LG K810 – the clamshell that wows
PRODUCT REVIEW
KG810 courtesy of LG Malaysia
When I received a new review copy of the LG clamshell, KG810, I decided to pass it on to my 9-year-old to set it up for me. It’s an acid test on the user-friendliness of the device, if an average girl like her can do it, viola!
Well, she got it up and running with my SIM card in less than 10 minutes. Perhaps, she has an advantage after acquainting herself with the LG Chocolate KG800 (see Screenshots Toolkit reviews here), which I reviewed several months ago. This new device shares the same concept as the KG800 with a slight change in the form factor: A solidly-built clamshell with a micro-LCD on the flap. Set to the multimedia mode and flip the flap to open or close it, and you are greeted with “Aye, Chocolate yo!” She was wowed, and the subtle idea for a Christmas present seems unavoidable.
Form Factor. The clamshell KG810 comes with specifications found on the LG Chocolate Black Temptation, but with something extra: an FM radio that is capable of playing loud music despite its demure and petite look (imagine 92 x 47 x 14.9 mm at 82 gram).
Carrying the traits of the LG Chocolate Family, KG810 has a touch-sensitive keypad under the external screen, a further statement that says you need no real keys, just press the touch-sensitive indicators and you are on your way to communicate. It is a tri-band GSM/GPRS phone that synchronises well with your regular USB and PC Sync for data connectivity.
Multimedia Features. The KG810 shares the same features and functions of the LG Chocolate to deliver its multimedia capabilities, and that’s assuring news to people who live a digital lifestyle. The assortment comes with a 1.3-Mpixel camera at 4x digital zoom, MP3 player, Bluetooth, USB Mass storage, and 128MB of internal memory.
One thing I find rather adequate about this device, which I didn’t discover in depth when I was reviewing KG800, is that the Li-ion battery seems to support up to 3 hours of talk time and about 200 hours on stand-by. To enhance the battery efficiency, there is a thoughtful function to tone down the LCD screen for power saving. Translate this into enjoying the MP3 Player, it gives you extended moments of music that are encoded in various formats, such as MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, JAVA MIDP 2.0 and MIDI 64 files. Though it plays loud, I would prefer the treble spectrum to be muted somewhat for subtlety.
The other thing I missed out when reviewing the KG800 is that this device packs a CMOS for the camera sensor, which theoretically handles low-light digital noise averagely better. And it is capable of snapping a 1280x960 image though one seldom goes that far to capture an image on the cellphone.
For all the multimedia capabilities, there is a menu function that allows “My Stuff” personalized utilities to store settings for Games and Apps, videos, images and sounds.
Use it a digital lifestyle device, KG810 packs nicely as an FM radio, a still and video camera, a voice memo recorder, and a musical jukebox. That’s more than sufficient to keep me company while on the road, or just to take bloggers’ snapshots whenever something amusing gets into my eyes. If a simple conclusion is called for, it means I am well equipped for generality.
Utility Features. Yes, mobile device being a personal belonging, we are talking about a digital organizer that stores up your contacts, calendar, memo and to-do list. LG is apparently contemporary as all these thoughts are already catered for. Like all LG Chocolates, this KG810 can store phone 500 contacts on the phone itself so you don’t have to dig into the SIM card for more contacts. I simply love this big feature in a small physique.
There is a little feature in an affordable cellphone that I find quite useful, especially for a person who often travels across multiple time-zones – the “World Time” feature. It’s a thoughtful gesture that I appreciate as I don’t have to re-set the time whenever I arrive at or depart an alien city.
On the Internet, browsing through GPRS connection is adequate and I can fault the phone as much as my cellular service provider. Viewing websites on the crystal clear LCD embedded outside the flap for Chocolate KG800, which I consider a breakthrough for LG, has always been a pleasant experience. This feature has been retained on KG810. Nevertheless, I seldom browse the Internet on cellphone exception during emergency occasions when I have to check up my blog for offensive commentaries by the readers. And neither do I use emails on the phone, so this is a good-to-have feature that won’t bog me down for more.
After a few weeks of usage, KG810 gaveme the impression that it is on par with most other marques of the same price-points in providing all utilities that a cellphone should have.
Wish List. This is still the only one area that keeps bugging me, the Operating System. Like KG800, I find the OS in KG810 cumbersome. Compared to the Number One seller, you need two more steps in order to reach a final function. This can be irritating when you are caught in a tight-spot trying to manoeuvre the keypad swiftly.
As I was reviewing this, I was told that LG has announced an extended Chocolate Family. LG Chocolate now comes with design variations with enhanced specifications: the White and Pink Chocolate in addition to the Black Temptation.
This year-end shopping season is gonna be a yummy experience. But meanwhile, take a look at the Screenshots-LG Pantun Greetings contest that may let you walk away with one of these LG Chocolate KG800 -- choose one from pink, white or classic Black Temptation.
Comments
Lovely review jeff but it looks so fragile. I have a habit of dropping my phone and just scared it will break so I'm sticking to my nokia 3110. Once i dropped it in a shopping mall and the whole thing just busted open and bits went flying everywhere (so embarrasing). Put it all back and it worked!! I call it my ka jim phone, take to seafood resestaurant and can crack my crabs with it!!
Posted by: Progressive![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 18, 2006 08:23 AM
Yes, good reminder there about fragility. You cannot deny it. Too thin. It is not destined to be in your jeans pocket. You better have a phone pouch or carry it in a handbag.
Then, generally, guys will have problem with the touch sensitive keypads. If you cannot control your pressure, pressing too hard and too long brings number instead of a letter in sms writing.
Simply another follower of Motorola RAZR series > VK 2000 series > Samsung Ultraslim Series except for the multimedia external LCD screen.
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October 18, 2006 09:04 AM
played around with a friends lg and it is light but also coming loose in many parts ...
now, the NOKIA N Series, those phones have some optics to boast about ...
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October 18, 2006 09:38 AM