LG KS360 Review

Posted on May 28th, 2009. Written by Rico.

Two things that make the LG KS360 appealing to me: its QWERTY keyboard and low price. At just under P9,000, you’d be hard-pressed to find a phone that allows rapid texting.

The small keyboard, which slides out from underneath the phone and is essentially a smaller version of what you use for your desktop, is in fact central to the KS360′s operation (But don’t worry, it’s easy to call up a virtual numeric keypad for quick dialing without pulling the keyboard out—another feature I like). The screen automatically flips to accommodate the keyboard’s landscape orientation. It’s still easy to browse through the phone’s menus through the keyboard, since some letters double as arrow keys. Aside from the usual SMS, MMS, and email, the KS360′s design orients to instant messaging.

To be sure though, this phone’s mini-keyboard isn’t the best I’ve typed on. The KS360′s keys are well-spaced, yet are flat and barely peek out from the typing surface, unlike the rounded and functional buttons of say, the Nokia E63. The relative forcefulness needed to press the keys also make finding a typing rhythm harder than it should be. This becomes a minor inconvenience however, after a week of getting accustomed to the phone’s controls.

Speaking of instant messaging, it’s possible to chat with friends through popular IM services—like Yahoo Messenger, GTalk, MSN, AIM, and even ICQ—through the preinstalled web browser. The phone’s lack of 3G however can make chatting a bit slow. I had to rely on GPRS for my test chat, and it took a while to send and receive messages. At least it’s possible to use the KS360′s other features without interrupting your chat session.

In other words, LG could’ve maximized this phone’s QWERTY keyboard by providing it with faster ways to go online. A little built-in 3G and WiFi would’ve been nice, and would’ve made sending emails, chatting, and web browsing much more enjoyable. Then again, it’s all about the price. A little above the monthly minimum wage, the KS360 is perhaps the most affordable phone in the Philippines with fast text input capability.