LG KC550 Review

Introduction:

The cell phone market offers a variety of models, targeting the different consumer groups. Some people look for music centric devices, others are interested in such that have advanced Internet capabilities, cameras etc. In this review, we will discuss a model targeting the last group.

This is LG KC550, the first budget 5-megapixel cameraphone from a leading manufacturer. It is a mid-level slider and is equipped with Schneider-KREUZNACH autofocus lens, which places it next to the pretentious cameraphones. The manufacturer claims that the model has a fast processor for faster picture viewing and reproduction of videos in DVD resolution (720x480 pixels). In addition, the LG has a built-in TV-out and an accelerometer with which to play the preloaded games.

The package includes:

Design:

The design resembles the one of the modern digital cameras and is more convenient for taking pictures than attractive. The materials used to make the phone create a nice feeling of a quality product.



You can compare the LG KC550 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The TFT display is 2.4” with resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and supports 262K colors. In darker environments, they are well-saturated and lively, and the screen is even brighter than usual. Unfortunately, due to the mirror like effect, it is almost useless in direct sunlight.

The soft buttons and the SEND/END keys are slightly protruding, meanwhile, the5-way D-pad and the „C” button have a well-expressed relief. The interesting thing here is that when activating the camera, the D-pad’s directions light up in white, indicating their functions. All buttons require a bit more pressure, but you can clearly feel when pushing them. The comfort level they provide is average and it could have been better.


The slider has almost no backlash, the mechanism is stable but it creates the feeling that you have to push it manually all the way up. The keyboard is very similar to the one of KF600, but unfortunately, just like in it although the order in which the buttons are arranged attracts attention, they are not user-friendly. They are clearly felt when pressed, but similarly to the soft ones, more pressure needs to be applied. This is quite annoying, especially when typing a message.

On the left, you’ll find the charger slot, and on the right, the one for the microSD card, the volume controls and the camera buttons. The last ones are easy to distinguish and are easily pressed.



The order in which are arranged the elements on the back is very interesting. Under a side-sliding lid, we find the 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and mirror. The lid, which is something new for the manufacturer, doesn’t employ any mechanism and has to be operated manually, but we still like it.

Interface:

For homescreen background, you have preloaded static and flash animated wallpapers. Part of the second type rotate influenced by the accelerometer, but the more interesting thing here is that you can use one of the games (Dart, Maze or Magic Ball) for a background and play it.

The main menu is viewed as either a 3x4 grid or a vertical list. In front of every icon there is a number, corresponding to the buttons of the numeric keypad. This lets you activate the most frequently used functions faster and pressing less keys.



All sub-menus are visualized as a vertical list, preceded by numbers as well. Similar to earlier models, by using the left/right arrow you are able to jump to the previous/next one, no matter the sub-menu you are in.

Phonebook:

The phonebook stores up to 1000 contacts, and each of them can have up to four numbers and an e-mail address. In addition, you have the choice of a group, ringtone, image, date of birth and a short note. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t offer search by second name or selecting multiple contacts and copying or sending them (from a SIM card or another phone).

Dialer:

In the dialing screen you have the choice of three themes: newspring, lawn and sketchbook. You can also search for matches in the phonebook and the call log. This is a nice feature but we’d like it to be automatically activated.



Organizer:

KC550 doesn’t offer a very rich organizing functionality. The options it has are separated in the menus Organizer and Tools. The first one contains memo and calendar, which cannot be viewed as weeks, and only as a whole month or a specific day. For the daily view, there is an option to enter an alarm but unfortunately, you can’t note the type of the event (e.g. holiday, birthday etc.).


The menu Tools houses Alarms, Calculator, Stopwatch, Unit converter and World Clock. These are standard and nothing will surprise you. Voice command options are not present at all.

Overall, KC550 is not pretentious in this aspect and this is not a huge drawback.

Messaging:

In this menu, you can choose between SMS, e-mail and Bluetooth messages. KC550 combines the messages from its own memory with the ones in the SIM card, which is a good option that saves you rummaging through the options.


The phone offers support for POP3/IMAP mail, but sadly, there is no option for automatic configuration, like in some phones and you’ll have to do it manually. The automatic mail check is on at all times and you can only set the intervals at which it is executed – one, three, or six hours. There also is an option to add an electronic signature.


Connectivity:

LG KC550 is a tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900) and that makes it fully usable only on the territory of Europe. So far there is no information from the manufacturer if there’s going to be a U.S. version. We are surprised not to see 3G support and you’ll only have to rely on EDGE speeds, which are low for today’s standards.

We are not happy with the Internet browser! Many of the heavy pages do not load correctly. Some of them actually do but most of the time, you wait for a few minutes and at the end all you see is a white screen with the ”Out of Memory” message. Even if you are only going to surf to simple pages, the situation is not good at all. They load as on a PC (with slight remarks) or in a column in order to avoid the horizontal scrolling. However, the problem arises when scrolling through the page: despite having a cursor visualized on the screen, it doesn’t move smoothly but jumps from link to link. There is no panning option (showing the whole page or a big part of it and you choose what to enlarge) for separate zooming levels and the text doesn’t shrink according to the screen. Considering the many other lower-class phones out there that have a better browser we think this one is terrible and useless.

Camera:

The key feature in KC550 is its 5-megapixel camera with Schneider-KREUZNACH autofocus lens. We know the interface from previous models and it is easy and pleasant to work with. In KF510 for example, there is an icon bar on the right to some of the functions but here the markings for these shortcuts are placed in the very D-pad. Its directions give access to the choice of focus, flash mode, the antishake option and the gallery. The rest of the options offered by the interface include ISO sensitivity adjustment, white balance, various color effects, choice of resolution and quality, shooting mode, self-portrait. Once you snap a picture, you’ll have to wait for 7-8 seconds to be able to take the next one, which is normal compared to the top cameraphones.

The outdoor image level of detail was a nice surprise. It is very good and identical to the one of G600, which ranked first in our last 5-megapixel comparison. To our regret, there is a problem with the colors, since they are not real at all, but the overall picture quality in natural light is quite good.


In artificial light however, the quality is mediocre and in darker environments it is very low, once again like in G600. The flash does not help much either, because it is weak and does not illuminate well enough the object photographed in order to get images with good details and colors. The night pictures are with a high level of detail but the brighter colors are overexposed and unreal. Overall, KC550’s camera is not better than the ones of the top cameraphones, but to some extent, this is justified by affordable price.



Viewing pictures as thumbnails is quick. The claims for the good potential of the processor is clearly felt when opening images in full size and zooming in/out. These commands are executed almost immediately, but we have a comment to make. When viewing an image and holding the phone vertically, the center of the D-pad has an option for zoom, but if it’s not activated and you turn KC550 horizontally, the accelerometer rotates the image automatically and shows it full screen, with the feature not available.

The camcorder can record videos with DVD resolution (720 x 480 pixels), which is quite good but they are only 15 fps. While filming, you can pause and continue later which allows combining a few situations in one video. The quality is close to the best cameraphones but due to the 3GP compression, there are more annoying artifacts.

LG KC550 sample video at 720x480 pixels resolution


Multimedia:

In this menu you will find the music player. It can sort the tracks by a few criteria: All songs, My playlist, Artists, Albums and Genres, and its interface is pleasant and easy to use. You have options to repeat all songs, play them shuffled and there are a few preset equalizers and background play. When using the last one, you will not find any controls on the home screen.


If you get tired of the uploaded tunes, you can turn on the FM radio. In that case, you’ll have to use the earphones as an antenna. The interface is user-friendly and let’s you store up to 12 favorite stations, whose positions correspond to the buttons on the numeric keypad. Unfortunately, the radio does not support background mode.

Listening to music via the loudspeaker is annoying, because of the low sound quality. In addition, when the volume is turned up to the max, a crackling noise can be heard. Using the earphones doesn’t change the situation much. The music is clear but again, when the volume is at the maximum level, the same crackling noise can be heard. Unfortunately, a 3.5mm jack adapter has not been included in the package in case you want a better sound. Its price varies between 6 and 19 dollars and you will have to buy headphones separately.

The video player is started by opening a video file. Just turn the phone horizontally and thanks to the accelerometer, you will be viewing the clip in full screen. Nowadays this is not something innovative but is convenient nevertheless.


The phone can only play mp4 files, converted with an MPEG4 or H.263 codec, a bitrate not more than 1080 kbps and 25 fps. The maximum resolution supported is DVD (720x480 pixels). However, that’s pointless, unless you watch them on a big screen (via the TV-out), because the display resolution of 320x240 megapixels is not enough to sense the difference in quality between DVD and QVGA files. Since a cable is not included in the package, you’ll have to buy a one (about $24).

The reproduction of H264 videos is accompanied by blockings of the picture or its total lack. This is sad since they offer a much better quality. On this display, a H.264 video in QVGA resolution looks even better than the ones in DVD.

Software:

The LG phone is equipped with software that opens Microsoft Office 2003 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and PDF documents. They can be viewed easily, but if opening larger files there is a slight lag. Since KC550 supports JAVA MIDP 2.0, you’ll be able to use applications designed for this platform.



The games can be found in the Games & Apps, divided in two menus. M-toy is the first one and it contains 6 games controlled with the accelerometer we’ve previously seen in Secret. They are not much fun but are still good to waste some time.

In the Games submenu we have Extreme Skateboard and another one we are familiar with - Mini Game World. The first one looks complicated but you’ll get used to it quickly, and Mini Game World is for little kids.




The KC550 comes preloaded with an application called “Muvee studio”, which is used for creating of video slideshows. You must choose the movie style (transitions type) which determines the maximum number of pictures you can include, then load the images and create a movie (with music) out of them. While not being of an upmost importance, this program allows to easily combine (directly on the phone) a few images into a short video clip (320x240 pixels) that is suitable for uploading in sites such as YouTube.

Performance:

Navigating through the menus and opening applications are almost always accompanied by a slight lag, but in time you’ll get used to it and it you’ll see that it’s not that bad.

The sound quality during a talk is good at both ends of the line. You and your collocutor will hear loud and clear voices even when in noisier environments. Unfortunately, the loudspeaker is too quiet which makes it useless.

According to the official data, the battery should provide up to 6 hours of talks or 450 hours in standby mode. The values indicated are lower than the ones of Sony Ericsson C905 or Motorola ZN5, but overall are good.

Conclusion:

As a 5-megapixel cameraphone, LG KC550 performs worse than the best ones available on the market. However, the pictures are good for such a low price. Multimedia wise it has the advantage to reproduce videos in DVD resolution on a big screen via the TV-out.

At the end of the day, the combination of a “not so bad camera”, good multimedia features, and affordable price, transform KC550 in a quite good offer for the average user. The closest alternative in price is Viewty, which delivers a similar picture quality but on a larger screen and DivX support. However, if you are only interested in a good camera and not such functionality as we mentioned above, Samsung G600 is a better choice at an even lower price.