Following the huge success of the LG Mobile Black Label Series Chocolate and Shine, LG has progressed into the high-technology camera phone category with LG Viewty. 5 megapixel... more
of durable, scratch resistant polycarbonate plastic that's used to make protective eyewear. This advanced material is shatterproof, shock absorbent and completely clear. Cutouts give access to all phone functions.This product is compatible with: LG KU990 Viewty
A review by marcellep2 on LG Viewty KU990 June 16th, 2008
Author's product rating:
Look & Feel
Excellent
Durability & Robustness
Very Strong
Battery standby time
Excellent
Value for money
Excellent
Range of features
Large selection
Advantages:
Look, Design, Screen size,
Disadvantages:
None at all
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I decided to treat myself to a brand new pay as you go mobile phone and I knew what I wanted and I knew that it was going to be on the orange network. The phone I am talking about is LG Viewty. The search began for the best possible price. I decided against getting the phone from Ebay as I wanted a brand new one which was boxed and never been open before.
So why this model
I chose this model purely because another family member has it and is always saying how good the phone is. I had borrowed it for a few days to see how good it really was and to be honest it's a phone that makes you go wow really! This little beauty is outstanding. Other reasons I chose this phone is that it is available on orange network which meant I could keep my own number too. Now the search began........
Where and how much
= I bought mines from great universal online, only because I was emailed a £10 off voucher and I also went through Quidco and got 6% cash back Phone is £219.00 - £10.00 - take in to account 6% cash back which is £12.78 = £196.22
Available from many other outlets including:
Orange online - £219.00 + £10.00 compulsory top up Ebay - Varying from £189.00 - £263.00 brand new *Unlocked I have also seen this phone in Argos, Tesco, Curry's and Comet for anything from £219 - £259
I would strongly recommend anyone who is considering buy this item to search for the lowest price and then use any of the many cash back sites to obtain a cheaper item.
When I bought mines from Great Universal online, I paid by debit card and was able to choose what date suited me for delivery. The item was delivered to me on that day and I would have no problem recommending them.
What's in the box
The actual box itself is very stylish, slide the box out of its sleeve to be greeted by an even more stylish box which has a picture of the phone on it. Opening the box and you have pop up 3d picture of the phone. Then you're in to the goodies. All neatly packed in their individual boxes and wrapped very well. Now it's time to have a quick run through the goodies,
LG Viewty KU990 mobile phone complete with brand new battery and battery cover
Standard UK wall charger - USB cable - Stylus - Headset - Screen protector-
Full comprehensive instruction booklet - CD rom for pc -
The phone
First words that jump to mind are large screen, stylish, elegant and funky looking.
Mostly black in colour with the orange logo near the bottom of the screen and the LG logo at the top. The large LCD screen is protected with screen covers which are provided; this stops the phone screen from getting scratched. The phone has 6 buttons that are visible which I still find amazing that you can have so little on display but have so many features.
Buttons that are visible - Call (green handset) - End (Red handset) - Back button - Slider which allows you to choose camera or video - Picture capture button and Lock/unlock button.
On the top left hand side under the little shutter you will find the point for charging your phone, connecting in too the PC or using your headset. I think this is great that one port does all things and the fact that the shutter hides it is brilliant.
Specifications - Band Tri-band Weight 112 g Size (mm) 104 x 54 x 15 Talk time (up to) 3 hr Standby time (up to) 300 hr Charge time (up to) 2 hr This is a very stylish phone - in my eyes there is very little room for improvement other than the fact they could have included a better place to store the stylus as presently it just hangs loose like a spare part.
Using it for the first time
When you take the phone out of the box, place your sim card in and switch it on you will have a few options depending if you use a brand new or used sim card. If it's a used one then you will have the option to copy all numbers from the sim card to phone and if it's a brand new one it will take you straight in to the set up screen. Whilst you read the comprehensive user guide just make sure you have the phone on charge or you will be very disappointed. Realistically it takes approximately 30mins to read the user guide and update the phone to your required settings. One thing that is very important when you're setting your phone up is the accuracy of the stylus pointer, so take your time to go through the setup process and remember to press save. If you're wondering why this part is so important, if you do not do this then your LCD touch screen maybe difficult to use. I would strongly recommend that you place the phone on charge until it is fully charged the first time and then just use it until the battery dies and full recharge again. It takes a few full charges before the battery last any length of time. The battery takes approximately 2/3 hours to charge fully when using the mains charger, if you use the usb cable it takes much longer.
Features
This phone has many features which I will cover in great details and others I will just list for you.
Making and receiving call's - so far to date I am very happy with the quality of the phone, however people who call me on the mobile have noticed that they can hear back ground noise very clearly... Now this can be good if you want them to hear that, but it can also be a pain too.
Texting - Something that I do too much of, I can send easily over 2000 text messages in one month and one thing I like about this phone is the input method. You can chose to either use Tap or predictive which has an extensive variety of words and it's very easy to add new words too. Now when you're creating your message you can use your stylus to tap the screen and create the message using the normal looking buttons, this phone also has a qwerty keyboard (virtual) which is brilliant and also has letter recognition too. So there are many ways you can write your message.
Phone lock - as this phone has a touch screen it's very important that you lock the phone when not in use, pressing the dedicated button once on the side of the phone will lock the phone and stop any little accidents - ie calling your friends at silly o clock. It's very easy to unlock too, just press and hold the button and it will unlock.
Camera/Video - another huge reason why I bought this phone, it has a 5million pixel camera which has a flash too. It's so like using a normal digital camera. The quality is simply amazing and is far better than any phone I have ever had. You would honestly think you where using a normal digital camera. It has a two camera one on the front and one on the back too making it very easy to capture that picture. You have options to edit the picture once taken too. The video clips are also fantastic to. I have taken pictures in very dark areas and have to say I am delighted with the quality.
Bluetooth - I would never get a phone without blue tooth as I require it to use my hand free which is fitted in my car. The Bluetooth on this particular phone is very easy to activate and it's also very easy for you to pair up phones. Which means when you send items to the same phone again it just a case of selecting that from the list without searching.
Radio - simply plug in your hands free kit in to your phone and you now have a fully operational radio which will pick up any radio in the local area. I used mines once to test it and I was amazed that the quality was just like I get in my hifi in the house. It's very easy to store your favourite stations.
Ringtones - you have the standard pathetic ringtones on the phone which you can select, or you can add the latest song to your phone. I don't see the point have a brand new state of the art phone and then have a stupid ring ring tone.... Please add the latest song to your phone. This phone also has a good music player so when you play your songs back its cd quality. In addition to the above the phone also has Internet access, Organiser, alarm, Memo, Voice recorder, Flight Mode and many more features that you would find on a modern phone.
Overall
I am delighted with this phone, it's a decent looking phone with many added extra and a superb camera and video. The touch screen is almost always very accurate and I think it's a phone that has been so easy to get familiar with. The software you get with the phone is very easy to install and simple instructions allow you to upload video and pictures to your pc. I would not have any problems recommending the phone to anyone. I would have been happier if LG had provided more than one protective sheet for the screen. More information is available on LG website
I have since bought additional memory from Ebay for £4.95 and I bought a rubber case for 99p too.
Advantages: The camera Disadvantages: The battery life if you need the internet all the time..
...picked one..! The LG Viewty..! Why..?
To be honest there was no reason I got this phone other than the fact the guy in the shop sold is so well to me and I loved the fact it was totally touch screen..! It was mainly the price plan that sold it to me, but the phone despite its size is very stylish..! Prices.. Well I bought my phone for free..! Yay..!
On every network there is an offer for this phone.. I'll give you the details of my ... ...T-mobile: A free LG Viewty
700 minutes
Unlimited texts
And Free web'n'walk.. (internet on your phone)
(Yes I got the offer off the TV..!)
It is available on pay as you go for about £160 if you can get a good deal from varying shops like Carphone warehouse and such, but to be honest for a phone of this quality, providing your over 18 a contract is the best deal.
In the box..
At the first point of opening. I got nowhere near the box Ash ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Sleek looking, Great Camera Disadvantages: Battary Life
...head I decided upon the LG Viewty it seemed to fit all the functions I required in a mobile phone and looked stylish as well. Was I let down by falling for it's silky good look's or did I just buy a stairway to mobile heaven read on to find out.
Phone
As a phone for making call's the Viewty is great with a big touch screen display you can easily dial numbers or access the phonebook with ease, a stylus is supplied in the form of a lipstick shaped ... ...easily used in its place. Text messaging is slightly more difficult when using the fingers however the predictive text and memory for words is brilliant along with its ease of use when it comes to adding multiple recipients to messages.
Camera
As with most mobile phones nowadays the Viewty comes with a very powerful 5MP camera which is located on the back of the phone. It has some great functions available with a flash, zoom, quality selector and ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Decent sized phone, does calls and text messages adequately Disadvantages: Really doesn't live up to hype, LG support non-existent
...PC Connectivity
The LG software is nothing special, but is sadly lacking in capabilities. Compared to what I was able to do with various pieces of software with the K800i, the LG PC Suite can do the basic set up and basic file maintenance. On other phones, having that extra functionality is a luxury, but with the LG's operating software being less than intuitive, extra functionality in the software is a must.
In fact, I'd go so far as to ... ...few months after installing the LG PC Suite, it simply stopped working. It will boot up and look to be running OK, but when I try to synchronise with my PC, it fails to connect to the phone. Un-installing and reinstalling the software has not resolved the issue. Despite LG's claims, I think it might be a matter of Vista compatibility. I've tried to use this on a Windows XP laptop and found that more stuff works.
Technical Support
Even with ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Touch Screen, looks, build, functions/features. Disadvantages: No WiFi, no multitap on the Touch Screen.
...and is more "tweakable". LG i'm sure will bring an update for the handset out soon and it's only going to improve things. It has a nice Music player which is functional, easy to use/read and offers playlists & visualisations.
My handset being on orange has been modified to include slightly different menu items. Most service providers do this with their handsets, sort of a customisation of them. Instead of Music mine says "Orange Music" and has a ... ...I'm working on getting LG to send me an original version of the firmware to reset back to factory.
I has an FM radio for all those frequent radio listners out there. A voice recorder/applications/games/organiser etc just to name a few of the other features offered. You also get a stylus with the viewty to use instead of your finger. When you touch the screen theres an audible sound (cusomtisable) and a vibration (customisable) which adds a nice ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: QWERTY; touchscreen; powerful camera; 3G Disadvantages: QWERTY can't be used at all points in phone; poor stylus storage
I have recently got an LG Viewty (aka LG KU990), courtesy of Outside Line, to review and keep.
The main features of this HSDPA (3G) mobile is the touchscreen and on-screen QWERTY keyboard. In addition to this, it boasts a 5MP camera with a proper flash and a low light setting up to ISO 800.
The phone comes with a USB lead, headphones and charger.
Dimensions and stylus: small and lipstick-like stylus
The Viewty is fairly small, much smaller than ... ...my opinion, and I hope LG update their firmware to allow keyboard input to be offered wherever possible.
I am impressed by the ease of locking and unlocking the phone. It requires you to press one button on the side of the phone and that's it! This, in my opinion, is much nicer than holding * down!
The phone also vibrates when touched, but only lightly, providing nice sensual feedback. Whilst it is slightly disconcerting at first, you soon grow ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: it is a brilliant phone...loads of features, easy to use. Disadvantages: it slightly like the i-phone but it does have it better features.
...At first I didn't know how to take this phone. I have recently just had an LGViewtyKU990, which I loved, but when someone stood on my screen and it broke, I needed a new one, luckily an upgrade was in order. BIG SMILES all around for me yesterday when I decided to go for this phone.
Firstly I love the style of this phone, I chose to have it in pink, because I am a girl but they also do a sliver one which in my oppinion is very smart, slim and easy to handle.
One of the things I don't like on the phone is that it is quite hard to text. The (C) button to cancel words, is part of the touch screen instead of being on the bottom of the phone which in my oppinion is harder but as I use the phone I am sure I will get used to it.
I have fake nails on and I find it very hard to use the touch screen and have to just use one finger to...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Playback Digital Video Formats: MPEG-4, H.263 video and AMR audio, H.264
Downloadable Content: Audio files, video files, ring tones
Digital camera
Sensor Resolution: 5 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type: CMOS
Focus Adjustment: Automatic
Camera Light Source: Flash
Manufacturer's product description
Following the huge success of the LG Mobile Black Label Series Chocolate and Shine, LG has progressed into the high-technology camera phone category with LG Viewty. 5 megapixel Viewty is a professional level camera phone capable of taking both high quality pictures and superior home videos. The contemporary touch screen and innovative design result in a superb looking handset that continues to enhance consumer usability.
Organiser
Alarm Clock: Yes
Calendar / Event Reminder: Built-in
Reminder: Built-in
Calculator: Basic
Display
Type: LCD display
Technology: TFT
Display Resolution: 240 x 400 pixels
Colour Support: Colour
Colour Depth: 262,144 colours
Display Illumination Colour: White
Features: LCD touch screen
Digital player (recorder)
Supported Digital Audio Standards: AAC, MP3, WMA, AAC, MP3
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
21.07.2009
