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Android smartphone on the cheap
The GT540 is a few months old now, so it runs an old version of Android (1.6).
That means the interface looks slightly different to newer phones and a few features are missing. It can be upgraded to version 2.1 but our review unit hadn't been.
It's a budget smartphone, costing a fraction of what the high-end models will set you back, but there are compromises. The phone's 600MHz processor is less than two-thirds the speed of the Xperia Arc's, and its 3in screen is smaller than most, but that does mean the phone is compact – it's also light at 116g.
The device has little built-in storage capacity (half a gigabyte), but that can be expanded by inserting a micro-SD memory card (a 2GB one is supplied).
The phone runs the usual Android apps, but everything has to be squeezed to fit onto the smaller screen, which means text looked a bit squashed and it was harder to click on icons.
That's a problem when typing with the on-screen keyboard – instead of the on-screen Qwerty keyboard of most smartphones, what appears is a small phone-style keypad in which you have to press a key repeatedly to get a particular letter. This can be switched to a ‘proper' keyboard in the menus or by turning the phone on its side, but either way it was hard to type comfortably.
Similarly, the slow processor meant it was relatively unresponsive to pressing buttons onscreen, or starting up apps. The camera has a relatively paltry three-megapixel resolution but it produced useable results for a phone.
That said, this Android smartphone costs just £100 and LG has proved that you can make a useable and inexpensive smartphone. If your wallet is stretched but you want a smartphone, it's not a bad choice.
However, it doesn't do much that the cheaper Vodafone Smart (click here for our review) doesn't, so we recommend that model over this.
Read more reviews
Our verdict
Not a great phone, but if you can't spend more and want a smartphone, it'll do the job
A full smartphone for £100 is a good deal; runs Android apps
So-so camera; quite slow; small screen means everything is scrunched up; old version of Android
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The LG GT540 is over a year old
I bought the GT540 in August 2010, which makes it over a year old. I first read the review in the paper edition of Computer Active -- I had to check that date on the front to be sure that I was reading an August 2011 issue! I much prefer the GT540 over my previous phone -- a Nokia N86 which while having a very nice camera was buggy and woefully short of apps. I am still using the GT540 a year on and enjoy using it. In fact I prefer the smaller form factor for slipping the phone into my pocket, compared with the relatively huge HTC Desire HD. A couple of point to note: 1. I upgraded my phone to Android 2.1 which made it much more responsive. However, there is quite a bit of frustration in the user community that LG has abandoned this phone. Android 2.2 seemed to have been on the cards at one point, but now appears to have been shelved. Some people are having problems getting hold of the 2.1 upgrade and are stuck with 1.6, which is not really acceptable. 2. The GT540 has a resistive screen rather than a capacitive screen. This makes it less responsive to touch and less accurate too. Typing on the QWERTY keyboard is not very accurate, even in landscape mode. I find the phone style keyboard with predictive text the fastest way to input. The one thing that would make me replace the GT540 is having to put up with a resistive screen when the £60 Samsung Galaxy Europa has capacitive (but a lower screen resolution). Not everyone wants the cost or the bulk of a £400+ smartphone. There is a reasonable degree of competition in the sub-£150 space and I think a detailed review of these would be worthwhile. You have to try and use them as your main phone for a few weeks though to uncover many of the good and bad points.
Posted by Andrew, 05 Aug 2011