The Impressive Lg Pop

LG have targeted their latest handset, the Pop at the slightly more budget end of the mobile phone market. However do not let this fool you, the handset itself is a compact and feature packed phone that will please many people.

Thanks to LG using their newest A Class user interface, the Pop behaves like a phone a lot more well equipped than it actually is. This interface means the menu look clear and fun, but still maintain a functionality that is easy to grasp in terms of there use. The 3 homescreens system is easy to get used to. A simple swipe of your finger across the screen will move you on to the next screen, rather like on the iPhone. The main screen is widget based and another of the three features all of your speed dial contacts, however it is the third screen that impresses me the most. This screen uses LG's LiveSquare feature. What this involves is basically a screen that allows you to place your favourite contacts on it. You can assign animated avatars to each contact, and when you click on them a history of messages, calls, e mails etc appears.

The lack of WiFi or 3G on the LG GD510 Pop means that browsing the web can sometimes be a touch on the slow side. Websites which have been optimised for use on mobiles do load very quickly, as you would expect, however full sites are slower. This lack of connectivityis a shame as the browser system LG use on the Pop is simple and easy to use, a toolbar at bottom of the screen features zoom, reload back and forward buttons. Zooming is achieved via a bar at the side of the screen.

Thanks to the addition of a microSD card slot of the LG Pop, the phone is suitable for various multimedia usage. Mpeg 4 and .3gp formats are supported, and the 3" screen shows of footage very clearly with good colour reproduction, thanks to the 256k colours the screen is capable of displaying. Audio files on the handset are nicely sorted thanks to the on board media player. You can browse via artist, genre or playlist etc. Multiple audio formats are also supported including MP3, AAC+ and WMA. Unfortunately the unit does suffer from the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack.

For a relatively low cost touchscreen phone, the LG GD510 Pop is a lovely little phone. The user interface looks great and is a breeze to use, and the overall compactness of the handset is going to appeal to many potential buyers.