Sleek, dark and sexy

We've looked at a couple of iPhone contenders for a while, and one that I've been talking of has been the PRADA phone by LG.

LG collaborated with fashion label PRADA to come up with this. Features wise it's a candy-bar design touchscreen phone with a 240x400 display, 2MP camera, and the other standard features including Bluetooth and an FM radio. The camera stands out from others of the same resolution because it supports 16:9 widescreen video and stills recording, and because it's an auto-focus model as opposed to the commonly seen fixed-focus type.

Once you wipe off the finger print smudge marks on the glossy screen, it looks absolutely stunning. It's slim, lightweight, sleek, dark and sexy. The front of the phone has three physical buttons, being 'Send,' 'End' and 'Clear' and the sides of the phone has a couple of more controls – volume, shutter and keypad lock. The standard darkish black and white PRADA theme complements the looks of the phone. The operating system is based on flash, and it’s eye-candy at it’s best.

The screen is bright and crisp, and the video playback performance is excellent. Audio quality through the built-in speaker suffers a bit at high volume, and a bit of bass-bark is evident. The FM radio is feature packed, with the possibility to scan and save stations in the eye-candyish style that is seen everywhere in the phone.

Usability is one of the key issues of touchscreen phones. And it's the same here. The onscreen keypad for entering text takes a lot of getting used to, but once you begin using it, while the fingertip is on the button, the results come flowing by the bucket-load. The numeric keypad for dialling is easy to use, with the large 'buttons,’ which almost fill the screen. The package includes a charger, hands-free kit, data cable, and a PRADA embossed cleaning cloth for the phone.

Everything including the box, feels premium, and the phone is the ultimate fashion accessory. Short of the Armani by Samsung, this is as fashionable as a phone can get. And think about it, your friend (let's call him Ashan) whips out a bulky and gruesome looking N95, and you have a sleek and sexy PRADA. Which one is classier?

Seen a car, phone or any other kind of BoyToy out there which you want me to take a look at? Email me at boytoys.mm@gmail.com, and we'll see what we can do.