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The LG Cookie Fresh GS290 camera is also likely to be a disappointment if you are in any way a fan of mobile phone photography. Its 2MP shooting resolution is really below what we'd call entry level these days, and with no flash it's not particularly good at indoors shots either.
Still, that doesn't mean you can't take a usable shot, as long as your ambitions are modest.
A side button launches the shooter, and you've a number of modes to play with. A multi-shot mode will capture three, six or nine images in quick succession and you can opt for Sepia, Negative or Black and white colour filters.
There are white balance settings for the familiar range of Incandescent, Sunny, Fluorescent and Cloudy conditions as well as an Auto setting.
Once you've taken a photo you can add text, stamps and drawings made onto the screen right onto it, fiddle with its contrast, colour saturation, hue and more. Plus you can add filter effects such as blurring, embossing, and make it look like a cartoon.
These effects are actually rather fun, but we wish more options had been given to the camera itself.
OUTDOORS: On a bright, sunny day the LG Cookie Fresh GS290 worked well enough to let us capture information board details
LANDSCAPE: The camera was not so good at this landscape shot. London looms between the trees, but the extra bright sunshine of the day was too much for the camera to cope with and there's a lack of detail
DETAIL: Closer in, just as with the information board, the camera captured what we wanted of it.
CLOSE UP: Although it has no autofocus and no macro mode the LG Cookie Fresh GS290 camera did a fairly good job close up. The detail here is not too bad, and even the colour reproduction is close. We've seen a lot worse.
INDOORS: The lighting conditions for this photo were not poor, but the image is dark. We took the photo during the day. By evening our shots became grainy and unsatisfactory.
Video shooting is woeful with just two resolutions on offer – 320 x 240 and 176 x 144. It's best left alone unless you're desperate to capture a memory.
