When it comes to cameraphones, 5 megapixels sounds like a lot, and usually, it is. They tend to be reserved for high-end, do-everything devices with high-end prices to match.

But LG has taken the unusual step of putting a 5-megapixel camera into a phone that in other respects is really a low-to-midrange handset.

It makes sense when you think about it, if you're particularly interested in getting a camera with your phone, do you necessarily care about GPS, Wi-Fi, touchscreens or 3G?

If not, it's just as well, 'cos the KC550 has none of those.

Skindeep beauty

What it does have however, is a neat look. It's a glossy black slider with a large 2.4in 320x240 pixel screen - and that long lens cover on the back tells you that it's got something special hidden under it.

Pick it up however and the classy impression soon dissipates as it feels a bit cheap, with creaky plastic casing and a slide that rattles when you move it.

The keypad feels a bit spongily unresponsive too and the flush keys aren't particularly easy to find with your thumb. So that's where some of the savings have come from then.

The screen itself however is quite good – bright and clear with a useful numeric menu system that allows you to choose options by pressing a key rather than scrolling with the cheap and clicky D-pad.

Speedy snaps

And speaking of menus, the first item you're likely to click on is that 5-megapixel camera.

You can also get into it simply by sliding back the outsize lens cover (it's about three-quarters of the length of the phone) exposing the Schneider-Kreuznach 'certified' lens.

Happily, unlike some other fancy cameras on phones, the KC550's is a practical affair, up and running from a standing start in less than three seconds – so quick snaps are feasible.

The navigation D-pad takes on a different role in camera mode, offering four shortcuts to macro mode, anti-shake, flash and picture gallery – all very useful to have at your thumbtip.

The volume controls on the side switch to zoom controls, which feels natural, and there's an LED photolight rather than a proper xenon flash, and as usual this only really works if you're very close to your subject.

Disappointing picture quality

Photos were okay, but to be honest not as good as we'd hoped from a 5-megapixel camera.

The colour balance often needed some playing with rather than relying on the auto settings and the level of detail didn't match up to the results we've encountered on other cameraphones with a similar spec.

It may have the megapixels, it may have a fancy name on the lens, but it's definitely not in the same league as Nokia's Nseries or Sony Ericsson's Cyber-shot lovelies.

Camera features

There are at least plenty of settings to play with. There's a self-timer and burst mode which will take up to nine pics in quick succession, and a range of ISO (light sensitivity) settings ranging from 800 for dark situations up to 80 for good light. There's no face detection though.

After you've taken your pics there's a range of editing options including rotate, resize, crop, add frames and text plus the Muvee application that turns your pics into a spinning, morphing slideshow.

Video, however, turned out to be better than we expected, offering 30 frames per second at 720x480 pixels.

Most cameraphones seem to treat video as an afterthought, with 15fps and 320x240 pixels the norm, so the extra resolution is welcome - though we found our films could be a little jerkier than we'd have liked, despite the presence of an image stabiliser on board.