Gingerbread, Snikerdoodles, Chocolate chip, Biscotti, Brownies and Drop cookies are delicious and extremely easy to cook. Oops, did we forget that we are writing for a mobile website and not a gourmet one? Well not really, you see cookies are a part of much coveted dishes that nobody can resist, not even handset manufacturers. Since we could not discover a probable reason behind why LG would give one of its phones such a scrumptious, crunchy and crispy name, we assume it was simply for the love of this delicacy. As the LG Cookie Plus GS500v made its way to our review desk, we readied ourselves to dive into its sea of features. So here we offer you a detailed recipe of what the handset tasted like on sampling.
At first glance, the phone does indeed touch your heart even though it had not been done up very elaborately. Crafted in a simplistic yet elegant design, it is painted in a uniform black hue leaving aside the green patch housing the camera on the back of the phone. This cookie has been baked in an adorable curvy appearance furnishing three circular buttons just below its screen. The first and the last keys are for accepting and rejecting calls, respectively while the center one is to access the main menu or favorite applications. Often subconsciously we try to assess the phone’s feel in our hands before purchasing. This assessment inadvertently does affect our decisions. So as our fingers first grasped the phone’s sheath, the smooth rubbery texture augmented the grip on it.
The rounded edges of the LG Cookie Plus phone housed volume controls, a dedicated camera key, another for locking or unlocking the device, microUSB port and 3.5mm headset jack. The phone box carried an assortment enlisting a battery, charger, 2GB memory card, USB cable, stereo ear headphone, an LG PC Suite driver CD along with the user manual. Flaunting a 7.6cm TFT touchscreen, this phone touts to offer a 240 x 400 pixel resolution coupled with three way navigation. This screen displays an alpha-numeric key pad in the landscape mode, while hosting a QWERTY one in portrait. Moreover, it integrates handwriting recognition for quicker typing of words. However, the display is not wide enough to allow users with large fingers to comfortably type out messages or mails. Surprisingly the keypad was quite responsive in spite of the resistive screen.
The screen seemed to be a problem while surfing the internet. Aching fingers are something you can expect after prolonged usage of this device as navigating and visiting websites were quite a pain. Accessing Gmail through the pre-loaded e-mail widget was quite a hindrance too, though it supported the browser and Exchange ActiveSync. Furthermore, even loading YouTube videos is taxing as most of them did not play. The handset flashed a Timeout Error each time we attempted to watch videos on the site. The richness of images on the web was lost, as we viewed through the 240 x 400 pixel resolution display. The navigation was swift with the help of the large back/forward, bookmarks, refresh and stop widgets.
Apart from these above mentioned issues the phone proffered a satisfactory browsing speed and quick access to other websites. The handset performed well as we accessed various SNSs like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. The SNS dedicated icon provided effortless connectivity. Next, we moved on to assess the quality of audio, the music player and built-in FM radio. Customizing the playlists was simple while the player offered a good sound output. The pre-set equalizer was a great addition as it enabled us to alter the sound settings. You can enjoy popular tracks with the radio, although playing music via the speakers left the audio sounding a bit tinny. Hence plugging in the stereo ear headphone would be a good alternative.
Dilettante photographers might be quite impressed with the clarity of the camera. Sporting a 3MP camera, it can capture images in a wide range of resolutions beginning from 320 x 240 pixels to 2048 x 1536 pixels. Supporting 2x digital zoom, we could tweak images here and there with the help of white balance alteration as well as color effects. Apart from these, it bunched up all the normal functions that one would normally expect from a mobile phone. It recorded videos at 320 x 240p and 176 x 144p resolutions and offered several video editing features. Moving on from music and photography, we bumped into a slew of games, even though most of them were just demo versions. You would have to shell out money to be able to access the full fledged versions. Trial games enlisted in the phone were Brain Challenge 2, Bejeweled Twist, Ferrari GT, Sudoku Café and The Sims 3.
On the other hand, the Fun Stuff section was loaded with Flying Dice and Music world. Out of the two, we rested our loyalties with the former as it allowed us to check out the motion control gaming abilities of the handset. It furnished three board games wherein players had to roll a pair of dice. On shaking this beauty, the dice rolls and displays the number of steps you have to take. The beautiful layout of these board games took us back in time as we reminisced on those fond memories of our childhood. The pocket applications included Sound tuner, Mellow candle, Banner, Weight tracker, Mind selector and Running mate. With a microSD slot rendering up to 8GB support and an on board memory of 30MB, the phone proffers tons of space for all your multimedia files.
One of the most interesting aspects of this phone was the three customizable homescreens, with the most cheerful one being Livesquare. What this homescreen does is that it converts your frequently contacted friends into avatars. Subsequently it notifies users at the time of missed calls, received mail or incoming messages. You can assign animal or human Livecons and store them in a zoo or park like area called Liveplace. This Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR enabled handset houses the common utilities which we would expect any phone to be equipped with. Another special facet was the ability to put the device on silent by simply flipping it over on receiving a call or stopping an alarm. The 900mAh battery offered us enough power for three days of heavy usage after a single charge.
Pros:
The handset is loaded up to the brim with fun applications, proffering hours of entertainment.
The Livesquare interface is worth a mention as it was a simple and enjoyable experience.
A long lasting battery life allowed us to use the device to its maximum.
Cons:
The touchscreen was in fact quite resistive, making navigation, swiping and scrolling a major issue.
The loudspeaker has an unpleasant tinny ring to it. Hence, playing loud music is no fun with this phone.
This Cookie tantalized our taste buds and has the capabilities to attract several of the younger generation with its cheerful appearance and a plethora of amusing attributes. It clearly does not appear to be a business phone but should be loved by the youth. The LG Cookie Plus GS500v can be bagged at Rs. 9,500. This feature-rich, multi-faceted delicacy receives 8 out of 10 on our scorecards for being a dependable and entertaining performer.