LG Viewty Smart GC900

Apple's iPhone may be the phone that everybody wants, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only stylish phone with a cool interface. The LG Viewty Smart looks like it has the style to match but how does it compare?

It’s slightly smaller than an iPhone, which is good, but that means a smaller screen, which isn’t. It’s only slightly smaller though and as the display is really sharp it’s unlikely to ever be a problem.

You get vibration feedback when touching the screen. This is helpful but the default noise of typewriter keys won’t make you any friends if you use it in public. Thankfully, what LG calls the S-Class interface is simple enough to use that it wasn’t difficult to change this setting.

Speaking of the interface, we like it. The home page has four panes covering shortcuts, widgets, favourite contacts and favourite media. Simply swipe to choose between them and tapping the top bar reveals a menu for frequently used options such as Bluetooth, Wifi, Alarms and missed calls.

The screen works in both landscape and portrait and rotates automatically. That’s assuming that the application you’re using supports landscape mode. It’s very clear, even with smaller fonts and there’s multitouch for zoom. This enables you to zoom in and out of photos and web pages by using two fingers on the screen at the same time.

When the phone rings, you can slide a button to either answer the call or compose an SMS (text message) to the caller. This is a good idea for any situation when you might not want to have a conversation, such as when you're on the train, but don’t want the other person to feel ignored.

The camera is an impressive 8-megapixel model and can take video as well. There’s an application for turning photos into videos with a variety of transitions and soundtracks.

It can play music and videos, including DivX and there’s a direct link to Youtube. The onboard memory can be expanded by as much as 32GB with a MicroSD card.

The speakers are pretty good but if you want to use headphones, you’ll have to use the included adapter. This is something that we find particularly annoying and wish companies would just include an audio socket, even if it’s the small 2.5mm version.

On a more positive note the Viewty can play music over Bluetooth to compatible speakers.

The LG PC Suite software can be used to back up contacts and messages, and to import contacts from Outlook Express or contacts, calendars and tasks from Outlook.

All this phone comes at a price though, the Viewty Smart costs £320 on Pay as you go or is included with pay monthly contracts from £30 a month.