LG P7200 Phone Review (non 3G)

Is 2006 shaping up to be the year that LG finally comes of age in the UK mobile phone arena? Signs are certainly pointing towards the Korean manufacturer finally making an impact. For so long now it’s been maligned for lacking any innovation or originality in its handset design, having fallen behind its rivals in the desirability stakes.

But recent talk emanating from the LG camp is of design-led ‘hero’ handsets, and last month the first fruit from this new plan revealed itself in the form of the slinky U880 clamshell. This handset managed to cram 3G technology into a slimline chassis that didn’t pinch design leads from other manufacturers. Taking this new design vigour on board, LG has turned its attention to its 2.5G portfolio and fashioned its flagship model, the P7200.

Many of you will look at this new phone and detect some outside influences. Where the U880 had some originality, the P7200’s front fascia design is an amalgamation of its aforementioned 3G brother and Motorola’s RAZR V3. The similarities to its Moto rival aren’t outrageous but enough to be recognisable. However, the magpie tendencies don’t stop there, as LG has also pilfered the nickel-engineered keypad design and reworked it – albeit successfully.

But we’ll let the manufacturer off these design ‘influences’ because the P7200 is actually an accomplished and feature-rich 2.5G handset. In spite of its solid build (the only slightly moving part is the front fascia attachment to the swivel hinge), LG has adopted soft-touch materials for a more tactile feel. Like its 3G relative, the U880, it’s also nice and trim (measuring 17mm deep) but obviously isn’t as gossamer as the RAZR V3.

The RAZR-esque keypad is, as with all LG phones, geared towards shortcuts. While this obviously gives you instant access to a wider variety of functions, LG has seemingly nominated superfluous features that cramp the keypad even further.

For example, a prominent key has been dedicated to access the calendar; fine, but frankly the organiser is a secondary feature and this just adds to the congested layout. You do get shortcuts to your address book, favourite functions, message inbox, profiles and multimedia options.

Once you get used to the keypad’s idiosyncrasies (sometimes you have to press down quite hard to get a reaction) it’s very easy to use, although our fat-fingered friends might struggle with the closely related key positions.

The P7200’s main attraction is the two-megapixel camera with autofocus. Primed with a sizeable lens that looks impressive on the back of the phone, it gives the impression of a standalone digital camera. So much so that LG has embraced the dual-front technique for operating the camera. The P7200 also implements the 180° swivel display to transform the screen into the camera viewfinder. Twist the display into place and the camera automatically activates. If you’re not comfortable operating the shutterbug in this pose, you can use the dedicated camera button to fire up the camera and take snaps in the standard, open clamshell position.

The P7200 shoots pics at maximum resolution of 1600x1200 pixels and allows you to modify the setting while in capture mode, using the volume switch in the bottom and the top shutter key to navigate through the on-screen menu. This method can be fiddly and slow so it’s best to prepare the settings in advance. As with all good camera phones, you are offered a host of modes from white balance, brightness, metering, autofocus, flash, scene (portrait, landscape, night) and black and white, sepia and negative effects. Once everything is in place, the picture performance is first-rate, with the photos demonstrating a keen sense of detail and focus. Colours were good and it proved accomplished in Night mode. The autofocus also works well but you must keep the phone steady after initiating the shutter button while the feature works its magic. It only takes a few seconds. You can then choose to save your snaps to the limited internal memory or to an optional TransFlash memory card.

Judging by the music player controls decorating the front fascia, the P7200’s other main focus is digital music. Like the U880 it spins a variety of file formats and you can access and operate the music player without flipping open the phone. The phone is also supplied with a 3.5mm headphone jack adapter and remote control. While the bundled stereo earphones aren’t too bad, you’re going to need to plug in your superior quality cans. Use something like a pair of closed Sennheiser PX200 and you will hear the difference in quality, with bass rumbles given more depth and vocals enhanced. You can also tamper with the fidelity by using the equaliser presets like rock, bass, classical and jazz, although the one gripe is that its volume doesn’t have enough punch.

LG hasn’t quite reached ‘hero’ status with its new breed of handsets but the U880 and the P7200 certainly prove it’s on the right track. Anyone in the market for a 2.5G high-end camera phone won’t feel let down by the classy P7200.

This review covers the above mobile phone only and does not address the performance of any 3G Network. The score is based on a 3G mobile phone checklist.

Copyright : You are advised that this material is the copyright of www.3G.co.uk and is our own personal view only. (C) All rights reserved 2005. Whist every care has been taken in the preparation of this review, the author nor 3G.co.uk cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or authenticity of the information it contains, or consequence arising from it.