LG KF600 dual-display slide phone

With its InteractPad system, the KF600 pulls together elements fromboth touchscreen and physical controls in a functional way. It’scertainly not trying to be an iPhone or a Viewty. The context-sensitivecontrols of the InteractPad do what a traditional phone nav-pad andsoft-menu keys do, but in a visually attractive way.
It may not be everyone’s cup of tea – don’t expect a puretouchscreen experience - but nonetheless the KF600 is an interestingdevice that brings some fresh thinking to how you interact with a phone- without overturning conventions completely.

LG has dreamed up a novel twist on the touchscreen concept that adds a dash of Viewtyand a splash of Chocolate to create an original look that combines twofront-panel displays: a touchscreen and a standard display.

KF600: are two screens better than one?

The lower, touch-sensitive screen - LG calls it the "InteractPad" -displays context-dependent buttons that control functions displayed onthe other display. Fire up the MP3 player, for example, and theInteractPad becomes a set of music player controls. Hit the camerabutton and it switches function and orientation to offer camera controlkeys. As you zip through the phone’s features, the touchpad adapts tosuit what you’re doing and the options available.
LG has chosen to debut its InteractPad control system on a non-3Gphone, providing tri-band GRSM/GPRS/Edge connectivity rather thanhigher speed data options. There’s no Wi-Fi either, so it’s evidentthis device isn’t going head-to-head with high-end, multimedia-richsmartphones.
With no visible controls on the front panel, the KF600 is aslick-looking handset. Chrome trims enliven the otherwise black andreflective body, giving the phone a smooth, refined appearance.
The numberpad uses a solidly built, yet smoothly sprung slidermechanism that adds to the quality feel. The keys, though flush againstthe black plastic surface, are large and sufficiently separated to maketext-tapping and number-input a breeze. The whole phone measures amedium-sized 101.2 x 50.7 x 14.1mm, and weighs in at a respectable 107g.

The web browser is standard-issue mid-range phone fare, offering areasonable mobile internet experience, with the ability to view fullweb pages. Without 3G, complicated pages aren’t rendered too quickly.
Yahoo! Go 2.0 software comes pre-loaded, providing a widgets-styleoption for getting web-sourced updates, information, news, email, andmapping from one application. The InteractPad adopts another navigationpad-style configuration for this too, and the application works well onthis phone.

Nice'n'slim, Jim

LG has included email support, including a document viewer forstandard Microsoft Office attachments, and the usual selection ofpersonal information tools.
Making voice calls on the LG KF600 doesn’t necessitate any touchtrickery. The solid numberpad works well, though you can flick yourfinger on the InteractPad to whizz through contacts. Call quality wasconsistently high, with clear and problem-free audio at all times.
With two screens on the go, we were keen to establish whetherbattery life was an issue here. LG quotes up to three hours' talk-time,and a standby duration of up to 300 hours, which isn’t the longestprojected running time for a non-3G phone. We found that with ouraverage use we had to recharge the battery every two days, so twoscreens are here no more of a battery drain than one would be.