LG Imprint MN240 – Sleek looks
For:
Compact, sleek looks, nice keyboard, music player, e-mail
Against:
has a 2.5 mm jack instead of 3.5 mm one, awful photo quality
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
LG Imprint MN240 is 2.5 inches wide, 0.6 inch deep, 3.5 inches high and weighs 0.2 lbs. The phone is based on CDMA technology with CDMA 800/1900 band. The handset has a slider design, for wireless, there is Bluetooth 2.1, Additional features include Internal antenna, microSD card slot, voice command, speakerphone, TTY compatibility, and airplane mode. Messaging / Data Features includes Multimedia messages (MMS), Text messages, Picture messages and E-Mail. Bundled accessories with the phone include AC travel charger, Bluetooth speakerphone, Standard battery, USB data cable, Bluetooth headset, Solar car kit, Mono headset, Stereo headset, Vehicle power charger. The phone has rated talk time of 300 minutes
Razzle Dazzle:
The phone looks really attractive because of the small design. The youth will be easily attracted to this handset. The phone is not that heavy in the hand but the slider is a bit rough and hence you will have to push it a little harder than usual.
Inside Dope:
LG Imprint MN240 looks a lot like Kin One with regards to design. Just like LG Remarq, the Imprint has a leaf shaped speaker on the back and the handset’s charger too is Energy star rated. MetroPCS, the service provider is not advertising this handset as an eco friendly product. May be that is because Imprint doesn’t have soy ink packaging (unlike the Remarq) and the body is not made up of recycled plastic either. The phone has an appealing design and it will certainly go well with youngsters. They always yearn for a compact phone which can be easily placed in to their jeans pocket. Another thing that we liked about the phone was the spacious QWERTY keyboard which makes typing easy. If you are the kind of person who types a lot on cellphones then we will recommend you this handset. Other than that, the LG Imprint also has a music player for listening to tracks while on the move. However, we expected a 3.5 mm headphones jack since it would have let us plug in any standard headphones in to the port. Instead the manufacturer gives a 2.5 mm jack which is kinda bummer.
Display
LG Imprint MN240 has a 2.2 inch big display with resolution of 320×240 pixels. It supports 262,000 colors but as compared to other phones, the screen is not that clear or crisp. The wallpaper and menu too are a bit boring. A lot of screens can’t stand direct sunlight and Imprint is one of them. You cannot adjust the contrast or brightness but you do get control over backlight time.
Navigation array and keyboard
The navigation array is located beneath the display and it has speakerphone, back button, two soft keys and a four way navigation pad with OK button in the middle. LG Imprint MN240 has a full sized QWERTY keyboard with narrow and tall keys. The buttons have adequate spacing between each other and hence typing is quite easy. There is no backlighting though. There is a dedicated button for music player and messaging which according to use is really cool.
Phone book and PIM features
LG Imprint MN240 has a 1000 entry limit phone book. A single entry can take seven contact numbers, photo for caller ID, two e-mail Ids and a discrete ringtone. You can also make groups of your friends. For the ringtones, you have a choice of 33 polyphonic tones to choose from. PIM features on the phone include unit converter, notepad, alarm clock, stopwatch, world clock, calendar, tip calculator and standard calculator. This handset also has speakerphone and Bluetooth.
E-mail features on the LG Imprint MN240 are pretty simple but we were disappointed by the lack of IM functionality. You can set up your POP3 or IMAP mails to be delivered here. There is no dedicated Web browser here but we won’t complain about this for such a phone. However, if you really need to access the Web, there is the WAP based browser. You can also go to the @Metro app store for purchasing games, pictures, ringtones and apps.
Camera
LG Imprint MN240 has a 1.3 megapixel camera which takes mediocre photos. We weren’t expecting the world from this camera anyways looking at its resolution. But the camera still gives you good collection of editing options like multishot mode, image editor, 10x digital zoom, self timer and night mode. The zoom cannot be used at the highest resolution of 1,280×960 pixels. The resolution and brightness of your photos can be adjusted.
Once you have clicked the shots, you can then send the photos to your friends through Bluetooth, put them as wallpapers, create slideshows, use them for photo ID or as image for lock screen. There is an editor for zooming in and out of the photos, rotating or flipping it. The editor also lets you adjust the brightness or white balance. Our favorite feature here was that you can convert the subject in the pics in to a cartoon
Call quality
When tested for call quality, the LG Imprint MN240 was pretty good. Voices were natural, strong and clear. There were a few beeps and blips but this is not unexpected in wireless service. Sound was a bit muffled. On the bright side, the volume gets loud enough and hence talking in places with lots of background noises is not a problem.
Verdict:
LG Imprint MN240 has a compact design and looks quite attractive. We will recommend this phone to the youth messaging enthusiasts.
