From a distance it looks like a Blackberry.  One can be forgiven to assume it is.   Even its feature list reads like one from a 2-year old Blackberry Curve 8300.  So what features set this new LG GW300 apart from the other Blackberry and Blackberry look-alikes and wannabees?

Actually there’s none.  It’s got no Wi-Fi.  No 3G or high speed network support to breeze through internet surging, No trendy brilliant large touchscreen to impress your friends.  No high resolution camera.  No GPS.  None of just about the most impressive features we’ve come to know should be there in a modern mid-priced mobile phone.  In short, the LG GW300 is a dated phone right out of the box.

Do we have winner here?

It just might be.  LG is positioning this phone as an entry-level QWERTY phone for the social networking geeks on the road.  Its unimpressive features seem to suggest this is an old phone repackaged from the outside with a new façade and some nifty application to woo the new social media crowd out there.   It’s got a Facebook application bundled with the handset, an email client and a capable web browser.  But it’s just a GSM mobile phone with a 2.4” QVGA screen and the usual nod to 2-megapixel camera phones that was a rage 2-3 years ago.  There’s FM radio, media players, Bluetooth 2.0 and a 3.5mm stereo audio socket.

In short, it’s an all-around phone for just about all the functions we know mobile phones have.  Nothing spectacular.    It’s “300” model designation does indicate its way down the ladder as LG phones go in the product range.  So it has got to be really cheap. Extremely affordable, to say the least.   QWERTY mobile phones are not exactly known to be cheap so this one from LG could be a real ticket for the masses.

One look at it and you could be thinking it’s another expensive QWERTY phone.  It’s a QWERTY phone alright but certainly not expensive.  Korean mobile phone maker LG is positioning its new GW300 as an entry-level QWERTY phone for the masses for release this coming September. As it should. Apart from an updated Bluetooth 2.0 and Facebook application bundled with the handset, the LG GW300 offers no standout feature that can make it competitive with mid-priced mobile phones in the market.

A simple feature set for the masses

There’s no mistake that its feature set is as good as any entry level or even mid-priced mobile phones out there. The LG GW300, by every indication in its press release, is a cursory nod to everything we’ve come to know in a versatile all-around phone that’s a “jack of all trade.” Check out these simple features to see what we mean.

• It sports a candybar form factor with 2.4” QVGA 256k colour screen and a QWERTY keypad that’s just as useful to your fingers as any in the market.
• It’s a Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE phone with 2.5G network support.
• There’s a cursory 2.0 mega pixel camera that’s just about standard in many low-end mobile phones
• Media players supporting popular audio and video codecs and an FM player com standard
• There’s a 3.5mm stereo audio jack for high fidelity headphones
• There’s a microSD expansion slot for up to 8 GB.

LG clearly meant the phone to be an all-around phone with no singular remarkable feature to set it apart.  That’s quite appropriate for an entry phone QWERTY that we expect to come reasonably priced for the masses to afford.  But don’t expect it to be a steal. It’s still a QWERTY phone.

The GW300 is a Seriously Loaded GSM Phone

For a GSM phone, the GW300 provides quite a lot. It has a full QWERTY keyboard, a built in media player, FM radio, Micro SD compatibility, Bluetooth, a 3.5mm audio jack and a mini USB port. The only connectivity option that the LG GW300 offers is through GPRS since this device still lacks any WiFi, 3G or HSDPA compatibility. The 2 mega pixel camera is a little low tech as compared to the other basic GSM phones that are already out in the market and the lack of a touch screen makes the presence of the QWERTY keyboard a little questionable.

Creating a mobile device with a full keyboard is currently a bad idea in this era of touch screen devices. A touch screen offers a larger screen and the option of having an onscreen keyboard and a really easy point and click interface. On the other hand, a full physical QWERTY keyboard greatly restricts the device in terms of overall dimensions and screen size. Also, since mobile devices are also used more often with one hand, navigating a menu on a full keyboard can be quite a challenging task.

The GW300 Pays Homage to a Great Mobile Device

In terms of specifications and capabilities, LG has given us a mobile device that closely resembles the original BlackBerry Curve 8300. Sadly, this similarity is to the disadvantage of the GW300 since the Curve 8300 is an outdated two year old device. Still, for a basic GSM phone, the GW300 is going out on a limb by providing a semblance of a smart phone for none smart phone users. Though the existence or feasibility of this market is doubtful; none smart phone users do not really care for the extra features anyway, and those that do, will actually buy smart phones.

The Striking Similarities of the GW300 and the BlackBerry

The BlackBerry Curve 8300 was a really good device. It served as a benchmark for the performance and capabilities of pocket PCs and smart phones when it was released. Naturally, a lot of mobile devices begun following the style and trend of the BlackBerry; the LG GW300, is one such device. Normally, that would be a good thing, if not for the fact that the BlackBerry Curve 8300 was released over two years ago. LG’s GW300 is behind the times in terms of capability and technology.

Over the past two years since the Curve 8300 was released, great innovations in the use of WiFi, GPS and other technologies have made them accessible and usable with mobile devices. Had LG decided to incorporate these new features into the GW300, then creating a BlackBerry spawn would have been a perfectly right thing to do. Instead, by not improving on the original’s specs and capabilities, LG is delivering a phone that looks good on the surface but is very out dated for its time.

The Deceptively Good Looking GW300

What LG gave the GW300 is the gift of visual appeal. The full spread QWERTY keyboard and a generous 2.4” QVGA display is more than an eye catch, it draws a crowd. And for good reason, people these days will assume that with an appearance like that, you would be able to run Windows Mobile, save a good crisp image and go online at the nearest WiFi hotspot to upload it to your friends.

Well, technically, you still can. But you would be limited to a 2 mega pixel camera (these days, the low end phones have at least 3.2 mega pixels), and that the only way you can connect with your friends is through a pre-installed Facebook application that connects via GPRS. This mobile phone has no WiFi, no 3G, no HSDPA nor any other commonly used connectivity options that are found in other smart phones.

Is the GW300 another BlackBerry Clone?

In these recent months, LG has been releasing some rather impressive devices for the mobile market displaying gadgets that execute mobile phone and pocket PC functionality. Sadly, the LG GW300 is not one of these devices. Made with great similarities with the old BlackBerry Curve 8300, this device fails to bring anything new or different to this era of constantly evolving technologies. While experts predict that the price range for this phone will be among the cheapest in the smart phone category, there are hardly any features in this device that separates it from a typical GSM mobile phone. In other words, this device is going to be a very expensive GSM device.

Looks can be quite deceiving with the GW300. A full QWERTY keyboard, 3.5mm headphone jack, USB port and a pretty 2.4 inch QVGA screen might make you think that this phone packs a bit of power. But it does not. Aside from GPRS this device has no other connectivity options available.

Too much of the Old Models in the New GW300

One major problem that this model encounters is the lack of features and functionality in the phone. The lack of WiFi, 3G, and HSDPA connectivity leaves users without alternatives to the slow and terribly unsatisfying GPRS connection. The device does have its own Facebook application and a decent web browser, but being limited to GPRS means that users will hardly enjoy these features. If LG released this phone two years ago, it would have been on of the best phones of its time. Of course, back then, it was the original BlackBerry that was released.

Critics would say that LG should have just left this phone in the drawing board instead of letting it hit production. Buyers simply looking for a phone would opt to get something much simpler and functional, while those who would like a smart phone are better off buying a real one.