LG KU990 Viewty Review

The first in-depth LG KU990 Viewty review has reached us, courtesy of CNet. After spending the last year or so focusing on designer phones, such as the LG Chocolate and LG Shine, LG are repositioning themselves in the high-tech arena once more, and the new 5 megapixel LG Viewty camera phone is the first phone to be released as part of their new strategy.

Of course, LG have released a 5 megapixel camera phone before in the shape of the LG KG920, but that had no autofocus and was pants. The LG Viewty, on the other hand, looks to be glorious.

Read more on the LG Viewty review after the jump.

First, the big news. The LG Viewty does indeed come with a 5 megapixel camera, but thanks to autofocus, xenon flash and the ability to adjust ISO levels and white balance, it’s actually an extremely usable 5 megapixel camera capable of taking some really good photos.

The pictures aren’t as good in low light conditions as the Sony Ericsson K850i, as the flash isn’t as good, but then the K850i’s flash is the best on the market at the moment. Apparently the Viewty’s flash is as good as the Nokia N95’s, so we’re still talking pretty decent, and the phone’s great for outdoor shots.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Viewty, though, is its video recording abilities. It can take video at a whopping 120 frames per second, which means you can take slow motion shots, like in the video below. As you can see, the quality is superb, and you won’t find a phone capable of taking slow-mo shots like this anywhere else on the market at the moment.

There’s also a YouTube button, which lets you upload your video to YouTube with one click. Of course, uploading video is a slow old process given the size of video files, particularly those taken at 120 fps, but luckily the LG Viewty comes with HSDPA, letting you upload your pics at a rapid 3.6Mbps.

In keeping with the latest vogue, the LG Viewty comes with a touschreen, with just three hardware buttons (send, end and cancel). The Viewty’s is apparently very responsive, though naturally prone to fingerprints, and the interface is extremely easy to use.

It also means the phone looks superb, with a cool touchscreen on one side and a professional looking camera on the other.

The Viewty also comes with its own proprietary browser, which apparently is better than many browsers out there, including those from dedicated browser companies such as Opera. Like the iPhone, you can browse a web page, then zoom inot and out of it using the touchscreen.

As well as a touchscreen, the Viewty shares other features of the iPhone including the ability to browse your photos by flicking through them with your finger. Seems the iPhone really has forced other manufacturers to consider their user interfaces and LG have risen to the challenge impressively.

Indeed, everything about the LG Viewty is impressive. It looks great, has a tonne of features, a genuinely usable 5 megapixel camera and a superb video recorder. It’ll also let you play DivX movies on a microSD card, comes with an MP3 player, 3D shoot em game, and battery life lasts for two days.

CNet conclude by saying that “The LG KU990 Viewty is an impressive phone, particularly when you consider that LG hasn’t made that many high-end camera phones. It’s doesn’t beat the Canon Digital IXUS 70 but it is comparable with a three-year old average standalone camera.

If you want to take relatively high-quality photos and videos then the KU990 is definitely worth checking out. Alongside the good camera, easy-to-use touchscreen interface and HSDPA (3.5G), we think LG has made one of its best phones yet.”

This Christmas really is set for the battle of the 5 megapixel cameras, and with the LG KU990 Viewty, LG have a strong contender on their hands.

[Source: CNet]