LG GC900 Viewty Smart review: S-class act

It's 12 and counting for cameraphones but the real thick of action is at the 8 megapixel notch. There goes the next of them exciting imaging gadgets waiting to be put in play. We've got a bit of catching up with the LG Viewty Smart to do since our first rendezvous. But let's quickly review the basics. Whether you call it an LG Arena with a beefier camera or a Viewty on S-Class, we guess we're happy either way. Oh, you can also call it Viewty2, while we go on and check if it's 2 good 2 miss.

Sweet waistline and slick packaging, the Viewty Smart carries quite an impressive feature set including a 3" capacitive touchscreen, 8 megapixel autofocus camera with loads of options and the high-flying S-Class Touch UI. The Viewty is not smartphone kind of smart but the inspired interface and the sharp gadgety looks do give its name some credence.

LG Viewty Smart official photos

LG GC900 Viewty Smart key features

• 3" 16M-color capacitive TFT touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
• S-Class Touch UI
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• 3G with HSDPA (7.2 Mbps)
• Wi-Fi and GPS receiver with A-GPS
• 8 megapixel autofocus camera, Schneider-Kreuznach optics, LED flash, manual focus, geotagging, image stabilization, multi face detection (up to 3), smile detection
• D1 (720x480 pixels)@30fps, VGA@30fps, QVGA time-lapse and slow-mo video recording
• 1.5GB flash storage, microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
• Hot-swappable microSD card slot
• USB Mass Storage, TV out
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
• Accelerometer for screen auto rotate
• Multi-touch input
• DivX and XviD support
• FM radio with RDS
• Dolby for Mobile audio enhancement
• Office document viewer
• Smart dialing

Main disadvantages:

• Poor screen sunlight legibility
• Below average image quality
• No voice-guided GPS navigation software available
• No standard USB port and no inbuilt 3.5mm audio jack
• Records video in 3GP format
• Email attachment size limit is 1MB only (both ways)
• Limited DivX/XviD video support
• All-plastic build

LG GC900 is not just another cameraphone but one worthy of bearing the name of the original Viewty. For a bit of household drama, the Viewty Smart will be rightfully expected to outdo another strong performer like the Renoir. And to make the family tree even more intricate, comparison with the Arena will be inevitable. That said, the Viewty Smart sure has style and quality of its own. The feel and looks, the upgrades and the performance sound like a good enough reason for a proper in-depth review. And mind you, the LG GC900 Viewty Smart is not all about the imaging. With an inviting touchscreen platform, complete connectivity set (Wi-Fi and HSDPA), great music and DivX/XviD videos, the Viewty Smart promises a fun and exciting ride.

LG GC900 Viewty Smart live shots

The LG KU990 Viewty legacy doesn't come out so obvious on the comparative shots. You will hardly tell that the elegantly edgy Viewty Smart is the direct descendent of the boxy Viewty 1. Well then, we guess we're eager to see it in action and look for the imaging talent we sure hope the parent has passed on. In all fairness, looking back at the original, the weaknesses are well obvious but if the upgrade would match the splash the Viewty made two years ago, it can safely call it a day.

The evolution of Viewty

We're all set then for a closer look at the Viewty Smart exterior. Hit the jump for our scoop on design and ergonomics.