For the last few weeks we’ve been playing with the LG GW620, the first Android phone from LG. Here is our quick review on how we got on.
Summary
The LG GW620 is a decent entry into the Android phone market. The Google integration is excellent and there are a large selection of free applications you can install.
It needs a more responsive touch/slide interface, a larger screen, improved browser and an upgrade on the installed Android 1.5 firmware.
If LG can improve these areas this would become a very attractive phone.
First Impressions
Out of the box the phone looked good and of a decent build quality, nothing too flimsy and the phone looked like it would survive a few knocks and bumps quite easily.
The phone was a bit chunkier than we were expecting but nothing excessive, the phone easily fits in the palm of your hand. Considering the slide out keyboard the overall dimensions of the phone are pretty good.
The touch/slide interface at times is fiddly to use, and is not as responsive as the iPhone interface. You have to press the screen quite firmly before you can scroll the screen. This can make it difficult when navigating a list of options, you can end up selecting an item from a list when all you want to do is scroll down the list.
Our other minor niggle was the proprietary USB port on the phone. For a phone that is trying adopt open standards we would have liked a standard USB port like those used on other devices like digital cameras for example.
Other phone manufacturers are equally to blame in this area but it would be nice to see some standards between manufactures here. It certainly would save having different flavours of USB cable scattered around your home.
We were disappointed to find that under the covers the LG GW620 is only running Android 1.5 (Cupcake). We would have preferred an Android 2.0 phone. The 2.0 version is better, more robust and provides a greater selection of applications.
Since this is an Android phone the integration with Google services such as GMail and Google Maps is excellent.
GMail contacts can be synchronised with the phone. This can provide a very powerful contacts management system on the phone, especially if you hold information like a person’s address and web site within your GMail contacts list. You can select a contact on the phone, click on their address and Google Maps will automatically start up and show you their location on a map. Click on a person’s web site URL and the browser will display their web page.
There are a good number of applications available, both free and non-free, via Android Market, such as the BBC iPlayer. Android Market works pretty much the same way as the iTunes store does on an iPod, just search for an application and install it on your phone.
The LG GW620 provides good integration with social network sites like Facebook and Twitter. Twitter applications like twidroid can be downloaded from Android Market.
The built in browser worked well in our tests. Web pages don’t render as well as the iPhone and the LG screen size could do with being a bit larger, but it’s not a bad effort.
Text messaging works slightly different than some other phones. Text messages are displayed on screen as if you were having an instant message conversation with a person, which can make tracking conversations easier.
The keyboard on this phone is pretty decent overall, it is easy to use and keys were just about sufficiently far apart to avoid hitting the wrong keys.
Our only gripe was the delete key positioned directly above the enter key. We had a tendency to press the enter key by mistake on a number of occasions, this was most annoying when performing tasks like updating your Facebook status. The result being a half finished sentence posted to Facebook.
The LG GW620 sports a 5 megapixel camera with a good selection of options available to tweak items like exposure and metering mode. The quality of photos taken with this phone was very good too.
Summary
Overall this a decent phone from LG with some really nice features, but it needs to improve in several areas before we would consider buying one.
If LG can provide an Android 2.0 phone with a touch/slider interface to rival the iPhone then we’d seriously consider buying one.
Buy the LG GW620 from Amazon.
What we like
- Google integration excellent
- Good selection of applications from Android Market
- Decent sized QWERTY keyboard
- Good 5mp camera
What could be improved
- More responsive touch/slide interface
- Better browser
- Larger screen
- Latest Android firmware
- Standard USB port
Gallery
Technical Specifications
- Slide Phone
- QWERTY Keyboard
- Dimension: L x W x D (mm): 109 x 54.5 x 15.9
- Android Cupcake
- Bluetooth
- Touch Screen
- Camera Resolution: 5 megapixels
- Video
- External Memory: Micro SD up to 16Gb
- 3.5’’ Audio Jack
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14 responses so far ↓
1 Tailors // Apr 8, 2010 at 12:12 pm
OK, you just checked out the spec sheet but there is still much of the GW620 waiting to be discovered. Join us after this very small jump as we explore the looks and feel of this neat communicator droid.
2 Paul // Apr 13, 2010 at 3:13 pm
This phone is pretty good – and the review very accurate. The screen is not very responsive and you end up hitting the wrong icon sometimes instead of scrolling ( quite annoying). is it going to be possible to flash the o/s and put android 2.0 on it – if so can any one point me in the right direction.
In all I’m loving this phone, the gmail sync beats my old blackberry – it’s gone in the bin.
3 Tailors // Apr 27, 2010 at 5:29 am
I’m suprised that its not running a newer version of Android, for a phone that still hasn’t come out yet 1.5 seems pretty old although I have heard that not all manufacturers have got a handle on getting their custom programs to work on the 2.0 and 2.1 versions of Android, or so i’ve heard.
4 Tailors // May 7, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Chubby or not, the qwerty keyboard is something I really enjoy. Great usability! Also those three days for regular use sounds well. Don’t know though if LG will stand a chance in this battle with HTC..
5 Tailors // May 7, 2010 at 12:22 pm
well as of right now the only thing that caught my eye was the hardware keyboard….
6 salman // Jul 22, 2010 at 3:01 pm
i just purchase this gw620 but unable to install any application,bcoz in my phone no market icon available.
plz plz plzzzzzzzzzzzzz
guide me how to install any application
i will be very thankful to u
7 Dean // Jul 22, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Salman,
Did a quick search on Google but the only thing I could find was this link.
8 salman // Jul 22, 2010 at 5:23 pm
thanks
dean
9 Tamz // Jul 23, 2010 at 1:33 pm
How much does this phone actually cost??
10 Dean // Jul 23, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Tamz,
It depends where you look and whether you want the phone on a contract or not. There is one for sale almost new at Amazon for £170. I’ve seen brand new on sale at play.com for £270.
11 colin // Sep 6, 2010 at 2:42 pm
How the hell Dean did you get bbc iplayer on the gw620. I have tried ever since ive had this phone( all it keeps saying is adobe not supported). Even my n95 could played iplayer by wifi. HELP its driving me mad.
12 Dean // Sep 6, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Colin,
The BBC iPlayer just worked for me straight away, no configuration was necessary. It works OK on my current phone which is a HTC Desire. Not sure how to help further.
13 colin // Sep 6, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Cheers mate for your reply, It’s so annoying (you know when something doesn’t work ) this phone is okish but one of a few things its got a habit of doing is after you have made a call the phone has a knack of calling them back all by its self, sometimes 8 time s in a row. I just want the bbc iplayer working and then I will shut up. Help Help!!!. There has got to be a patch out there somewhere. Thanks again.
14 colin // Sep 7, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Panic over, I have found the BBC iplayer App for GW620 phone. Download myplayer from Andriod market, I have been looking for months and it was under my nose all the time. Thank you Dean for your reply and help.
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