| ||||||||||||
Design and Looks
The LG KM335 is the more sophisticated looking Dynamite phone- and for good reason; it is currently the most expensive set in this basic handset range. Bordered by a maroon strip at the side this phone sports champagne-coloured brushed aluminum on the front and good quality plastics at the back. Being the flagship of your brand also means you have the best among the lot. And the first good feature to get noticed is the screen- instead of incorporating the same 1.77” 65K colours we are used to seeing on most Dynamite phones, the LG KM335 is treated to a 2.0-inch display producing 256K colours over QVGA resolution. Some may say it’s not worthy of this segment but since LG are always loathe to give us good screens; we will take anything half-way decent they throw at us.
The phone sports an unusual controls set which is not every unusual of LG. Not to say that it isn’t ergonomic or uncomfortable to use but it doesn’t look regular. The D-pad controls and the soft/call-end keys are both a treat to look at and to use. The alphanumeric keypad below it is terraced to offers good touch orientation and is also sufficiently big enough to erase all possibility of typos. The back of the phone doesn’t seem to have received the treatment on the front and we see the top of the phone cluttered with the camera unit and the twin loudspeakers around it. To round off the design are sexy dancing lights at the top of the phone and faux loudspeaker grill at the bottom. The dancing lights look neat and blink to anything from the rhythm of the music to an incoming message. It however cannot be turned off. The loudspeaker grill must not be mistaken to house a loudspeaker underneath it. It is simply a design accent. But yes, it houses the mic.
The phone sports the same UI that we see on the GM200. It is slow and irresponsive at times. And at others, the phone’s UI is known to crash. Sadly, the messaging editor is also slow and takes time to respond to the user’s keystroke. Not only does this reflect poorly on the phone’s UI but it also fails to make good use of a great keypad. The phone’s UI is not very advanced either as Nokia and Sony Ericsson users will find the file browser to be far from intuitive. The phone’s telephony is good and users will find reception, call volume and vibration strength to be in order. The KM330 Dynamite is projected as a music-cum-camera phone, so let’s see how it fares well at these two.
The audio quality on this phone is average when compared with the GM200; audio reproduction also suffers from low volume output. It’s not too bad but it’s no GM200 either. FM reception also suffers from problems. The phone’s audio hardware is also not that great. The location of the universal (and also audio) port is bad and speakerphone fails to enunciate the bass tones. One good thing about this phone is that the handsfree headset adapter allows the connection of standard 3.5mm earphones. We would have preferred a 3.5mm proprietary port but at least this way, you get to keep the remote even when you use a non-mobile headset.
The phone’s camera is decent but not as good as some Sony Ericsson models we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing. But the inclusion of flash and autofocus is always welcome. The camera application also includes many image editing options including exposure compensation, white balance effects and the usual like self-timer, colour options and night mode. Finally the phone sports the regular embedded apps including LG’s Data Wallet which helps users store sensitive personal information.
If the above review rings positive in your ears remember that this phone is not below the 5000 bracket- heck it’s not even below the 6000 one. So, if you like to cut to the chase and want a phone that is functional above everything, you may want to search elsewhere. But if the features of the KM335 look OK and you like the design then go ahead and purchase this phone. Warning: it is known to have a poor battery life.
Features
- Classic up-market design and feel
- Dual speakers with 3D surround sound
- 3MP camera with LED flash and autofocus
- FM/AM radio
- Rhythmic lights at the top
- Dedicated music and camera keys
- Bluetooth with A2DP profile
- 90MB internal memory
