LG Fathom (Verizon Wireless) – Solid construction
For:
Solid construction, bright display, roomy QWERTY keyboard, comes preinstalled with Windows Mobile 6.5.3, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS. Supports GSM and CDMA networks for globe trotters.
Against:
Resistive touch screen display (capacitive would have been better), sluggish performance, bulky body
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
LG Fathom has a 3.2 inch diagonal touch screen with resolution of 480×800 pixels. The screen supports 262,144 (18 bit colors). The phone runs on Windows Mobile Professional (Pocket PC) version 6.5.3. The handset is powered by 1000 MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8650 processor. There is 211 MB internal memory available for the user and the phone card slot accepts 16 GB of memory cards.
The phone runs on 1500 mAh lithium polymer battery with rated talk time of seven hours and standby time is 19.8 days. The 3.2 megapixel camera has the following features – Scenes, ISO control, Panorama, Self-timer, Effects, Multi shot, Night mode, Macro mode, Digital zoom, Auto focus. Supported video formats are 3GP, WMV, and MPEG4. Supported audio formats are WMA and MP3. The card slot supports microSDHC and micoSD cards. The phone has 512 MB ROM and 256 MB ROM. The phone as 802.11b/802.11g/802.11n wireless interface. PIM features include Notepad, World Clock, Calculator, To-Do/Tasks, Calendar, and Alarm. Voice features include Speaker Phone, Recording, and Dialing.
Razzle Dazzle:
LG Fathom’s design is quite similar to LG Ally, its Android sibling. The device is 0.7 inch thick, 2.2 inches wide, 4.5 inches long and weighs 5.4 ounces. The phone is a heavier than other smartphones and you will certainly feel the extra bulk when you put it in your pocket. On the front, the bezel has stone texture which feels quite nice.
Inside Dope:
Microsoft has already announced the release of Windows 7 but it is still manufacturing Windows 6.5 phones aggressively. The latest example of this is LG Fathom. It run on Windows 6.5.3 and is one of the few smartphones from Verizon Wireless to have CDMA/GSM dual chipsets. You can put in an international SIM card when you are traveling out of US. We weren’t that impressed with the resistive touch screen but the slide out QWERTY keyboard is quite good. The phone has some good features and we are really tempted by this phone even though there is Windows 7 lurking around. This handset is available for $149.99 and you have to sign a two year contract after $100 mail in rebate. We also liked the solid construction of the handset. The QWERTY keyboard is quite roomy and the display too is bright. Other goodies on the device include Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. On the flipside, performance of the phone was a bit sluggish, especially with the accelerometer. The handset, as a whole, is quite bulky as compared to other smartphones.
Display
LG Fathom has a 3.2 inch resistive touch screen with resolution of 800×480 pixels. Resistive touch screen is not that responsive or smooth as compared to iPhone’s capacitive touch screen. Resistive touch screen needs a stylus all the time. Fortunately, you have alignment wizard which improves the tap accuracy. The display is quite good; the text is both legible and crisp. The backlight can be adjusted and the built in accelerometer automatically changes the orientation of the screen from portrait to landscape when you tilt the phone.
Navigation array and keyboard
Below the screen, you have the End, Main Menu and Talk keys. On the left side, there is charger jack, volume rocker and 3.5 mm headphone jack. On the right, you have the camera shutter button, task manager button and microSD card slot. The Lock/Power key is located on the top and on the back, there is the stylus compartment. Sliding the upper half of the phone to the right gives you a full QWERTY keyboard. The phone slides smoothly and also clicks securely on both the ends. There are four rows below the keyboard along with Symbol and Function keys. The keyboard is very much spacious and the buttons are adequately raised above the surface which makes it easy to type.
OS Features
If you have used Windows 6.5 before, you will find it easy to get along with LG Fathom. The Internet Explorer Mobile browser is improved and you get other usual features like Microsoft’s MyPhone backup service and full Microsoft Office Mobile suite. The usual PIM features like address book and calendar are still there. A single entry for the address book can take multiple numbers, e-mail addresses, etc. Contacts can be assigned a photo caller ID and you can make groups of your friends. Other basic features on the phone include speakerphone, voice command support, conference calling, and multimedia and text messaging.
Music player
LG Fathom’s music player is one of the entertainment options on the phone. Supported audio formats are MIDI, AAC+, AAC and MP3. Supported video formats are H.264, H.263, WMV and MPEG4. Files can be transferred through USB cord or through micro SD card. Up to 16 GB of memory cards are supported.
Camera
LG Fathom has a 3.2 megapixel camera. You get three settings for quality, five options for resolution, and three video resolutions. Other offerings include night mode, macro mode, ISO control, continuous shot, panorama stitching, brightness, five modes for scene presets, white balance, brightness, color effects, shutter sounds and finally, a self timer. Pictures can be zoomed, rotated, resized, cropped or you can add frames to it. In MMS mode, the video recording is limited to a minute but you can shoot for longer period in the standard mode.
Call quality
When tested for call quality, LG Fathom was really good. We could hear our friends well without any distortion but on their end, the sound was a bit tinny. Callers didn’t have much to complain about the sound quality. Volume too was loud enough.
Verdict:
We were frustrated with the performance issues, it was sluggish occasionally but other wise, this is a feature rich phone.
