• LG KM900 Arena: Another iPhone Look-alike

    LG KM900 Arena: Another iPhone Look-alike

    Prasad Naik, May 22, 2009 1455 hrs IST

    A classy, feature-rich touchscreen phone

    Design and build, tons of feature, display quality (indoors), audio quality

    UI design needs a bit more polishing, occasional lagging and crashes, erratic auto UI orientation, display performance under sunlight, battery life

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Design & Construction



"No, it's not the iPhone!" That's something I had to keep telling people while testing the Arena. And I don't blame them either. It's not as if the Arena is a complete rip-off of the iPhone's design but the similarities are striking.
The front side is dominated by the large display. Above the display you can see the phone's sole loudspeaker and beside it is the video calling camera. On the left side of the LG logo is the proximity sensor that switches off the display when you bring it close to your face during a call so you don't accidentally trigger something on-screen. Besides it is the ambient light sensor for adjusting the display brightness.




 
Below the display are the three touch sensitive keys. One is the Call key, one is the End key and the one in the middle is the multitasking key. You press the multi-tasking key and then you can choose between the four different desktop screens. Press and hold it and you get a list of running apps from where you can switch or end them. Below it is the microphone. The border around the display is covered in glossy chrome and beautiful brushed metal finish.



On the left side is the LG proprietary connectivity port, which is covered under a neat sliding flap, and is much better than the hinged ones that hang out once opened. However I would have preferred if LG used standard mini or micro USB ports instead of proprietary ones. On the right side are the volume control keys and the camera shutter key. Both these keys, especially the volume control keys, are a bit too flush in the casing and are not very easy to operate. On the top is the power key, the 3.5mm headphone jack and the latch for the battery cover.













The rear side has a matte grey finish. The camera is located at the top left corner. The lens is totally exposed which makes it easy target for fingerprints, dust and scratches. Beside it is a tiny LED flash. At the bottom near the LG logo is another microphone for video recording.




 



The build quality of the phone was absolutely top notch. The phone felt rock solid in hand and not a hint of creak or groan from the body. The front surface being glossy was a major fingerprint magnet but that is something common to all touchscreen phones.
Overall the design and build quality of the phone is very impressive and the phone is definitely worthy of the price it retails at.

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LG KM900 Arena rview LG Mobile Phone S-class interface feature-rich



Discussion Board
(7) Comments
Sri
,Pondy, on Mar 17, 2010 01:36 PM
Please anyone advise how to setup email in LG KM 900 Arena Mobile phone. I have a sify account.
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Eamon Holley
,Manama, Bahrain, on Jun 09, 2009 02:39 PM
I think you were too kind to this phone. It is practically unusable. I regret buying it and tell anyone I can not to. I should have splashed out the extra US160 and bought a new iphone. Problems - battery = 5 hrs max; typing - impossible; UI crashes and is clumsy; delays receipt of messages; syncing does not work - that's just what I can fit here. Utter rubbish - LG should be embarrassed.
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Aflatoon
,KOLKATA, on May 23, 2009 11:56 AM
Nagendra, Read the damn article. The first 2 pages are all about how it tries to imitate the iPhone but fails.
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nagendra
,delhi, on May 24, 2009 12:21 PM
Hey Aflatoon, I read the entire article.... and did not find any comparision with i phone except the passing remarks that the reviewers coworkers confused this phone with iphone... So i think you should first read the article and reply the queries..... by the way I did not ask u that... I was asking the opinion of an expert like Mr. Naik and not yours ... I was aware that few iphone fans will be offended with that comparison. That is why i was asking an objective opinion of an expert and not an subjective outburst of yours ...Take care...
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on May 25, 2009 02:02 PM
Nagendra as a matter of fact I did mention in the review several times about the similarities of the Arena UI to the iPhone UI. If you go through the Interface section again, you'll notice it.
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naveenchaudhary
,meerut, on May 23, 2009 12:32 PM
lg, battery again...........failing in battery department. however they use good batteries in cdma phones.
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Nagendra
,Delhi, on May 23, 2009 07:54 AM
Nice Phone... good review Mr. Prasad. One thing i really wanted to know about this phone... i.e. how do you compare this LG Arena with iPhone? Is it justified to compare both these phones? I thought so because the S class UI of LG looks damn close to iphones's UI. What is your take? I know many iphone fans will not accept the comparison but I was really looking forward to your comparison (as an expert reviewer) of these two phones..
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