used for standard headsets or for bluetooth headphones for listening to music or videos, and the Viewty also has its own document viewer that can display Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office formats.
The call quality was fine, although our tests turned up less than perfect results when the Viewty was in a very windy environment. Also, we found that when browsing the web the battery life of the LG Viewty was cut short, presumably because of the mix of using HSDPA and the large size of the display, so that was to be expected.
Overall, we were amazed by the features of the LG KU990 Viewty. As an all around camera phone with strong media and web browsing features although perhaps not a replacement for a separate MP3 player, this is a fantastic device if you don't mind getting something less flashy than the
iPhone.
Find out more from the manufacturer
Reviewer: Alex - Worcester
Reviewed on: 8th May, 2009
Rating: 9/10
Both me and my brother have an LG viewty. its just really fun to mess around with - play games and use the camera and videos. You can plug it into your computer and download tv from the internet to put on the phone. or record videos on the phone, but they won't be as good quality.
Reviewer: Richard - Carlisle
Reviewed on: 8th May, 2009
Rating: 10/10
This camera is better than all the other phone cameras out there. Even than the Nokia N95. 5 megapixels and a decent autofocus.
Reviewer: Daniel - Londonderry
Reviewed on: 7th May, 2009
Rating: 10/10
This is the favourite mobile phone that I have ever had or have ever seen, and I try all my friends' phones. The software has everything so you don't need to download applications or anything like that. Quick to learn to use, even if like me it's your first LG phone.
Reviewer: Anthony - Winchester
Reviewed on: 7th May, 2009
Rating: 7/10
My only gripe is that typing text messages is slower than some of the better touch screen phones, especially the iPhone. The Viewty just ignores you if you try typing letters too quickly. What's good - all the other stuff it does, calls, camera, music.
Reviewer: Michael - Chichester
Reviewed on: 6th May, 2009
Rating: 9/10
Definitely worth looking at. I love my LG Viewty and it has lasted for over a year already and has at least 6 months before I look elsewhere.
Reviewer: aaron - england
Reviewed on: 5th May, 2009
Rating: 10/10
I love everything about the LG Viewty. The shaking thing when you touch anything on the touch screen is cool and surprisingly makes it easier to use. I can almost touch type on the screen to write text messages now. Also has a spinny dial on the back that you can turn for flicking quickly up and down menus, kinda like the little wheel on Blackberrys.
Reviewer: Robert - Lisburn
Reviewed on: 4th May, 2009
Rating: 8/10
Good camera on a mobile phone for once. 5.1 megapixel camera with a xenon flash that is actually bright enough to use outdoors at night. You can also change the exposure on photos and there's a manual focus for arty shots using the dial on the back of the phone, or you can be lazy and use the autofocus (which I normally do). Doesn't take big memory cards though and the media player isn't great.
Reviewer: Jordan - Gloucester
Reviewed on: 4th May, 2009
Rating: 10/10
Best LG phone ever.
Reviewer: sheila - harwich
Reviewed on: 23rd March, 2009
Rating: 10/10
i have had this phone since the 14th march, i think the phone is great so easy to use with it is packed with lots of things. still finding things i can do on the phone.
Reviewer: Becci bee - great lever
Reviewed on: 13th March, 2009
Rating: 7/10
I Have This Phone and it does have some problems like if im out in the rain the touchscreen will freeze also the camera is dodgy somtimes:S but with everyting else this phone is good
Reviewer: Jules - Derbyshire
Reviewed on: 8th March, 2009
Rating: 10/10
I only got this phone last wednesday and I love it. thought that I might have to use the stylus because I only have little fingers, but I get on just fine. The battery on the Viewty lasts about as long as the one on my Vodafone 810. The camera on this phone is fantastic. The only thing I will say is that the screen lock comes on too quickly when you are sending something by Bluetooth. Otherwise this is the perfect phone!!!!
Reviewer: V-v-V-09 - England
Reviewed on: 28th February, 2009
Rating: 10/10
Ive Had This Phone For 10Days Now And I Completely Love It. The Touch Screen Is Fun To Use And It Has Great Picture Quality, When Talking On The Phone It Superseeds In Clarity At Both Ends Of The Call, The Music Quality Is Fab, Doesn't Sound Tinny At All.
Sometimes The Scrollbar Is Difficult To Use But All You Need To Do Is Touch The Side Of The Screen Alittle Bit Harder.
I Recieved This Phone As A Gift And Out Of All The Gifts, This Is Definatly My Favourite.
If You Like Using The Web On Handsets, Buy This Phone, With The Fast Connection And Reasonably Sized Webpage Layout Its Very Simple To Work.
The One Thing I Recommend If You Get This Phone Is To Buy A Micro SD Card With It Too.
Thankyou LG <3
Reviewer: Shibu George - Sunderland, Newcastle
Reviewed on: 17th November, 2008
Rating: 8/10
LGU990 is very nice phone for touch screen maniac people. Easy to use. Only problem i had is some times the sound when talking will not be constant. will be a break, so the other side will not hear what we say. Other than that its a wonderful phone with small memory.
Reviewer: Sunny - London
Reviewed on: 8th October, 2008
Rating: 8/10
This phone really goes by it's name. It's most amazing feature is the 5 megapixel camera. A great treat for the photography lovers as well touchscreen maniacs. But one thing i would like to be improved is that it should support more memory. I mean there are more and more phones coming out with 8gb or more memory. And having such a good phone with limited memory is quite a drawback.
Reviewer: Billy - ireland
Reviewed on: 21st August, 2008
Rating: 3/10
it isn't nothing compared to the samsung omnia i900.
Reviewer: Eileen - Reading
Reviewed on: 18th August, 2008
Rating: 10/10
this phone is the most amazing phone i ever used in my life. I love the vibe reponse u get on touching the screen and a lot more. It always baffles my friends to use it and plus... the camera is great, as well as the video functions, not to mention the quality music. It's a totally perfect package. I wouldnt trade this phone for anything else...
Reviewer: Nikhil - Aurangabad
Reviewed on: 16th August, 2008
Rating: 10/10
it's coolest phone i have ever seen..........
Reviewer: Madaleine - West Midlands
Reviewed on: 31st July, 2008
Rating: 10/10
Wow what an amazing phone, I have had so many phones in the past but this one out does them all, I have found it so easy to use the and when i listen through the headphones the sound is great. I payed a bit more than I usually do on a phone but it was worth every penny. I recomend that everyone get one.
Reviewer: johnson - birmingham, west midlands
Reviewed on: 17th June, 2008
Rating: 10/10
i think that the ku990 viewty is a magnificent 5 megapixel camera phone which is stylish and great to use with its cool touch screen and great photos.i think it can be used / suitable for the ages of a mature 12 year old and above.Also the slow motion playback is a really great thing to have on a phone.
Reviewer: ben smith - ironville nottingham
Reviewed on: 12th June, 2008
Rating: 10/10
the lg ku990 viewty has sleek and stylish looks with amazin 5 megapix cam, lot and lots of upto date features like is touch screen ability. 10/10 from me
Reviewer: maria - colchester
Reviewed on: 1st April, 2008
Rating: 10/10
The LG KU990 Viewty is beautiful, and stylish to look at. It's easy to use. I'm used to Nokia phones, which are easy, but they seemed clumsy compared to this touch responsive system! The screen is big enough to make the touch-operated menu easy to manouver, but more amazingly, it tingles when you tap, feeling as though the phone is alive!
Internet etc are now a given, but again, a pleasure to use on this system. A bit cool! I like big phones, so it's perfect for me. It's not too heavy.
Reviewer: fred - uk
Reviewed on: 27th March, 2008
Rating: 10/10
i can honestly say what an amazing phone the lg ku990 viewty is, it is so easy to use and its packed with so many features it is just an amazing piece of technology
Reviewer: Jon Morse - Essex
Reviewed on: 18th March, 2008
Rating: 9/10
Out of all those handsets out there trying their luck at creating the ultimate iphone competing phone this is the closest yet. Now it's out in silver it is even more stylish to boot. Camera is excellent and good web browsing (although slow). I have been looking around for my next phone for almost 6 months and this has yet to come off the top of my list.
Reviewer: Justine Miller - Scotland
Reviewed on: 23rd November, 2007
Rating: 10/10
This phone is definitely one of the best on the market. It is the best phone i have ever had that's for sure. It's camera amazing! MP3 player-amazing! It's a really good phone as well as really stylish. A bit on the big side, but it is to be expected with a phone with all the stuff this one has! Definitely worth the money.
Reviewer: james - leeds
Reviewed on: 26th October, 2007
Rating: 10/10
iv had this phone for a few days now and its amazing....iv been shocked by it....that shocked iv had to leave reviews on it.....
yes people are saying its a ipod look alike but its soo much more...
theres slow motion filming which is always fun for the slap in the face shots.....
its also the easyest phone to use that iv ever picked up....the phone vibrates every time you touch the screen to tell you you have dones something....and the menu and layout is faltless...
and for £24 pound a month theres really no contest.....
