LG GC900-Design & Construction
Apart from the fact that both the Viewty and the Viewty Smart have large touchscreens hogging all the space on the front, both the phones have nothing else in common as far as the design is concerned. Where the original Viewty had an all black, stealth bomber kind of design, the Viewty Smart takes on a more stylish approach with glossy chrome and a champagne gold rear cover with a brushed metal finish.
The front side is mostly occupied by the large glossy 3.0″ display. Above and below are two chrome bars. While the one above is just ornamental the one below actually has button in its centre. The Viewty Smart loses the three keys below the display that have been gracing LG touchscreen phones since the original Viewty. Instead there is now just a solitary ‘Back’ key that takes you to the home screen, much like the Home button on the iPhone.
Also, above the display is the video call camera, the proximity sensor, the light sensor and the call speaker, which also works as the loudspeaker.
On the right side of the phone is the LG proprietary port that is used to connect everything from the charger to the headset, data cable and the TV-out cable. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack, which is annoying, as you then have to depend on the provided adaptor cable for using your own headphones with the phone.
Below the port are the volume control keys. The keys are a bit too flush and are sometimes hard to press as your fingers cannot exactly locate the keys, which can be annoying when you want to reduce the volume quickly. Below the volume keys is the camera shutter key.
On the left side of the phone is the microSD card slot on the top. The slot can accept up to a 16GB card and the phone comes with an 8GB card as standard. The phone itself has around 1.5GB of memory built-in, so overall you have a healthy amount of space to begin with. The shortcut button for choosing between the four home screens lies below.
On the top side of the phone is the Power key. When pressed briefly it also acts as the lock key. On the left side is the lanyard loop hole. At the bottom of the phone is the microphone.
Turning the phone around you can see the large camera lens on the top. Just like the previous Viewty the Viewty Smart does not have a lens cover but it also loses the rotating zoom mechanism. A small LED flash also lies below the lens. The battery cover is a simple sliding type and opens and closes easily.
I was really impressed by the design of the Viewty Smart. It is simple yet beautiful. The tapering edges also make the phone great to hold. The phone is also pretty slim and surprisingly light, which makes carrying it around in your pocket much easier. The phone is entirely made of plastic and there is no metal, unlike the original Viewty which had a metal battery cover. But despite that the phone is pretty solidly built and does not creak or groan when held in the hand.
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· Tags: Construction, Design, LG GC900
