Review: LG Quantum

With the Windows Phone 7 launch in Canada that means a bunch of new handsets available. One of the most unique ones available to Canadians is the LG Quantum due to it’s slide-out keyboard. We recently got to take one on a test drive to check out some of the details and the overall quality.

The LG Quantum is the first Windows Phone 7 handset with a full QWERTY keyboard so you wont have to suffer through touch-screen typing as seen on other touchscreen devices. The Keyboard is quite large and comfortable though the buttons are fairly flat making touch-typing a little more difficult than it need be.

The 3.5” capacitive touch screen is quite bright and has sharp image fidelity, supporting multi-touch which is nice for photos and maps. While there are capacitive buttons below the screen, the phone also features several hard-buttons including the Windows home button and hardware volume buttons, which provides some tactile feedback thankfully. Hardware buttons really help improve usability and we’re glad they’re not relying only on capacitive buttons.

The phone charges and syncs via a micro-USB cable which is another bonus, so you don’t have to deal with proprietary cables like with the iPhone. the battery itself lasts as much as you’d expect needing to be recharged about every other day under normal use. Other hardware details include a rubberised non-slip feel, an easy to remove metal back-plate, and a 5 mega-pixel camera supporting HD video recording.

Windows Phone 7 performs well on the device with snappy responsiveness, and the hardware showcases the new mobile OS as well as one would hope. Xbox live and DLNA support are two most notable features allowing better convergence than commonly seen on stock mobile devices.

There is no expandable memory which is a shame but iPhone users won’t know the difference. Aside from that and the relative hefty weight this is a pretty decent phone upon which to enjoy Microsoft’s new mobile OS. There is not much else to complain about here and among the new WP7 handsets available in Canada, this one certainly leaves its mark. Just try the generously proportioned keyboard and you won’t be able to suffer a cramped touch-screen keyboard ever again without making a wistful sigh.

Its also just had a price drop on Bell so you can pick one up for a mere $29.95 with a three year contract.