LG’s first android smartphone (called GW620) has been recently revealed during a blogger conference in Seoul. To be honest, the whole purpose of this event was to show the device to the public and start the PR campaign. The device is already available in Europe, but not in Australia – so there may be some interest in it. In this article I will briefly talk about the device and try to describe its prospects in Australia.

A few words about the device itself, since you might not be familiar with its characteristics. It is android-based smartphone (version 1.5) with a sliding qwerty-keyboard, a so-called side slider. The device is built on the Qualcomm MSM7200 platform, has a resistive type screen that can display 320 × 480 pixels. Screen resolution is typical to the current generation android devices. GW620 does not offer any real revolutionary technical features, although we can note the presence of a 3.5mm mini-jack, as well as a five line qwerty-keyboard.

Let’s check the keyboard. The keys are easy to press and are separated from each other, which reduces mistakes. Overall, keyboard is very comfortable.

Design and dimensions. I liked the look of the device, however, it doesn’t have the wow effect, unlike the Motorola Droid/Milestone for example. Overall it looks neat and quite presentable. Battery cover and side faces are made from soft-touch mate plastic. Front panel is partially glossy, but it doesn’t get as dirty as panels of some other phones.

Test sample had android 1.5 installed. In my opinion this is bad, very bad. And if it doesn’t change before the official launch in Australia, many potential buyers will ignore the phone. The phone has some proprietary features, for example menu icons from the S-Class interface, quick access to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth through the system tray. Compared with HTC devices, LG does not offer as many changes to the standard android interface, but the ones that have been implemented are quite useful.

Now about the prospects. Fate of GW620 mainly depends on LG’s ability to offer competitive pricing and release the phone with a newer software version. It also depends on a few key competitors – will Nexus One or Motorola Milestone be made available to the Australian buyers and offered by any of the major mobile carriers. And how much will they cost.

Conclusion.

In general, GW620 is a pretty interesting device. It has good odds to become at least a moderately-selling product, if LG offers it at a reasonable cost. If LG manage to fix all other issues, GW620 will be a good alternative to the Milestone – more accessible and easy-to-use.