Underneath its sleek, clean-cut metal body are entertainment features that make this phone another potential “iPhone killer”: A durable metal case (yet smaller and lighter), a crystal-clear 3” touch-screen, big iPhone-esque icons, a five-megapixel camera (the iPhone has 3MP) with Schneider lens and flash and a small camera for video calling— (unlike the iPhone). Also, expect the usual entertainment features a smartphone must-have: WiFi, Bluetooth, video player and FM radio.

A FAMILIAR FACE

The KM900 comes with four home screens (contacts, multimedia, widget and shortcuts) that can be customized and flicked through with a touch of the finger. Nothing to get excited about—these are all fairly standard copies of Mac and iPhone features. More importantly, the 3D-based S-Class User Interface, exclusively developed for LG, allows for better games, flicking through music albums and more fluid video viewing.

HELO TYPOS

The only problem with petite touch-screen phones is that our fingers always stay the same size. If you think typing on an iPhone is murder (hence the BlackBerry’s staying power), then get ready for a lot of frustration, here. Not only that, but we experience lag with some applications. Despite the limited business utilities to handle Microsoft Office files or even PDF files, you may resort to do more viewing and less typing.

THE COMPETITION

This phone provides seriously fun competition to other entertainment touch-screens. It’s at a low enough price point to consider betraying the iPhone (8GB, B24,500) and compares favorably to the more expensive HTC Touch Diamond (B29,900) and Samsung Omnia (B20,990). Only the Nokia 5800 Xpress music (B13,340) is more affordable, but lacks the KM900’s budding business capacities.

HOT
• The camera.
• Video playback.
• The mini USB dock has its own dust protection.
• 8GB memory that can go all the way up to 40GB with a MicroSD card.

NOT
• Delayed touch screen and auto-rotation function.
• Too small buttons and icons for finger touch when you don’t have a stylus.
• Doesn’t support Microsoft Office files.