Design
Prepare to have your friends -- and complete strangers -- cooing as you whip out your Viewty to take a call. The fact that LG's Viewty is a touchscreen is more than enough to set knees to trembling in pre-iPhone Australia. This attention is warranted given that the Viewty is one of the sexier handsets we've seen recently. At 54mm in width and 103mm in height the Viewty feels like a small point-and-shoot digital camera to hold, which is probably no coincidence with the 5-megapixel camera on the underside.
As with most camera phones these days, the Viewty has dedicated camera buttons on the right side of the unit; one for taking photos and another to activate image stabilisation. On the opposite side is a single proprietary USB port used for charging, data transfers, and, disappointingly, for inserting the 3.5mm headphone jack adaptor. While this is a better option than only accepting non-standard headphones we'd still have preferred to have seen a dedicated 3.5mm port rather than the cumbersome addition of the adaptor.
Dangling by the side of the unit is a stylus attached by a lanyard to the top of the phone. Interestingly, in most of the advertising images we've seen of the Viewty the stylus attachment is not visible, perhaps having been air-brushed out to hide a design choice which lets down the Viewty's otherwise streamlined and attractive exterior. This reviewer was saved the embarrassment of dropping the test unit by catching the Viewty by the stylus once or twice, but it would have be preferable to find the stylus tucked neatly into the unit, like a tooth-pick in a Swiss army knife.
Features
The Viewty joins a very exclusive club of 5-megapixel camera phones currently available in Australia. In fact the only competition in this field to date is Nokia's N95 and Sony Ericsson's W850i Cyber-shot camera phone. To match the impressive resolution the Viewty sports auto-focus, image stabilisation, a bright xenon flash and a long list of image settings including image sensitivity to help with those tricky night shots taken in the various dodgy bars and clubs we stumble into.
A major selling point for some people will be the Viewty's native support for DivX video files, a feature considered essential in any self-respecting media player. While this is a welcomed addition, and something we expect to see more of in media-focused mobile devices in the near future, it has to be noted that the Viewty will only support DivX files using the codec from version 5 or later. On top of this the Viewty does not support any other video codecs, so you will most probably have to convert any video files you want to watch using the software provided in the Viewty sales package. The playback quality is excellent if you have the hours of spare time necessary run the conversions, and a TV-out cable offers the opportunity to watch the files back on your TV, which is very handy.
To store the high resolution photos you take and various other media the Viewty uses microSD memory slotted in under the phone's battery. As with the positioning of the stylus, the location of the microSD card slot is an annoyance as you will have to power down the device and remove the battery before being able to swap cards.
Performance
Firstly, the million dollar question; how did we find using the touchscreen? The short answer is excellent, but not perfect. Some input screens, such as the main menus, are very responsive with buttons large enough to tap at with a finger. Other interfaces like the camera settings screens and the Web browser may have you aiming with a fingernail or whipping out the stylus for accuracy. The Viewty can be set to vibrate when a selection is made which adds a satisfying tactility to the touchscreen experience.
The Viewty offers three input options for typing out messages, a virtual numeric keypad, an iPhone-esque on-screen QWERTY keyboard, and handwriting recognition, which is fun to experiment with but far less practical and slower than the keypads. Of these options only the numeric pad is finger friendly, with the small keys on the QWERTY pad requiring the stylus for fast and accurate input.
Even with the long list of camera features packed into the Viewty the overall image quality is below our initial expectations. While night-time shots looked good, if a tad grainy, pictures taken at day in natural light turned out dull and slightly over-exposed. More disappointing was that even with the help of auto-focus and the image stabiliser we saw soft focus problems in the vast majority of the photos we took, often the result of the long time needed for the camera to focus before an exposure, leading to movement by both the subjects and the photographer's hands.
The Viewty takes picture blogging to the next logical step, having a direct upload to YouTube for video made using the device. The phone also has a 120 frames-per-second (fps) shooting mode to turn standard videos into super slow motion videos. While this is a cool feature in theory, we've been racking our brains to think of something to shoot which would actually be improved in slow motion. The kids? Our pets? Dancing friends? 120fps may look great in a list of specs but screams gimmick to us.
Web browsing using the touchscreen interface and HSDPA data speeds was the star feature during testing. Scanning Web sites using a finger to scroll and select links feels natural and intuitive, and is far better than conventional navigation with directional keys. If you've been avoiding mobile Internet previously the Viewty may be the device to convert you, with built-in links to mobile YouTube and Google Maps, both of which are a great way to chew up time and your precious mobile data allowance. A second front facing camera makes the Viewty ready for video calling to your attractive friends and family.
The LG Viewty supports Bluetooth, plays a variety of audio files through the built-in music player, and has a voice recorder and FM radio. We also found a 3D video game called Space Commander tucked away in the menus which we found surprisingly fun, and a good use of the touchscreen.
Considering the power drain of the large screen and 3G connectivity, we were pleased to see three to four days of battery life, with light use of phone calls and text, and moderate use of the Web browser and camera. The Viewty can be charged using either a supplied travel charger or using a PC with the USB cable.
Overall
LG's Viewty may just be an appetiser for those hungry for Apple's iPhone but it has the iPhone beat in imaging and Internet speed, and is similarly limited in its video playback capabilities.
We are disappointed with the results we saw using the 5-megapixel camera, and for the original AU$899 price tag we expected better. The photos are an improvement on those you'll get from a majority of camera phones available, but not as good as you can expect from Nokia's N95, which has a fast shutter and takes sharp pictures.
As a mobile phone the Viewty is a good performer, and the Internet browsing is excellent. As well, we can't forget the Viewty's "wow" factor, although owners of this phone will have to expect several hundred eager strangers asking, "Is that the iPhone?" for at least the next six months.
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