LG Crystal GD900 Review

Introduction:

We have recently heard that LG is urging their horses to become the second largest cell phone manufacturer worldwide. The all-out effort also includes rolling out a new handset of the Black Label lineup, releasing the next installment of the PRADA series and creating a new, super-luxurious brand similar to Nokia’s Vertu. If this is true, the manufacturer seems to have adopted a different vision on the cell phone market as compared to its competitors. With most companies predominantly focused on smartphones and new operating systems, LG relies on the man´s inherent pursuit of beauty and aspiration for luxury items.

Is this the right strategy? This is a question that can only be answered by quoting sales figures. The plan seems to go well with the manufacturer´s corporate traditions. Let´s not forget that LG has become famous for their Black Label cell phone series – the Chocolate and Shine and that the PRADA handsets are widely known and esteemed by many women. If anything, luxurious products are among the best things money can buy.
Now, as they say, never let the future disturb you, so let´s get back to present. LG has managed to attract a lot of attention with their S-CLASS 3D interface. The first two handsets that utilize it – the LG ARENA KM900 and Viewty Smart GC900 did impress us, despite the few shortcomings, mainly in terms of multimedia. What we have in our hands now is the LG Crystal GD900 and we just cannot fight off the thought about the fairy tales, where three turns out to be the lucky draw. You know, the third son of the king is the smartest, the most considerate and initiative, the third mountain usually holds the secret he is searching for… and we believe we better go home after the third beer and live happily ever after. Erm, the last part is not from a children´s fairy-tale, you are right. Anyway, the question is “Is it likely that the third cell phone running S-CLASS 3D will prove to be the best?” The long answer to the question is to be found in the current review. Now, let´s get down to the phone.

Overview

The LG Crystal GD900 is a slider, equipped with transparent, touch sensitive keypad. It allows not only entering numbers and typing messages, but performing different actions through gestures as well. The device sports a 3-inch display that is also touch sensitive and you can control all functions of the phone with it. The camera has 8-megapixel sensor, although lacks the functionality of the Viewty Smart. The Crystal also supports DivX and Xvid content, but (again) with resolution up to CIF (not exceeding 352x288 pixels). The handset comes with a nice audio player and enough space to store files – 1.5GB built-in memory and support of microSDHC cards with capacity to 32GB. What you also get in the box is a pair of headphones (with a mike), software CD, user manual, wall charger, USB cable. Whether or not you get a TV-Out cable depends on your region and retailer.  



Design:

If we tell you that the LG Crystal GD900 sports a downright unique design and you can only see the device closed, you would probably take us for a gang of nutcases or fibbers, because while not open, the phone looks pretty ordinary and resembles a cross between the Viewty Smart and ARENA – with the elongated silhouette of the former and the three touch sensitive buttons of the latter – two of them are the send and end keys, while pressing the middle calls up the 3D cube that hosts the four home screens. Keeping it pressed for a while takes you in the phone multitasking menu and from there, to a brand new function that allows fine-tuning of applications that are started via the phone gesture control. We will tell you more about it a bit later.




You can compare the LG Crystal GD900 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The 3-inch touch sensitive screen that also permits multitouch control is just above the afore-mentioned three buttons. It supports 16mln colors, features WVGA resolution and delivers saturated and pleasing images. Colors become faded in direct sunlight, but as a whole, the display remains usable. Screen itself is enough to properly control all phone functions and is really… sensitive, so you it won´t give you any troubles. However, the phone looks much more strikingly when you use its touch sensitive keypad (with the original name “Crystal Touchpad”) that you gain access to by sliding the handset open. For the record, opening the device feels smooth and easy.

The first thing you´ll notice about the Crystal Touchpad is… that you can actually see THROUGH it. This doesn’t bring added functionality, but looks offbeat and impressive in times when design novelties are scarcer than hen´s teeth. The nice lights on the phone edges lend additional color as well, the soft glow looks stunning in the dark and thanks to it images of all symbols imprinted on the keypad are projected against the transparent back cover. Using the area as a normal keypad feels really comfy due to its incredible touch sensitivity, plus its vibration feedback helps a lot. What we find even more interesting is using the pad for gesture controls, but like we said, we´ll get to that a bit later, in the special section of the review. Keep in mind that both the Crystal touch and the main screen love fingerprints even more than Megan Fox - media attention.



There are only three buttons on the front side of the LG Crystal GD900, all of them touch sensitive. The volume rocker and camera shutter on the right hand side have pleasing travel and are easy to use. The really small phone lock button on the top side of the device is also easy to handle once you get used to its location. The flap-covered microUSB port is on the left hand side. Opening the slider allows you to access the microSDHC card slot and reveals 8-megapixel camera with flash.




The back cover is plastic, but doesn’t feel cheap, despite the fact it´s not solid. It is easy to remove using the lock mechanism at the bottom. The panel itself is not entirely transparent, but rather, causes the light and colors to gradate and the beautiful effect takes over the whole back side when the handset is closed. Perhaps, it would have been cooler if it was made of glass (like the coating of the Nokia Luna 8600), but on the other hand, this would have probably made the phone as heavy as an eighteen wheeler.



The transparent Crystal Touchpad is enough by itself to turn the LG Crystal GD900 into one of the most intriguing and stylish handsets of 2009.

Using the Crystal Touchpad:

The touch sensitive keypad of the LG Crystal that registers gestures (unlike the screen) allows you to perform different actions, like activating application shortcuts (unfortunately, up to 9). The permitted gestures are a bit more – 12. We would definitely like to see a larger set of applications and the option to, say, call favorite contacts through gestures – it´s a shame such functions have not been provided for.


When surfing the Web, the pad is used just like any laptop touchpad. This is quite thoughtful of LG, because the browser is not one of the best apps we have ever seen and clicking web links would have required heavy zooming if the keypad controlled screen cursor didn’t allow you to easily select even links that appear crammed into quite small a space.

The Crystal Touchpad supports multitouch as well and is controlled in much the same way as the screen itself. Say, span or pinch to zoom on images, internet pages, videos etc. or make a circular motion to turn the audio player volume up and down or zoom in camera mode. The LG Crystal GD900 is the first S-CLASS 3D handset that features handwriting recognition and the function is perfectly implemented thanks to the good sensitivity of both the phone screen and keypad. Gestures such as sliding your finger on the left as if erasing letters (backspace) are recognized even with the recognition switched off.



Interface:

It´s the third time we have seen the S-CLASS 3D interface, but we can´t say we are bored with it. It is still among our favorite for cell phones with touch sensitive screens, looks beautifully and has been made with utmost attention to details. There are several changes, but most of them are cursory. The four home screens located onto the sides of a 3D cube remain unaltered. Let´s go over them again.


In a nutshell, the four home screens offer different shortcut options. The first houses up to 9 of your overused applications, the second not more than 30 of your favorite contacts (with pictures). All the rage widgets are present on the third - up to 10 in this case with no option to download more. Fortunately, most of them deliver extra functions – for an instance, the clock function allows you to set an alarm, calendar allows you to take a look at your schedule in monthly, weekly or daily view etc.

The last home screen is dedicated to multimedia – you can load up to 15 files (songs, snapshots or videos). The phone audio player, also stared from here, looks quite pleasingly and you use it in pretty much the same way as Cover Flow on the iPhone. Unfortunately, the rather small number of files that can be placed here gives this particular screen limited usability.


Changes can be made by keeping your finger pressed against the display for a short while; this is a common feature to all home screens, while sliding your finger sideways allows them to be switched between. Tapping at the top calls up (the band that shows the battery status etc) a menu, where you can turn on the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi functions, set an alarm, start the audio player, take a look at missed events or customize the ring style (profile). Quite a pleasing bonus feature that is, unfortunately, not accessible through the main menu. As a whole, this quite nice a function that unfortunately, cannot be accessed via the phone main menu.




The LG Crystal GD900 is the first S-CLASS 3D interface cell phone that by default comes equipped with two main menu themes and we have previously seen only the darker, called Cube. The new one is dubbed Water drop and we think it goes perfectly with the overall look of the handset. It makes main menu icons resemble water droplets that flutter slightly when touched. They are grouped in categories and can be rearranged, but must remain in the row they belong to. So, you will always have communication-related icons in the top row (contacts, recent calls, messages, browser etc.), multimedia ones below them (player, camera, video camera), organizer functions coming up next (calendar, notes, alarm list) and finally settings. Actually, the same division exists on previous manufacturer models as well, it´s just that everything is merged together now, so you have to scroll the rows sideways if you need to find a less important function. All icons become visible when the screen is in landscape mode.


The accelerometer left us with mixed feelings, really. It works adequately and turns the screen with a hardly noticeable lag at times, but sometimes it´s rather the opposite. For an instance, there is an option in the main menu that turns the screen to your left or right and fits the image on the screen. This, however, cannot be done if you are into your messages – it can only be turned to your left from there (counter clockwise), not to mention the accelerometer fails to work adequately in this case, which is an apparent software issue.

Despite the fact we are really pleased with the interface, we happen to have a few gripes. It´s really great that almost all your actions are accompanied with smoothly playing animations and transition effects, the thing is they are sometimes followed by severe lagging, like opening the calendar that takes about 6 seconds. We think it would have been much better if there was an option to switch off the fancy looking effects sometimes - say, you happen to be in a hurry, so the last thing you want is to wait, watching the rollers of the settings spin around.

Contacts:

Your contacts store up to 1000 numbers and you will have to get used to the fact that you must minimize the keyboard must be minimized after entering something and before going ahead. We hit the “go back” icon several times and ended up losing all entered information. Each contact entry comes with quite a few info fields – picture (here you can crop an image and assign just the part you like), personal number, email, group, ringtone, website, home address (with many options for cities, countries etc), company, position with it, office address, birth date, anniversaries and a short note. All groups can be customized with unique ringtones and pictures, plus backup copies of your contacts can be saved on the phone memory or sent to another device via Bluetooth.  


Searching in your contacts is performed by both parts of the name. Entering digits in the search panel filters contacts as well, say 6-3-6 leads to both Neo and all phone numbers containing the digits (not possible on the LG ARENA KM900). Scrolling through them makes the letter you have gotten to appear on screen. Still, it would have been much comfier if the alphabet was visible as it is on the iPhone or the Samsung Pixon, so as to provide easier navigation to any letter.


There are two different options for those of you who need to quick-dial favorite contacts. We have already mentioned about the first that is available through the home screen. The other one is the “quick dial” function that allow up to 9 numbers to be assigned to dialing screen keys. Unfortunately, there is no way for you to restrict incoming calls and prevent intrusive fellows from bugging you. Voice command functionality is also unavailable on the phone.

A relatively large contact picture appears on screen when you get an incoming call (and if the contact doesn’t have one assigned, a spinning cube would pop up instead) with a small slider just below it. You can accept the call moving the slider to your right, while sliding it to your left will show a previously compiled list of messages that can be used to excuse yourself for being unable to pick up. You can also add your own message templates like “Boozing at a swim-up bar, call in a week”. Calls are also answered by opening the slider or with the send button.

Organizer:

The LG Crystal GD900 delivers pleasing organizer functions that are enough to meet the needs of ordinary customers. Let´s get started with the alarm clock. In its “standard” mode you can set up several different alarms, each of them with its own melody and recurrence pattern. The way you do the setting itself looks impressive – through a digital or analog clock with background indicating whether the time you´ve just entered is AM or PM. Two rollers appear in digital clock mode that you turn separately. You will have to wait for about 3 seconds until they get settled and this is far from the fastest way to set up specific time, but still, it´s looks quite spectacular. Something suchlike is used when setting the correct date (say, in the main menu), but you need to use three different rollers, instead of two. The quick alarm option allows you to set up an alarm reminder about something that´ll happen within the next hour. Our only gripe is that you turn off ringing alarms by tapping a single key and it´s quite possible you get yourself an unplanned late morning, especially when half-awake.



Calendar (named organizer) offers a variety of modes – whole month, week, timetable (showing filled-in timeslots for a specific date and your time allocation) or a list of all entered events. You can add detailed schedule events that are classified in three major categories (meeting, anniversary and birthday), each one with its own subject, location, start and end dates, additional note and recurrence pattern. Unfortunately, they are not assigned alarms to remind you, meaning they can easily go unnoticed unless you keep an eye on the calendar all the time. The last event type (our favorite) is marking a period of time as bank holidays. The mode allows you to color one or more days in red which means you won´t have to work on these dates. Is there any way of marking the remainder of this year in red? Just like your contacts, you can save archive copies of your schedule and task list onto the memory card or send it via Bluetooth to another device.



The list of organizer options of the LG Crystal GD900 is supplemented with simplified notes (limited to 1000 symbols per entry), chronometer that records lap times and incredibly beautiful calculator with scientific mode that managed to get our hairs stand on end (all of us are gifted mathematicians). We did have tons of fun with the unit converter, because the preset value of the dollar against the euro is 2, while at the time of this review the exchange rate was 0.7 EUR. Correct values can be entered manually, although not synchronized over the internet, which is far from convenient. You also have a world clock (appears as a showy Globe) and the option to track local time in six cities around the world (of your choice). Voice notes can be recorded in two formats – one is suited for general use and the other for being sent in an MMS, but either way, voice quality is below par.



Messages:

The messages menu is really comfy and looks much like the one on the iPhone. Starting the function takes you right into incoming messages, grouped by date. A button at the top sends you into the outbox, where you can browse sent messages or follow up conversations in a threaded style. You can directly reply to an incoming message from your inbox and there´s a separate button to get down to typing your response. A nice, well conceived icon located in the bottom right corner allows you attach files in a snap. The largest size of a file we managed to attach was about 1 MB (video with length of 1 min 34 sec and resolution of 176x144 pixels) and pictures get automatically resized to acceptable level (up to 300 KB).



Setting up email accounts is easy, especially if you happen to use a mainstream, web-based email providers like Gmail, Yahoo etc., because all relevant settings are preloaded onto the phone. Unfortunately this doesn´t hold true for personal email servers like ours that is only handled by strictly business oriented BlackBerry devices. The good news is the Crystal supports Microsoft Exchange server to sync emails, contacts and calendar.



As we mentioned already, using the Crystal Touchpad as a normal keyboard feels quite convenient, thanks to its proper sensitivity and allows you to compose short messages literally in seconds when used along with the T9 function. The phone also permits typing away things via the integrated hand writing recognition through both the pad itself or the main screen and as a whole, they are both comfy.

You have two different keyboards at your disposal. They are different of what we saw on Viewty Smart. All keys are round shaped and there is enough space in between. The vertical layout is OK, although typing in this case is a bit slower than using the Crystal Touchpad, not to mention the coolness factor gets severely slashed. We tend to think the landscape QWERTY is a bit better implemented than what we saw on previous S-CLASS 3D models, because the keys are more easily discernible from one another. If you are not in a hurry and type slower, you won´t have any troubles.



Connectivity:

The LG Crystal GD900 is a four-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900), dual band 3G (900/2100) handset that also delivers HSDPA 7.2Mbps functionality. A version that can run on the 3G frequencies used by AT&T (850/2100) in the US is expected later on. Just like all other high-end cell phones, the device sports Wi-Fi and allows you to enter your own IP address.

There are certain changes in the phone browser as compared to the previous two models that utilize S-CLASS 3D interface. The app visualizes web pages well, but can be controlled through not only multitouch. You now have a screen cursor for more accurate navigation. Say, choose a particular hyperlink from a list without having to zoom in a lot. Actually, this is the only positive change in the browser. It does allow single tap zooming, but this can be done just once, meaning you press, the image gets larger depending on how sizeable the webpage is and if you need to take a closer look at something you will have to expand the frame using multitouch, so the whole thing involves a severe browsing delay. Every time you zoom in on a webpage, it will get reloaded, which makes surfing irritating and definitely slower than on the iPhone. Still, we have to admit that thanks to the Crystal Touchpad, using the browser feels better and more pleasing than on the LG ARENA or Viewty Smart. However, we also think the app needs more work if it´s to catch up with the leaders.



Bluetooth 2.1 provides local connectivity and supports the following profiles - HSP, HFP, DUN, FTP, OPP, GAP, SPP, SDAP, SDP, BPP, GAVDP, A2DP, AVRCP, SAP, AVDTP, AVCTP and PBAP. Aside from it, you can simply connect the device to your computer with USB 2.0 cable. When you do so, you will have several options – set the phone as a Mass storage device, for audio synchronization, connect through PC Suite or iSync (used with non-Apple devices on Mac computers). The former two don’t require additional software, while you would need to install LG PC Suite to use the third. It allows you to synchronize phone contacts, calendar and notes, upload music, pictures, videos, programs or download messages, emails etc.

Camera:

Keeping in mind the disappointing performance of the LG Viewty Smart GC900 as a camera phone, we felt nervous and took quite a timorous approach to the test of the LG Crystal GD900. It sports an 8-megapixel sensor, autofocus and flash, but the interface lacks all the rage novelties like Intelligent Shot and artistic effects. The camera takes about 3 seconds to start and a second to focus. Unfortunately, there is just no way to switch off the image preview after taking a snapshot, so it takes the interface another 3 seconds to reload. Totaled up, a single shot requires whole 7-8 seconds and in other words, you just won´t be able to take images in fast sequence, which happens to be one of the basic functions of any camera phone.

The following options can be picked via the view-finder:

•    Flash – auto, always off, always on
•    Focusing – auto or macro
•    Exposure tuning


Unfortunately, there are no scene presets, which tend to come in pretty handy at times and often produce better results than the auto settings.

Here is what you will find in the menu that is designed like a switch, so as to resemble a digital camera more closely:
•    Camera switcher – the main, 8-megapixel one of the VGA device on the front side
•    Resolution – from 480х480 best fit for contacts entry pictures to full 8-megapixel one (3264х2448)
•    Effects – sepia, black and white, negative, emboss
•    White balance
•    Timer
•    Shooting mode – normal, sequence shooting of 6 images at 640х480 resolution
•    ISO – auto or from 100 to 1600 (the higher values are virtually unusable because they add too much image noise)
•    Picture quality
•    Used memory
•    Image stabilizer
•    Autofocus – normal, face detection or manual
•    Display grids


Pictures taken with the LG Crystal GD900 are blanched, with thin and unsaturated colors. Even more, there is noticeable purple fringing on all of them, taken outdoors in bright lighting conditions. The irritating image noise is always there even if you don’t zoom in on the image, so you will be able to yield better results if you choose a shady spot outdoors and cull the conditions carefully. Fine details are blurry except in macro shots, which typically come out good enough.


Image noise takes over in indoor snapshots and the flash is not powerful enough to provide proper lighting even to objects as far as two feet away. The result is pictures get even blurrier than outdoors. As a whole, the camera is certainly not among the major reasons to get the LG Crystal GD900.


You switch to video capture with the slider on the right hand side of the phone. Its interface is poorer in terms of available options and aside from setting the resolution (up to 720x480), you can add effects, change white balance, capture quality or size and whether or not to record sound. Modes known from previous models of the manufacturer, such as fast and slow motion shooting are also here. Unfortunately, despite the fact the device is a top ranging camera-phone, videos are captured at QVGA resolution only. All told, overall quality is not impressive, even if videos are smooth, thanks to the 30 frames per second capability of the phone. Still, people who were more than half a meter away are really hard to hear in the clips and everything is way too dark if shot indoors.

LG Crystal GD900 sample video at 720x480 pixels resolution.


You can navigate fast from the camera interface to the phone Gallery that is really comfy to use. It unifies all your pictures and videos and content can be easily sorted by date, file type, name or depending on what you would like to see – only pictures or videos, your favorites, ones saved on the memory card etc. Things get truly beautiful when screen is in landscape mode – gallery turns into something quite similar to the iPhone Cover Flow with images pouring down spectacularly. You better take a look at our video review to relish the effect in all its beauty. Aside from this, zooming is implemented through image spanning thanks to the multi-touch technology.



Multimedia and Software:

The music player is an odd bird, but you´ll eventually get used to it in time. It´s not trail-blazing, but it´s not a clone of the iPhone either. This is good, since we are all fed up with seeing clones. In portrait mode the player appears in between tracks and scrolling means you lose the relevant album art and effects from sight, because they get in the background. You can, however, start or stop playback with the control keys below. In horizontal mode audio player takes up about a third of the screen and somehow doesn´t go with the rest of the interface, plus here you don’t have access to neither the Dolby Mobile function, nor the one that allows you to define a song as one of your favorite. We must say that we do like the particular way of browsing albums – they appear as a list, divided by artists with the masterpieces visualized as separate CDs. We do love such small, beautiful things.



The LG Crystal GD900 allows you to relish audio playback with crystal clear quality. The loudspeaker is somewhat puny, but at least there are no crackling noises when going at full blast. Audio quality through earphones is very good, despite the sound tends to be slightly sharp. Audio volume at the highest setting may definitely cause hearing problems, so if you turn it down a bit (say to 80-90%), you will get an awesome playback that is pleasing even for prolonged periods of time.

The FM Radio can store up to 30 stations and features a really likeable interface. LG hasn’t equipped it with audio recognition, so you won´t be able to check the titles of unknown songs you like.

Similarly to both previous models utilizing S-CLASS 3D, the LG Crystal GD900 functionality is crippled in terms of DivX and Xvid playback. Movies can be played if coded at resolution not exceeding CIF (352x288 pixels), with less than 30 frames per second and bitrate lower than 1 Mbps. This is as disappointing as it gets, especially given the original device was able to play 640x480 pixel resolution videos without a hitch. This really degrades the video capabilities of the handset, since you just won't be able to download movies from the Internet and watch them right away. Like it or lump it, you will need to convert videos – and while you are at it, you might as well go for MPEG4 to make sure they are playable on all modern devices. MPEG4/H.263 and H.264 videos can have resolution of up to 720x480 pixels, bitrate under 3Mbps and be coded at no more than 30 frames per second. Image quality using the above mentioned settings is passable, although artifacts are still visible. They are very small in Xvid videos and don’t ruin the experience, but way too obvious and irritating in DivX content. Still, if watching videos on your cell phone is your cup of tea, you better go for the Samsung OMNIA HD i8910 or the iPhone – you will still need to convert content for the latter, but its 3.5-inch screen delivers awesome image quality.




If you are still up to creating a piece of art after taking the severe blow with the video playback, you can make a short video using snapshots. The functionality is nothing to write home about – add pictures, pick a melody, choose underlying effect, set the other in which pictures will appear (random or sequential) and you are game. Unfortunately, subtitles cannot be added as, say, on the Samsung OMNIA HD and the total video length is limited to the one of the melody. You will need quite a few pictures to come up with a proper video clip using a song with standard length though (3-4 minutes). Still, you can achieve some really entertaining results, despite your creation will be saved at QVGA resolution.


 

Performance:

Let´s tell you what (most probably) using the LG Crystal GD900 for talking will feel like. You see someone is calling you and open the slider. Not that this is necessary, but the keypad lights up, gets reflected against your face and since the thing is transparent, people nearby won´t fail to see that. If you happen to be on the street or in a pub, everybody will notice you.

Fortunately, the in-call quality doesn’t mar the high-end feel about the device. Voices were loud and realistic on our end, while people we were talking to complained sound was extremely loud and slightly sharp on their end. After turning down the volume a bit, they rated the experience 9 of 10. The phone loudspeaker is totally usable, although voices become fairly monotonous.

The battery is a tough performer. We took about 120 snapshots in two days, went over them in the Gallery, surfed the Web for about 10 minutes over 3G and spoke for about 40 minutes and at the end of the second day the on-screen battery indicator was showing a single line charge was left. The manufacturer claims you will be able to talk for 6 hrs on 2G networks and about 4 hrs over 3G. The LG Crystal should be able to provide approximately 300 hrs in standby.

Conclusion:

In the introductory section of the review we mentioned the power of the digit 3 and it turns out the third S-CLASS 3D interface handset has been bestowed part of this power. We like the LG Crystal GD900 better than the ARENA or Viewty Smart. It doesn’t offer anything different in terms of functionality, but its design is… unique. Thanks to it, the phone is far from being just another handset with touch sensitive screen, it´s something offbeat and eye-catchy.

The good news is both a pretty good set of functions and likeable interface are hidden behind the pretty face. We are disappointed with the snapshot quality and the limited DivX/Xvid support, but alongside of its arch-rival, the Samsung UltraTOUCH S8300, the cell phone is a decent performer on the overall.

The LG Crystal GD900 will cash on the innate human aspiration for luxury items that make people stand out from the crowd. And this time, LG has hit the nail on the head, because you won´t go unnoticed with the Crystal in your hand. If that´s what you need, we whole-heartedly recommend the handset to you.

LG Crystal GD900 Video Review: