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November 5, 2007

LG KU990 Viewty 5Mp cameraphone

The LG KU990 Viewty is a 5Mp cameraphone that apes the iPhone on the front and a real digital camera from behind. And it has 3G connectivity.

One of the big criticisms about mobile phones that claim to be cameraphones is that they look and behave nothing like cameras. Another is the poor images that often result. Mobile phone makers can cram in more megapixels – as with the 5Mp LG KU990 Viewty – but cameraphone sensors just aren’t up to the job.

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That doesn’t stop us buying cameraphones such as the LG KU990 Viewty at an impressive rate, though, and of course the best way to encourage innovation is if there’s money to be made from doing so.

For our money, the best cameraphones so far are the Sony Ericsson Cyber-shots. These taking photos at a quality or detail we find acceptable and are designed such that the whole of their rear is given over to the camera.

So it is with the LG KU990 Viewty - a 5Mp cameraphone that looks like an iPhone-lite on the front and a real camera from behind. The shutter release needs a firm press but the resulting photos aren't at all bad, even taken in unflattering artificial light.

At 2x and 4x magnification, detail is still acceptable, although beyond this you shouldn't have high expectations of the LG KU990 Viewty. For real close-ups, you want a real camera.

The LG KU990 Viewty's video facility is hard to argue with: super slow-mo playback of footage taken at 120fps (frames per second) is a real talking point.

Navigation-wise, you leave a fingerprint trail on the LG KU990 Viewty's 3in 240x400-pixel screen, but getting around it is a doddle as its onscreen icons approach iPhone levels of obviousness and are large enough to accurately select using a fingerpad. You can flit between portrait and landscape modes when viewing your photos and other media and use onscreen buttons to move through thumbnails of anything.

The other important feature of the LG KU990 Viewty is that it's a 3G HSDPA phone - something Apple has decided to hold off on for now with the iPhone.

Verdict


The LG KU990 Viewty is just about the right side of small enough to be more phone than phone-cum-other gadgetry, but it doesn't have the visual wow that the iPhone has in abundance. That's a shame as, aside from the unintuitive text-correction for messaging, this is a pretty good phone.

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Independent customer reviews from

LG Electronics LG KU990 Viewty scored:
8.0 out of 10 100% real reviews

The 2 most helpful reviews based on 493 reviews:

26 Oct 2007 Jonty, Edinburgh

10

Good Points

Compact. Quality Camera, Good Videos Looks Sleek

Bad Points

Only one protective cover!

25 Jan 2008 Anonymous verified purchaser

9

Good Points

This phone is brilliant. It has everything that you could possibly want, as well as some really smart features. The camera is 5.0MP and is fantastic. It is easy to use and as touch phones go, it is up there as one of the best.

Bad Points

The navigation can be a little slow, and sometimes when you press a button, it can take a little bit of time to get to the menu you require. In all fairness, it is not slow, it's just that you need to get used to the fact that it is responding to touch on the screen. The only other bad point and this is probably nothing to many people, but if I change the text sound to silent, so that I don't get disturbed at night, but want to hear the phone ring if someone urgently needs me, it doesn't allow this. Its one setting for every aspect of your phone, which also includes the Alarm clock. I used to have a Samsung D900 which allowed the Phone, Text and Alarm volume settings to be different and I do miss that!.

See more LG Electronics LG KU990 Viewty reviews on Reevoo.com

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User Reviews

Monday, 05 November 2007

Reviewed by Jimmy14

Star Rating: rating of 5

Duration of ownership: 5 days

Strengths:
5.Mp camera with 120fps (frames per second) video recording. 3G HSDPA. Features. Design.

Weaknesses:
None.

Overall Evaluation:
Excellent product, better features than the GSM iPhone. Design isn't everything.

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