In our video
review
of LG's Viewty phone we complained that the touchscreen device was too chunky
and wished we could get our hands on a similar but smaller model.
Georgio Armani and the people at Samsung must have heard us because only days
later came the new Armani
phone.
The Samsung Giorgio Armani has the same touchscreen interface as both the Viewty
and the Apple iPhone but it is almost half the size and width of the Viewty.
Like that phone the Armani comes with photo-editing software, which lets
users remove people or brighten colours, and although the 2.6in screen is
smaller than the Viewty's we were impressed that we could see exactly what we
were doing. We were also very impressed with the three-megapixel camera which,
although it does not have face-recognition technology or an optical zoom, takes
clear and bright shots.
It also comes with a range of picture-taking modes including a mosaic feature
that takes shots in the shapes of stars and circles. Despite the phone being
small, the screen is clear, but navigating around the phone's menus we came into
a few problems. Like Armani's catwalk clothing, this designer phone appears to
have been made for size zero models (or, specifically, size zero fingers).
Add to this the fact that the phone does not come with a stylus and will not
recognise a tap with a fingernail and you often end up pressing unwanted
buttons. The problem gets worse when trying to send text messages – it took us a
frustrating eight attempts to write a standard 10-word text message and even
longer to dial a number.
Navigating to options such as changing the clock's time was even worse and it
didn’t help that it kept failing to detect our presses. However, those who only
have an eye for looks won't be disappointed. The Armani phone is sleek, black
and feather-light.
To make sure it is not ruined by scratches it also comes with a velvet pouch
and a leather case to keep it safe, as well as headphones and a data cable that
can be used to synchronise email and contacts from a computer. It also comes
with a 1GB memory card, which, although easy to slide in, required tweezers to
pull out.
Although this phone matches up to the Viewty and iPhone in terms of features
and call quality, size isn't everything, and the quality of this phone doesn't
match up.
Reader comments