The major competitor of unlocked iPhones in Asia and Europe is the LG Prada and Viewty phones. TimTechs.com sent us in a LG KU990 Viewty unit for a review and we give it a whirl.
The device is a triband GSM phone with EDGE support and HSDPA (non-US bands). It features a 3″ 240×400 256k color TFT touchscreen, FM radio, microSD, Bluetooth, a VGA videocall camera, and a 5 MP main camera. It comes with a single proprietary port that serves as headphones, usb connectivity and charging. In the box we found the phone and its 1000 mAh battery, a charger, a USB data cable, a headset, a stylus and a second screen protector (the first one comes pre-installed on top of the screen).
The device feels a lot like the iPhone in the hand, as was designed with the main principles in mind: large touchscreen, few buttons. Still, you can find the camera button on the side, a lock/unlock button, a slider button to choose if the video, camera or view-media application is to load when you click the camera button, the connectivity/charging port, the hangup/on/off button, answer/call-logs and “backspace” buttons on the front of the device. The stylus is pretty interesting, because it’s not part of the device, hiding in it, but it’s attaching to the wrist-wrap hole and its design looks a lot like an… eyeliner. While men would like to use the Viewty, I highly doubt they will decide to use that stylus in front of others. 😉
The device takes about 20 seconds to load. I found its reception exceptional, and its battery life on par to most touchscreen phones out there. 5 hours of talk time and over 400 hours of standby is not a bad performance. Speed-wise the UI is not too bad, although it’s not as fluid as the iPhone. I’d say that it’s on par with Motorola’s EZX Linux touchscreen phones in performance.
Speaking about the UI, it has its good points and its bad points. The good points is that a big part of it is designed to be used with just fingers than a stylus, it is pleasant to the eyes (comes with 4 themes too), and easy to use. In fact, I could say that the UI is very similar to the normal LG phones, just bigger and with a touchscreen flavor in it. On the phone you will find a calendar, contacts, ToDo, alarms, calculator, world clock, converter, a browser (based on Obigo), memo, organizer, messaging and emailing, voice recording, a basic video editor, FM radio app, music app, video and picture viewing app, file manager, Flash 2.0, J2ME games (with touch buttons to emulate real buttons so Java apps are more compatible with this environment), and more (check the YouTube video below by cnet.co.uk). The Viewty has a special relationship with Google, as it comes with various Google apps pre-installed, it lets you upload youtube videos and watch them too (youtube’s mobile version that is).
Bluetooth worked perfectly, and A2DP was supported. However, it was slow, we never had a file exchange with over 45 kb/sec. Additionally, the phone claims DivX, H.264, H.263 and MPEG4 video support, but none of our h.264 QVGA videos worked on the phone (it would load them and play the audio, but we would have a lot of black artifacts on the screen). DivX worked much better, as this is the main format the phone supports (the camera records in that format too).
The other problem we encountered was the fact that scrolling a list was an execise in patience. You have to quickly click an item in the list and the move your finger up and down in order to scroll through the rest of the list, but this didn’t work all the time because sometimes the phone would just select that item instead of using it to scroll. No, “flicking” the screen as you can do with the iPod/iPhone to go through pages of lists, does not work — and this is major usability problem. Using the stylus was even worse, as trying to move by clicking on the scrollbar didn’t work. Another way to scroll is to use the special button on the *back* of the phone (used as “zoom control” when inside the camera application) by pressing it left and right, but this is extremely cumbersome — although more precise.
Another problem was the design of their qwerty keyboard: if you click a button that looks like backspace it cancels your text entry, it doesn’t just delete characters. In order to delete a character you have to move your hand outside of the touchscreen keyboard and click the “C” hardware button. This is bad design and it shows a disconnect between the hardware LG engineers and their software guys. And don’t get me started on the fact that the “lock keys” button is very easily pressable in your purse or pockets. The camera button too. The phone also has a “copy text” functionality, but there is no “paste” functionality… There is also T9 support, which is the default text entry method, while in the qwerty fullscreen keyboard there are three modes: english alphabet, numbers and special chars, and northern european characters. That third screen has space for more characters, but LG decided to leave that space empty instead of adding some Greek support too (the Viewty vesion we tried comes from Asia btw). Overall, I found the qwerty keyboard less precise than the iPhone’s, but the LG can be setup to have tactile feedback when pressing a key, so this can be a plus.
It is obvious that the main feature of this phone is its 5MP camera. It is a good camera, one of the best cameras you can get on a cellphone, there is no question about that. But they put there a Xenon flash too, and a good Schneider lens, but they include no camera cap. I had only used the phone for 30 minutes before I noticed that the lens was already greasy (no, I was not eating chips). On the upside, the camera supports autofocus, white balance, color effects, ISO settings, manual focus and more. Using the scrolling button on the back of the camera was very clunky though to get it to zoom in/out, because in most cases I could see my fingers in the frame! I really don’t know who had the idea to put a scrolling button there…
The video side was good though, recording in DivX at about 3 mbps in 30fps VGA, widescreen VGA or QVGA. One special feature is that you can enable the “120fps” mode in which the camera will play it back in very clean and nice slow motion (a much better slow motion than you would get if you slow-mo a 30p/60i footage on a video editor by yourself). The 120fps mode is only available in QVGA mode. Check the video I put together using the Viewty while taped on a tripod (click here to go to the Vimeo page of the video and download the uploaded higher quality VGA version), or you can download an unprocessed DivX clip here to examine it better (straight out of the camera). The Viewty supports TV-out via a separately purchased cable, although the 320×240 and 176×144 resolutions are not supported for TV-out.
Overall, the Viewty is interesting, but it’s not refined. It feels that it was put together in a hurry, or that its engineers don’t have a UI engineer on board (or they just don’t listen to him ;-). It is nowhere as good as the iPhone, which is why its 5MP camera and multimedia abilities are there to help LG fight Apple’s product. It is cheaper than the iPhone though, and it supports 3G, plus some carriers in Europe are offering it as part of their default phone selections. This has helped the Viewty to equally compete against the iPhone — at least outside of the US.
Rating: 7/10
So what OS is this based on? Linux?
Also, what browser does this one use? Is it any good compared to Safari?
And of course they couldn’t think of a better name. Every time I read it, it reminds me of “Tweety” the bird.
It’s LG’s OS. I did mention the browser, it’s called Obigo, and the company behind it is out of the browser business. Obigo is not as good as Safari, it’s an old generation mobile browser.
I have it, i think it is for the most part an awesome phone to use, the sound is too quiet though, that is the only gripe i have with it.
I would hardly say they are trying to compete with the iphone though!!
I didn’t even know the iPhone had a competitor.
It’s amazing how you are easily lead to believe that the iPhone has no competition… Shows how good marketing and good hype goes a long way…
Have you even used an iPhone?
The only thing the Viewty is beating iPhone hands down on is the camera, which pretty much sucks on the iPhone.
Not really, having seen the videos showing the interface of the LG Prada in action and having first, seen the videos of iPhone’s and then played with it for a while, there is no comparison. It is not a competitor in the sense that is not really comparable. Yes, they are both phones. Yes, both have touchscreens. That’s where the similarities end.
Nonetheless, at least for me, the rather major missing features are a dealbreaker, awesome interface aside. Hopefully the upcoming SDK improves things.
It’s easily to mimic the look of the iPhone, but it’s a lot harder to clone the ease-of-use. I tried the Voyager a few weeks ago and it’s a nice phone but the experience is extremely limited, despite having great hardware. Now, if Apple would only present great hardware for the same price, fewer people would have an argument.
The iPhone obviouly has competitors as I’m currently choosing the Sony Ericsson W960i over the over priced and under spec iPhone.
Well, if we’re talking competition, the htc touch dual seems awfully nice.
I thought the Prada was the only phone that LG was hailing as an iPhone competitor.
Video recording, that is probably the second biggest feature preventing me from buying an iPhone (the first being that it’s locked and the unlocks break with each new firmware). It has by far the best thought-out & responsive user interface but the feature gap with it’s competitors, like the Viewty is certainly annoying.
Ever wondered why most people buy iPods when the competition provides more features for a lower price (other than marketing of course)? Because they are pretty, easy, responsive and a joy to use. This may have the features but it’s thick, ugly, slow and it’s touch-screen is unresponsive as shown in the video.
Some may buy this but the iPhone has/will outsell this by far because it does what it does properly, instead of cramming a million useless feature (but the iPhone is missing some useful features such as video recording, but that feature will probably be added in the form of an update).
Ever wondered why most people buy iPods when the competition provides more features for a lower price (other than marketing of course)? Because they are pretty, easy, responsive and a joy to use. This may have the features but it’s thick, ugly, slow and it’s touch-screen is unresponsive as shown in the video.
Some may buy this but the iPhone has/will outsell this by far because it does what it does properly, instead of cramming a million useless feature (but the iPhone is missing some useful features such as video recording, but that feature will probably be added in the form of an update).
It’s a certainty that companies will emulate the iPhone and seek to unseat it in the consumer’s mind. Just who is an iPhone’s competetor? We are talking competitor in the non-business world. In that market alone, the Blackberry has sold MORE machines than Apple’s entire iPhone sales over the time since the latter emerged. Check this fact for yourself.
Eugenia, your articles would be so much better if you just had a native English speaker proofread and edit them. I love your reviews, but I constantly get stuck trying to parse what you intended to say with a particular sentence. Yes, I can certainly figure it out, but it really interrupts the “flow” of a review.
Here is an edited version of your article (grammar Nazi’s – there are probably still some errors in there, but this was more an exercise in increasing readability than in grammatical perfection):
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The LG Prada and Viewty phones are the primary competitors of unlocked iPhones in Asia and Europe. TimTechs.com sent us a LG KU990 Viewty unit for review and we put it through its paces.
The device is a triband GSM phone with EDGE support and HSDPA (non-US bands). It features a 3″ 240×400 256k color TFT touchscreen, FM radio, microSD, Bluetooth, a VGA videocall camera, and a 5 MP main camera. It comes with a single proprietary port that serves as the headphone jack, usb port, and charging port. In the box we found the phone and its 1000 mAh battery, a charger, a USB data cable, a headset, a stylus and a extra screen protector.
In your hand, the device feels a lot like the iPhone, as it was designed with the same principles in mind: large touchscreen, few buttons. But the Viewty preserves quite a few extra hardware buttons and ports. You will find the camera button on the side, a lock/unlock button, a slider button to used to pick the camera application that loads when you click the camera button, the connectivity/charging port, the hangup/on/off button, answer/call-logs, and finally the “backspace” buttons on the front of the device.
The stylus is interesting, because it’s not part of the device, stowed inside, but instead it’s attached to the wrist-wrap hole. It resembles, well… an eyeliner. While I am sure men would enjoying using the Viewty, they might be a little reluctant to use that stylus in front of others. 😉
The device takes about 20 seconds to load. I found its cell phone reception exceptional, and its battery life on par with most other touchscreen phones. 5 hours of talk time and over 400 hours of standby is certainly quite respectable.
The UI is relatively responsive and fast, although it’s not as fluid as the iPhone’s. I’d say that UI performance is on par with Motorola’s EZX Linux touchscreen phones.
The UI has its good points and its bad points. On the plus side is the fact that a large portion of the UI is designed to be used without the stylus. Additionally the overall look and feel is pleasing to the eye (comes with 4 themes too), and intuitive. The UI is very similar to the normal LG phones, just bigger and with a touchscreen flavor to it.
On the minus side, the UI has a number of annoying quirks that adversely effect usability. Scrolling a list is an exercise in patience. You have to quickly click on an item in the list and then move your finger up and down in order to scroll through the rest of the list. Unfortunately this doesnt’t work all the time because sometimes the phone will just select that item instead of using it to scroll. “Flicking” the screen as you can do with the iPod/iPhone to go through pages of lists, does not work — this is major usability problem.
Things don’t improve with the stylus, as trying to scroll by clicking on the scrollbar doesn’t work at all. Another way to scroll is to use the special button on the *back* of the phone (used as “zoom control” when inside the camera application) by pressing it left and right. This is extremely cumbersome — although more precise.
The design of the touchscreen qwerty keyboard is problematic. If you click the button that looks like it should be backspace it cancels your text entry, it doesn’t just delete characters. In order to delete a character you have to push the “C” hardware button. This is a poorly thought out design that shows a disconnect between the hardware engineers and their software guys. And don’t get me started on the fact that the “lock keys” button is very easily pressed in your purse or pockets. The camera button also has this problem.
The phone comes with plethora of pre-installed applications: calendar, contacts, ToDo, alarms, calculator, world clock, converter, a browser (based on Obigo), memo, organizer, messaging and emailing, voice recording, a basic video editor, FM radio app, music app, video and picture viewing app, file manager, Flash 2.0, J2ME games, and more (check the YouTube video below on cnet.co.uk). The Viewty also comes with various Google apps. It even lets you upload and watch youtube videos.
Bluetooth worked perfectly. A2DP is supported, however it was slow, file exchanges maxed out at 45 kb/sec. The phone claims DivX, H.264, H.263 and MPEG4 video support, but none of our h.264 QVGA videos worked on the phone. It loaded them and played the audio, but there were artifacts that made the video unwatchable. DivX worked much better, as this is the phone’s primary video format.
There are a variety of text entry options. T9 is the default text entry method, though most will prefer the fullscreen touch keyboard. In the qwerty fullscreen keyboard there are three entry modes: english alphabet, numbers and special chars, and northern european characters. Overall, I found the qwerty keyboard less precise than the iPhone’s, but the LG can be setup to have tactile feedback when pressing a key, so this can be a plus.
Just take one look at the back of the phone and it’s obvious that its primary feature is the 5MP camera. This is one of the best cameras you can get on a cellphone. The camera has a powerful Xenon flash and a Schneider lens. Unfortunately no lens cap is included. After only thirty minutes of use I noticed that the lens was already greasy.
The camera supports autofocus, white balance, color effects, ISO settings, manual focus and more. I found that using the zoom button is very clunky, because unless you are careful, your fingers can obscure the frame. The zoom control would have been better positioned somewhere on the side of the phone’s body.
The camera is competent in video mode as well, recording in DivX at about 3 mbps in 30fps VGA, widescreen VGA or QVGA. One cool feature is the ability to enable a “120fps” slow-motion mode. The 120fps mode is only available in QVGA mode. Check out the video I put together using the Viewty while attached to a tripod (click here to go to the Vimeo page of the video and download the higher quality VGA version). You can also download an unprocessed DivX clip to get an idea of what video looks like straight out of the camera. The Viewty supports TV-out (cable not included), although the 320×240 and 176×144 resolutions are not supported.
Overall, the Viewty is interesting, but it lacks refinement. It feels like a rushed product, and not enough attention was paid to UI usability. It’s no iPhone. The 5MP camera and extended multimedia capabilities are obviously an effort to give the phone a more competitive technical feature set, but as an overall product it still falls far short of the high usability bar set by the iPhone. It is however cheaper than the iPhone, supports 3G, and some carriers in Europe are offering it as part of their default phone selection. This might make the Viewty a worthy competitor to the iPhone – at least outside of the US.