Mobile phones have been evolving since day one, and the industry has followed suit. Formerly large and unwieldy but paradoxically capable of only one main feature – handling voice calls – mobile phones have shed their bulky exteriors and traded them in for sleek, compact frames that conceal powerful smart engines that can handle multiple tasks at the same time. Now, mobile smartphones have ushered in a new way of marketing mobiles and mobile content, new types of which continue to break new ground and make the scene on a fairly regular basis. Various handsets make their debuts almost like clockwork too, which keeps the ever-fast-paced world of mobile evolution moving forward.
LG has consistently put a lot of work into putting out quality handsets, whether it’s the streamlined VX5400 or the appealing high-end Chocolate Touch. Now they’ve launched the Accolade VX5600, which has more in common with the simpler VX5400 but manages to provide a solid mobile phone for almost any use. While it’s not an ideal camera phone, its ease of use and consistently solid performance provides the essential features that most users will be needing most often, all for an affordable and value-rich price tag, at the discounted rate with service or rebates or even at the full price.
Even in its physical form, the Accolade doesn’t seem to be trying for any awards for breaking ground. The Accolade’s standard flip-phone look doesn’t really separate it from the rest of the pack, and neither does its basic blue-gray color scheme. Instead of a full external screen, the Accolade has a mirrored plate on its front flap, within which is the relatively small 1.04-inch external display. It displays time, date, signal level, battery life and photographic caller ID, and acts as a self-portrait viewfinder for the camera function. The internal display isn’t much bigger than the external one at 1.76 inches, but both displays have good resolution [internal is 220x176 pixels] and great color coverage.
Navigation and use is very easy, with three menu designs – tabs, list, icons – to choose from and even customize. Banners, display themesl font type and size, and wallpaper can all be tweaked to your liking, and the navigation keys make browsing through the phone’s functions an features a snap. These functions include a 1000-contact phone book with room for 5 numbers, two email addresses, a physical street address, and an instant messaging screen name per contact. The Accolade comes loaded with 25 polyphonic ringtones, each of which along with a photo can be assigned to a contact. Text and multimedia messaging, a calendar and to-do list, speakerphone, notepad, and world clock are among the other basic features.
While not stellar, the phone’s other features are also fairly solid. Bluetooth, Bing Mobile access, POP3 e-mail, as well as voice commands and dialing all figure into the phone’s higher-level features. The camera isn’t anything to write home about since it lacks a flash and video mode, although it takes pictures in three resolutions – 1280×960, 640×480, and 320×240 – and has 2x digital zoom, a night mode and some fairly good settings. However, actual phone quality using the dual-band service is strong, with good loud volume and clarity.
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