Running Windows Mobile, LG suggests that GM750 is simplicity in a smartphone thanks to its easy integration with your Windows PC and multi-tasking functions. But how does it measure up during a hard day’s work?
What we like
Every phone and its dog have multiple home screens these days and the LG GM750 is no exception; with dedicated screens for your favourite contacts and widgets, media content and applications, there’s space galore. A steady presence at the top of the screen is the comprehensive status bar, which displays a multitude of icons, not all of which are easily deciphered.
For users who have Microsoft Office on their computers, Microsoft Office Mobile is a real boon – reading and making minor edits to Word and Excel documents is great but you’ll want to steer clear of creating documents from scratch on the GM750 as typing accurately is an arduous task. Synchronising the handset with your PC desktop is also a handy feature, particularly for business users.
The handset also comes with Windows Live Messenger so you can catch up with friends or colleagues on the go, as well as merging your instant messaging contacts with your phonebook which is handy. The multitasking function is very cool; swiping between applications is useful and satisfyingly fun.
Music playback quality is actually alright – even using the cheap headphones that come with the handset – there’s a nice amount of bass which is something often missing from today’s handsets. The headset extension incorporates a standard 3.5mm headphone jack so you can use your existing headphones and they’ll handily double as a handsfree.
The 5MP camera performs fairly well, with autofocus and a tiny mirror on the back for the perfect MySpace angle shots.
What we don’t like
While the touchscreen isn’t too heinous to use despite being a bit slow to respond, our main bugbear is that the stylus isn’t built-in. Scrolling between menus is perfectly easy with a finger, more fiddly tasks like typing are nigh on impossible without the stylus, so you have to remember to take it with you everywhere you go without misplacing it. Without the stylus, typing and making selections in menus on the phone are virtually impossible. You can attach it as a kind of phone charm, but let’s be honest; this looks rubbish and is annoying when you’re using the handset to make calls.
The handset is slow to get going even when you’re simply waking it from standby. In fact, the handset is a bit slow generally, which gets frustrating very quickly.
While we do like the multi-tasking capability, we’d prefer it if the handset didn’t automatically keep applications open when we hit the home button. The close-down button in the top right hand corner is too obscure to be worth it so we often ended up keeping loads of things running that we didn’t need, which did nothing to help the lag situation.
Speed-wise, the HSDPA (3.5G) is lovely and fast but sadly the same can’t be said for connecting via Wi-Fi. Tediously slow and the connection was repeatedly dropped despite the fact that the handset was less than three feet from the wireless router. The other downside to browsing the web on the LG GM750 is the cramped screen, which doesn’t exactly make for a harmonious experience.
Let’s be honest; even with our fine photography skills, the LG GM750 is not a very beautiful handset. Some of the materials feel a bit cheap and the design has a churned-out feel.
The LG GM750 has got a lot going on, but it’s very confusingly laid out to the beginner; it’ll definitely take some time to get used to the maze of menus. Even being familiar with Windows OS on a PC (as most of us are) won’t help a great deal. Confusingly, the Start menu is in the top left hand corner and the OK button for most menus and options in the top right – but since we’ve been conditioned to anticipate Start in the bottom left, and OK in the centre it feels as though the world has gone mad.
Conclusion
There’s a lot of functionality packed into that little form factor, but the GM750 simply can’t handle it very well. While it sounds great on paper, the lag, confusing menus and relatively small screen make the user experience wrought with gritted teeth and white knuckles. However, if you’re after a phone that can seamlessly integrate with your work email and Office files, you could do worse – as long as you don’t expect too much from it.
Specification
| OS | Windows Phone |
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