LG GM360 Viewty Snap and GT400 Viewty Smile review: One for everybody

LG GM360 Viewty Snap 360-degree spin

The LG GM360 Viewty Snap measures 108 x 53.1 x 12 mm – roughly the same dimensions as the KM900 Arena and KM570 Cookie Gig. The Viewty Snap is on the compact side of touch phones, without compromising screen size. At just 87 grams, it’s pretty lightweight too – you won’t feel it in your pocket.

Here’s the breakdown of the Viewty Snap pros and cons.

LG Viewty Snap key features

• 3" 256K-color resistive TFT touchscreen of WQVGA resolution (240 x 400 pixels)
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Widget-enhanced interface and Livesquare homescreen
• 5 megapixel Schneider-Kreuznach-certified autofocus camera with LED flash
• QVGA video recording @10fps
• microSD card slot, up to 16GB
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Standard microUSB port (charging enabled)
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• Landscape on-screen QWERTY keyboard; Handwriting recognition
• FM radio with RDS
• Office document viewer
• Social networking integration
• Smart dialing (names and numbers)

LG Viewty Snap main disadvantages

• No 3G
• No Wi-Fi
• No GPS
• Low resolution screen
• Three widgets max per screen
• Camera lens unprotected
• Poor video recording
• Poor screen sunlight legibility
• Maximum email attachment size is 2.2MB (both ways)
• No DivX/XviD video support; low-res videos only
• No accelerometer

Viewty Snap design and construction

The LG GM360 Viewty Snap borrows some design elements from the Chocolate line – the thin silver strip that runs down its side and the side buttons are straight from the New Chocolate phones.

The LG GM360 Viewty Snap looks like it belongs in the New Chocolate lineup

The Viewty Snap is built around two things – the display and the camera, and both are pretty prominently featured by the styling of the phone. The display has a glossy plastic bezel that contrasts with the rest of the surface and the silver ring of the camera lens has the “Schneider-Kreuznach” and “Auto Focus” labels clearly visible.

The screen itself is a resistive 3-incher of WQVGA resolution – the same specs as the KM570 Cookie Gig. Nothing phenomenal in terms of response, it is sensitive enough not to cause any problems.

The screen is bright with good colors and viewing angles. The resolution is a quarter of what the Arena had, but it’s not a major problem. As for sunlight legibility, we’ve seen worse and we’ve seen much better – direct sunlight is not this screen’s friend.

A WQVGA resistive display – the Viewty Snap has to stay within budget

Other than the display, the rest of the items of interest on the front are the earpiece (which doubles as a loudspeaker), the Call and End keys and the menu key. They are actual hardware buttons, which is what some people prefer.

The three keys at the bottom

The left side of LG GM360 Viewty Snap features the microUSB port, which is used for both charging and data transfers.

On the right-hand side there’s the volume rocker and the shutter key. The keys are as thin as the silver strip, meaning not all too comfortable to use. At least they are prominent enough and surprisingly clicky.

The microUSB port on the left • volume rocker and shutter key on the right

The top hosts the 3.5mm standard audio jack and the Power/Lock key. The power key is small and flush against the top. It’s still ok to use and accidental presses are unlikely.

The 3.5mm jack is on top, along with the tiny lock/power key

There are no controls or connectivity ports at the bottom of the LG Viewty Snap, just the mouthpiece.

Just the mic pinhole on the bottom

The backside is the home of the second main attraction of the LG Viewty Snap – the 5MP camera with Schneider-Kreuznach lens and LED flash. The silver plastic ring around the camera looks cool but offers very little protection against scratches.

The 5 megapixel camera lens is prone to scratches

The 900 mAh Li-Ion battery of the Viewty Snap is quoted at 300 hours of stand-by and 5 hours of talk time. It lasted us about a day and a half of testing and another couple of days of standby, which is about as much heavy users can expect from the Snap.

The 900 mAh battery performs decently

The microSD card slot is also placed under the battery cover but it is still hot-swappable. The LG GM360 Viewty Snap can easily handle a 16GB microSD card – you get access to the card instantaneously, there’s no lengthy initialization period.

The back, true to its New Chocolate muse, is piano black plastic that gets covered in smudges in no time. The shape and the silver accents on the side make the Viewty Snap a BL40 New Chocolate lookalike. The Viewty genes are more prominent at the rear.

LG GM360 Viewty Snap in hand • size comparison vs. Viewty Smile

Looks and build quality are solid. The only complaint we have is the buttons under the display. They just look cheap. Other than that, the narrow, thin frame of the phone and its rounded corners make it comfortable to hold. It’s lightweight too, fitting any pocket with ease.