LG Arena KM900
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We’d love to know what they’re putting in the water over at LG headquarters at the moment. Judging by the company’s recent handsets it’s obviously something with hugely beneficial qualities: the firm formally known as Lucky Goldstar has effortlessly shrugged off its tawdry ‘budget’ image to become the architect of some of the most desirable mobile phones on the face of the planet.

We have to be honest - we half expected LG to experience a dip in form when the Arena was announced. It’s painfully obvious where the company’s designers have taken their inspiration from (here’s a clue - it’s a phone produced by a company that’s named after fruit).

However, now the handset is finally with us we’re struggling to find fault with it. It’s all too easy to be dazzled by the latest technology, but in truth the Arena is one of the most awe-inspiring phones we’ve ever had the pleasure of clapping eyes on - and we include the iPhone in that statement.

Aesthetically speaking, the Arena is nothing short of gorgeous. The classy brushed-metal finish lends the phone a pleasingly weighty feel which in turn grants a sense that you’re holding a seriously expensive piece of kit.

Closer inspection of the exterior reveals a design that is relatively unhindered by unattractive ports or buttons. There’s a sliding door for the data/wall charger connection and the headphone jack, but little else of note.

The few buttons that are present are ingeniously concealed within the design itself and aren’t immediately apparent when you first glance at the device.

Although LG has a track record of producing top-class touchscreen phones we’ve always been disappointed that the company has stuck with pressure-sensitive ‘resistive’ technology. Although this kind of screen allows you to use a stylus, but it’s often woefully inaccurate and the plastic screens are liable to deform and pick up dents over time.

Thankfully, LG has turned the corner with the Arena. The phone packs a ‘capacitive’ tempered-glass display (like the iPhone’s) which requires no pressure to be applied and responds wonderfully to the merest stroke of a finger.

Which is a good job, because one of the key selling points of the phone is its new 3D ‘S Class’ interface, which calls for lots of swishy finger movements in order to navigate through its menu system.

To be brutally honest, this new UI is more for show that anything else, but it does present an appealing way of controlling the features of your phone.

Each screen is essentially a face on a 3D cube which you can rotate in order to access other option screens. This system permits quick access to pretty much every aspect of the device - widgets, shortcuts, contacts, media playback, and so on.

Finding your way around the myriad different screens is initially daunting, but like all new interfaces you’ll find your bearings pretty swiftly. The biggest drawback is latency - although the delay when switching from one screen to another is relatively slight, when operating some of the more CPU-intensive applications (such as video playback) the phone tends to slow down considerably.

Speaking of video, the Arena is astonishingly well equipped when it comes to recording and displaying moving images. Not only is the phone capable of recording at what the manufacturer describes as ‘DVD quality’, but it can also play DivX files.

The standard of the playback is spectacular. The razor-sharp 480x800 pixel WVGA display is bursting with colour and never falls foul of nasty screen blur. Videos encoded at the highest quality look gorgeous and some of the pre-loaded clips are positively jaw-dropping.

Moving footage is aided by some magnificent sound. Like the Renoir, the Arena contains Dolby Mobile, which offers a brilliant aural experience - even through the phone’s external speaker. Throw a pair of headphones to the mix and you’ve potentially got yourself a cinema in your pocket.

On the subject of headphones, we’re incredibly pleased to report that LG has included an industry-standard 3.5mm jack so you can use any pair of cans you want. Keen followers of Pocket Gamer will be well aware that we’ve been campaigning for mobile phone manufacturers to drop their irksome proprietary connections in favour of the 3.5mm option, and it finally seems to be happening.

Naturally, the inclusion of Dolby Mobile also bolsters the Arena’s music playback credentials. Sound reproduction is clear, full of bass and pleasingly punchy - even with the bundled set of headphones (which blatantly copy Apple’s design).

So we’ve established that in aural and visual terms the Arena is unquestionably a huge success, but what about interactive entertainment?

LG’s long-running ‘M-Toy’ application is once again included, with familiar favourites Wheel Mania and Flying Dices (both present on the Renoir). They’re joined by Tepong, which is basically a simulation of hitting a ball in the air.

While the concept sounds a bit naff, the presentation is fantastic and the game makes superb use of the phone’s built-in accelerometer. It’s the kind of simple, casual experience that can sap hours of your spare time as you endeavour to keep the ball in the air for as long as possible.

It’s also endlessly amusing. Hitting the ball with plenty of gusto often results in a little animation of it hurtling skywards and hitting aerial objects such as a flock of birds or a passenger plane.

While the Cookie and Renoir had little niggles that prevented them from being truly first-class, the Arena excels in pretty much every area you could wish for: it’s good-looking, feature-packed, and for entertainment on the move you’re unlikely to find a better phone out there.

Naturally, the lack of a dedicated online shopping option - like the App Store or Android Marketplace - means that those of you keen to customise your mobile experience will probably find it a little limited, but the pre-loaded games are so agreeable that this issue is mitigated slightly, and there’s always the option to download Java titles.

The Arena proves that LG is continuing to blaze a trail through the mobile phone industry and reasserts the manufacturer's status as one of the best. Based on the brilliance of this product, we’re positively salivating at the prospect of their next high-profile release.

LG Arena KM900

The Arena combines classy design, an intuitive interface and top-notch entertainment facilities to become LG’s best phone yet – and one of the best mobiles we’ve seen so far this year
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Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.