LG KS20 review

LG KS20

enrich mobile internet experience

R.P.: S$868

Promo: S$298 (with 2 years Singtel high-end mobile contract)

VISIT OFFICIAL FLASH SITE
VISIT OFFICIAL LG KS20 SITE

First, they gave us the LG Prada phone, then they gave us LG Viewty, now Life's Good bring us "LG KS20". The LG KS20 is a minimal design form, sleek-looking 12.8mm thick, pitch black fashion PDA/mobile phone powered by Microsoft Windows™ Mobile 6. This Broadband on Mobile Internet (3.5G) device is capable of video streaming and Push Email, on a large comfortable viewing 2.8-inch touchscreen with Intuitive Touch Input and Natural Handwriting Recognition. The KS20 allows connectivity via Wifi and Bluetooth v2.0. The Mobile UI can be customized to suit your style. KS20 is also equipped with a 2-megapixel camera with autofocus and a bright LED photolight. The 128mb internal memory can be expanded to 2GB with micro SD card for storage of multimedia files (videos and MP3) and playback on Microsoft Windows™ Mediaplayer. Apart from the pre-installed standard software package inclusive of Microsoft Office™ Mobile, other Pocket PC applications can be installed to enhance your mobile computing experience. If you prefer to keep it simple, the bulit-in FM radio might just be sufficient to keep you smiling.

KS20 Packaging

The LG KS20 box comes with a sleeve with the prints. The box itself is a hard and tough paper box with a checkered texture. The flap of the box closes with magnets embedded in the paper. Flipping the flap of the box up reveals a striking red surface and a black card covering main contents. The black card has a window that reveals the KS20.

The Accessories

LG KS20 PDA/mobile phone with battery, user guide, retractable stylus, usb data cable, earphones (connects to handsfree cable), handsfree cable (not shown; connects to KS20), charger, micro SD with adaptor, leather case, Getting Started CD-Rom, warranty card.

For the promo which I got, I had a free desktop charger and a spare battery.

SPECIFICATIONS

Network

Type: GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) UMTS European/Asian 3G (2100 MHz)
Data: GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA 1.8 Mbit/s/HSDPA 3.6 Mbit/s
3G Capable: Yes
Size
Dimensions: 99.8 x 58 x 12.8 mm
Weight: 92.5 g
Battery
Type: Li - Polymer, 1050 mAh
Talk: 4 hours ( 240 mins) of Talk time
Standby: 400 hours ( 17 days) of Stand-by time
Main Display
Resolution: 240 x 320 pixels
Type: 262 144 colors, TFT
Dimension: 2.8 inches
Touch Screen: Yes with stylus and handwriting recognition
Camera
Resolution: 2.0 megapixels Resolution (1600x1200)
Video: Yes
Features: Flash, 4x Digital zoom, Auto-Focus

Secondary Camera: VGA camera for video calling
Multimedia
Video Playback: H263, H264, MPEG 4, 3GP formats supported , Windows Media Player
Music Player: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA formats supported
FM Radio: Yes with RDS
Memory

Processor: 400 MHz Qualcomm processor
Memory Slot: micro-SD (up to 2GB)
Smartphone
OS: Microsoft Windows™ Mobile 6.0 Professional for Pocket PCs
Memory: 256 MB ROM, 128 MB RAM
Connectivity
Internet: Internet Explorer Mobile
USB: Yes
WiFi: 802.11b / 802.11g
Bluetooth: 2.0
Connectors: Proprietary
Other Features
PhoneBook: capacity depends on system memory, Multiple Numbers Per Contact, Picture ID, Ring ID
PIM: Alarm, Calendar, Calculator, TO-DO, Notes
Voice: Recording, Speaker Phone
Email: IMAP / POP3 / SMTP

The KS20 Gallery

Physical Profile

The left side of the KS20 reveals the strap eyelet, charger/cable/handsfree connector, up & down side keys, stylus in stylus slot. The right side of KS20 reveals the power key, micro SD card slot, internet explorer and camera buttons. The bottom side is where the battery release button is found. On the front face of the KS20 is the Send key, 4-way navigation joystick, End key, 2.8-inch touchscreen speaker/earpiece and secondary camera.

Form-Factor Comparison

Comparing the form of the LG KS20 to my previous PDA which is a PalmOne Tungsten T5. Comparing the KS20 to one of my clam-shell mobile phone Panasonic VS2. Comparing the KS20 to my iPod mini 2G. Comparing the KS20 to my present compact Canon Digital IXUS40. Comparing the KS20 to a card.

My Take on LG KS20

I was recently looking into changing my mobile phone since I had a high-end contract up. I had always wanted to get myself a PDA phone to replace my PalmOne Tungsten T5. I needed a PDA to do my spreadsheets anytime on-the-go to manage my finance records. At this present age and time, form-factor is critical. Hence, carrying my Tungsten T5 and my SE k770i around is getting rather cumbersome. I would love to combine both devices together. I was looking at two models, LG KS20 and HTC Touch Dual. There were plenty of mixed reviews on both devices. But I decided to go for the LG KS20 instead of the HTC Touch Dual.

Negative Comments
One of the main negative comment of the KS20 is the poor sensitivity of the touch screen, which I beg to differ. After testing out the KS20, I was convinced that there is nothing wrong with the touchscreen. In fact, the lesser sensitivity allows user to slider their fingers or stylus across the screen without accidental activation/selection, before depressing very gently for activation/selection. Tapping gently with finger or stylus can easily for activation/selection. Most importantly, users worry too much about putting too much pressure on the screen. The screen is very durable and it is all about getting used to the sensitivity.

Another negative comment is the lack of Chinese support in Microsoft Windows™ Mobile 6 powered devices, however, HTC Touch devices come bundled with a Chinese software "CE-Star". LG has not included any Chinese support software with the KS20. I am not to particular about Chinese input and display, but my mum usually send me texts in Chinese. Without any Chinese support software, Chinese texts cannot be displayed.

UPDATED 18th April 2008: Nevertheless, thanks to ber, I have managed to do a simple tweak of the registry and managed to get my KS20 display and write in Chinese for FREE! There is no need to even install any software like CE-Star.

One negative point which I realised is the rather small touchscreen compared to HTC devices or even the iPhone. The virtual QWERTY keyboard is so small that my big fingers always miss the right key. I can only accurately point the key using the stylus or scribble using the transcriber. The text recognition transcriber recognises natural keystrokes like my Tungsten T5, hence my learning curve is minimum. That makes a single-handed messaging operation rather tough and thus I will have to wield the stylus most of the time.

Another negative point is the inferior speaker which is the same as the earpiece. The audio playback through the small speaker can result in slight fuzzy sounds which cracks gently with high bass and treble.

I personally dislike using the handsfree with earpiece since I will have to connect through the proprietary port which is covered by a soft plastic cover and hangs on its frail soft plastic hinge.

POSITIVE POINTS
The good points of the LG KS20 which I must emphasize are the small form-factor, fast processor, light-weight and sleek design. The music and video playback is smooth on the Windows Media Player. The Microsoft Windows Mobile™ 6 OS comes with Microsoft Office™ Mobile pre-installed. The marketing people in Korea has done a great job at designing the packaging of the LG KS20. The hard leather case is well-designed such that the front keys will never be accidentally activated and magnetic flap closes the case together. The 2-megapixel fares surprisingly well and comes equipped with photo light which serves as a mini torchlight for some. It is also not necessary to buy a screen protector, the default screen protector is quite resistant to scratches from scribbling with the stylus and oily smudges can be easily wiped with a facial tissue. When the KS20 leaves the box for the first time, it is well protected with protective stickers/filmsI have left the protector stickers on the rear in this shoot to protect the rear. The ringtone is relatively loud but as I have mentioned earlier fuzzy at maximum volume. Most importantly, the vibration is very strong.

Though the HTC Touch Dual has a slide-out numeric keypad, bundled Chinese software and at a slightly cheaper price, not having WLAN/WIFI and camera flash puts the LG KS20 ahead of the competition. I have also chosen the LG KS20 over the LG Viewty because the Viewty is more dedicated towards its camera functionality but also lacks WLAN/WIFI. I believe that I have made my best choice getting the LG KS20. It is truely a device where "Style meets Functionality"!

DISCLAIMER

Please respect the copyrights of the photographs and content in this post. Please support my work by linking back to this post via this address: http://mybearbrick.blogspot.com/2008/04/lg-ks20-review.html

technorati tags

Singapore mobile phone phone PDA phone Windows Mobile Microsoft Windows Mobile LG Life's Good KS20 LG KS20 cool devices review