LG GM205 Review

Introduction:

Low-end music phones are pretty popular among both young and grown-up users, due to a number of reasons. First, music is an important part of almost everybody’s life. Second, in the general case, such phones are reliable devices with long-lasting batteries. If you are that kind of person, who would gladly exchange a complicated file system and many third-party apps for a simple interface with music-centric features such as Dolby Mobile technology and built-in FM antenna, then this review of the LG GM205 candybar will be of interest to you.

Design:

The LG GM205 is your typical affordable music candybar. It has a cheerful appearance, which makes it a perfect everyday handset that is, of course, if your whole day isn’t full of business meetings and other formal stuff.

The 2-inch display on the LG GM205 is nothing to write home about. It’s fairly small, but gets the job done. Images look by no means breathtaking, because of the low resolution, which is not such a big deal on that particular handset. An unpleasant fact is that it turns into a mirror, when viewed under bright sunlight. What bothers us is that the plastic protection on top of the screen seems very weak, as it bends quite easily.



You can compare the LG GM205 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

On the sides of the GM205 you find elements designed to serve the needs of music lovers. On the left are the volume rocker and the microSD card slot (nice decision by LG to place it here); on the right is the proprietary LG port, as well as the FM radio music player keys. On the top is the much-cherished 3.5mm jack that greatly widens the range of headphones you can plug in.



The LG GM205 features a 2MP camera and 2.1 channel speakers that should deliver some nice sound even when you are not using a headset.

As a whole, the keys are totally usable. We especially like the buttons on the sides with their pronounced click. We only think the numeric keypad could feel slightly better, as you sometimes get the feeling as if you have pressed more than one key at a time. Fortunately though, we never had problems with its functionality.



As far as design goes, the LG GM205 is a decent competitor to other similar handsets on the market. It sports a pleasing and cheerful appearance, nice keys, conveniently placed memory card slot and a 3.5mm jack that’s a mandatory feature here.

Interface and Functionality:

There’s nothing to impress us in the software department. A simple and well-known interface to answer your most basic needs, including a calendar, standard messaging app and the usual set of organizer tools.



Let’s not waste time here and jump right to the music part. The first thing we don’t like about the music player is the fact your songs on the memory card have to reside in a specific directory (memory card\music) so you don’t see the mp3s outside it. You can still play them through the file manager though, which is a pretty dumb concept. Anyway, options you have at your disposal are shuffle, repeat, change the skin (almost no change) and apply an audio effect (Dolby Mobile or LG Equalizer).



You also have an FM radio, which is maybe the most enjoyable feature of the phone, as there is a built-in FM antenna. Searching and storing radio stations is a pretty straightforward task and as a whole the experience is flawless, that is in case you enjoy listening to the radio, of course. We do.



The sound from the 2.1 speakers is fine. One of the better we have heard. It’s powerful and doesn’t emit any crackling noises even at the highest volume. Here’s a tip: place the phone in a cup, while playing a song, the sound will get somewhat deeper and even louder! This was just a joke, of course. (But the sound does get better!)

Unfortunately, we couldn’t test the earbuds from the box, so we cannot guarantee their quality. We plugged one of our earbuds and found the sound pleasing enough, well-balanced and deep. Still, we believe this is highly dependent on the headset you will use.

As for the 2MP fixed focus camera, we can say it’s almost usable. Outdoor images tend to be short of details, but with natural colors, while indoor ones are a bit grainy, which is understandable. You won’t be making quality photographs with this camera, but it’s good enough for accidental shots.

Performance and Conclusion:

Sound quality during a call is decent, to say the least. Incoming voices have nice loudness, but are also rather sharp and can be a bit difficult to make out at times. Outgoing quality is better. The loudness may be just a tad lower, but the monotonous voices are easy to understand, which is partly thanks to the microphone of the LG GM205, which manages to isolate all environmental noises.

The 950mAh battery managed to deliver about four days of mixed usage. This includes mainly radio listening and talk, plus a few snapshots with the camera.

The LG GM205 is a nice music phone. It has all the needed features to make your music experience complete. Things get even better when you throw in the built-in FM antenna, which makes it perfect for listening to the radio. The LG GM205 will be offered in Mexico, South America, Eastern Europe and Asia, so if you live in one of those regions and would like an affordable music handset, the LG GM205 is a good choice.

LG GM205 Video Review: