This tri-band (GSM 900/1800/1900) mobile phone, with a block form factor, has a dimensions of 96 x 46 x 9.9 millimeters and weighs only 70 grams (battery included). Its TFT 256K LCD colored display has 178 x 220 pixels screen resolution that is sharp and vivid. Our first impression on the LG KG320 is that it boasts an uncommonly slim design for an LG-branded handset.

The KG320 keypad buttons are flat and bulky in size, and occupies almost half of the front panel. The phone passes the liking of heavy SMS texters and a user won’t experience difficulty in dialing a number. Aside from that, the keys are separated out with 0.5 millimeter wide slits and stick out from the casing by 0.5 millimeter. With this, you can have the ability to text even when your eyes are closed.

LG KG320

Its navigation pad has a rectangular-shaped button with a concentric circle that acts as an accept button and also doubles as a main menu button. The shortcoming of this feature button is that we have to press it sometimes with the use of our fingernails giving a little bit of inconvenience and annoyance at times. But the good thing is that all the keys have a bright white light, making backlighting excellent even when one is in a dark room. Hmm, Dory would exclaim to us and say, “Are you my conscience?”

The 128MB memory-sized KG320 is equipped with a 1.3 MegaPixel camera with flash located at the back of the unit and is protected by a sliding cover. The camera can take pictures in a minimum of 72 x 72 pixels to a maximum of 1280 x 960 pixels in size, and saved in JPG format. As for the KG320 video, the minimum is 128 x 96 pixels and the maximum is 208 x 160 pixels, and saved in 3GP format.

Taking pictures and videos is quite tricky using the KG320. It was quite a challenge, not much when in bright light, but in minimal light. Although it performed well on the outdoors, the camera had several shortcomings indoors and at night. A user has to rely on the built-in flash of the KG320 to get a brighter picture image of the object in poor illumination. But, in general, this baby can go head-to-head with its other mobile MegaPixel camera competitors. If a user is going to shoot in poor lighting conditions, Technews recommends that the best distance for these conditions is between 30 to 50 centimeters.

The guys and gals of Technews are happy to know that LG has loaded up two mobile games that suited well while on a boring day at work. The KG320 has SpaceBall, a modified version of the famous Snake game with a twist, and Manila Bulletin’s favorite puzzle game, Sudoku, the mobile phone version.

The KG320 is also a media player, that plays MP3, AAC, AAC+, AAC++, and WMA file formats. What impressed us in the Technews Lab on this baby is, the phone has no restrictions on bitrate, and sound quality is at par with other mobile phone brands.

When using the player, it has a default volume on 3 out of 5 levels which is good for listening to music using the included headset or the phone’s loudspeaker. When ther is an incoming call, the handset stops the playback, and transmits your favorite ringtone on the earphones.

For incoming SMS, MMS, or Email, the KG320’s screen gets filled with an image, though the user can read it only when he/she exits from the media player. Although the media player is good and does not give any headaches, its inability to work in background mode is its minor shortcoming.

When it comes to synchronization, the KG320 does well. It can be done using the USB cable included in the package or using its Bluetooth connectivity feature. We like the KG320 on the USB synchronization with a PC because the phone switched to file transferring mode wherein the desktop recognizes it as a removable storage drive. And by the way, it has a plug-and-play feature that does not require a driver installation. Other data connectivity and browsing features include GPRS and WAP 2.0 / xHTML. Sad to say, it doesn’t have 3G, HSCSD, EDGE, WLAN, and Infrared.

The KG320 is powered by a 600 mAh Lithium Ion battery. What surprised us was that the package included two Li-Ion battery that gives the impression of having power times two. Charging the batteries can be done using the fast charger included and/or straight on the phone itself. It takes 2.5 hours charging time, 5 to 6 hours of talktime and music trip time, and 4 days of standby time.

Gotta tell, the LG KG320 1.3 MegaPixel mobile phone is an almost slim bar-style handset that sports an understated look, yet comes off as a very elegant device, giving the feeling that it would be right at home at a posh dinner in the city. When one want to look a bit different from the crowd, Technews recommends this baby.