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LG KC910 Renoir review


The UI is seamless to use and mobile desktop widget wizardry also helps to cement this phone as a firm favourite for businesses and consumers alike

We review the LG KC910 Renoir; a sleek device with stunning camera and top interface

Published on Oct 1, 2008

If you love the iPhone and plan to be monogamous, this review is not for you. If, however, you’re planning a bit of portable polygamy or have decided to end your fruit-based affair, we have something we’d like you to meet: LG’s KC910, AKA the Renoir.

Featuring a highly-responsive 3-inch touchscreen interface in a compact and bijoux form factor, the Renoir also packs in a whopping eight-megapixel camera and multimedia features galore.

Sharing the limelight with the spacious 240x400 pixel display are three hard plastic, backlit keys, and at 114g, it’s unbelievably light for a phone that packs such a punch.

We loved the Viewty but lamented its bulk and lack of lens cover. LG was clearly listening and has hit back with a slimline model with an even better camera and a lens cover to boot. There’s none of that bothersome rotation malarkey either – the only action the circle around the lens performs is opening and shutting it.

As well as fine-tuning the Viewty baddies, LG’s taken the good stuff and made it even better. The UI is seamless to use and mobile desktop widget wizardry also helps to cement this phone as a firm favourite for businesses and consumers alike.

Schneider Kreuznach optics, auto and manual focus and a Xenon flash all join the camera party here, with blink detection, smile mode and a beautification option (beauty shot) along for good measure. The latter should prove handy for posting fake photos on dating sites (although we don’t advocate that!).

Taking high-quality photos using the touchscreen controls that appear on the main display was a breeze and a trial snap showed up all of the dust and toast crumbs on our keyboard in unforgivingly fine detail. We jerked the handset slightly while getting used to how much/little pressure to apply but there’s also the option of using the hard volume controls for zooming in/out.

Not content with strutting its stuff camera-wise, the Renoir boasts DivX and Xvid support as standard, meaning mobile video viewing pleasure is guaranteed.

Keen to give Mr Spielberg a run for his money? You’ll be pleased to hear that you can shoot videos at 5 to 120 fps as well as having fun with the Muvee video editing software.

It’s not unusual for a cameraphone golden child to skimp on other features, leaving things like the music player and browser unloved. Not so the Renoir.

Teaming up with audio greats Dolby, LG has integrated Dolby Mobile into the handset resulting in tremendous audio quality; even through the monstrosity of a pair of headphones supplied in the box.

The headphones are ugly and proprietary but rummage around in the box and you’ll find a 3.5mm adaptor that comes to the rescue and frees you to use any cans you like.

The music player’s interface is both nice to look at and easy to control – we’ve never made so much noise at the mere wiggle of a finger.

Texting using the virtual keypad is also a doddle, although we found it easier in portrait mode. Browsing the web thanks to HSDPA (7.2Mbps) connectivity (it’s got Wi-Fi and Bluetooth too) made for a good user experience, although we automatically tried to pinch the screen to enlarge the content, until our brain worked out to use the zooming menu along the bottom of the screen. Aside from the substandard headphones and sticky finger marks, that’s probably our only moan.

The Renoir also boasts some other little features that make it worth beholding. These include some more M-Toy games, like the LG Secret, that make use of a motion sensor (Flying Dice and Wheel Mania), an alarm clock you can snooze at the sweep of a finger and the ability to quickly and easily change the touchscreen’s calibration and feedback levels.

When you’re not texting people, playing games, listening to music or taking pictures, you might actually want to use it to phone people. Thankfully, call quality is excellent.

LG reckons this littler critter is the world’s first full touchscreen eight-megapixel cameraphone and we like it so much we’d argue it’s also the first true contender for the iPhone’s throne.

With the megapixel wars hotting up, heading towards double digits and beyond, LG’s Renoir is likely to be the first of many vying for rule of the kingdom.

LG KC910 Renoir info

Typical price: £TBC

Pros:
8-megapixel camera
Dolby Mobile audio
Very responsive touchscreen
Slim and compact

Cons:
Grease-prone screen
Proprietary headphones

Verdict: The LG KC910 Renoir offers a real alternative to the iPhone with a much better camera and video recording capabilities to boot.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Available from: LG KC910 Renoir at Phones 4 U

More info:
LG

Available from: LG KC910 Renoir at Dial-a-Phone

Compare all LG KC910 Renoir online deals.

 

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Users Comments

Re: LG KC910 Renoir review
Posted By Fellwalker 1 October 8, 2008 06:47:24 PM

OK, but why show the phone in the pop up at larger than life size? 3inches is all the screen is, but when viewed in your pop up window, its is 4.5 inches. THerefore it looks a lot better and more usable. But its not. Also, 8 megapixels is only good if hte lens is good. YOu do not mention whether it is a proper zoom (i.e. optical not digital). Most camera phones are fixed focal length.

Re: LG KC910 Renoir review
Posted By Lonz 1 November 26, 2008 11:02:12 AM

Fellwalker your comment makes no sense, the measurement of the screen in the pop up window will depend entirely on the resolution and screen size of your PC. What we really need is a picture with something to determine scale, such as an average sized hand holding it or picturing it alongside a common mobile, such as iPhone or Nokia N95. Good review but why no mention of the GPS performance? I would like to know whether it's actually usable, whether navigation is included or whether it is an extra expense like it is on the N95. Also, no mention of battery performance. As an N95 owner, this is clearly an issue for me!

Re: LG KC910 Renoir review
Posted By SteveRiches 1 February 25, 2009 01:08:05 PM

Need info. on camera's optical zoom, and problem with low-light conditions, battery life (poor?), volume (which I understand is not good), will it take a 16gb card, does it scratch easily? Also, why is there a problem with it if you are composing a text and an incoming call or text comes in?

Re: LG KC910 Renoir review
Posted By Longy 1 March 10, 2009 06:18:35 AM

Hello, I have had mine for 3 days and am in love with it. The battery life is insanely good! I too was an n95 user before this phone and this is a massive improvement. I have put the brightness on low to improve the life and it's still easy to see. Since I have done this it makes the phone last at least 48 maybe more hours, even if I'm using the games and mp3 player. I have just used it on a night out and the flash is really good in poor lighting conditions. The zoom is OK but you need a steady hand otherwise it gets pixelated. I was texting on it and I received a message and I thought I lost my text, when I opened my "create message" button there it was, so it's not a massive problem. The only main problem is I love stupid applications that let you use the motion sensor to control them, and have not been able to find any online. The two I have got with the phone have kept me entertained for 2 seconds, but would like to see more. Other than that I would recommend it to anyone. 9/10

Re: LG KC910 Renoir review
Posted By luiz 1 March 22, 2009 11:52:06 PM

Hello. I have tried to set up the internet on my LG Renoir, but with no success. Could somebody help me, please. (luiz_loures@hotmail.com)

Re: LG KC910 Renoir review
Posted By jfdiman 1 April 7, 2009 10:41:54 PM

I got mine today as an upgrade to my N95. I HATE it. Read my blog entry for the details but ok the battery life may be good, but everything else is second grade if it works at all. Sadly I've used it now so they won't take it back. I wish they'd offered me a N96 as an upgrade. 3/10

Re: LG KC910 Renoir review
Posted By Windies76 1 July 4, 2009 04:56:28 AM

The worst phone I have ever owned. Broken 2 screens already without a hard life not a scratch on it. They are not a good phone. The sound is crap, the battery life is low, 3/10 for performance. Stay away from it.

Re: LG KC910 Renoir review
Posted By ns77 1 July 12, 2009 09:07:10 AM

I have always been a Sony E fan until the 4 c905's I had,tried the iphone (not impressed,camera poor)now got the kc910,brilliant!cant fault it,apart from battery life not great but matches the other touch screen phones.
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LG KC910 rear The LG KC910 features an 8-megapixel camera with enough extra features to fill a dictionary

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