Camera

Offering a mediocre VGA (0.3-megapixel) camera, the LG F9200 is able to capture photos at up to 640 x 480 px in resolution with lower options including QVGA (320 x 240 px), QQVGA (160 x 120 px), and Mobile (128 x 160 px).

Activating the lens with the press of a button, the LCD is turned into the viewfinder, with left and right navigation keys controlling the 4x digital zoom. A robust set of camera tools allow users more control and error correction include Brightness (-4 to +4), White Balance (Auto, Daylight, Incandescent, Cloudy, and Fluorescent), Image Effect (Color, Sepia, and Mono), Self-Timer (3 or 10 seconds), Multishot (1 Shot, 3 Shots, 6 Shots, or 9 Shots), and Shutter Sound.

Images taken are stored in the F9200's internal memory, dynamically allocated between all multimedia, for up to 33 photos on high-resolution and 450 on low. On average, approximate image file sizes are 50 KB for VGA, 16K for QVGA, and 3 KB for QQVGA.

The F9200's built-in camera is meant to complement the multimedia messaging capabilities rather than used to capture photos for print. Ideal to snap that unexpected moment and attach it to a text message to friends, consumers shouldn't except much more from the F9200's outdated VGA camera. Typically a 1.3-megapixel camera is the minimum for printable photos. As camera phones are progressing past 2-megapixels, the F9200 is definitely behind current mobile imaging advancements.

Basic Features

Released for Cingular, the LG F9200 has dual-band GSM (850 / 1900 MHz) network support. Rating the 950 Li-Ion battery at 4.0 hours and 12.5 days (300 hours) of talk and standby times, actual times will be slightly less. Handset manufacturers and carriers often list talk-time and standby-time ratings with disclaimers about variable performance and often refer to the times they publish as maximum times.

Screen

The F9200 uses a 65K-color screen (128 x 160 px). Constructed with STN (Super Twisted Nematic) LCD technology, the display is not as vivid - compared to TFT (Thin Film Transistor) - as leading devices on the market are made of.

However, the consideration to use STN is not necessarily a drawback. The advantages of TFT over STN are faster refresh rates and brighter more vivid colors. However TFT uses more power and significantly shortens the battery life. Being primarily used for text messaging, the F9200 doesn't require fast refresh rates. Instead, prolonging battery life is more important.

Compared to other devices on the market, the F9200's screen is in the middle of the pack. Many multimedia-focused phones have LCDs that display up to 262K-colors. But for text messaging, the F9200's screen offers the best of both worlds, providing a screen that clearly displays text while offering prolonged battery life without unnecessary drain.

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