LG KU990 Viewty review: Eyes wide open

25 September 2007
The LG KU990 Viewty is a true powerhouse packing a mass of high-tech goodies under its hood: the impressive 3" touchscreen display with 240 x 400 pixels resolution, the HSDPA 3.6 Mbps capability, the stereo Bluetooth and the highly intriguing...

Sort by:

  • k
  • kartik
  • mxW
  • 10 Dec 2007

I've had this phone for 2 days and am loving every minute of it. It took a while getting used to especially the scrolling but you get the hang of it pretty quickly.
I've had a problem moving the pictures using my fingers on the screen. Can't seem to move them about like i've seen on some reviews. Is anyone else having this problem?
please help

    • M
    • MB
    • MkX
    • 10 Dec 2007

    I have this phone and its easily the best phone i have had, i have many phone but i love my 'V' plate to this phone...the first touchscreen!

    I know alot of you guys and girls out there are picky in regards to smudges and toucha nd sensitivity, but the veiwty has this spot-on!

    I would love to say definately have one because I think its great, but to truely appriciate this phone, buy it and review-ty it yourself! :D

    MIB

      • m
      • mark
      • nFx
      • 06 Dec 2007

      i am looking forward to upgrade next year i want this phone. looks i have had a go. but my only niggle be it small. there is no lens cover, silly really you a great camera and nothing to protect, i have K810i and its brill, but 3.2 megs is old now big time. LG well done but you need a lens cover if you update this phone.

        • S
        • Seve
        • 00c
        • 05 Dec 2007

        Bought it 2 days ago and I am really satisfied!
        I have one question,Where in the menu can I find Smart Light function that fixes underexposed photos adding brightness?Please help me!

          • G
          • Gary Scholes
          • pJp
          • 01 Dec 2007

          I got this phone yesterday. To begin with i couldn't find anything for it. Then i came across http://www.ku990.co.uk They have a really buzzing forum, loads of wallpapers (babes too) and games. Not to mention tips and tricks.

          I really like the phone, even more now.

            • E
            • ECBomb
            • xIh
            • 01 Dec 2007

            Had this phone for 2 days now and still trying to figure out all the functions/features on this baby~ but just thought I'd mention what I've noticed so far.

            1) To be honest, the battery really isnt that great. I thought it wasnt bad at first, but that was cuz I didnt watch that many videos/use the camera that much. But once there was only 1 bar left, I made 2 phone calls, and 5 minutes later, it just comletely shuts off, so I was unable to call or receive calls for over 30 mins of my drive home.

            2) The colour of the camera is passable, but i thought that it couldve been made a little better, however, it's definitely fun to mess around w/ all the options of the camera and video recorder. I do believe that k850 has the better camera, but this one is still worth it's price tag. The video recording quality is equivelant to DC's and that was really shocking to witness. The 120 fps slowmotion capture is great for craziness w/ frds.

            3) texting is a lot of fun w/ the QWERTY keyboard and handwriting recognition, and also easy to use.

            4) The screen is not as big of a fingerprint magnet as i thought, and seems pretty good when dealing w/ scratches, as i messed up on putting the screen protector, so i need to get another one.

            5) Call quality is very good, I dont understand why a lot of people say they cant hear people or it's laggy. Nothing wrong with my machine.

            As for point #5, I am not sure if it's cuz some of those people w/ the call quality problem have locked phones, but mine is completely unlocked from the start, it's a genuine LG product. =)

            I think the biggest drawback of the Viewty is truly it's battery life and the annoying memory card slot location. Other than that, I dont see why people are trashing it. THIS IS TRULY A MASTERPIECE! not to mention my buddies have all been amazed w/ this product ;)

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • yuW
              • 29 Nov 2007

              I've had this phone for a few hours now, on o2 in the UK with the "lovely" o2-adapted firmware. Here's whats wrong with it and why I hate it:

              1. Phone crashes on camera launch (this problem's specific to my one, o2 sent me a dodgy phone!)

              2. Can't use qwerty keyboard within web browser (not the built in one, and not Opera Mini)

              3. Touch vibration (feedback) can't be enabled when the call alert is set to vibrate

              4. No nav keys during sms/email entry, so to replace a character in the middle of whats already written means either fudging around on the touch screen til the cursor hits the right place, or deleting all from the end and re-writing.

              5. The PC connection software has serious limits.... The phone presents memory card and internal memory completely differently. It restricts what file types can be dragged to what folders on internal memory, and doesn't even show the internal memory's "other" folder, which is meant for odd file types. It also can't install Java apps, meaning you need to download everything you want to install using the phone, and costing loads of money in GPRS data rates.

              6. An accidental press on "exit" when using the qwerty keyboard to enter an SMS gives a prompt saying "save to drafts? yes/no", but there's no cancel option so an accidental click means leaving the screen and re-opening the message from drafts, turning whats usually a one-click operation into a 4 or 5 click annoyance.

              After about 5 hours I can safely say its going back where it came from (if only for the broken camera), I'm 90% certain I'll ask for an N95 as its replacement and I definitely wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.

              Really, to sum up, the phone has all the spec you'll ever need. But the UI, supporting software and some of the functionality seems slap-dash, as if the designers didn't even try using it once they'd finished. Given its data speeds, camera spec, memory et al, under the bonnet its like a Bugatti Veyron. But intead of a steering wheel it has a soggy biscuit that crumbles when you touch it... All that power, and loads of tiny oversights make it nigh-on impossible to get the best out of it. A few more months development work would've seen this be the best phone on the market, but obviously LG aren't Grolsch, as this phone simply isn't ready yet.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • Sas
                • 29 Nov 2007

                With people saying that the 6gb hcsd card works on their phone are they sure they have access to the 6gb or are they limited to the 1.8gb that you would get from a 2gb card as i seem to be having this problem.

                  • x
                  • xaristos
                  • S49
                  • 27 Nov 2007

                  please where can i find the "tv out cable"??? do i have other ways to conect the phone with tv??
                  im from greece thans

                    • z
                    • zinzan66
                    • ww$
                    • 27 Nov 2007

                    can someone please tell me how the battery life is on
                    this phone,have so many people saying it good but then you have
                    the same amount of people saying it is really bad,i know most of the pros and cons of this phone and this to my thinking is the selling point for me.thanks

                      • p
                      • plwh888
                      • PyI
                      • 23 Nov 2007

                      I just got mine last night. I charged it all night and now the battery level is at 2 bars, perhaps I used it too heavily.

                      I never like Touch Screen phone, but this Viewty changed me. It is quite a joy to use this phone. The Fish theme is fun, and all the Googles Apps (Mail, Search, Maps) and YouTube are preinstalled. Although I prefer the Youtube from iPhone which is more nicely integrated.

                      The camera photo quality tend to be a bit on the soft side, need a bit of sharpening, otherwise the color are natural and its a joy to see the good quality photo.

                      Rington is quite loud, you will never miss a call. A2DP to a Sony Ericsson BT Headset works smoothly, but it tend to temporary disconnect/skip when you jerk the phone, but it will connect back quickly.

                      Phonebook at 500 is a bit little for me as I have close to 700 contacts that's because of business associate and overseas offices contact.

                      Voice call quality is not bad, but not as clear as Motorola or Sony Ericsson.

                      PC Suite syncing to Outlook 2003 (in Vista) run into a little problem but I managed to sort it out, and it works fine now.

                      Web Browser is good and able to render most pages correctly.

                      When place face down on the table, a lot of people ask me if that's a Camera or a phone ! LOL !!!

                      I like the Infra Red Light Assist when shooting, it feel very much like a real digital camera. Macro shot is not as good as Sony Ericsson, I think optimized length is more than 10cm, probably 13cm to 15cm.

                      The circular rim enclosing the lens is actually a jog dial, you can use it to zoom or scroll thru options. The Finger Scroll doesnt seem to work in some modules, esp in Music Player mode, it works fine scrolling though normal option though.

                      I like the Digital Clock in the main screen, you can drag the clock to anywhere on the Home Screen which is very cool, the fish theme is just as cool moving towards your finger as you touch the screen.

                      I'm still checking out this baby =)

                      Photos :
                      http://plwh888.livejournal.com/548277.html

                        • R
                        • RK
                        • I7J
                        • 16 Nov 2007

                        8gb hcsd?

                          • B
                          • BAP
                          • j5Q
                          • 16 Nov 2007

                          Has anyone figured out how to get the data/internet to work in the US on the Viewty? I'm using T-Mobile and they told me I won't be able to get data/internet to work in the US.

                            • m
                            • mimstyle
                            • n4J
                            • 15 Nov 2007

                            I got mine yesterday and too happy, yes the 6GB works :D

                              • A
                              • Andrew
                              • LBR
                              • 15 Nov 2007

                              Can someone please tell me how much they paid for their LG KU990, i'll be traveling to the U.S soon and i'd like to get one so anyone... a price check will be nice :-( plzzzzzz

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 0RJ
                                • 14 Nov 2007

                                Got my Viewty. O2 branded, and they have completely customised the firmware, changing alot of the setting/menu's. Personally i don't rate the phone, only 100 calender events and 5 memo's/notes. Plus contact book sucks.

                                Needs a firmware update badly to remove those limits. Also the LG PC software sucks big time. Have nothing compared to Nokia/SE software. Very poorly written. 90% sure i'll be sending mine back for another phone.

                                  • R
                                  • RK
                                  • I7J
                                  • 14 Nov 2007

                                  i saw someone say that a 6GB HDSD worked, can anyone else confirm this for sure? if not, is it likely to be changed so i can with a firmware update or something?

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • nFa
                                    • 12 Nov 2007

                                    there are no stting to remove netwrok name, any other ideas?

                                      • K
                                      • Kate
                                      • myN
                                      • 11 Nov 2007

                                      I got this phone on friday and really like it I think its hard to text on but maybe Ill get used to it..

                                      the camera is really good and some of the features are really good ..

                                        • m
                                        • mimstyle
                                        • n4J
                                        • 11 Nov 2007


                                        Settings --> View --> Network Name --> Disable