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LG Cookie KP500
I was completely taken aback when I saw the box with the pricing of this touch screen handset the LG KP500 cookie - Rs. 13,990. It amazed me that a large screen touch sensitive handset would cost so little. This could well be the cheapest totally touch screen handset on the Indian market, but what I’m sure you'd need to know is if it's still worth even that price. Let me clue you in this entry level touch screen handset.
Form Factor
The KP500 has a large 3-inch TFT touch screen display featuring a 240 x 400 pixel, 256K color resolution. Just under the display are a set of 3 keys – Call take, end and a center shortcut menu key that can also be used as a sort of 'End task - Task Manager' option to close all active applications. The stylus is neatly concealed and located at the bottom but slides out from the side.
This extremely slim handset (11.9mm) has a microSD card slot on one side followed by a screen lock key and a dedicated camera key located below that. On the opposite side is where you’ll find a proprietary port for the handsfree, charger and USB and volume/zoom keys. A 3 megapixel camera is located at the rear. That's pretty much it for the design; it's simple, slim and quite stylish. Here's how it does in functionality.
Features and Performance
Interface
Running on a Flash UI the KP500’s touch screen functionality is a bit erratic most of the time. Then again there have been times that it's been an absolute pleasure to use. Hence erratic is as accurate a term as any. The handwriting recognition would rival any Windows Mobile device and probably end up being better. The accelerometer is possibly the worst there is though and saying this was erratic would be an understatement. Nevertheless the KP500 sports a QWERTY style virtual keyboard when in landscape that is quite responsive and easy to manage.
The desktop or rather 'desktops' are well designed with a widget pop out feature not unlike the Samsung F480's or the Omnia's . You can choose what shortcuts of your choice and also drop them onto the desktop. By flicking this desktop to the side a new one swivels around. This desktop is designed specifically for quick dialing. The widget section can store up to 8 contacts, which can of course be dropped onto the desktop. Honestly, an integration of both would have been better (one would be completely unnecessary). But it does add a certain personal feel to have two unique desktops. The flicking feature is also evident for viewing images.
The menu set up is a neat division of features according to functionality. I quite like this. It's all very easily usable with just your fingers rendering the stylus redundant most of the time. The only time the stylus is handy is for drawing, handwriting as an option for writing messages and the browser that sometimes makes it a bit tricky selecting options or links from the screen.
There are times when the navigation can get quite frustrating if you're using your fingers. Scrolling can sometimes be an issue as the sensitivity is not consistent and trying to insert a contact into a message is a bit off too.
Regular Features
All standard features are available – Calendar, Memo, To Do, Alarm clock, calculator, Stopwatch, converter etc. nothing missing for regular usage and mundane everyday requirements. A Data Wallet application is also included to protect any of your personal data with password. It also has a document reader that is capable of reading all MS Office file formats including .ODF files and .PPT.
Multimedia Features
The multimedia capabilities of the handset are quite good except for the video player that for some reason refused to utilize the large screen's potential no matter what aspect ratio I converted files to (16:9 widescreen included). If the file is already in a widescreen format then it will play back inside a black frame. Hopefully it’s a glitch in this test piece and you won’t have the problem with an off-the-shelf handset. There are no settings to stretch the video but there are quite a few options to edit the file.
The audio player is great with a decent bass line, but the highs tend to be a bit on the bright side and the lack of a customizable EQ does not help. The few presets do tend to make a slight difference so all in all, the music player is just ok. The handsfree earphones should have come with a set of sponge covers. This would make them comfortable as well as help secure them in your ears a little better. The KP500's FM radio was actually quite good. It took just 11 seconds to find and preset all the available stations and reception was also very decent even on the commute. A voice recorder is also present as a standalone application. It supports MP3, WMA and AAC formats for audio and MPEG4 and 3GP for video. The speaker phone is loud and clear.
LG has also included a few touch sensitive games like Wheel Mania, Flying Dices that can be used in lieu of real dice if you were playing a board game that required their use, and the Pipe game that use not only the touch sensitive display as well as the accelerometer. Thomson’s and Touch multi-games are also present. This is where you’ll get a really good feel of the touch sensitivity of the screen and honestly, the only one that comes to mind is… yup you guess it… erratic. The sensitivity is just not consistent.
What also makes this handset so interesting is all the editing software bundled into the works. It has tons of options for editing and creating videos as well as editing images. It even has a Muvee Editor application specifically designed for creating slideshow presentations. I couldn't seem to load a movie file (.3GP) into this application. Nevertheless, the KP500 is a fun phone with plenty of gimmicks top play round with.
Connectivity
The KP500 is equipped for GPRS and EDGE of course as well as Bluetooth with an A2DP profile. You can also set up your IMAP and POP3 email accounts on the handset but if you've never don it before you'll need to contact your service provider to give you a hand.
The browser doesn't seem to support HTML web pages too well and like I mentioned earlier, it's not very easy using the pages without a stylus as selection can sometimes be very painful. On the plus side the browser is simple to use and also allows you to open multiple pages at a time.
Camera
The 3 megapixel camera does not employ autofocus technology. It's strictly point and shoot. It has limited features that include White Balance and Exposure Compensation.
In well lit areas the images were quite ok but not ion low light or cloudy conditions.
Well Lit
Low Lit, Cloudy
Again, in well lit areas even portraits don't look too bad.
Battery
Battery life of the KP500 is one of the better features of the handset. I used the handset for a total period of 3 days without having to charge the battery with average use of calls, messages, music and surfing the net. It raked in a total talk time of 3 hours and about 40 minutes with the battery saver mode activated. I was impressed.
The Bottom Line
With a brilliant pricing of Rs. 13,990 it is quite a large touch screen for that price and on the whole even with all it’s oddities and quirks, it’s still quite a pretty decent handset. It's loaded with multimedia features for editing videos and images alike so there's plenty to do and keep you occupied. It's worth a consideration but I'll leave you with this, it will take a little getting used to, so give it some time, it could grow on you.
Form Factor
The KP500 has a large 3-inch TFT touch screen display featuring a 240 x 400 pixel, 256K color resolution. Just under the display are a set of 3 keys – Call take, end and a center shortcut menu key that can also be used as a sort of 'End task - Task Manager' option to close all active applications. The stylus is neatly concealed and located at the bottom but slides out from the side.
This extremely slim handset (11.9mm) has a microSD card slot on one side followed by a screen lock key and a dedicated camera key located below that. On the opposite side is where you’ll find a proprietary port for the handsfree, charger and USB and volume/zoom keys. A 3 megapixel camera is located at the rear. That's pretty much it for the design; it's simple, slim and quite stylish. Here's how it does in functionality.
Features and Performance
Interface
Running on a Flash UI the KP500’s touch screen functionality is a bit erratic most of the time. Then again there have been times that it's been an absolute pleasure to use. Hence erratic is as accurate a term as any. The handwriting recognition would rival any Windows Mobile device and probably end up being better. The accelerometer is possibly the worst there is though and saying this was erratic would be an understatement. Nevertheless the KP500 sports a QWERTY style virtual keyboard when in landscape that is quite responsive and easy to manage.
The desktop or rather 'desktops' are well designed with a widget pop out feature not unlike the Samsung F480's or the Omnia's . You can choose what shortcuts of your choice and also drop them onto the desktop. By flicking this desktop to the side a new one swivels around. This desktop is designed specifically for quick dialing. The widget section can store up to 8 contacts, which can of course be dropped onto the desktop. Honestly, an integration of both would have been better (one would be completely unnecessary). But it does add a certain personal feel to have two unique desktops. The flicking feature is also evident for viewing images.
The menu set up is a neat division of features according to functionality. I quite like this. It's all very easily usable with just your fingers rendering the stylus redundant most of the time. The only time the stylus is handy is for drawing, handwriting as an option for writing messages and the browser that sometimes makes it a bit tricky selecting options or links from the screen.
There are times when the navigation can get quite frustrating if you're using your fingers. Scrolling can sometimes be an issue as the sensitivity is not consistent and trying to insert a contact into a message is a bit off too.
Regular Features
All standard features are available – Calendar, Memo, To Do, Alarm clock, calculator, Stopwatch, converter etc. nothing missing for regular usage and mundane everyday requirements. A Data Wallet application is also included to protect any of your personal data with password. It also has a document reader that is capable of reading all MS Office file formats including .ODF files and .PPT.
Multimedia Features
The multimedia capabilities of the handset are quite good except for the video player that for some reason refused to utilize the large screen's potential no matter what aspect ratio I converted files to (16:9 widescreen included). If the file is already in a widescreen format then it will play back inside a black frame. Hopefully it’s a glitch in this test piece and you won’t have the problem with an off-the-shelf handset. There are no settings to stretch the video but there are quite a few options to edit the file.
The audio player is great with a decent bass line, but the highs tend to be a bit on the bright side and the lack of a customizable EQ does not help. The few presets do tend to make a slight difference so all in all, the music player is just ok. The handsfree earphones should have come with a set of sponge covers. This would make them comfortable as well as help secure them in your ears a little better. The KP500's FM radio was actually quite good. It took just 11 seconds to find and preset all the available stations and reception was also very decent even on the commute. A voice recorder is also present as a standalone application. It supports MP3, WMA and AAC formats for audio and MPEG4 and 3GP for video. The speaker phone is loud and clear.
LG has also included a few touch sensitive games like Wheel Mania, Flying Dices that can be used in lieu of real dice if you were playing a board game that required their use, and the Pipe game that use not only the touch sensitive display as well as the accelerometer. Thomson’s and Touch multi-games are also present. This is where you’ll get a really good feel of the touch sensitivity of the screen and honestly, the only one that comes to mind is… yup you guess it… erratic. The sensitivity is just not consistent.
What also makes this handset so interesting is all the editing software bundled into the works. It has tons of options for editing and creating videos as well as editing images. It even has a Muvee Editor application specifically designed for creating slideshow presentations. I couldn't seem to load a movie file (.3GP) into this application. Nevertheless, the KP500 is a fun phone with plenty of gimmicks top play round with.
Connectivity
The KP500 is equipped for GPRS and EDGE of course as well as Bluetooth with an A2DP profile. You can also set up your IMAP and POP3 email accounts on the handset but if you've never don it before you'll need to contact your service provider to give you a hand.
The browser doesn't seem to support HTML web pages too well and like I mentioned earlier, it's not very easy using the pages without a stylus as selection can sometimes be very painful. On the plus side the browser is simple to use and also allows you to open multiple pages at a time.
Camera
The 3 megapixel camera does not employ autofocus technology. It's strictly point and shoot. It has limited features that include White Balance and Exposure Compensation.
In well lit areas the images were quite ok but not ion low light or cloudy conditions.
Well Lit
Low Lit, Cloudy
Battery life of the KP500 is one of the better features of the handset. I used the handset for a total period of 3 days without having to charge the battery with average use of calls, messages, music and surfing the net. It raked in a total talk time of 3 hours and about 40 minutes with the battery saver mode activated. I was impressed.
The Bottom Line
With a brilliant pricing of Rs. 13,990 it is quite a large touch screen for that price and on the whole even with all it’s oddities and quirks, it’s still quite a pretty decent handset. It's loaded with multimedia features for editing videos and images alike so there's plenty to do and keep you occupied. It's worth a consideration but I'll leave you with this, it will take a little getting used to, so give it some time, it could grow on you.
Specs
LG KP500 Cookie | |
| Network | GSM 850/900/1800/1900, EDGE |
| Physical | 106/5 x 55.4 x 11.9 mm, 89g |
| Display | 240 x 400, 256k colors, TFT Touchscreen, 3.0 inches |
| Memory | 48MB internal, microSD external (1GB included) |
| Media | MP3, AAC, WMA, 3GP, MPEG4, Voice Recorder, FM radio, Video and image editors |
| Camera | 3 megapixel |
| Connectivity | USB v2.0, Bluetooth with A2DP |
| Battery | 350 hrs standby, 3 hrs 40 mins talktime |
| MRP | Rs. 13,990 |