Review: LG KF700

LG KF700 Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: The KF700 offers the best of both worlds: a large touchscreen and a slide-out conventional keypad. Combine this with an excellent specification (3 megapixel camera with autofocus, MP3 player, FM radio, plenty of memory, Bluetooth & 3G) and you have one of the best mid-range 3G phones currently available. Not as good as the LG Viewty, but still highly recommended.

LG have enjoyed a massive hit in 2008 with the LG Viewty iPhone-killer, and now here comes the KF700 that seems to be a better-looking version of the Viewty, but with a slide-out conventional keypad. So is the KF700 an improved Viewty? Mobile Phones UK checks it out!

LG boast that the KF700 is the world's first phone with three separate input methods. Don't think so! Whilst it's true that the KF700 does have three input methods (touchscreen, alphanumeric keypad and shortcuts), it's not the first (this was probably the Sony Ericsson P800 back in 2003!) Anyway, let's take a look at the three input methods and see how well they work. Firstly, the Viewty has proved that a touchscreen user interface can work well for everything except texting. The KF700 clearly builds on the Viewty's success, delivering a polished touchscreen UI with the benefit of a conventional keypad for fast texting. When sending texts, you can use the keypad for entering letters, with frequently used symbols available on the touchscreen. It's a strong combination and should please most people. The touchscreen is big (at 3 inches diagonally), which is essential for making a user friendly UI. The shortcut dial isn't a huge innovation, but provides a quick way into various applications.

When it comes to features, it becomes obvious that the KF700 can't match the Viewty. It's clearly a mid-range phone, rather than a high-end one. Still, the specification is excellent when you consider the price. The camera has 3 megapixels, autofocus, zoom and a flash. The low-light setting uses ISO 800 to capture images in low light, but like most camera phones it's a challenge to get good quality images when it's dark. As this is a 3G phone, video calling is available too.

The phone comes with both an FM radio and an MP3 player. Audio quality is high, and with 90 Mbytes of onboard memory and a microSD memory card slot, there's plenty of memory available for storing music. In fact, the 90 Mbyte memory vastly exceeds what's on offer from any competitor phones in this price range and is very useful. We'd like to see more manufacturers increasing built-in memory like this. Connectivity is via Bluetooth and USB, in common with most other phones. Internet access is fast, with high-speed 3G (HSDPA) offering download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps.

One problem with this phone is the battery life, which is below average. This is common with touchscreen phones - the huge displays eat power!

Overall, we recommend the KF700. It's an excellent mid-range 3G phone, offering a combination of good features and a good user interface. Just don't buy it under the impression that it's an upgraded Viewty!

Features of the LG KF700 include:

• 3 megapixel camera with autofocus and 2x digital zoom and LED flash
• Video camera & 3G video calling
• Display: TFT, 262,000 colours, 240 x 480 pixels (3 inches)
• MP3 player & FM radio
• Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, email
• Java games
• Wallpaper
• Phonebook (1,000 names)
• Memory: 90 Mbytes plus microSD memory card slot
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.2, USB 2.0
• Internet: WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA
• Vibration alert
• 3G with HSDPA plus triband GSM
• Size: 102 x 51 x 14.5 mm
• Weight: 104g
• Talktime: 180 minutes
• Battery standby: 280 hours

LG KF700 Consumer Reviews

Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!

Average rating from 12 reviews:

Reviewed by hannah from scotland on 27th Jun 2008
love this phone it does everything you tell it to do .i have had it for 2-3weeks now and i already know all the buttons.:) if you have a problem with it then i dont understand why? it is the best phone ive had, it has a great screen size so i give it 5stars
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Reviewed by bob from uk on 25th Jun 2008
well ive had this phone for around a week and a half now, the music player and camera are decent. the only problems ive had is the fact that the slide mechanism seems a little shabby? Ive returned the first one i had and the second one is starting to do it aswell, will send it back for a non slider (this is my first slide phone) or a SE / Samsung. will not go will LG again as i have mates who say they are bad aswell - shame they didnt tell me before i brought it eh?
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Reviewed by Ian Marchant from UK on 6th Jun 2008
I was about to upgrade to the viewty, then saw this which is a great mixture of touchscreen and keys. At first I was very dissappointed with the battery life, only lasting a couple of days! then while exploring the menus I found a 'power save' setting. since selecting this there has been a tremendouse improvement, only noticable difference is the screen saver comes on much quicker, usually lasting 4-5 days now. Only thing I can slightly fault is that sometimes the touch screen fails to select first time (but I do have big fingers). Also I can't find an easy way to select a mid point of a sms when you make an error and want to correct it. Again possibly due to having big fingers? But overall an excellent phone and very pleased. It's a personal view of course but I can't say I agree that the phone looks cheap!
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Reviewed by jon from england on 28th May 2008
Tested this phone oday. pretty good, except it looks really, really cheap. kf600 looks so much better...
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Reviewed by Sarah from UK on 28th May 2008
HELP!i got this phone today and love it only problem i have is with text messaging- i can write the message fine and receiving isn't a problem but they won't send! they jst save to my outbox for hours and say 'waiting' and then 'failed'. Can anyone help?
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Reviewed by Julie from UK on 26th May 2008
I have just upgraded to KF700 and first impression is very good - so much so my husband is about to cancel his existing contract so he can get one with O2. It seems easy to use although I am not a total geek who uses every function available. Text messaging is easy as well.
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Reviewed by anna from uk on 20th May 2008
i got this phone 2wks ago and have 2 send it back because the sound was bad i could never here my phone ring! even with the volume 2 the max! recieved a new one yesterday only to find the back does not fit on to hold the battery in! (could not find predicitive text found it difficult to text!) also it makes it hard 2 see the screen outside! so now have 2 send this phone back and wait for them 2 recieve it to ring up and get another phone (i had 2 put up a fight to get a different phone am now looking at a nokia as my k800i does not hold charge!
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Reviewed by Dave from UK on 19th May 2008
This is probably the best phone I've had. I started with a Nokia in 1992 and have had a new phone every year (Ericson, Philips, Sony, Samsung +). The battery is good for about 4 days depending on use, the touch screen works a treat and the camera is okay. If you want good quality pics use a proper camera.
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Reviewed by emma from england on 18th May 2008
this phone is the worst phone you will ever get, you will look at it and cry. i got one i got it out the book and it snapped i had for about 1 minuite, i took it strait back and i didnt even get my money back because they had to many of them brought back!
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Reviewed by charlie from uk on 17th May 2008
well i got the KF700 yesterday, so far so good. i like touch screens phone, its got a good memory but the camera was a bit dissapointing
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Reviewed by Phil from Sussex on 15th May 2008
Got the KF700 as an upgrade on O2, its a good phone, looks great and I'm impressed with the responsiveness and ease of use the touch screen has. I had to replace my first handset as the battery would not hold its charge for more than a few hours with litle or no use. The replacement is much better, and I am more than happy with it. I chose it over the Viewty as I like the idea of having the traditional keypad for texting. One little gripe I do have is the the camera has no zoom function when capturing photos, but is present when viewing them in an album. This is a little disappointing but not worthy enough to hold it against the phone's performace overall.
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Reviewed by Shelley from Lancashire on 14th May 2008
Just got the K700 today. So far so good. Looks great, Easy to work, Memory isnt bad but the camera is a little dissapointing. I like the fact that its touch screen but can text using the buttons. Nice neat little phone.
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