LG Cookie Gig KM570 Review

Things used to be much easier in our line of business several years ago. The music-oriented models were pretty easy to pinpoint, because they featured 3.5mm headphone jack (unless made by Sony Ericsson), increased amount of memory and powerful loudspeakers. Today, devices with such specifications are a dime a dozen and we need to know the device name to properly recognize what segment of the market it's aimed at. Judging by the name LG Cookie Gig KM570 (in different countries it might have a different name, like LG Cookie Music KM570, for example), we're definitely talking about a handset targeted at melomaniacs. The handset is also in line with said requirements, i.e. it's equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack, 4GB built-in memory and loudspeaker that is... well, we'll tell you about it later.

Let's first pay attention to the overall look of the handset. The LG Cookie Gig KM570 reminds us of the ARENA KM900, one of the high-end models of the company for 2009. The Gig is a member of the affordable Cookie series and the manufacturer has compromised with certain features to slash on costs. First, the body is made from plastic and not metal. The materials are not bad really, but the back of the device doesn't feature a rugged pattern and the KM570 can slip out of your hand easily. Other than that, it's quite light-weighted and we didn't even notice carrying it about in a shirt pocket.

The second sacrifice that has been made in order to keep the LG Cookie Gig KM570 affordable affects the screen. It measures 3 inches, which is good, but its resolution is WQVGA and not WVGA as in the case of the ARENA KM900. Still, the image quality is not bad and we can live with it. The display, however, utilizes resistive technology and this is a bitter pill to swallow, since it's just not as pleasing to use as proper capacitive ones.


The buttons below the screen are touch-sensitive and we didn't encounter any problems with any of them. Actually, all keys of the LG Cookie Gig KM570 are quite handy and feature proper travel. It's a cool thing there is a button that helps you to remove the battery cover. The handset is charged via standard microUSB port.


The LG Cookie Gig KM570 is quite appealing on the overall, although it's just not as spectacular as the models of the designer series of the manufacturer (the Pop GD510, Mini GD880, Crystal GD900, etc.)

Interface:

The LG Cookie Gig KM570 is equipped with the manufacturer's proprietary interface for feature phones with touch-sensitive screens, i.e. not the famous S-Class. It comes with three home screen pages dedicated to widgets, Livesquare (you know it, it's that colorful thingy with lots of animals on it) and your favorite contacts. Unfortunately, the cool themes for the widget screen that we've recently seen on the LG Cookie Fresh GS290 are pretty conspicuous in their absence.


Similarly to most LG cell phones of the same class, the Gig cannot be called exceptionally fast. What we find particularly annoying is the software tends to lag whenever you enter symbols. By the way, the LG Cookie Gig KM570 offers landscape QWERTY that is, sadly, only available when writing messages and emails. Since its keys are rather small, we believe it's best suited for people with decent fingernails.


The LG Cookie Gig KM570 supports 3G (lacks Wi-Fi though) and pages load relatively fast when the function is active (even complex web pages like ours). Scrolling feels quite sluggish, not to mention that all you can see before images get fully rendered is checkered squares. You can zoom on objects via double taps and there is support Flash Lite, but all told, the browser is unfit for daily use. We would advise you to get Opera Mini 5 and despite the fact the software is not optimized for this handset, it's far superior to the integrated browser.



Camera and multimedia:

Camera, camera... ah, the camera! Yes, it features 5-megapixel sensor with autofocus and without flash. It comes with a simple interface (not the wheel that is quite common with high-end LG handsets today) that offers basic options like effects, white balance, shooting modes and several, more complex functions like macro mode and face detection.


As a whole, we are disappointed at the image quality. Snapshots have enough details, especially in pictures of nearby objects, but the horizon comes out really blurry. Colors, on the other hand, are overly surreal and thin. The situation is almost identical with the videos you capture, but the fact they are taken at high resolution (720x480 pixels) and 30 frames per seconds means they are relatively passable.

LG Cookie Gig KM570 sample video at 720x480 pixels resolution




The LG Cookie Gig KM570 features a relatively small number of relevant functions for an "all about music" handset and you've got decent equalizer, Dolby Mobile, filtering options, FM transmitter and radio that won't work until you've plugged in your headphones. It would have been great if it allowed for earphone-free operation like its sibling available with the Cookie Fresh. Finally, there is no application for access to Last.fm.


The audio playback quality is nothing to write home about. The built-in earpiece doubles in brass and functions as a loudspeaker as well. The sound it produces is annoyingly sharp though. We didn't have the chance to test the boxed headset, but the sound through one of our own mainstream pairs proved to be somewhat muffled. We have definitely seen more capable cell phones with this respect.

Video playback is not on the list of strengths of the LG Cookie Gig KM570 either. All the handset managed to play was MPEG-4 files coded in H.263. The maximum supported resolution is 720x480 pixels (D1), although watching such clips means you will have to put up with desynchronized sound and video streams.

Performance:

As we have already mentioned, the loudspeaker and earpiece are actually a "two in one" component. The sound through it is rather sharp, with the voice of your caller... rather annoying. Frankly, there is no way to get rid of the excessive sharpness, since it remains noticeable even if you turn down the volume. People on the other end didn't seem to have the same problem, but told us we sounded surreal. On the overall, the in-call quality is about average.

According to LG, the battery of the Cookie Gig KM570 should last for about 4 hours of talk time or 100 in standby. This is relatively short for a feature phone, which doesn't sport such a great display.

Conclusion:

We just have to point out that we are rather disappointed at the LG Cookie Gig KM570. It's really sad to see a likeable device with proper specifications fail like this and moreover, at what it's supposed to be best – audio capabilities in this case. The Cookie Gig is not a bad handset, but there are quite a few cell phones we would prefer to it, including:

The Samsung Lindy M5650 – equipped with worse camera, it offers substantially better sound and audio quality, dedicated application for Last.fm and better browser (plus Wi-Fi).

The Nokia 5530/5800 Xpress Music – the operating system powering these smartphones gives them the upper hand, not to mention the audio playback quality is much better. Both handsets feature Wi-Fi, but the 5530 lacks 3G.

The LG ARENA KM900 – comes with similar overall look, but delivers more extra features at almost the same price.

The LG Cookie Fresh GS290 – we recommend it to everyone who doesn't care much about taking snapshots and videos, but happens to be on the lookout for a proper music-oriented device with affordable price tag. The FM radio is headphone-free, which is a cool extra feature.


All told, the LG Cookie Gig KM570 is worth the money if you need a relatively cheap cell phone with relatively capable camera and relatively decent audio player (with proper earphones). Well... it's quite obvious what we are getting at, isn't it?