LG Arena smartphone review

LG’s Arena KM900 is the company’s flagship touchscreen phone, offering loads of features and a 3-inch screen wrapped in a stylish and well-made casing.

The display is excellent, with colours that jump out at you and smooth images created by the sharp 480 x 800 pixel resolution. You’ll find haptic feedback in place – the screen vibrating each time you touch it – and it’s a responsive and accurate way to navigate the operating system.

The OS itself is intuitive to use and a lot quicker than rivals featuring Windows Mobile. It’s possible to create several home pages with icons to your favourite or most used applications, and the menu is a model of simplicity.

As with other touchscreen devices, the Arena stumbles slightly when it comes to entering text for messages or emails. The onscreen keyboard – a regular alphanumeric arrangement when used in portrait mode, and a full QWERTY when in landscape – is slightly too small for comfortable use, and the phone struggles to correct any typing mistakes.

You’ll find a full complement of features included, with excellent connectivity comprising Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G/HSDPA and Bluetooth. Other features include a 5 megapixel camera and 8GB of memory. Those wanting to add more will find a MicroSD slot under the casing, and it’s possible to swap cards without removing the battery.

Build quality on the Arena is impressive, with brushed aluminium used for the front of the device, and a titanium-covered rear panel. While it’s a tough handset, the large screen quickly becomes covered in fingerprints.

Overall, the Arena impresses with its specification, smart OS and compact size, but it’s let down slightly by the fiddly onscreen keyboard.

For more information, visit LG.