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Dial-a-Phone review of LG KC550 Orsay
The rule of thumb has always been if you want lots of megapixels, you pay lots of money. Most recently, it's been the 5 megapixel cameras which have been fitted to the top end handsets, with everyone else making do with 3 megapixels or less, but now, LG introduce the LG Orsay – a very competitively priced slider mobile complete with a 5 megapixel camera!
This isn't just a vain marketing exercise either; the Orsay's camera is the real thing. The lens optics are courtesy of Schneider-Kreuznach, a German company with nearly 100 years of experience, it's equipped with autofocus and a flash unit, plus an image stabiliser. Perhaps even more impressive are the video options, shooting at 30fps at a resolution of 720x480!
The design of the KC550 breaks the traditional camera lens placement on a slider handset, preferring a vertical placement on the rear of the phone and giving it a slide cover, rather than atop the slide itself. This does make it comfortable to use, allowing a more normal camera grip and easy access to the shutter release, which in turn produces far more stable shots; a very good move by LG. Other than this the design could be described as ‘safe', with no flourishes to catch the eye or innovation to make it stand out.
The keypad is reminiscent of the LG Chocolate in both looks and usage and the large navigational D-pad is very precise. As the LG Orsay is not a high-end mobile phone, the menu system is not overly complicated and isn't filled with complicated functions, instead relying on simple, easy to recognise icons and a speedy response. Overall, the Orsay is very easy to use, the keypad and the soft keys are large enough for any user to get to grips with and its size of 97x51x14.9mm allows it to sit comfortably in your hand.
Just because the camera is the headlining feature, doesn't mean LG have forgotten everything else. In addition to a TV-out (for viewing pictures and video), FM radio and media player, the KC550 has an accelerometer which is not only used for switching between portrait and landscape in the gallery, but for the collection of cool games too! There are six games in total, including fishing, darts and maze games, all of which require movement of the handset itself to play. You can even use the TV-out to play these games on your television screen!
Aside from cool games and a high quality camera, the KC550's more budget nature is highlighted when we look at its connectivity - it's a tri rather than a quad-band handset, with GPRS and EDGE only. The onboard 20MB of memory is feeble, forcing the user to rely on a MicroSD card for storage of music and pictures. Of course, if these features were improved, the phone would be more expensive, so instead of complaining, we should be grateful to LG for making a 5 megapixel camera phone so affordable in the first place.
LG KC550 Orsay specs and features
- Tri-band
- 5 megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics
- Built-in motion sensitive games
- Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
- EDGE and GPRS
- FM radio and MP3 player
- 12MB memory
- microSD Card Slot (TransFlash)
- Dimensions: 96.9 x 51.4 x 14.9 mm
- Weight: 110 grams
- Standby Time: Up to 450hrs
- Talk Time: Up to 6hrs