LG GS500v Cookie Plus – Want another cookie? Review
An MRP of Rs. 9,500 seems a little high, especially when the phone lacks a dedicated QWERTY that is a must for those quick tweets, not to mention the lack of a serious clicker. However, these two grouses aside the Cookie Plus is, for the most part a decent phone. The Samsung Corby Pro makes a stronger statement with a dedicated keypad and a lower price tag. If the Cookie Plus were priced at two grand lower we would swallow it. Street prices seem to put the price at Rs 7,500, which makes it a good deal.
The materials used on the body seem pretty upmarket, and while the 3.0-inch resistive touchscreen dominates the front, one just gets the feeling that LG could have easily made the bezel smaller, particularly on the top. The battery cover is plastic but feels rugged. Both SIM and memory card slots are placed apart from the battery, you cannot remove the SIM card unless you remove the battery, since it slides out around the battery bay. SIM card removal, however, is a snap. A 3.5mm jack is provided conveniently on the top of the phone. The facia below the screen is set with three finger pad-sized keys that feel a bit clicky but are otherwise quite usable. The microUSB port is concealed beneath a flap on the left. The left side also has the volume buttons that offer minimal key travel but are pretty functional. Since the camera doesn’t feature autofocus we’re going to let the horrible camera capture key slip by, largely uncommented on, but for the record, this is something we thought we wouldn’t see since cellphone manufacturers started focussing on cameras – it’s that bad. For a full list of specifications, check out here
The GS500v is being pushed as a networking device “Socially Active 24×7” being LG’s punch line for it. One of the major deterrents on the hardware front for this objective is the ancient resistive touchscreen. The touchscreen is sluggish, and coupled with the phones’ (sometimes) sluggish interface is a recipe for a socialising disaster. The onscreen keypad suffers in terms of usability on account of the touchscreen as well and quickly typing out SMS’ becomes a distant memory with the Cookie Plus. What we’d really like to see on a social networking phone like this is the presence of a slide-out QWERTY keypad, like the Samsung Corby Pro has. As it is, the Cookie Plus has a number keypad that is the modus operandi when in portrait mode. In landscape mode, the keypad changes to a QWERTY, (albeit not a very responsive one), obviously to take advantage of the width of the screen.
The three switchable and customisable home screens are fun to mess around with, and while animations aren’t necessarily beautiful, you have to remind yourself that this isn’t a high-end cellphone with its MRP tag of Rs. 9,500. Facebook, Twitter and Myspace are all widgets accessible via one of the home screens. Another little flashy bit that is somewhat useful is the appearance of favourite contacts as avatars on the home screen, the avatar will let you know if you get a message from any of these contacts. The interface is a little gimmicky, and we’re the little bits of added pizzazz will appeal to most users. However, the resistive touchscreen does play spoilsport; imagine using a gesture to switch to different home screen only to find you need to repeat the action. That being said, the Cookie Plus isn’t as intermittently unresponsive as Nokia’s 5800 XpressMusic. Browsing is decent on account of the size of the display. However, the lower resolution of 240 x 400 pixels leaves something to be desired.
The camera lacks autofocus, and this really is a major nit – we’ve seen four year-old phones with this feature. The lack of a flash reiterates – this is for cursory clickers only, and if you intend to use your phones’ camera more than a bit, steer clear of the Cookie Plus. The camera quality is so-so with good lighting and poor indoors. Colours aren’t crisp, and there is a noted lack of detail along with a goodly dose of noise. Music playback quality is pretty decent, we found bass to be lacking, and there was a marked loss of detail in the highs, but the midrange was quite enjoyable, and the bundled earphones are surprisingly comfortable, although those with smaller ears will find them intrusive. The loudspeaker clarity is mediocre and MP3’s aren’t fun when using it.
LG hasn’t equipped the Cookie Plus with the best of antennas. Our signal clarity testing showed problems in zone three, where call clarity suffered with a couple of dropped calls and voices were generally muffled and conversations kept getting interrupted. There were no issues in zone one or zone two. When using the handsfree unit, the large call button is a boon, and the volume level is good, although nowhere as spectacular as Apple’s iPhone that continues to be the benchmark for handsfree clarity. Call clarity on the loudspeaker is pretty ordinary. Watching videos is fun thanks to the large screen, but we found a slight lack of contrast to be a major bother – evidently the display isn’t the best around, although we’re sure many users will not complain. Colours are also not as crisp as we’d like, and some of the lighter shades look washed out.
Rating
Features: 7
Performance: 5.5
Build: 6.5
Value: 6
Overall: 6
To know how this cellphone scored in our tests, check out the scores here.