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 LG Viewty 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!
Comments: 17
10:02 am 24th December, 2007
Oh wow, this is pretty sweet. I’ve been doing research all day, looking up a new phone for xmas for myself.
I finally came down to the HTC Touch or the iPhone. I tend to hate Apple products but I can’t get over how great the web browsing is.
I’m so glad that I came across your review. The most important features in a phone are a touch screen, camera, and web browser.
Now I just need to do some research to see how user friendly jumping on the web is going to be with this device.
Comments: 312
6:09 pm 27th December, 2007
I can’t get over thinking that as good as Apple products are, I keep asking myself, are they more interested in style over function?
I really am impressed by the touch screen and camera, I’ll take a look at the web browser functionality (not something I tend to use a lot of on mobiles) and get back to you on that!
Comments: 312
10:38 pm 2nd January, 2008
I’ve had a play with the web browser and I think it works pretty well actually, certainly better than the Internet Explorer one that is on my Windows Mobile 6-based Orange E650. Here’s what I thought of my E650 before I got the LG Viewty:
http://zath.co.uk/smartphone-review-orange-e650-or-nokia-n95/
I can check things such as my GMail quite easily on the LG Viewty and the touchscreen works well when I try to scroll the screen when viewing a page at larger than screen size.
Comments: 1
12:41 pm 10th January, 2008
The LG Viewty KU990 is really a “cameraphone”.
perfect camera and perfect phone
Comments: 312
3:22 pm 20th January, 2008
@tekstil – Most definitely, this is “the cameraphone” currently, if you like taking photos, this is a mobile for you!
Comments: 1
3:46 pm 4th May, 2008
Hey…Does the flash work good?!Coz i got an n93 and is bad at low light…Plsss reply…
Comments: 312
9:46 pm 4th May, 2008
Gabriel – well what can I say, I personally think the flash is good, but like I say in my review, I’ve not had a mobile phone with a flash before, so have little to compare it to on that level, but my friend who also has a Viewty seems to be rather happy with the photos that they take with the camera.
You might want to keep checking the site as I will be reviewing two new LG mobiles in the next couple of weeks, the LG KF600 and also the LG Secret.
Sorry I can’t be more specific, is anyone else able to provide a better comparison for Gabriel on the Viewty before I write reviews on these other LG mobiles?
Zaths last blog post..Star Wars Day
Comments: 1
7:46 am 1st June, 2008
I’d just like to know how the sensitivity is on this phone. The touch screen on the chocolate is way too sensitive.
Comments: 312
11:02 am 1st June, 2008
Well I’ve never personally used the Chocolate, so can’t do a direct comparison to that, but when it comes to interfaces, an oversensitive one would really annoy me, but this never happened with the Viewty.
You can configure the touch screen – not sure if this actually senses the amount of pressure you apply to the screen and adjusts accordingly though.
Either way – as a guy with fairly chunky fingers, I never had an issue with it being over sensitive.
Comments: 1
7:26 pm 9th September, 2008
i love my lg viewty, but i have 1 problem i cannot download my photos to my pc, i’ve tried bluetooth and my usb connection,can anyone help
Comments: 312
8:44 pm 9th September, 2008
Hi Gail – did you install all the software onto your computer that came with your LG Viewty?
Comments: 1
9:22 am 10th October, 2008
It just looks a bit too fragile… I am not set on touchscreens
Comments: 1
11:41 am 23rd October, 2008
I seen the iphone theme for the lg ku990 and would like to put it on mine but am not sure how to go about it. Could you please help?
Comments: 1
10:40 am 28th October, 2008
love my lg viewty, but i have 1 problem i cannot download my photos to my pc? how can i do this?
Comments: 1
7:00 pm 6th November, 2008
The Lg Viewty is one of the best phones I’ve ever had. It easy to control and the camera is great.
But one problem is i don’t know how to download photos from the phone to the Pc. It’s the only thing it doesn’t help you with.
But 5-5 for the phone
Comments: 1
6:06 pm 23rd November, 2008
Down loading photo’s. When you plug in your USB cable you have to choose mass storage device before anything works [under menu, phone settings, connectivity, USB connection mode..
Comments: 1
9:13 pm 25th November, 2008
Hey,
I have the Lg Viewty, It’s an amazing phone but I don’t understand how you put the pictures from the phone to the computer.
I downloaded that CD it gave with the phone and put the lead in but I still can’t work out how.
Much appreciated if you could help
Thank you
Comments: 1
6:40 am 11th December, 2008
Hi!
I’m noman rasel, I’m great now great with the phone.My big b gave me this beautiful present. Thanks my older & sweet brother 4 gifting me.
Comments: 1
5:38 pm 1st February, 2009
hey please can anyone help me i cant get my photos onto the computer or any music onto the phone
Comments: 1
4:48 pm 25th February, 2009
Hi guys,
i recently got the viewty and i love it,but i was wondering if anyone knew how to movies on it,i cant work it out
Thanks