Will the touch screen devices ever stop coming? Apparently not, and LG is determined to unseat Apple as the king in the touch screen phone department. But instead of coming out with just one superb device LG has taken a different approach and released a bunch of formidable devices that lack one major thing: Multitouch input and a killer user interface.
The Dare is one such device. Just released on “The Network” (Verizon) the Dare hopes to challenge not only the iPhone but also the just released Samsung Instinct (Sprint’s version of the iPhone which is selling like hot bread).
DESIGN:
The design of the phone is reminiscent of all the touch screen devices that have been released lately. The device has a 3 inch display and only three dedicated keys. It is comparably smaller than the iPhone and even the Samsung Instinct which beat it in terms of screen size. The device carries a nice stainless steel border which gives it a nice grip and weighing 3.76 ounces it’s pretty light yet does not feel like a cheap piece of plastic. The devices screen supports 240×400 pixel resolution and 262,000 colors. Not exceptional but still very good for its class.
The phone has a microSD slot along with a 3.2 megapixel camera which carries a LED flash.
SOFTWARE:
The software on the device is a slight improvement to most of the phones that are released on the Verizon network. While Verizon phones are known to be pretty good they do lack one major thing, a user friendly interface (thanks to V mobile). Fortunately the LG Dare improves on that.
The interface carries some nice features like the ability to arrange most used applications (such as contacts, email etc…) and even the ability to drag them to the home screen after which they can be arraigned to the users liking. You are also able to select a contact and have one touch access to either call, text or edit their details, something that is very intuitive which the iPhone lacks.
Typing on the Dare is easy and carries a few features that other touch screen devices lack, such as the ability to copy and paste text (something the iPhone lacks). Handwriting on the device is good but it’s much better to use the included stylus instead of your fingers unless you have long nails.
The proximity detector (which locks the touch display when the phone is raised to the ears (a feature of the iPhone) is very good. Also very good is the light sensor which automatically adjusts the backlight display to conserve on battery life.
PERFORMANCE:
The device’s camera is great and took excellent photographs. Call quality is good with minimal ambient noises and static. Speakerphone quality si admirable for and there is little difference in quality when on the speakerphone.
Video playback is great and the EV-DO feature is grand with webpage’s downloading in mare seconds. Sound quality is good but if you’re interested in listening to your tunes on the phone you might want to get a stereo headset.
Talk time is 4.6 hours and the standby time is 15 days.
CONCLUSION:
To sum it up the LG Dare is a great touch screen device and is proof that with each new phone LG comes closer to delivering an iPhone worthy opponent.
