Ever since the LG first publicized the Prada, there has been a hurricane of hype nearby the phone. And the hype makes sense: not only is the phone slim and beautiful, it's also a touch screen phone comparable to the much-ballyhooed and yet-to-be-released Apple iPhone. Yet, I would've liked 3G support, and the touch screen interface isn't for everyone. If you simply must have the newest in fashion phones, the LG Prada fits the bill, but don't imagine doing a lot with it. To find ringtones and accessories for this phone, plus advice and tips on how to use it, check out our Cell phones ringtones, accessories, and help page.
Design
Simply put, the LG Prada is the essence of elegance and style. It fits the very description of a fashion phone, and is quite possibly one of the best-looking handsets I've ever seen. Decked out in a lightweight piano-black shell, the Prada has a simple design, with smooth rounded corners and a touch of silver adorning its sides. It looks like a tiny version of fancy plasma TV or a piece of high-class modern art. The phone is also amazingly compact at 2.13 inches wide by 3.89 inches tall by 0.47 inch deep and weighing in at a scant 3 ounces. Because it's so slim and lightweight, you will have no trouble slipping it into a jeans pocket or a small clutch purse for a night out on the town.
Speaking of the touch screen, you'll need to use it with your finger to navigate the phone, as the Prada does not arrive with a stylus. Texting messages were a little trickier, though, as the Prada does not present a virtual QWERTY keyboard; rather, you have to text messages with a virtual alphanumeric keypad just like on a normal phone. Under the display is the Send, Clear, and End/Power keys, which are a little hard to push because they're a little too skinny for our tastes. The left spine of the LG Prada is home to a charger/headset jack, a volume rocker, and a sound profile key, while the keyguard lock and the MP3/camera key are on the right spine. There's also a camera lens on the back, full with a self-portrait mirror and flash. The LG Prada has a MicroSD card slot, but it is inopportunely placed behind the battery of the phone.
Features
The Prada has a huge 1,000-entry phone book with room in each entry for four numbers, an e-mail address, and a memo. The LG Prada also supports MP3 ringtones if you wish to add your own. Other necessary attributes include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calculator, a world clock, a unit converter, and a calendar. Those looking for additional functionality will like the voice recorder, e-mail support, Bluetooth 2.0 support, a speakerphone, and an FM radio tuner.
The LG Prada does come with an excellent 2.0-megapixel camera with plenty of settings. You can take photos of up to 1600x1200 resolutions or all the way down to VGA mode at around 320x240 pixels. There's also a self-timer, three quality modes, four color effects, white balance settings, a choice of shutter sounds, and a multi shot mode. The Prada also has a built-in camcorder with two resolutions (128x96 and 176x144) with settings similar to that of the still camera. Photo quality was very fine overall, with sharp detail and distinct colors, though the low-light photos had a bit of gloomy look to them. Video quality was not as good, with a quite grainy quality to most of our clips.
I truly liked the design of Prada's music player on the LG. It is pretty basic in that you can only do so much with your music (like play, pause, fast forward, and repeat/shuffle your playlists), but we still liked its simple, minimalist interface. It supports MP3, WAV, AAC, AAC+, and AAC++ files, and you don't need any special software to get tunes into the phone. Simply attach the Prada as a USB Mass Storage device and drag and drop the songs over. We wish that the Prada had a 3.5mm headset jack instead of the proprietary port, however. The LG Prada also has a built-in video player that can playback MP4 files.
Performance
Call quality was superb, and callers reported little problem hearing us. We even managed to get through automated caller systems without a hitch. Speakerphone quality did not fare as well. Even though there was plenty of volume, calls sounded muffled and callers kept asking us to speak up. Audio quality of the music player was also pleasing. Bass sounded a little weak, and it won't fully replace a standalone music player, but it's good enough for a quick music fix. We would advise using a headset over the phone's speakers, as the headset provided superior sound quality. The LG Prada has a rated battery life of three hours of talk time and 12.5 days of standby time. Our tests revealed a decent talk time of 3 hours and 7 minutes.
We're partial to bunnies around these parts, so when we heard someone had hooked one up to Internet, our ears pricked up. This odd little gadget is Nabaztag Tag ($190, nabaztag.com). Put him in a Wi-Fi hot spot and he'll start talking every so often, delivering messages, playing Internet radio or reading website for you. Push the button on his head and he can respond to your voice commands for weather reports and stock quotes. Think of him as an adorable harbinger of the coming age of frivolous electronics.
