LG Optimus 7Q deals & review

Alongside the HTC 7 Pro and the Dell Venue Pro the LG Optimus 7Q is one of the first line-up of Windows Phone 7 handsets to come with a QWERTY keyboard. The Optimus 7Q is very similar to the Optimus 7 with the only major difference being the sliding QWERTY keyboard. While the screen offers up the same excellent hardware specifications it is slightly smaller than the one found on the Optimus 7, measuring at 3.5" compared to 3.8".

This is still a high quality TFT screen with a very sharp WVGA resolution and kaleidoscopic 16 million colour depth. The screen runs on capacitive technology, which in conjunction with Windows Phone 7, allows multitouch input for the interface. It is also much more responsive than earlier resistive screens which often required a lot of finger pressure to register a response.

This high resolution is superb for making use of apps, browsing the web, or viewing photos and videos captured on the 5 megapixel camera. While taking excellent still photos with software features like geotagging and face detection, the camera also comes with 720p HD video capturing. Videos captured with the camera can be transferred to another device through Bluetooth, microUSB or Wi-Fi but can also be watched in all their full glory directly from the phone. Internal memory for storing captured videos and other content is a very impressive 16GB, which is one of the largest amounts found on any of the initial WP7 handsets but is not expandable with microSD. Despite this, 16GB should be more than enough room for most people to store a large amount of video, music and other media content to enjoy at any one time.

The media player found on the Optimus 7Q comes with excellent playback support for music and video and can be synced to Zune player on your home computer. On top of the media player for listening to your own music tracks you can listen to the latest hits through the FM radio. Other entertainment features of the 7Q include many touchscreen games that come included with the phone, and many more that can be downloaded from online.

Messaging is a fantastic experience on the Optimus 7Q, largely due in part to the QWERTY keyboard which makes typing so much easier. Threaded SMS is supported, along with MMS, email (including Outlook) and instant messaging. The Windows Phone 7 operating system has had a number of significant updates made to it which offer superb social networking integration. It is now far easier to update your Facebook status or find out what your friends are up to, particularly as information from social networks is pooled from the web and integrated with your contacts list and directly on the homescreen in real time.

The Optimus 7Q offers many similar features to the other initial Windows Phone 7 handsets, particularly its close sibling the Optimus 7. The Optimus 7Q does benefit from its QWERTY keyboard which makes all forms of messaging much easier and is only rivalled in this respect by the HTC 7 Pro and the Dell Venue Pro.