Today we are going to take a look at LG's first Android smartphone. As often happens, the device entered the market after a long time since its official presentation.
Apparatus LG GW620 has a physical QWERTY-keyboard, the device looks quite attractive with it. To date, there are only a few Android smartphones with a physical QWERTY keyboard.
Appearance
The device is not too big, but not small either. Right off the bat, it's hard to say that it has a physical keyboard. The communicator is quite comfortable in the hand, easily fits in your pocket. Has a pleasant and well thought-out ergonomics.
The rounded corners make the unit look smaller. The top and bottom ends are slightly chamfered from top to bottom. Thus, there is no chance of accidentally pressing the off key.
The body is mostly made of rubberized plastic. This is a practical and tactile material, and the manufacturer was not mistaken with its choice. The battery cover takes up almost the entire back of the case.
On the front, you can see the glossy plastic and metal inserts. These materials are not so practical, so you should use the device carefully. In general, the combination of all materials looks good.
The build quality of the case is good, both open and closed no squeaks, no backlash was noticed. The hinge is pretty sturdy and I have no doubt that after some time of use it will remain the same. You won't need much effort to open the keyboard, there is an auto-finishing in the keyboard mechanism.
The smartphone has a sufficient number of different connectors. On the top there is an on / off button and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the left side there is a microUSB connector, which is covered with a flap, as well as a volume rocker.
On the right side there is a slot for a microSD memory card, as well as camera and player control keys. Due to all the additions on the ends, the device is a functional model, not a fashion model.
I don’t know, for someone it may be a plus, but for me it’s a minus that the keys in the navigation block are touch-sensitive. Several accidental clicks occurred during use.
Keyboard
The keyboard has five rows of keys, which is quite comfortable to use. Localization is done correctly, there is access to almost all symbols. Much better for 3 or 4 row keyboards.
The keys are medium in size, not fused. When typing, the chances of making a mistake are minimal. The designations are in white and blue. The backlighting is fairly uniform, not too bright. There is an indicator for the Shift key.
Although the keyboard has a fifth row, all Russian characters still did not fit. Characters for which there was not enough space were transferred to function keys. In general, the keyboard is practical and comfortable to use.
Display
The device has a standard display for Android smartphones. Its resolution is 480x320 pixels, and its size is 3 inches. The graininess on the display is not noticeable, even upon close inspection. First of all, the quality of the TFT-display is striking, it is quite good. The display fully reflects natural colors.
Also, the device has a sufficient margin of screen brightness. It is quite enough to distinguish the text, even in direct sunlight. The smartphone has a built-in light sensor that can automatically adjust the backlight. But even in complete darkness, the device refuses to set the backlight to a minimum. This can be done manually, while you get less dazzling screen brightness.
As for the sensor, it is made using resistive technology. The display sensitivity is excellent and can even be compared to capacitive screens.So the user will not feel any discomfort when using, and if necessary, use a more accurate pointer (stylus). The display is definitely a plus of the device, and corresponds to its level.
Functionality
The communicator has a Qualcomm processor with a clock frequency of 528 MHz, and also has a 256 MB RAM. This configuration is standard for mid-range devices. The device has such wireless communications as Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g), Bluetooth 2.1 and GPS.
This model is built on the Android platform version 1.5. Today, this version of the software can be considered old, since version 2.2 has already been released. In the future, it is possible that the device will receive an official update to a newer version. This version has a lower performance than newer software versions. Also, you will not be able to install newer applications on this system, which is a disadvantage.
Let's move on to the menu interface. The home screen can contain three desktops. On each desktop, you can place a variety of widgets, as well as shortcuts to programs. At the bottom of the display there are virtual keys for accessing dialing, messages, contacts and the main menu.
Desktop icons can be categorized. You can also create your own category and move the desired icons there. The device has standard programs for Android, including a log, messages, a browser, and much more.
Like many other communicators, LG has many programs for working with Google services. Navigation can be used not only through Google, but also through Yandex maps, which are also preinstalled. The speed of locating is not high, but quite acceptable. The handset is also preinstalled with a very useful program Quickoffice, this program will allow you to view office documents in PDF, DOC, TXT, XLS formats.
In this model, the Gallery is slightly different from other models in its more interesting interface. However, during testing, a drawback was found in that this program closed automatically during operation, most likely due to a lack of RAM. In general, we can say that the device does not please with its performance; during use, we noticed small brakes and pauses.
Camera
The smartphone has a built-in camera with a resolution of 5 megapixels. In daylight, just great shots are obtained. Incorrect focus sometimes occurred when photographing.
Also, the device has a built-in flash, the use of which will be acceptable at a distance of 1 - 1.5 meters.
As for a 5 megapixel camera, it shoots video with a not very high resolution (QVGA), nevertheless, with such a camera it was possible to make a VGA resolution. Viewing on large screens is not very good, but on mobile screens it will be fine.
Battery
The battery is almost the same size as the device itself, only a little thinner. With active use of the model, it includes the Internet, calls, and a player, the device is enough for the whole day. With average and reasonable use, the device will easily last two days.
Output
Apparatus LG GW620 very interesting, firstly, its full, comfortable QWERTY-keyboard will delight many lovers of communication by typing. As for other criteria, the device fully meets the middle class. This is a fairly high-quality display, a set of communications, and a perfectly acceptable battery. The disadvantages include the old version of the software, and the associated low performance.
