LG Viewty KU990 Review

The LG Viewty KU990 is the latest “cameraphone” from LG which is the replacement model for the Prada. The LG Viewty is being badged as a cameraphone, that’s the first important point to realise - it’s not a mobile that claims to be a “jack of all trades”, instead it focuses in on being very good at what it does with both still and video camera features.

I’ve been using the LG Viewty KU990 for over a month now, but the first thing that you’ll notice about the LG Viewty is just how great this mobile phone actually looks and feels in your hand – it sits nicely in the hand, not being too big or heavy, on the back it looks like a traditional camera, while the front of it you’re presented with an outstanding 3” touchscreen with just 3 small and discrete actual buttons.

The camera that comes on the LG Viewty is one of the best that I’ve seen on a mobile phone boasting an impressive 5 megapixels of detail for your photos. It has good quality flash (the first camera I’ve actually owned to have one – smartphones don’t tend to have this feature), lots of camera modes for different occasions which any semi-serious photographer will enjoy playing with. However, I’ve stuck with the automatic defaults modes for the time being – I’m a definite amateur when it comes to taking photos!

In terms of general usage, I’ve found that LG Viewty KU990 touchscreen to be the best and most functional one that I’ve seen on a mobile phone; I have rather big chunky fingers and had trouble with touchscreens in the past. In the this case though, I can use this screen no problem at all, so you definitely don’t need to have tiny “babyhands” to get the best out of the LG Viewty. I’ve also been told that girls with long nails will also be able to use this screen much better, especially in comparison with the LG Prada since it picks up finger nail taps far more consistently. There is also the option to have some vibration feedback when you do touch the screen, that way you are getting some response as you would do from pressing a traditional button.

In terms of usability, another favourable comment I received was about the different themes/skins that are available for the interface, they are easy to make out and see, useful if you have problems reading displays of other phones. The black theme particularly helps in this regard with its high contrast of white numbers/letters on a black – short-sighted people won’t have to root out their glasses to make a quick call on this mobile!

The LG Viewty comes with lots of image viewing and editing modes which are perfectly usable, I say usable not because there is anything wrong with them, in fact they are probably some of the best I’ve seen, but I’d be lying if I said anything over than at heart I’m somebody who would much rather transfer pictures onto a computer and play with them properly. That said, I know that there will be others who appreciate them, for instance, some of my friends have commented on how good and intuitive these features are – they soon started using them without even having sight of the manual – always a good sign!

Take a look at this video review which shows just how good the LG Viewty is:

A very minor downside for me would be the camera lens having no cover, I think it would have been a good idea - I’m rather conscious of it, but at least the area around the lens is slightly raised from the rest of the back of the case to help protect it from scratches and smearing.

Overall, I’d say that this is a great mobile phone that concentrates on what it’s good at, being one of the best camera phones out there, it’s a lot better than my 3 megapixel digital camera I got a few years back – with the LG Viewty KU990, you’ve basically got a great digital camera with built-in phone functionality!

This is a gorgeous mobile, the “Viewty” name is very apt, it would make for an impressive Christmas present for anyone with an interest in mobiles, photography or gadgets in general and I’m sure you’ll be able to find it at a cheap bargain deal!

Have you already got one? What do you think to it? Or do you want to get one and have a question? Ask away and I’ll do my best to answer them!