Update: now read our LG Intouch Max review
LG announced its new Android phone, the GW620, a few weeks ago and we got some hands on time with the little handset.
Basically an evolution of LG's QWERTY messaging phones, the GW620 looks a little bit like a slimmed down version of Motorola's Dext phone, with similar functionality too.
The phone is slim to hold in the hand, with a full slide out QWERTY keyboard. A 5MP camera sits on the back (with single LED flash), with the unit coming in with dimensions of 106 x 55 x 12 mm, which it pretty impressive when you consider it has a 3-inch screen and a slide out keyboard.
Behind the slide out section, there's an opening for a microSD card, and the up/down rocker switch too, with the microUSB and camera shutter buttons hidden around the edge for good measure too.
It fits nicely in the hand when in portrait mode - but the bad news is the screen is only resistive, meaning that scrolling and tapping our way through was a lot less intuitive that other Android phones.
It's the first Android phone to be this way (we think) and we can only hope that the cut in hardware is reflected in the final price.
Button wise - when the phone has the keyboard folded away - things are pretty limited on the front, with a menu, back and terminate button the only options to play with.
The interface is an odd fusion between LG's S-Class and the vanilla Android system - the menu is arranged in a way where the icons are grouped together rather than in the normal 'massive list of everything' version coined by Apple.
It mimics the S-Class interface in this respect, with a similar method employed on the likes of the new LG Chocolate BL40 and BL20 phones.
The same S-Class options are employed on the front home screen as well - instead of scrolling left and right to access new screens, you now get that 'spinning' cube interface for each new set of icons, which is a little cumbersome.
Another nice touch is the presence of Facebook and Twitter baked right into the handset - send messages from your social networks right from the phone, something that's becoming increasingly popular on today's handsets (especially those based on Android).
Media is laid out in a similar way to Motorola's Dext phone as well - in fact it's identical, so we're wondering if this is some kind of interface buried deep within Android that only Motorola and LG have managed to unearth.
Although pretty superfluous, the 'cradled' interface looks pretty snazzy, and that's important if Android is to go from geeky to mainstream.
The phone we tried was very slow and sluggish, with touch inputs not overly keen to respond - LG told us this was a pre-production unit but it was a bit worrying at how slow it was.
Anyway, it's coming soon and should be landing in Q1 of next year.
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