LG Dare Review

Camera:

One of the best features of the Dare is the 3.2MP autofocus camera. It can be launched through the main menu, or by pressing the dedicated button on the right side of the phone. The application only takes 1 second to load, opposed to 3 seconds on the Voyager. The camera button has a two-stop design just like a real digital camera, where you press it down half-way to focus and then all the way down to capture the image. The time required to focus is a reasonable 2 seconds, with a 1 second lag to capture the image and then 2 seconds to save. The total turn around time to take one picture, save it, and take a second picture for saving is 9 seconds, which is only 1 second less than with the Voyager. If you need to take pictures closer together, you can turn off the autofocus feature and it will cut the amount of time down to 5 seconds.

Pictures taken by the Dare are the best that we’ve seen from a Verizon device, which is probably due to the Schneider Kreuznach lens that is used. Images that were took outside during the day have excellent detail and realistic color representation, which completely blows away the pictures we got using Verizon’s only other 3MP cameraphone, the Samsung FlipShot. However, once you move inside, the quality starts to go down hill due to lower light levels, but this is a problem with most cameraphones. The built in flash does help, but range is limited to about 6 feet. You can also select the Night Mode, which slows down the shutter, but in doing so, most pictures will look blurry do to camera shake.




Camera Options:

Resolution: 2048x1536, 1600x1200, 1280x960, 640x240, 320x240
White Balance: Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Glow
Shutter Sound: Shutter, No Sound, Say Cheese, Ready 123
Color Effects: Normal, Negative, Aqua, Sepia, B&W
ISO: Auto, 100, 200, 400
Photometry: Average, Spot
Smart Pic: On, Off
Face Detection: On, Off
Save Option: Internal, External
Multi Shot: Off, 3, 6, 9
Shot Type: Normal, Panorama, Split, Frame
Scene Mode: Normal, Sports, Night, Portrait, Landscape, Beach
Auto Focus: On, Off
Self Timer: Off, 3 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec
Flash: Off, On, Auto

Two new camera options are the Smart Pic and Face Detection. While the Face Detection worked as advertised, the Smart Pic seemed to have some issues with making images look overly sharp and pixilated. Because of this, we left it turned off.


When viewing saved images, you can place the phone in landscape mode and move them across the screen to go to the next picture. There are also intergraded photo editing tools, allowing you to zoom, rotate, crop, adjust contract, sharpness, blur, brightness, add borders and draw on the image.

The Dare is also the first Verizon device to be able to record videos at VGA 640x480 resolution, but does so at 15FPS. It can also record at 320x240 120FSP for slow-motion playback at 15FPS. The videos we recorded at VGA are good enough for PC viewing and uploading to YouTube, but moving images are a bit jerky due to the low frame rate. We would like to see the option of 30FPS added, as this would make moving images look more fluid.


Multimedia:

Clicking on “My Music” in the main menu will access the new music player. From there you can select to show all songs, playlists, artists, genres, and albums. Unfortunately, it will organize the music alphabetically, instead of by using the ID3 track order, which makes it impossible to play songs in the same order as they are listed on the original CD. Once the song begins playback, the album art will be shown in the center, with the track info listed above it, and icons for rewind/skip-back, play/pause, and fast-forward/skip-ahead at the bottom. You can also rotate the phone 360 degrees, with the album art and player changing orientation. There are 12 different sound effects to choose from, but we found that “flat” sounds the best. Clicking on the Home icon at the top will keep the music playing and return you back to the home screen. This multitasking allows you to send and receive text message, browse the web, and perform other function while the music continues playback. This is very useful, and it has only been offered on the Chocolate, Venus, and Juke models.


The overall music quality is good, despite there only being one speaker, and it being located on the back next to the camera. With the Dare in a normal resting position on a desk, the speaker is muffled by the phone, but turning it over solves this design flaw. You can also use standard wired earbuds since there is a 3.5mm headset jack, or a wireless headset using stereo Bluetooth.

Video playback is limited to Verizon VCast Video Service, which streams prerecord clips over the EVDO network. Quality is limited to 320x240 resolution at 15FPS, with images looking somewhat pixilated.



Software:

The Dare uses Qualcomm’s BREW for all its applications. The most useful is VZ Navigator, which is used for GPS guided directions. It comes preloaded with Version 3, but can download the updated Version 4, which allows for new 3D maps, traffic congestion and accident re-routing, as well as the ability to find local gas stations, restaurants, movie theaters, show times, and local events. Even though it can be used with the phone in portrait mode, it looks best while in landscape. We were able to use VZ Navigator around South FL without problem. The updated 3D maps are easy to follow and are more professional looking than the previous version. These added improvements are well worth the $10 per month price.


No games come preloaded on the Dare, but can be purchased and download over the air directly from Verizon.

Another feature is the support of Verizon’s FOTA (firmware over the air). This will allow customers to download the latest firmware for the phone without the need for visiting a store and having a technician install it. This is a valuable time-saver for both consumers and employees and we are pleased to see it starting to be implemented on more devices. We tested the FOTA, but since our Dare has the latest firmware (V03), it did not download or install any updates.