LG GW 520 review

The new LG GW 520 touch screen phone arrived for review a few weeks ago. First impressions are good and the neat slide out QWERTY keyboard feels very solid and doesn’t wobble once exposed.

LG are aiming their new phone at social networking types in much the same way as Vodafone are with the 360 Samsung H1. The GW520 packs LGs LiveSquare visual alert system which displays the contacts you actually interact with as characters on your home screen allowing you to quickly call or text them.

So how does it feel after a month of use?

Touch screen and User Interface

The 2.8” touch screen is very bright and clear but feels quite clumsy in use in that you sometimes need to prod it a couple of times before getting the desired result. LG do include screen calibration from the phone setting options and although this improves things when you’re trying to open the useful shortcuts menu it can take a number of stabs to persuade it to open.

LG are using a simplified interface on this new slider and I have to say it isn’t quite as slick as the S-Class interface found on the Arena and Chocolate. You move between the widget and LiveSquare screens by swiping a finger to the left or right on either screen.

LG supply a number of useful widgets including the usual clock, calendar, weather, music player, etc. In line with the current fashion a FaceBook widget is also included that opens up the supplied FaceBook app. The 520 also supports a Push Email app that can be started from the strangely named “Good” widget.

LiveSquare

I’m not quite convinced by the LiveSquare visual alerts. On one hand it populates your home screen with all the contacts you actually interact with which is arguably better than pre-selecting your favourite contacts but on the other hand it insists on displaying them as cutesy animals or cartoon like people. The more you interact with a contact the more extras they get. What they get depends on whether you choose the Park or Zoo theme. These themes seem to be aimed at the teen market as the over twenties I let loose on the phone found them a just little too cutesy for their taste.

Touching a contact on LiveSquare selects it and starts the shortcut buttons at the bottom of the screen vibrating showing you what actions are possible with the contact. Typically you can call, look up or text the contact by touching the appropriate vibrating shortcut. Selecting multiple contacts allows you to send the same text to all of them without selecting each contact separately.

LiveSquare is very nearly there and with a more grown up theme it would be a very useful speed dial type feature although I think we could safely loose the; Zebra, Anteater, Giraffe, Duck and Bluebird.

Social Networking and Messaging

The FaceBook application is very neat if a little small to comfortably use with fingers. Of course being a resistive screen means that you have the option of using some form of stylus for better accuracy. A standard plastic pen lid works just fine if you don’t want to buy one.

Although the screen size means that the FaceBook app is not ideal it does suffice if you’re on the move and without access to a netbook or PC. One notable deficiency is the ability to upload photos, however as there’s no Wi-Fi on the GW520 it will at least help keep your data charges down.

The 520 packs both normal email and push email meaning you never need to be out of touch. Email setup is extremely simple with; Hotmail, Google Mail, Yahoo, AOL and generic Internet email setups options available. The push email application works well and new messages appear in your inbox within a minute or so of being sent.

Multimedia

Music playback is hindered somewhat by the combination of cheap packaged headphones and a proprietary connector. I know a single connector for charging, syncing, listening and speaking is cheaper and I know you can buy a cheap headphone adaptor and use your own buds but I just miss just being able to plug in standard headphones.

The audio player does a good job with your music and has all the usual functions we’ve come to expect. The built in speaker’s nothing to write home about musically but it’s quite loud and more than adequate for speakerphone calls.

The screen’s bright and clear and perfect for watching video clips on. It is, however, a little small for comfortably watching movies on.

Camera and Video

The 3 mega pixel camera has no flash or autofocus and so is of limited use indoors but used outside and at a distance it produces reasonable quality photos.

The video camera is similar to the camera giving reasonable outdoor shots but not really suited to indoor or badly lit situations.

Battery Life

With light to medium phone use you’ll need to charge the 520s standard 950mAh battery every three or four days. This is with practically no video usage and minimal time with Bluetooth turned on. Either of these would seriously reduce the battery life.

Conclusion

I have to say that using the LG GW520 has been somewhat of a mixed bag. On the plus side the LG is a well built touch screen phone with some nice UI ideas and a good sized slide out keyboard. It’s a solid workman like phone and should last well.

On the negative side it’s let down by the cutesy LiveSquare interface, fiddly resistive touch screen and a proprietary headphone jack. For some reason the screen seems to be more of a fingerprint magnet than usual.

Available from the Carphone Warehouse, T-Mobile, Three and Orange from free on contract and as little as £130 for PAYG.

Update: Three are currently selling the GW520 in a Christmas Special promotion for just £99.99 which includes free Skype to Skype calls and Windows Live Messenger.

Pros

LiveSquare is nice idea although it’s a bit too cutesy for grown ups in its present form.
The slide out keyboard is good and very comfortable to use.
Feels solid and well made.
External Micro SD slot.
FaceBook app.
Threaded messaging.

Cons

No 3.5mm jack.
Low quality headphones.
No Wi-Fi.
The touch screen lacks accuracy when using your finger but is better with a stylus.
No Flash or autofocus limits the usefulness of the camera.