LG GW620 review: Start-up package Tweet

Gsmarena have posted their review of the LG GW620. Here are the phone's features, main disadvantages and final impression.

Key features:

* Affordable and easy to use touchscreen phone
* Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G (with HSDPA) support
* 3" resistive touchscreen of HVGA resolution
* Friendly five-row slide-out QWERTY keyboard
* Android OS v1.5
* Accelerometer for auto screen rotate
* 5 megapixel autofocus camera
* Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and GPS receiver, digital compass
* Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
* 150 MB internal memory
* Hot-swappable microSD card slot (supporting card with capacity of up to 16GB)
* Standard microUSB port and Mass Storage mode
* Social networking service integration
* Dedicated music player key
* Office document viewer
* DivX/XviD video support
* Stereo FM radio

Main disadvantages:

* Android OS is limited to version 1.5
* Resistive touchscreen with poor sunlight legibility
* No video-call camera
* No Bluetooth file transfers
* No Flash support for the web browser
* No voice or Smart dialing
* Video recording maxes out at QVGA@30fps
* No option to play the FM radio on the loudspeaker

The low-profile LG GW620 turned out a decent gadget indeed. A solid QWERTY messenger with proper computing power, it will meet most users’ needs without breaking the bank.

Suitable for a younger audience in both design and software (social networking stuff is still more or less an age thing), the LG GW620 comes with an appropriate price tag and looks eager to serve a wide base of potential upgraders coming from the Cookie and the likes.

As the company’s first Android-based smartphone we’re surprised it didn’t get enough publicity. It could be their long declared commitment to Windows Mobile (soon to be Windows Phone) or else, but for whatever reason they chose not to promote their Android device.

The consequences of this will probably be less handsets sold in the short-term and not quite enough support in the long run. And since after-sale support is vital to any modern smartphone (unless you are changing them every three months or so) this probably reduces the consumer value of the GW620. One thing to look out for would be potential OS upgrades but we don’t think it’s too likely. We’d be glad to be proven wrong of course.

Let’s take a look at a few alternatives of the LG GW620 that you can find on the smartphone market today.

The Motorola BACKFLIP and the MB220 DEXT are two QWERTY-enabled droids to offer you the MOTOBLUR UI, which takes social network integration to a whole new level. The BACKFLIP is so unafraid to bend the rules it will rate high with users who like to be different.

If you have the extra dollars to spare then by all means, check out the Motorola MILESTONE. Motorola are tipped to be working on the second Google-branded phone, which should pack a QWERTY slide-out keyboard and this is telling of the response to their other devices in this class.

At this stage, the Milestone is the top droid messenger and looks quite a bargain as its current price (some 100 US dollars more expensive than the GW620). We do think though LG are targeting a different set of users.

Not caught in the Android hype, Nokia still have a couple of handsets to try and upset the GW620 sales. The Nokia N97 mini and the upcoming C6 are the Symbian-running rivals. The N97 mini is a metal-clad messenger that aims to serve the same demographics as the GW620. The Nokia C6 is likely to come so cheap, it may as well become the ultimate entry-level smartphone.

Now, the MOTOBLUR-equipped Motorola messengers are certainly easy to recommend to social networking buffs. And if you want the ultimate performer, the MILESTONE is your kind of phone. So, where does the LG GW620 stand in all this? A more than decent spec sheet and the performance to back it up – it’s a smartphone that - above all - will put you at ease.

Geeks won’t be wowed and the GW620 won’t change the Android game. But it comes on a well set stage and million Cookies are giving the cue.

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