LG KE850 Prada

Since we certainly don’t feel qualified to offer judgment on a Prada bag or a Prada dress, we passed around the Prada phone to some of our more fashionable friends, who all rendered a similar judgment. They adored the phone’s look, appreciated its light weight and, in all, found it to be, aesthetically speaking, a better choice than the iPhone. Weight was the biggest issue, but with its gleaming chrome band and Prada slip-case, the Prada phone got oohs and aahs from the right crowd.
Prada hasn’t been shy about customizing the interface to enhance the mood, either. When the phone turns on, a devilish chorus sounds and a soft gradient lights up the screen. When you get voice mail, an angelic choir announces its arrival. If the touch experience on the KE850 isn’t as responsive or polished as on the iPhone, it isn’t for lack of trying, as the Prada phone has plenty of nice icons and menus that take full advantage of the touch screen. Unlike the HTC Touch, which imposed its capacitative screen on Windows Mobile 6, the Prada is built for touch. Most of this is tapping, less dragging and no pinching.
Menus on the Prada phone are kept nice and simple, without long lists of options or settings that would stymie fingers. The phone itself has a few hardware buttons, including “send” and “end” keys, camera and volume controls, and an unlock key. There is a port for power adapters or the included headphone adapter and remote control, but the microSD slot is hidden beneath the battery. Still, a removable battery on a touch screen phone? Who would have thought it possible?

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LG KE850 PRADA

The LG Prada phone is pretty, stylish and unique. It’s lighter and smaller than the iPhone, and though its interface lacks some of the flourish and dazzle of Apple’s OS, LG manages to hold their own with stylish menus and slick, modern icons. It isn’t a perfect phone, and perhaps doesn’t attempt to be, as it lacks many advanced media playback features and an onscreen, QWERTY keyboard. This, plus a lack of good software, keeps the phone from being a better smartphone, media player or even laptop replacement. Still, it makes good calls, and for folks who don’t mind paying extra for a lot of style, and the Prada brand, that may be all that matters. Release: April 2007. Price: $600.

Pros: Sleek design. Cool menus and interface ooze style. Very good call quality, solid feature set. Autofocus camera takes nice, usable pictures.

Cons: Lacks 3G, GPS and other advanced phone features. Onscreen keypad is a good compromise, not a great solution. Poor sync options for calendar, contacts and media transfer.

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