LG GC900 Viewty Smart review: S-class Act
Gsmarena have posted their review of the new LG KC900 Viewty Smart. Here are the phone's key features, main disadvantages and final impression.
LG GC900 Viewty Smart 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
- 8 megapixel autofocus camera, Schneider-Kreuznach optics, LED flash, manual focus, geotagging, image stabilization, multi face detection (up to 3), smile detection
D1 (720x480 pixels)@30fps, VGA@30fps, QVGA time-lapse and slow-mo video recording
- 1.5GB flash storage, microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- Hot-swappable microSD card slot
- USB Mass Storage, TV out
- Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
- Accelerometer for screen auto rotate
- Multi-touch input
- DivX and XviD support
- FM radio with RDS
- Dolby for Mobile audio enhancement
- Office document viewer
- Smart dialing
Main disadvantages:
- Poor screen sunlight legibility
- Below average image quality
- No voice-guided GPS navigation software available
- No standard USB port and no inbuilt 3.5mm audio jack
- Records video in 3GP format
- Email attachment size limit is 1MB only (both ways)
- Limited DivX/XviD video support
- All-plastic build
LG Viewty Smart is the LG KM900 Arena in cameraphone disguise. That alone is enticing enough by our books. The Viewty Smart has a bit of everything - touch technology and S-Class UI, 8 megapixel camera, above average media and entertainment package. From a pure upgrader's point of view the Viewty Smart is an out-and-out improvement over the original Viewty. But it's this very same family affair that puts the Viewty2 in quite a predicament.
It might look like a very smart (and certainly cost-efficient) move by LG to develop two handsets at the price of one but somehow the comparison between the Viewty Smart and the Arena is not in the favor of the cameraphone. At least not at this point, when the price difference is so significant. We guess, many people will be asking themselves if a couple of more megapixels are worth the cash and the missing FM transmitter, less onboard storage and loosing 3.5mm audio jack.
And then, there's also pressure from the outside with a bunch of good performers trying to outsmart the Viewty Smart. Samsung S8000 Jet has just hit the shelves but is already winning many customers. The new 3D TouchWiz interface may as well be a match for the S-Class, especially on such a powerful hardware package as the Jet. The compact design and equally matched feature set (including full DivX/XviD support, full Flash support, Smart Unlock, excellent 5MP camera) make the Jet quite a threat.
In the end - it's hard not to like the LG Viewty Smart. But comparisons to the Arena and the daunting Viewty legacy are probably too hard for it to handle. We stand by our words that the Viewty2 is a complete and worthy upgrade, but we somehow doubt it we'll see the same sort of impact. It feels like the Viewty Smart will only reach cruising speed after a due reduction of price, which is likely to happen earlier than for the LG Arena.
LG GC900 Viewty Smart 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
- 8 megapixel autofocus camera, Schneider-Kreuznach optics, LED flash, manual focus, geotagging, image stabilization, multi face detection (up to 3), smile detection
D1 (720x480 pixels)@30fps, VGA@30fps, QVGA time-lapse and slow-mo video recording
- 1.5GB flash storage, microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- Hot-swappable microSD card slot
- USB Mass Storage, TV out
- Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
- Accelerometer for screen auto rotate
- Multi-touch input
- DivX and XviD support
- FM radio with RDS
- Dolby for Mobile audio enhancement
- Office document viewer
- Smart dialing
Main disadvantages:
- Poor screen sunlight legibility
- Below average image quality
- No voice-guided GPS navigation software available
- No standard USB port and no inbuilt 3.5mm audio jack
- Records video in 3GP format
- Email attachment size limit is 1MB only (both ways)
- Limited DivX/XviD video support
- All-plastic build
LG Viewty Smart is the LG KM900 Arena in cameraphone disguise. That alone is enticing enough by our books. The Viewty Smart has a bit of everything - touch technology and S-Class UI, 8 megapixel camera, above average media and entertainment package. From a pure upgrader's point of view the Viewty Smart is an out-and-out improvement over the original Viewty. But it's this very same family affair that puts the Viewty2 in quite a predicament.
It might look like a very smart (and certainly cost-efficient) move by LG to develop two handsets at the price of one but somehow the comparison between the Viewty Smart and the Arena is not in the favor of the cameraphone. At least not at this point, when the price difference is so significant. We guess, many people will be asking themselves if a couple of more megapixels are worth the cash and the missing FM transmitter, less onboard storage and loosing 3.5mm audio jack.
And then, there's also pressure from the outside with a bunch of good performers trying to outsmart the Viewty Smart. Samsung S8000 Jet has just hit the shelves but is already winning many customers. The new 3D TouchWiz interface may as well be a match for the S-Class, especially on such a powerful hardware package as the Jet. The compact design and equally matched feature set (including full DivX/XviD support, full Flash support, Smart Unlock, excellent 5MP camera) make the Jet quite a threat.
In the end - it's hard not to like the LG Viewty Smart. But comparisons to the Arena and the daunting Viewty legacy are probably too hard for it to handle. We stand by our words that the Viewty2 is a complete and worthy upgrade, but we somehow doubt it we'll see the same sort of impact. It feels like the Viewty Smart will only reach cruising speed after a due reduction of price, which is likely to happen earlier than for the LG Arena.
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