LG GD510 Pop tested

LG GD510 Pop

Overall verdict from the Your Mobile Phone Reviews Test Team

We are happy to report that the LG GD510 Pop is a good all round & mid range touch screen handset. We liked so many features on this phone which makes it's hard to define its best bits but is comes with an adequate camera feature, very good music player & great messaging services. We liked its modern design casing although this handset must be treated with some respect as its back cover can become damaged if mistreated. Its interface could be a little unresponsive at times but generally our team enjoyed good connectivity & we had fun customising the LG GD510 Pop to suit our needs. We would say this phone may not be used as a business phone, but wow it makes a pretty amazing phone for both younger & more mature users, well worth purchasing in our opinion.

Read more details of our testing results below.

Our test team gave the LG GD510 Pop an average score of:

82%

Appearance & Size

Our test team liked the overall design of the casing which has a dark grey brushed metal back & a silver coloured front section. Around the touch screen is a dark blue coloured border which complements the touch screen when the screen is activated. We liked its simplistic design complete with slightly curved edges & a neatly styled casing. We loved the size of this phone as it is only 9.78cm in height by 4.95cm in width by 1.12cm in depth which is very compact for a touch screen handset. There is a lack of keys on the casing due to the GD510 Pop being a touch screen phone, but we liked the one & only key which is situated on the front of the casing which is a main menu type key allowing us to press this key to activate the screen & when the key is coloured green this key allowed us to use it during calls as a call key. All in all the menu key is highly user friendly & it lights up red when it is not active so therefore when we pressed this key in its red mode it simply takes us back to our chosen home screen.

The Pop is a lightweight handset weighing only 87 grams with the battery & SIM card fitted, so we found it really easy to carry & use. On the right hand edge of the Pop's casing is a camera capture key which is small in size but still easy for all our testers to activate. On the left hands edge there's a volume key & a micro USB connection port covered with a cover to prevent dust damage. Our team were initially disappointed at the design of the micro USB cover but after some testing we found this potentially flimsy design was very hard wearing & tougher than most we had tested previously.

Our test team scored the appearance & size at:

95%

Durability & Usability

Our test team found the casing to be marked & scratched on the back of the handset from general use, although this use could have been of a rougher nature. We feel it is highly disappointing that a handset could become so marked & chipped in areas, but we feel if this handset was treated with a little bit more respect it could be kept in pristine condition throughout its life time. We liked the screen which has no scratches or marks on it apart from a few fingerprints after some usage which we feel is acceptable.

We had much fun using the LG GD510 Pop & have to admit we like many of the phone features & functions. We generally liked the locking system, the user interface & the overall usability of this phone, especially when using its messaging services. Most of our test team rated the phones usability highly but the only reason its usability was scored down was due to a few of our users finding it slightly unresponsive at times which as we all know can be highly frustrating.

Our test team scored the durability & usability at:

60%

Battery

The Your Mobile Phone Reviews test team took pleasure in testing this handset for over a week & during this time not one of our test team members were displeased with its battery, although we did experience the battery showing two bars for quite some time then very quickly dropping down to a low battery warning. Many of the team used all the phones features & during this time we felt we received adequate battery times even when surfing the Web which obviously does tend to drain the battery at higher speeds than general mobile phone usage. One of our test team members was testing this handset mainly as a tool for making a few daily calls & sending a mixture of messages each day, & during the test period the battery did not need recharging for up to 4 days of usage, which we felt was acceptable. Fitting the battery can sometimes cause our team concerns but the LG GD510 Pop has a push & slide opening mechanism to remove its back cover which is a fantastic design in our opinion.

Our test team scored the battery at:

85%

Camera

The Pop comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera which is accessible from the main menu in the entertainment section, which was easily located by all our testers. Our test team were happy with the selection of camera settings & features on offer but found some of the setting difficult to select or access using the touch screen controls, which caused us frustration when we were in a hurry to take a photo. Don't get us wrong this is an adequate camera feature complete with video recording capabilities but in comparison to the highly specified camera phones on the market the Pop lacks usability & quality with regards to its camera. The zoom feature was totally un-user friendly & all our video recordings were grainy & too dark in our opinion. The LG GD510 Pop it not a camera focused handset so therefore for general use we found it to be a fairly feature. We did enjoy viewing our photos & recordings in the touch screen slide activated gallery & our team did enjoy capturing & sharing pictures using the messaging services on the Pop.

Our test team scored the camera at:

65%

Music

Our team tested the radio & music player extensively on the LG GD510 Pop & most of us enjoy the overall quality, usability, selections available, touch screen controls & the widgets on our home screens for these features. To use the radio the headset must be connected to act as an antenna but we are used to this with other handset we have tested. We were really impressed with the sound quality & the volume was good enough to enjoy our music as a loud listening experience. Many of us shuffled our music & used the artist selection when choosing our music. No major complaints with any of the music or sound features on this phone & we must remember the Pop is not a music focused handset more of a messaging & communication focused phone.

Our test team scored the music capabilities at:

90%

Messaging

Ok we had some fun with this testing as the majority of our test team members are high frequency texters who like to communicate using all the messaging services available.

We found the text messaging & multimedia messaging features to be a breeze to use, all of our members commented on the ease of use when creating & receiving messages. Our team liked the touch screen controls & enjoyed creating messages using the touch screen keypad. Some of our team members found it a little more difficult to use the touch screen QWERTY keyboard which can be used when the handset is in its horizontal mode, as the individual keys are rather small therefore users with larger finger tips were making input errors when creating messages using this input method. We accessed the email service via the main menu & in the communication section. We found the email service to be adequate on the Pop & used this service continuously throughout our test period.

We want to let you know that the games on this phone are Java powered games & are really good fun to play, one tester said it was imperative we let you know that the phone offers a good gaming experience & comes with a Brain Challenge 2, Diamond Twister 1 game by GameLoft & Thomsons & Touch games preinstalled which are fabulously amusing games.

Our test team scored the messaging capabilities at:

90%

Connectivity & Technology

We experienced fast connectivity to the Internet & found it easy to connect to our computer & other phones using Bluetooth® connectivity. The Your Mobile Phone Reviews test team were totally pleased with the micro USB connection port & its connectivity, plus its cover caused us no concerns during our test time although initially most of us panicked it would be flimsy or break. We tested the LG GD510 Pop using a UK network providers SIM card & gained reasonable network coverage in our local UK areas, although we did not venture out of the UK for our network testing on this occasion.

Our test team scored the connectivity & technology at:

90%

Screen & User Interface

A small touch screen when compared with other touch screen phones in the market but a perfectly formed touch screen nether the less. Its screen measures three inches from corner to corner & although it's small it has a clear display & supports a modern looking user interface. We liked its colour display which we all agreed was bright & easy to view. Fingertip smears & smudges were mentioned by all our testers but this was not an area of concern just a quick wipe & the screen was perfectly clear again. A few team members had problems with the screen response & found it a difficult touch screen phone to control even after resetting the touch calibration several times, by the way this can be found in the setting section in the touch settings option.

Its interface has a very modern feel & some of us used the 3 home screens whereas some of the testers only used one depending on personal choice. We all liked the wallpapers already available on the phone & nearly all of us opted for the Livesquare option which gives you a place for example a park, a zoo or a selected image as a background on your chosen home screen, then we selected a Livecon with is available as a human or cute looking animal which is then displayed on our home screen complete with our recently used contacts names, we loved it the Livesquare wallpaper, even our more mature testers liked this live themed home screen background.

Another feature we should mentioned as we all rated it highly was the press & hold shutter style screen lock which we set to activate automatically. We know this comes on other handsets but we feel it is stylish & very practical for added protection to the touch screen & definitely prevented any of our team making unwanted calls during our testing.

Our test team scored the screen & interface at:

75%

LG GD510 Pop Gallery

Pop turned off and in screen locked mode

The general selection menu of the LG Pop

Back cover removed showing battery location

Would you like to learn more? Read our users LG GD510 Pop reviews

Many thanks to our friends at mobiles.co.uk for providing the LG GD510 Pop for testing.

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LG GD510 Pop © 2006 - 2012, Your Mobile Phone Reviews UK Limited

UK mobile phones tested - LG GD510 Pop