LG KM900 Arena: A touch of class
Gsmarena have posted their review of the LG KM900 Arena. Here are the key features, main disadvantages and final impression.
Key features:
3" 16M-color capacitive TFT touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
S-Class Touch UI
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
3G with HSDPA (7.2 Mbps)
Wi-Fi and GPS receiver with A-GPS
5 megapixel autofocus camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics, LED flash, geotagging
D1 (720x480 pixels)@30fps, VGA@30fps, QVGA fast-motion video and QVGA slo-mo video
8GB built-in storage
Hot-swappable microSD card slot
Standard 3.5mm audio jack and TV out
USB Mass Storage
Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
Accelerometer for screen auto rotate
Multi-touch input
3D hardware accelerator
DivX and XviD support
Dolby for Mobile audio enhancement
FM radio with FM transmitter
Office document viewer
Smart dialing
Main disadvantages:
Poor sunlight legibility
Inadequate flash performance
No voice-guided GPS navigation software available
No standard USB port
Records video in 3GP file format
Maximum email attachment size is 1MB only (both ways)
Limited DivX/XviD video support
Final words
It's not every day that we come across a handset which consistently meets our expectations for a high-end phone. The LG Arena is a wonderful multimedia device that has taken great strides in many areas - interface, touch technology, music and entertainment. If you take into account all this great stuff, add the novelty factor, the price tag of 350 euro (around 450 US dollars) seems reasonable.
We're sure the Apple iPhone is lingering in the back of many people's minds. Both sport the full range of connectivity options, huge internal memory and big screens with multi-touch support. The Arena has greater screen resolution, a microSD slot and a far superior camera with excellent video recording options and even a removable battery.
The LG S-class interface is sometimes better than the iPhone Mac OS, sometimes not, sometimes slower, sometimes not. The iPhone advantage is the smartphone capabilities. However, the already available features on the Arena leave little to be desired (even copy/paste functionality). Its competitive price is going to get even sweeter in near future once the dust of the grand market release settles.
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is close in price to the LG Arena and has smartphone capabilities as the iPhone. Of course, the Symbian interface lacks the considerable visual appeal of the Arena's S-Class UI or the iPhone's Mac OS. The camera and build quality of the 5800 are not up to the Arena capabilities as well, and the same goes for the touch-screen sensitivity. However, the lower price, the extended GPS functionality and the ability to add new applications, which will be available by the hundreds really soon, may make the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic a more attractive option for some users.
Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH is also an excellent touch handset that has a superior 8 megapixel camera - plus it makes typing easy with the hardware keypad. A GPS receiver is also on board but the lack of Wi-Fi and the somewhat slow touch interface are things that may turn down many potential customers. Currently, it's priced a bit less than the Arena, so it might find its way to the users hearts as well.
To sum it up, we were impressed by almost all aspects of the LG Arena. If you are on the hunt for a touch-based multimedia device at a reasonable price, the Arena is definitely a handset to consider and the S-class UI by LG without a doubt will be a trend setter throughout the year.
Key features:
3" 16M-color capacitive TFT touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
S-Class Touch UI
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
3G with HSDPA (7.2 Mbps)
Wi-Fi and GPS receiver with A-GPS
5 megapixel autofocus camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics, LED flash, geotagging
D1 (720x480 pixels)@30fps, VGA@30fps, QVGA fast-motion video and QVGA slo-mo video
8GB built-in storage
Hot-swappable microSD card slot
Standard 3.5mm audio jack and TV out
USB Mass Storage
Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
Accelerometer for screen auto rotate
Multi-touch input
3D hardware accelerator
DivX and XviD support
Dolby for Mobile audio enhancement
FM radio with FM transmitter
Office document viewer
Smart dialing
Main disadvantages:
Poor sunlight legibility
Inadequate flash performance
No voice-guided GPS navigation software available
No standard USB port
Records video in 3GP file format
Maximum email attachment size is 1MB only (both ways)
Limited DivX/XviD video support
Final words
It's not every day that we come across a handset which consistently meets our expectations for a high-end phone. The LG Arena is a wonderful multimedia device that has taken great strides in many areas - interface, touch technology, music and entertainment. If you take into account all this great stuff, add the novelty factor, the price tag of 350 euro (around 450 US dollars) seems reasonable.
We're sure the Apple iPhone is lingering in the back of many people's minds. Both sport the full range of connectivity options, huge internal memory and big screens with multi-touch support. The Arena has greater screen resolution, a microSD slot and a far superior camera with excellent video recording options and even a removable battery.
The LG S-class interface is sometimes better than the iPhone Mac OS, sometimes not, sometimes slower, sometimes not. The iPhone advantage is the smartphone capabilities. However, the already available features on the Arena leave little to be desired (even copy/paste functionality). Its competitive price is going to get even sweeter in near future once the dust of the grand market release settles.
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is close in price to the LG Arena and has smartphone capabilities as the iPhone. Of course, the Symbian interface lacks the considerable visual appeal of the Arena's S-Class UI or the iPhone's Mac OS. The camera and build quality of the 5800 are not up to the Arena capabilities as well, and the same goes for the touch-screen sensitivity. However, the lower price, the extended GPS functionality and the ability to add new applications, which will be available by the hundreds really soon, may make the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic a more attractive option for some users.
Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH is also an excellent touch handset that has a superior 8 megapixel camera - plus it makes typing easy with the hardware keypad. A GPS receiver is also on board but the lack of Wi-Fi and the somewhat slow touch interface are things that may turn down many potential customers. Currently, it's priced a bit less than the Arena, so it might find its way to the users hearts as well.
To sum it up, we were impressed by almost all aspects of the LG Arena. If you are on the hunt for a touch-based multimedia device at a reasonable price, the Arena is definitely a handset to consider and the S-class UI by LG without a doubt will be a trend setter throughout the year.
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