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Overview
Rather than go all out on a total redesign when it came time to update the Viewty, LG have taken the good bits, added better bits and popped it all inside the simple touchscreen package you see here, the LG Renoir. While it won't be painting any Impressionist art, it will be snapping some great looking pictures, as on the rear of the handset sits an 8 megapixel camera lens!
Features at a Glance
- LG Renoir uses a 3" 240x400 resolution touchscreen which auto-rotates.
- It's a 3G mobile phone with HSDPA, Wi-Fi and A2DP Bluetooth.
- The 8 megapixel Schneider Kreuznach equipped camera has autofocus and a host of software tweaks for the best possible pictures.
- There is a music player and a DivX compatible video player.
- The Renoir is Dolby Mobile enhanced for great sound.
Why You Should Buy the Renoir
As is obvious from the very camera-like design, it's the 8 megapixel snapper which headlines the Renoir's feature list. It's a good one too, with good results in most situations and pictures which have plenty of colour and sharpness. Holding the phone like you would a camera, the side mounted capture button and zoom control - which doubles as the volume - sit comfortably beneath your fingers and make taking pictures a natural process. An array of functions keep your pictures looking their best such as face, smile and blink detection, a 'beauty' mode and geo-tagging. These features sit alongside the regular adjustments including macro and ISO settings.
However, LG have not billed the Renoir as simply a camera phone, instead it is tagged in the same way as phones like the N95 and Samsung's Pixon. A full multimedia handset for entertainment on the move. The music player displays album art, allows you to create playlists and is compatible with most common file types, however the real bonus comes in the form of the video player. Images look great on the big screen anyway, but it's refreshing LG have decided to offer DivX and XviD compatibility out of the box, saving you from converting your existing videos. LG have also thought about the sound emitted from the Renoir, giving it the Dolby Mobile treatment.
The Renoir has Assisted GPS built-in and comes with Google Maps pre-installed, a document viewer and editor which accepts the popular formats plus there is a slot for a MicroSD card up to 8GB in size. The Renoir's touchscreen has been improved over the Viewty, as has the operating system although it remains a feature phone rather than a smartphone. In landscape mode you're provided with a virtual QWERTY keyboard and a regular alphanumeric one when holding the phone upright. Text input on the QWERTY is good even if the keys are a little small, and the phone itself feels solid and well-built in your palm. Completing the package is a variety of connectivity options including HSDPA and Wi-Fi.
Summary of the LG Renoir
The Renoir is more than just a big megapixel camera phone and does well to include an excellent video player with support for common codecs, plenty of connection options and decent office functions too. But you will always come back to a camera rated at 8 megapixels on a mobile phone and thankfully, it's great too. The LG Renoir is a very worthy successor to the Viewty.
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