“Texting is way more than simply pressing buttons and seeing characters appear on the screen”, said one of my contemporaries with a rather supercilious air. “Just watch how it’s done, quickly and with style”. Being a hopeless texter myself, I took this as an affront – my typing skills had just been criticised by a nerd who lived life vicariously through Mxit.
Naturally, I had to shut him up, so a few days later I purposefully whipped out my LG GT350 Chatterbox review handset in his presence, and began exploiting my thumbs on the unit’s QWERTY keypad – it really brings out ones inner texter and eliminates the fumbling that often ensues when novices like us attempt to churn out long SMSes. To unlock your texting potential, simply turn the phone to a horizontal position and slide up, revealing a keyboard as you would find on a computer. But with daintier keys of course. However, if you think you’re a master at multi-tap and don’t need the aid of a QWERTY arrangement, the LG also features a large 3-inch screen which is sensitive to the touch and doesn’t need much pressure to select characters, meaning you won’t suffer dreaded thumb injuries, also reducing your risk of developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
You may have noticed that everyone has a Blackberry these days. And I find that, when asked about the rationale behind their decision, they reply “it’s convenient for e-mails and stuff”. But if that’s the reason you’re looking at acquiring a ‘berry, rather be different and opt for the GT350 – which is pretty competent when it comes to sending and receiving mail while mobile. You’re notified immediately when an e-mail comes through and you’re also able to register more than one e-mail address.
For that extra fun factor, the GT350 boasts several different home screens that can be changed by the simple stroke of a finger, along the LG’s screen. Your contacts are also scattered around the home screen, represented by miniature people, similar to the Mii characters you would find on a Nintendo Wii.
Te mettle of the LG GT350 will be proven at the Mobile World Cup early next year, serving as the handset in the fierce competition that will put contestants’ texting abilities to the test.
Expect a price tag of R1 699.00 for the LG GT350 Chatterbox Plus.
