The LG KU990 Viewty is a true powerhouse packing a mass of high-tech goodies under its hood: the impressive 3" touchscreen display with 240 x 400 pixels resolution, the HSDPA 3.6 Mbps capability, the stereo Bluetooth and the highly intriguing 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, which is also capable of capturing video at 120 fps. Feature-packed and exquisite, the LG KU990 looks set on the fast track to success and we were more than happy to get our hands on it.

LG KU990 Viewty official photos

Key features

• Tri-band GSM/GPRS plus HSDPA support
• 5 megapixel autofocus camera with image stabilization
• Camera strobe flash and focus assist beam
• Secondary video camera for video calls
• 3" 262K color TFT touchscreen display with 240x400 pixels resolution
• VGA video recording at 30 fps
• QVGA video recording at 120 fps
• TV-out support
• Original stylus dongle
• DivX video playback
• Haptic feedback when the screen is pressed

Main disadvantages

• No hot-swap memory card capability
• Having stylus as a dongle is an inconvenient solution
• File management slows once the memory card starts filling up
• Operating the zooming jog wheel gets in the way of the lens

The LG KU990 Viewty was only recently announced but it somehow fails to cause the same stir in the mobile community as the 5-megapixel Sony Ericsson K850 or the Samsung G600. Yet, as we managed to find out, it's a highly sophisticated device, that's quick to impress and certainly deserves attention.

The KU990 Viewty is not the first 5 megapixel cameraphone by LG. There are a number of reasons why their first attempt - the LG KG920 failed to gain noteworthy market share - the high price, the controversial swiveling design, and the slow camera interface, just to mention a few.

Back to our game

The LG KU990 Viewty measures 103.5 x 54.4 x 14.8 mm, which makes it about the size of iPhone, Sony Ericsson P1 or even HTC Touch. It weighs 112 g, which is not really much considering its performance characteristics. Designwise, it's almost certain that people would inevitably compare it to the Prada phone by LG. They share the same form factor, large screen and Flash UI, but are still totally different and this time Prada has no involvement in the project.

LG KU990 Viewty all over

The front panel of the handset features only three hardware keys - the green and red Send/End keys and the correction C key, which is used as either backspace or for going one level up in the interface menu. In the top right corner, the secondary VGA camera for video calls can be found. The left side of the Viewty hosts the charger/headset/data cable universal port (much like the ones used by Samsung). It's ingeniously hidden under a sliding cover.

There are only three hardware keys • the VGA video calls camera is in the top right corner • the universal port is cunningly hidden under a sliding protective cover

The bottom and top parts of the headset host no controls. The only point of interest at the bottom is the microphone pinhole, while the top offers the back cover release button and the stylish hand or neck strap eyelet.