Once you take the new Viewty Smart in your hand, you will notice just how much slimmer and lighter it is than the original Viewty. The new handset is a lot like the iPhone as it is completely touchscreen, apart from the one button on the face of the handset.

LG have been working hard and the new S-Class 3D user interface proves just that, and is certainly a major improvement over the original Viewty. From the moment you take the new phone in your hands, you will notice the vast improvement of its LCD screen.

It is no secret that LG have based the whole phone on its 8-megapixel camera and we worry that not much attention has been taken to the feel of the handset, as it has a slight plasticky feel to it. That is a small price to pay for all the new features.

So let us take a closer look at the biggest part of the LG Viewty Smart and that is its camera. Most people will assume that as this phone is an 8-megapixel shooter it will produce great shots, but the quality of the camera is all down to its optics. The Viewty Smart does not disappoint as those optics are delivered with the aid of its Schneider Kreuznach lens. This allows it to offer images that are up there with the best Nokia handsets on the market.

We loved how the camera has autofocus and an LED flash, something that is missing from my new iPhone 3G S. When we had a go at taking some shots, we noticed that the handset now has Intelligent Shot Mode, this not only analyses the subject but also the background as well as the lighting conditions. The phone will then search through its seven pre-programmed scenarios; the end result is some amazing pictures, which we have tried to show you in the images below.

The phone is much more than its camera, but we had to try it first as that is the Smart’s biggest selling point. The next big feature is its music and video player, which offers support for DivX/XviD formats. To help improve your media experience LG have enlisted the help of Dolby Mobile and I have to say the results were amazing. Again, it is no secret that the iPhone is not based on its sound quality, the LG Viewty Smart blows the iPhone out of the water when it comes to sound. I am starting to wish that I waited to get my hands on the LG handset sooner; it might have persuaded me not to purchase the new iPhone 3G S.

Like the iPhone, the Viewty Smart now comes with built-in GPS and Wi-Fi, but with a more superior Bluetooth system and USB as well. The storage capacity of the Smart is only 1.5GB, but this can be increased to 32GB with the use of a microSD card. This is certainly much better than having a large hard drive for two reasons, longer battery life and cooler running.

However, we did notice that when we used the phone heavy, we needed to charge it daily, this has something to do with the Wi-Fi and GPS. The other drawback is as the handset is much slimmer the battery has now been made smaller, but this is just a small sacrifice to make.

We mentioned in brief about the S-Class user interface, there is one long button along the bottom that will takes you to the home screen. Once there you will then be able to swipe your fingers through the four home screens along with their shortcuts to favorites, such as favorite contacts and more. There is also a menu icon, once tapped you will be taken to all of the options that are laid out in a row, much like the home screen on the iPhone.

When we spent some time with the handset we started to notice just how slow the on-screen keyboard was. We found that the delay from pressing the keys to the letter coming up on screen was producing a number of errors for us when we tried to text. After more time with it, we started to get the hang of it, like all things you have to adapt. If you want a handset for texting a lot, then the LG Viewty Smart is not for you.

The Web browser on the Smart is very good, rendering of a number of complex websites were better than expected. The only problem that we found was with the size of the screen, the 3-inch screen often seemed smaller than many other similar handsets on the market. This is due to the design of its large bezel.

To conclude, the new LG Viewty Smart GC900 is never going to be a substitute for your small digital camera, but it is close. The video quality was ok, but there is still much room for improvement. The keyboard as we mentioned above was a bit of a pain, but it does not take long to adapt. Oh, the lack of a 3.5mm audio jack is another point against the handset.

The overall design of the phone is very nice and the lightweight feel does not make it feel uncomfortable in your pocket. The display on the Viewty Smart is gorgeous and the user interface is truly amazing.

More Photos Below

For more information, visit the LG Website

Specs Include:

• 3G: Yes
• Audio Recording: Yes
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Built-In Camera: Yes
• Camera Resolution: 8
• Colour Screen: Yes
• Colour: Black
• Dimensions: 56.1 x 108.9 x 12.4
• Display Size: 3
• Display Technology: TFT Touchscreen
• Features: 8 Megapixel Camera / Touch Connectivity / Dolby Mobile for Music / Impressive Screen Resolution / MicroSD slot supports up to 32GB
• GPRS: Yes
• GPS Receiver Details: A-GPS
• HSDPA: Yes
• Internet Browser: Yes
• Loudspeaker: Yes
• Memory (GB): 1.5
• Memory Card Compatibility: MicroSD
• SMS: Yes
• Standby Time: 350 hours
• Talktime: 6 hours
• Video Capture: Yes
• Weight (g): 102
• WiFi: Yes