Visually, the Arena is impressive too. Video looks immense on that WVGA display, with lovely definition and smooth playback. Video clips in full-screen mode look and sound terrific on this handset.
The camera's a pleasure to operate
DivX and Xvid video are among the variety of video codecs supported on the Arena, and DivX converter software is supplied on the LG PC Suite CD. You can output content to a TV, too, though LG doesn’t supply a cable in the pack.
LG has added some slick UI touches with imaging. The main 5Mp camera, featuring Schneider-Kreuznach optics, is capable of taking some high quality shots. In good lighting conditions it can shoot crisp, sharp shots, with the two-step autofocus system ensuring tightly focused images. Close-up shots in macro mode can show outstanding detail for a phone. Colour is natural and bright.
In lower light, colours are more subdued, but it has respectably efficient auto metering for exposure and contrast. Low-light shooting is aided by an LED flash, which does a reasonable job of illumination for a non-xenon flash. You can edit shots easily using a touchscreen toolbox of effects.
The camera doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the 8Mp Renoir, but its viewfinder user interface is a pleasure to operate – user friendly, clear touch buttonry including a clever rotating virtual dial for flicking through settings options.
It fires up in around three seconds with a press of the camera button and shutter lag isn’t too bad for a mobile. Face tracking adds to the autofocus choices, while the Arena's A-GPS technology lets you automatically geo-tag images.
Video capture is a notch above the norm
Video capture capabilities are a notch above the mobile norm. It can shoot video at 720 x 480 at up to 30fps for decent quality footage or, if you want some fancy slow-mo playback, at 320 x 240 at 120fps. Playback is good for phone-recorded footage. Lower res clips can also be edited on the handset. Video calling is supported too - a secondary camera on the front does the business for the minority who enjoy face-to-face chatting.
COMMENTS
@Langley
Why would you buy a Macintosh? It's simply a rip-off of a Xerox Alto gui interface. Why would you buy a Chevrolet or Volkswagen? It's a rip-off of a Karl Benz auto. I wish all the iTards out there would get their heads out of their arses and realize that Apple and every other manufacturer out there will copy and/or modify existing designs to advance whatever product they make better or at least different. Every design or concept Apple comes up with is submitted as a patent so no one 'steals' their precious ideas. And the stupid US Patent Office grants most of them. The Patent system is broken and does nothing but stifle innovation. If every designer and manufacturer in the world did this, we would all still be living in caves.
This 'Apple is the best' attitude is making me throw up.
LG=Mac fanboi
What a blatant iPhone rip-off. Why would anyone buy a phone from a company that can only copy other companies' products?
RE: LOL @ the Fanbois
See - that would be for the most part true, except usually it's the other way around, with the "regular person" spouting untruths about a phone they've never actually used, then the majority of "Apple Fanboi"'s holding their tongues or just ignoring them.... occasionally you get the occasional apple-tard who can't help themselves and spouts another pile of crap back the other way... and then it becomes entertainment! :)
Still... interesting observation... go back through the messages above and count the number of lines of "regulars" to "appletards", then scale them based on amount of crap dealt... I dare ya! ;)
Mines the one with the future ZunePhone clone in the pocket.
LOL @ the Fanbois
<chuckle>
Fanybois make me smile.
Regular Person: "I don't want an iPhone because it can't ...."
Apple Fanboi: "SILENCE! THE iPHONE IS THE BEST! IF IT CAN'T DO SOMETHING THEN IT ISN'T WORTH DOING! YOU ARE A MORON IF YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING THAT THE iPHONE CAN'T DO! EVERY DEVICE EVER CREATED WITH A TOUCH SCREEN IS JUST COPYING THE iPHONE! ANY PHONE RELEASED FROM NOW UNTIL THE END OF TIME WILL BE A CHEAP KNOCK-OFF! I WANT TO SUCK OFF STEVE JOBS AND SWALLOW HIS STICKY MESS!"
Seriously - that's how you come across.
Hmm
Lots of things wrong here, on both sides of the argument. For example -
1. When you "buy" a subsidised phone, whether it's an iPhone or an Arena, it's yours. Legally and in every other sense it belongs to you, 100%. Of course you're committed to paying the x month minimum contract, but that's a separate matter, and not contingent on the phone.
2. The headphone jack on the iPhone 3G isn't recessed. Any 'phones will fit.
3. OS3.0 lifts Apple's SDK restriction on turn by turn directions. So there's now nothing to stop TomTom (or any other satnav co) from developing maps and software for the iPhone. Remember, OS3.0 is coming to the (GPS-equipped) iPhone 3G as well as any new hardware.
4. Yes, this is indeed yet another cheap iPhone clone that fails horribly. The UI is actually quite a poor impersonation, with too much eye-candy in place of the logical stuff that actually makes the iPhone nice to use. The browser is slooow and laggy, and of course once you scratch the surface you find this is no smartphone and no comparison to the iPhone at all, with no apps, little email smarts, and none of the expandability that makes the iPhone more than just a pretty face.
