LG INCITE Review

Introduction:

LG has been producing beautiful devices such as the Chocolate, Shine, and Prada for quite some time now. But they’ve never really create a true smart phone that can handle all the needs of a business professional.  AT&T is lucky to be the first U.S. carrier to offer their Windows Mobile powered phone. The LG INCITE incorporates a ton of features that we’ve been accustomed to seeing in a design that has been the norm.  Primarily focused to business users, the incorporation of various Microsoft applications will aid the mobile user to work on the go. But the biggest question left to answer is if LG can provide a worthy device that is functional and intuitive when going against the current offerings.

The package contains:

• LG INCITE
• Charger
• User Manual
• Stylus
• USB data cable

Design:

The slate form factor has become synonymous with the Windows Mobile Professional platform. At first glance one would think that a metallic material was used for the INCITE, but it's in fact plastic with a mirror like finish to it. You definitely get that plastic feel when you place it in your hand. We were expecting a little more durable type of material because of the amount of scratches that happened when taking it out from our pockets. Granted the only positive about the material used is that the device feels very light (4.23 oz). It’s sleek enough to hold in your hand without having it feeling too bulky or wide in the pockets.




The first thing to catch your eyes is the 3.0” screen that dominates the face with two buttons located beneath it. We were disappointed with the standard resolution display (240 x 400 pixels) that LG decided to go with instead of the high-res WVGA 480x800 newer phones have. You can definitely see the difference in text clarity when you pit it against something like the HTC Touch Diamond. Pressing the screen is accompanied with a vibration that can be changed in the settings. We preferred using our fingernails when making selections on screen rather than pressing with a finger. Some will probably end up using the stylus instead, but we don’t like the fact that it is tethered to a lanyard instead of finding it hidden somewhere in the phone. The unresponsive screen became troublesome because there were numerous occasions when we had to press on the screen for the device to recognize a selection. Colors on screen came out quite accurate while brightness was a problem at times even when manually placing it on the highest setting. You’ll need to shield the phone with your hand if you plan on viewing it in direct sunlight.


The send and end keys on the front look flush with the surface but are slightly raised to give it a button distinction. The left side has the volume rocker appropriately placed in the center while the much loved microUSB port is towards the top. Sometimes navigating or scrolling can become a nuisance especially if the device does not register your touch. The dedicated camera and lock buttons are found on the right side with a jog dial incorporated to make scrolling a bit easier. You can even press the button into the phone to make a selection which comes in handy with one handed operation.   Swapping microSD cards are no problem with it conveniently located next to the jog dial. Remove the cover, place your memory card, and you’re ready to start saving files without any hassle. All the buttons on the device are well sized with good feedback quality. Music fans will also be glad to find a 3.5mm jack on the top without having to worry about using an adapter to enable them to use their pair of headphones. Finally, the back houses the battery (1300 mAh) with the auto-focusing 3-megapixel camera.

Software/Features:

Considering that this is the first LG device on AT&T's lineup that uses the Windows Mobile platform, it was interesting to see how they pull it off. We're curious to see how they can personalize the system and optimized it to differentiate the INCTIE from others. It's imperative for manufacturers to wow users with a distinct looking interface that overshadows the underlying aging operating system.

We're not sure about the amount of time invested in the planning and development of the interface. But we were disappointed with the layout of the home screen - it looks as they optimized it to work with the stylus more than a finger. The default theme was a perfect example that showcased tiny icons that make it difficult to navigate without the use of the stylus. The digital clock is most visible on the home screen with the current weather and temperature displayed underneath it. You'll find other home screens to choose in the settings menus, but the only thing different with them is the color layout. The only finger friendly icons are the ones found on the bottom of the home screen that gives you access to the dialing pad, contacts, messages, favorites, and LG's proprietary interface. It's the same user interface used in the Vu and Glimmer. Granted though, navigating through it is a bit easier thanks to the larger sized icons and less menu screens via the start button.

Dialing a number was no problem with the large dial pad. Regrettably, the lack of fine tuning coupled with unresponsive touch recognition ruins the experience for LG’s first try at Windows Mobile. We found ourselves frustrated with the amount of pressing on the screen in order for the phone to accurately recognize what we wanted to touch.

As with other Windows Mobile Professional phones, you can store as many contacts as the phone’s memory can hold. From more traditional pieces of information such as phone numbers to obscure things like children, you can put in a lot of information for a single contact.

You can add an assortment of e-mail addresses and sync over the air using Microsoft Exchange Server. There is nothing different with the messaging options when compared to other such phones except that the QWERTY keyboard option for inputting text takes up almost the entire screen. It became extremely frustrating having to scroll to a certain area on screen with the QWERTY displayed. You can always opt to use the WM keyboard which uses up less room; just be prepared to use the stylus. On top of that, you really need to push into the screen for the phone to recognize something. The best input method we found was the XT9 keypad for predictive text. 


Although there is no flash present, the auto focusing 3-megapixel camera produces some detailed images. The phone did a good job of taking photos in low lit areas; automatically brightening the image while maintaining some detail.  Colors on the other hand looked a little washed out in both indoor and outdoor shots. Videos can be recorded at a variety of resolutions from 128x94 to 400x240 pixels.  Choppy frame rates littered video capture at the highest resolution; showing off jerky movements. While recording at a lower resolution of 320x240 proved to be a little bit better. Audio quality from the videos was quite clear and distinct without any noticeable loss in clarity. The interface for both photo and video use provided some options to the user such as shooting modes, white balance, and color effects to name a few. The INCITE is a Video Share capable handset, but we were unable to test out the feature. It allows you to place a phone call while sending real time video to the other person at the same time.



There was nothing special with the Windows Media player on the Incite. Not surprisingly, there were no other skins found except for the default one. So using the stylus will be key in order to navigate while we found using a finger more frustrating at times. The album cover and song title are displayed on screen with tiny buttons to pause, forward, rewind, and control volume. The volume rocker on the side does not control the sound level for Windows Media Player. Instead, it only changes the ringing and system volume for the device. So we were stuck having to press the small buttons to control the sound level. Other music programs that came installed with the phone were XM Radio, MusicID, and Pandora. Although the INCITE does not include a separate speaker aside the one found on the front using for phone calls, it did a pretty good job without much distortion. You can even use your own pair of wired headphones to keep your music to yourself. We found the quality to be average and lacking some needed bass to give that extra power. Music lovers will be glad to know that the device supports stereo Bluetooth.

Another good area that the INCITE proved to do well in was video playback. We were able to load up a movie trailer in 320x136 H.264 format using Windows Media Player without any hiccups. Frame rate was steady while maintaining good quality and color. Considering that the INCITE comes with an accelerometer, we would have assumed that LG would integrate it seamlessly into the player. Like many other things we found lacking on the phone, you still have to press a button to view in landscape.

World travelers will find the INCITE’s global quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) capabilities to be sufficient with tri-band UMTS (850/1900/2100 MHz). You will be able to pair it up with various wireless Bluetooth headsets and transfer data wirelessly between devices.  

It’s been the staple of every Windows Mobile handset; Pocket Internet Explorer just does not do justice with web browsing. You’ll find yourself with long load times and just improper placement of text and photos. Luckily though, the INCITE comes with the NetFront Browseras an alternative. You’ll be greeted with a decent experience similar to what Opera Mobile provides. Viewing through complex sites is a breeze because the browser scrolls quite smoothly without too much lag. You can open up multiple window tabs as well. There is no double tap feature to zoom in or out; only providing a single zoom level with you having to manually change it through the menu options. Still, it provides users with a swift and intuitive experience over Pocket Internet Explorer.



As with other Windows Mobile Professional devices, the standard mobile version of the Microsoft Office suite can be found. For travelers on the go, using AT&T Navigator will provide good turn-by-turn directions while offering plenty of local points of interests. The Incite’s IM client is powered by OZ Messenger to allow you to pick from AIM, Windows Live Messenger, or Yahoo Messenger.

The smart phone comes with 95 MB of storage memory and 78 MB of program memory. You can supplement the storage memory with microSD support for cards up to 32GB. The Incite is loaded with 128MB RAM and 246MB ROM. We found the phone running sluggish at times, especially when the accelerometer switches the view to landscape or portrait. It was especially frustrating when the device took an extremely long time to switch views after unlocking the phone.

Performance:

For a device only relying on a single speaker for all audio output, we had no problems making phone calls. Audio quality was very clear with no distortion in both incoming and outgoing calls. Users on the other end said our voice sounded audible with no distortion. We can’t say the same with the speaker phone which came out to be mediocre quality. Voices sounded a little low even when it was placed on the highest volume setting.

The INCITE kept good reception in various areas across the greater New York metropolitan area. Additionally, 3G access was steady for the most part with certain areas connecting to EDGE speeds. Wi-Fi connection was also top notch when using it for web browsing.

Usually smart phones are notorious with battery life requiring daily charging. But we managed to get a good 5 days of normal use out of the Incite before dropping below the 50 percent capacity mark. It is rated with 8 hours of talk time and a whooping 504 hours of stand-by time. Although we did not reach those marks, we were still impressed with what we managed to get out of it. Additionally, the light sensor will automatically turn off the display when making a phone call to reserve power consumption.

Conclusion:

This first time attempt in the U.S. for LG at a Windows Mobile smart phone did not “incite” too many impressive points. Rather, it showcases an underperforming device littered with an outdated look to the platform. First time Windows Mobile users will be turned away with the sluggish performance and unresponsive touch screen. Combining all those issues will result in an experience that will truly turn away most from the platform. Even veterans of Windows Mobile devices will find the INCITE to be troublesome and light years behind the pinnacles such as those found on HTC’s lineup. If there is another reason why so many people talk badly about Windows Mobile, the LG INCITE makes a good argument to the statement. Maybe LG will learn from the lessons learned from this device and keep up with the current competition.