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The LG KC550 Orsay is a neat little phone that’s easily affordable. For something so inexpensive, it has lots of interesting gadgets and goodies, the crowning gem being its sophisticated 5 megapixel camera.

Appearance:

At 110g, this is a slim, tiny little phone that will fit easily in your purse or pocket. Its 2.4 Inch TFT 262k Colour Screen may not be as big as other touchscreens out there, but it’s certainly beautiful and more than capable of performing well. (Incidentally, its motion sensor that turns the screen from portrait to landscape also allows for an assortment of really nifty games.) Its casing is sturdy, yet sophisticated, with black plastic and an attractive silver frame. Its buttons are conveniently placed and easy to push. The phone also slides smoothly up to reveal a lovely keypad that is quite finger friendly.

Connectivity:

The connectivity of the phone is perhaps its biggest downside. While it has USB, EDGE, GPRS, and a Bluetooth with A2DP, you won’t find any HDSPA or Wifi connections. Browsers consist of WAP or XHTML, which gets the job done, but isn’t as high tech. It redeems itself in that there are SMS, EMS, MMS, and video MMS as well as emailing and predictive text T9 features, but if you’re looking to download music or videos, you’re in for a slow wait. It is generally recommended that you try the Opera Mini as opposed to the browsers already available for added convenience.

Camera:

The camera is the phone’s biggest strength by far. With five megapixels, a Schneider Kreuznach Lens, and LED flash, it packs a lot of power. It also features an image stabiliser, auto focus, and a nice lens cover as well as a photo gallery. Editing options include white balance as well as the ability to increase sensitivity up to ISO 800. Photos come out looking clear and its shutter speed puts it in length with some of the bigger camera phones. We think it would have been better to include a xenon flash rather than LED, but the LED still does well as long as it’s not too dark. Its video recording capabilities are also quite good, with crisp quality and smooth motion throughout.

Sound:

The Orsay’s sound quality is simply wonderful, allowing you to . Its media player supports MP3s and sports an FM radio to boot. You can also download ringtones in MP3, MIDI, and polyphonic formats. Its voice recorder is pretty high quality as well.

Memory:

The phone is pretty spacious as well, with twelve megabytes of memory. If that’s not enough, a microSD memory card will allow you four more gigabytes for added storage. Talk time is fairly convenient at six hours, with 450 hours of standby. Charging shouldn’t be a huge problem.

Other Goodies:

The Orsay comes with all of the usual built-in goodies, such as a phone book that allows up to one thousand contacts, a calendar, a scheduler, an alarm clock, and a calculator. Also included is a handy document viewer that allows you to see and edit TXT, PDF, DOC, PPT, and XLS.

Verdict:

While its internet connectivity options may leave you desiring more, this is an awesome phone for someone who wants something affordable, convenient, and easy to use. This is also a good phone for camera buffs who don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for some of the bigger camera phones.