LG KP501 Cookie Review

One of the cheapest touchscreen phones on the market, the new LG KP501, also known as Cookie, should not be considered a low-budget one. Slim and lightweight, the handheld uses the same proprietary LG flash UI, which has been improved lately. The affordable touchscreen phosne was introduced by Orange into its network distribution line thanks to the huge success that the previously black Cookie (LG KP500) had since its launch in November 2008. Simple and elegant, LG KP501 promises great value for money, but also more colors available for customers.

Following the overwhelming market success of LG KP500, dubbed Cookie, LG decided to launch a sequel in partnership with Orange. Announced in January 2009, the new LG 501 Cookie was made available the next month, in February, and can be acquired for around 150 USD, free of plan, but can also go as low as 20 USD with a 24-month contract with Orange. The phone is available in a wide range of colors: Anodizing Silver, Capri Green, Pink and Black.


he first two are metallic, which should prevent the paint from wearing off. The in-call speaker is hard to be noticed just above the screen. The right side of the phone features a dedicated camera button, a lock/unlock key and a microSD card slot. The left side of the device includes a dual volume key and the proprietary LG port, where one can insert a charger, a Stereo headset or a USB cable. The stylus has been moved from its usual position, on the bottom right corner of the phone and can now be pulled out from horizontal. On the back of the phone, LG included a simple 3.2-megapixel camera, which lacks flash and is not protected by a lens cover.

Stylish and pocket-friendly, this phone seems to have something for everyone. This handset also fits trendy people. The LG KP501 Cookie is not look like any other typical LG phone but it does have one LG quality - the superior finish. The form of the gadget is incredibly sleek. Furthermore, LG KP501 Cookie resembles the Prada fashion phone, but this time, the design has been greatly improved to make it look much smarter. This handheld can be best labeled as an "entertainment phone" but it can also be a great asset for business persons too, as the email facilities and the on-screen QWERTY keyboard are commendable.

In my opinion, LG KP501 Cookie is one of the best good-looking touchscreen phones that are now available on the market. Add to that the excellent ergonomics and you might have another huge market success handset.


Display and Camera

One of the main drawbacks of the candybar is the 3-inch TFT resistive touchscreen display that supports 262K colors and QVGA 240 x 400 pixel resolution. It's very clear that LG doesn't have the technology needed to develop a touchscreen that could be eligible for use outdoors, in strong light. In fact, if you plan to use it in sunlight, don't expect to see anything on the screen. You can barely distinguish anything on the screen, and what you can see are not phone numbers, which are the hardest to notice.

This is pretty much the same problem that almost all LG handsets suffer from. The sales package contains a protective foil, which prevents the touchscreen from getting soft scratches. We still get some nice features for the screen, such as: accelerometer for auto-rotate, handwriting recognition and haptic feedback.

The 3.2-megapixel camera doesn't feature any flash capabilities, auto-focus or any other complex features like geotagging or ISO. I was surprised to find a good camera on such a low-priced phone, but LG preferred to include a 3.2-megapixel camera, without adding any advanced capabilities.

Thus, you won't find the Schneider-Kreuznach optics, flash or auto-focus capabilities. Still, if you check the samples below, you'll notice that pictures taken with Cookie have little to no noise. Even though pictures are a little bit low on details, this is barely visible unless you zoom in the images.

The intuitive user interface of the camera doesn't have any new option compared with its predecessors. Users can take pictures with a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 pixels. Clips can be recorded in QVGA resolution (320x240 pixels) at 12fps. Thanks to the dedicated camera button, taking pictures is a smooth experience.



Menu and Software

LG KP501 Cookie features an improved version of the highly acclaimed Flash UI and can be controlled only with the finger. The first thing I noticed is the fact that it's not fully customizable anymore, like Prada. Moreover, the UI has been mixed with Orange's functions, so you will have specific menus that have been completely introduced only for this handset. The number of animations has been kept at a high level. While the layout of the menus has not changed at all, there are some tweaks that improve the usability. Besides the fact that you get more options for everything (like widgets), you have now two Home screens available that can be accessed by simply sweeping your finger to the left or right when in Home screen mode.

The phone also features a Document viewer application, which supports Word documents, Excel files and PDF files. There's still no YouTube client, but I did not expect that anyway. You will still be able to get to the mobile web version and watch clips.

The phonebook of the device looks standard and accepts 1000 contacts. You will be able to separately see contacts stored on the device's memory and the SIM ones, according to the choice you make. The Main menu has been organized into four parts accessible from the tabs placed on the right side of the screen. The first one on the top will give you access to the phone and messaging functions, while the second represents the multimedia and entertainment area included in the handset’s firmware. Productivity tools (Calendar, Calculator, Unit converter, Organizer, Drawing Panel) are available by tapping the third tab. For Settings, check the last tab.

I noticed a slight improvement in terms of speed when browsing the phone's menus. This is great news indeed and it's probably due to the improved ARM processor that has been included. The Java emulator 2.0 MIDP works with all Java-compatible software, but has a file size limit that cannot be exceeded.


Communications

LG KP501 supports the GPRS and EDGE connectivity, both class 10, but no UMTS/HSDPA technology or Wi-Fi. Data transfer speeds are average, but the integrated browser and the large screen definitely enhance the browsing experience. Tested on the EDGE, the phone definitely underperformed, as you can see from the screenshots.