LG GW620 review: Start-up package

Introduction

LG are not quite making Android headlines. Catching up with local rivals Samsung is obviously not the first thing on their mind. Not to mention that HTC are desperately out of reach. Alright, Android is not LG’s pet project but they’re not completely droid-phobic either.

The company’s first Android smartphone is a good example of that. Released without much notice, it doesn’t put anything new on the table. The LG GW620 wasn’t meant to anyway. It stays focused on social networking and gives the company’s loyal users a taste of Android.

Those who tried and liked the Cookie (in all shapes and flavors) are treated to a more substantial meal. On the LG GW620, Android is in a way served in dumb phone guise – to make loyal users feel at home and give the device some background and identity.

LG GW520 official photos

Good looks and friendly feel, the GW620 has the right feature pack to get you started on Android. It’s a midrange device for the young, and some of its shortcomings should be easy to forgive. Or shall we say – less noticeable from where the Cookie stands. The touchscreen should’ve been capacitive perhaps. And the Android version 1.5 must’ve made a lot more sense at launch (a couple of months back) than it does now.

That aside, the LG GW620 is still a solid midrange offer – especially for upgraders coming from a feature phone. Reasonably priced and quite likely to be carrier-supported, the GW620 will treat users to a very practical side-sliding QWERTY keyboard, fast data support, Wi-Fi and stereo Bluetooth. There’s also an inbuilt GPS receiver, a digital compass and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera.

Key features:

• Affordable and easy to use touchscreen phone
• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G (with HSDPA) support
• 3" resistive touchscreen of HVGA resolution
• Friendly five-row slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Android OS v1.5
• Accelerometer for auto screen rotate
• 5 megapixel autofocus camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and GPS receiver, digital compass
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• 150 MB internal memory
• Hot-swappable microSD card slot (supporting card with capacity of up to 16GB)
• Standard microUSB port and Mass Storage mode
• Social networking service integration
• Dedicated music player key
• Office document viewer
• DivX/XviD video support
• Stereo FM radio

Main disadvantages:

• Android OS is limited to version 1.5
• Resistive touchscreen with poor sunlight legibility
• No video-call camera
• No Bluetooth file transfers
• No Flash support for the web browser
• No voice or Smart dialing
• Video recording maxes out at QVGA@30fps
• No option to play the FM radio on the loudspeaker

The GW620 keeps such a low profile that some might be unaware of the evolutionary gap between it and an LG GW520. This could’ve been a conscious choice though to motivate a smooth and painless transition. The platinum sales of the LG KP500 Cookie inspired a number of sequels – the GW520 is definitely part of the whole thing.

LG must’ve reasonably assumed quite a lot of their feature phone users would be willing to consider upgrading. And the GW620 is a solid option: a smart QWERTY messenger that will please the young, who are ready to give Android a try.

LG GW620 next to the LG GW520 and the Motorola BACKFLIP

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.