In the old days pay as you go phones were cheap, cheerful and do everything required out of a phone one would need. They text, they ring. Nowadays, although not packing the super technological goods of an iPhone, HTC Desire or Galaxy S they still do their job and have basic extras. The LG “Cookie Fresh” GS290 is just that. As one of the cheapest touchscreen PAYG phones on the market (from £40ish) you wouldn’t expect too much, but if you want to know more on what we thought of it, then please click on and read our review.

Small, light and reasonably thin is the Cookie. Sporting a matte black finish, the one we’re reviewing is the standard all black affair but (as the picture shows) you can get the GS290 with coloured sides if you so desire. Despite it’s small appearance, the phone features a 3” WQVGA or 240x400 pixel display which takes up the majority of the phone, which is great, more screen is better. Below the screen you have the usual concoction of the phone button to pick up/make calls and the call end/power button with a little Home/Menu button sandwiched inbetween. On the sides of the phone you get the volume controls, a camera ready button and a button/screen lock button. There’s also two gated slots, one for your USB charger and the second hides your microSD slot. All in all everything you’d expect so far. On the reverse of the phone is a 2.0MP camera and some script telling you that it’s a 2.0 Mega Pixel camera. Besides that the reverse is pretty boring, not that that is a fault or anything, it’s pretty normal for a phone, anyway enough said about that.

Let’s switch on and go. First noticeable thing that you’ll come across is the screen. Now as it’s a cheap phone the resistive touchscreen is in full effect here rather than the smarter capacitive screen, but when you’re looking at the price range of this phone it should be expensive. As with the majority of resistive touchscreens I’ve come across this is no different. They’re not the most responsive and if you’re used to using an iPhone or other smartphones you may find that trying pinching and multi-touch gestures don’t work. Also a problem I can see arising here is the size of the on-screen icons and the accuracy of the touchscreen. I kept finding myself pressing the wrong button, usually through a little frustration but mostly just because things were a little close together on the small screen. One thing we can say that’s great about it though is that for it’s size and the general price of the phone, it’s sharper than any entry level phone I’ve come across before with very bright colours and very clear, easy to read text.

The interface itself is alright. If you’re used to LG phones you’ll probably know what i mean by it’s homescreens. Much like the iPhone you have screens that can be flicked between each other with a gesture. The first screen is for your apps/widgets. These can be customised and moved to whatever you desire. There are some pre-loaded apps/widgets for you to use but you can also download more if you so wish but remember this isn’t Android or AppStore standard apps but their is a Facebook one which I’m sure the majority of people including myself was happy to see. The second screen is what LG are calling the “livesquare” This is your social networking screen. You can place avatars of your favourite contacts on here and from this it can quicklink to calls, emails or texts to said friends. The third screen is essentially a variation on the livesquare but is solely a speed-dial screen, only a couple of clicks quicker than than the livesquare, so really a bit pointless.

So what’s next, let’s press the menu button. Again if you’ve used LG phones before particularly the S-Class one’s you’ll know the layout and icons. Basically the screen fills with 16 icons broke down into 4 different lines. Each line represents what type of shortcut is represented within it such as communication, entertainment, utilities and settings. If you scroll over to the right with your finger, you’ll notice there’s another screen with another 16 icons for you to pick from. However this is a strong point for the touchscreen to let you down. Scrolling the screens from left to right could sometimes prove difficult and more often than not you’ll be opening programs you don’t want to open etc. Maybe when you get fully used to the response of the screen you might become a master but in reality patience could be lost quite quickly. One good thing about the Cookie Fresh though is it has a multitasking cool which proves to be easier to get the programs you want running. Another press of the Menu button brings up a shortcut screen which lists what’s currently being run at the time. If you keep programs open all you’ll need to do is click on whatever you want to go to on the list and you’ll be transported there quick as a flash, i liked this.

Making a call is pretty much the same with all phones so we can’t really discuss much other than the fact the sound quality was pretty good. The volume controls on the side are easy to use when you’re on the phone and the volume levels are great at no point did i struggle to hear the caller on the other end. Texting was quite basic but very easy to use. The Cookie Fresh has opted for a software alpha-numeric input. This makes sense really. An on-screen QWERTY would be very difficult to use so going back to alpha numeric meant I had to polish off the old-skool texting skills. It worked reasonably well although again you might often find you mis-typing things due to the resistive screen.

Now I didn’t spend lots of time trying all the programs/widgets on the phone as most were rather basic and uninteresting. I’m not completely writing them off, it’s just the phone is rather basic and thats all the apps are. The web browser isn’t fantastic, ok I guess for checking football scores or basic text surfing, but as there’s no WiFi or 3G connectivity that’s pretty much all you’ll be able to do anyway. I had a rather extensive play with the camera in different scenes etc. If you’re in a well-lit room or outside and have a steady hand the picture quality isn’t that bad. However in low light and someone with not so steady hands like myself a bit of blur crept in. Due to a lack of Flash too there’s no real way round it. All in all though the camera wasn’t that bad and I was quite impressed with a couple of the shots I took. The camera also has a video mode. Again similar problems, it’s not super smooth and in low light the picture quality isn’t great.

The Conclusion. Well the Cookie Fresh is what it is, an entry-level phone. We were very impressed with the super bright, sharp display which is usually bobbins on this price-range of phone but LG have nailed this making a non-smart phone look……… smart. The phone itself is aesthetically pleasing it certainly doesn’t offend the eyes in anyway at all and is hardly noticeable in your pocket. Certain aspects of the interface and OS are good like the avatars for your friends and the quick text/phone options. The only downsides to the phone really are the resistive nature of the screen which could make me frustrated at times in trying to open things or flick through the homescreens and the odd text message mistakes. The other problem is the lack of high speed connectivity. Not a problem if you don’t need it, but if you’re an internet addict and need plenty of information then you aren’t going to get it in a hurry from this phone. All in all a great entry level phone if all you want to do is talk and text and for the price it certainly offers everything and more you’d expect from it in comparison to to other phones at that price.

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LG Cookie Fresh GS290 Review

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AS said earlier it’s the first Blackberry release to have it’s all new Blackberry 6 OS. The 3.2” 480x360 touchscreen has a slide out QWERTY keyboard and will also sport 512MB RAM, 4GB of internal storage which can be expanded via MicroSD. There will be Bluetooth connectivity alongside WiFi b/g/n and it will also pack a 5MP camera with flash. Now although the specs aren’t mind-blowing, the phone’s OS should be a big enough draw to it, especially for all the Blackberry fans out there.

Initially Blackberry said it would be weeks after the US release it would reach our shores, sadly it’s now going to be late October. Our friends expansys have the phone up on their website now to pre-order but at a whopping £569.99 it seems quite pricey. Play.com also have the phone listed too, but they’re asking for a much more reasonable £499.99 SIM-free.

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The Galaxy Q has pretty much all the same specs as the Galaxy S, bt as nothing is actually truly official we can only let you know what we know. a 3” AMOLED screen still powered with the 1GHz processor and 16GB of storage. the other difference rumour is that the Q will be a “candy bar” phone and operate a full QWERTY keyboard (I’m always a fan of these) plus as it’s not out for a few months on release should have had the Android 2.2 upgrade. Couple all this with an 8MP HD video capable camera and a 1MP camera on the front, it certainly looks to be a decent enough downsize.

Sadly it’s all just rumourage, so no price or exact release date but you’ll be looking towards Christmas for the Galaxy Q.

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Acer have described its Stream as a “high-end multimedia smartphone” and it delivers in the specs field to compete with the other top smartphones. Underneath the 3.7” AMOLED display is a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and 512MB RAM, running Android 2.1 (2.2 update won’t be far off) Also sporting a 5MP camera capable of 720p video capture and GEO-Tagging, it has Wi-Fi and is only a tiny 11.2mm thin. Couple this with 2GB of internal storage and microSD support there’s plenty of room. Social networking is the theme for the phone with apps pre-installed but also Acer Spinlets. This is a streaming service whereby the user can listen to select songs and post their favourites onto their social networking pages. It also has mp3, AAC, OGG and FLAC support for your tunes and MP4, WMV, DivX and Xvid support for your videos.

Available today on Expansys SIM free for £399.99

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Called the Cetus, we know that it will have to meet Microsoft’s strict minimum requirements for to run the OS which we’ll run through

• High end processor : Armv7 Cortex/Scorpion or better
• 256MB RAM
• Capacitive touchscreen
• FM Radio
• accelerometer
• at least a 5MP camera
• at least 8GB of internal storage

Whether the Samsung Cetus will better these we’re unsure as the full specifications of the phone aren’t available yet. What we do know is that it will have a 4” 800x480 AMOLED screen. On top of that it will have a front facing camera aswell as a 5MP camera on the reverse. It will also have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity with built in GPS and a Micro USB slot.

Sadly that’s all we can offer for now as there’s no images or hardware specs. If any new information comes about we’ll update.

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The Galaxy S certainly packed some great specs but the S2 takes it to the next level. A bigger 4.3” 1280x720 Super AMOLED screen (wow in itself) with 32GB of storage and the ability to add another 32GB from microSD. It will also pack A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0 and N-standard WiFi. Camera wise you’re looking at 8MP but again the ability to shoot HD video. To tap into the iPhone 4 market it’ll have a similar style accelerometer/gyroscope feature. Now the rumour also states that by the time the phone’s due, next year, this mobile will be running Android OS 3 but also a massive 1GB of RAM.

Again the only thing with rumours is details, and we have none but I’m sure IF we get some more, we’ll pass them on

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The Droid/Milestone X doesn’t appear to have the keyboard last time opting for a total touchscreen experience. A 4.3” FWVGA 854×480 screen certainly makes the phone look large, like the Xperia X10 but the body itself is still pretty slim. Powered by a 1GHz processor running the brilliant Android 2.1 upgradeable to 2.2 Froyo later this summer for Flash support) with an all new MotoBlur running over the top. It will also have an 8MP camera with 720p video capture and further media support with an apparent DLNA app and HDMI out.

Unfortunately the release is US only for now but keep an eye out for a UK release.

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As with the new-wave of Samsung mobiles it’s blasting us with a 3.7” Super AMOLED screen for those super nice rich, bright colours and that wonderful Android OS. Connectivity wise you’re looking at HSDPA, 3G, Wi-Fi and the new Bluetooth 3.0. Packing an 8MP camera for good quality pics, it’ll also shoot HD video, a must for todays top smartphones. Now obviously what makes the Beam stand out is it has a mini projector, capable of 50” wide images at a brightness level of 9 lumens. It’ll also back a-GPS and a built in FM radio.

Obviously we wont have any prices till the networks announce it’s release but I’m glad to see this phone made it past prototype and hopefully will live up to it’s potential.

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We got our first sighting of it’s tablet from the official Samsung South Africa Twitter account, showing a 7” tablet PC next to it’s already well reviewed Galaxy S smartphone ( the obvious comparison to the iPhone/iPad relationship) So what’s it got? Available in 7”, 8” and 10” screen sizes the slate runs Android 2.2 (Froyo) and is powered with a “faster than iPad” 1.2GHz processor. It has 16GB of inbuilt storage which can be expanded to 48GB with a MicroSD slot.

With the obvious speed ability over Apple and Google’s popular OS with all it’s apps this could be a true contender for the market. We have no price details yet and no exact date but it should be available in September.

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For a quick recap on the Galaxy S it has a 4” WVGA Super AMOLED touchscreen runing that wonderful Android OS. There’s also the usual suspects too, HSDPA and WiFi connectivity and a 5MP camera which is capable of shooting HD video. Couple all this with a 1GHz processor and a file extension support that will make your PC blush, this is some serious kit.

Vodafone are offering the phone on pretty much its standard new smartphone contracts. £35 a month for 24 months will get you the phone for nowt. If you only want an 18 month contract then you’re looking at £40 a month

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