LG GT505

Full Review

The LG GT505 is one of the latest LG phones to hit the market and is a feature-rich touchscreen phone that does most things well.

Features

The GT505 doesn’t hold back anything when it comes to connectivity features. As a result, it supports both Wi-Fi and 3G and provides GPS facility through the WisePilot software. Also, the phone uses a microUSB port to connect to the PC or to plug in earphones. The GT505 has a 3 inch screen that pumps out 256K colors at a resolution of 240x400. The phone has 60MB of internal memory expandable up to 8GB using a microSD card. The phone also has a 5MP camera with an LED flash and is capable of recording videos at QVGA (320x240) resolution.

The LG GT505 isn’t a phone that sports a flashy design like the LG GD900 Crystal but rather revels in its simple, sleek design.

Design & Usability

The LG GT505 isn’t a phone that sports a flashy design like the LG GD900 Crystal but rather revels in its simple, sleek design. Although the body uses only plastic, the build quality is solid and there is no unwanted shaking. Also the hardware buttons are smartly placed and are easy to use and access. The phone’s back also maintains the simple design and is plain apart from the camera and the flash. The GT505’s screen is large and looks decent too. However, like other phones at this price-point, the screen is difficult to use under direct sunlight.

The LG uses the same S-Class UI found in the Cookie and the GW525. However, it works much better here than in those phones. The GT505’s processor seems to be powerful enough to keep things breezy and unlike the GW525, there isn’t a delay when accessing menus and applications. The phone offers two home screens, one which can be customized to add various shortcuts and widgets and another to add your favorite contacts. The main menu is also identical to the one found on the Cookie and the GW525 and is neatly organized. Typing using the GT505’s virtual keypad is also a fair experience. You can maintain accuracy by typing a bit slowly but that reduces if you try to increase your typing speed. However, in no way is the touch interface unusable and I thought the entire experience was good.

The LG’s browser was not very good and had problem rendering pages. However, it responded to the touch interface well and again fared better than the other LG phones. One major shortcoming that the GT505 faces, along with other LG phones that use the proprietary OS is the lack of useful apps dedicated to the phone. Especially when you consider the way Apple’s app store and Android Market (and to a smaller extent Windows Marketplace) have shaped up, the GT505 unfortunately does not offer users as many choices.

Multimedia

My expectations from the GT505 as per multimedia performance were quite high because of its 5MP camera. However, the phone’s imaging performance itself is average. The main problem was the lack of details in the images we shot. Also, the camera had problems focusing and that resulted in poor close-up shots. The good points were that the images were noise-free and the camera’s color reproduction was neither dull nor oversaturated. The video recording on the other hand was poor. The video we shot was noisy, pixilated and the playback had very poor frame-rates.

The GT505’s audio playback is fair and reproduces highs and mids well. However, volume is low and the bass doesn’t sound tight enough. Also, the headphones aren’t that great which is unfortunate considering the fact that the GT505 doesn’t have a 3.5mm jack.

Bottom Line

The LG GT505 is priced at Rs. 10,800 and considering the features it offers and its good design and UI, the price-tag is quite justified.