The LG Lotus Elite does its fashion-forward predecessor even better, bringing an unusual display style to go with the striking design. How unusual? It's a flip phone with a full touchscreen external panel.
Physically, it's a phone you can immediately spot from the crowd. Wearing the same square shape as the original Lotus, it adds sleeker curves, solid construction and an eye-popping color. Construction feels solid, with a sturdy hinge and a good feel in hand.
It sports two displays, both managing excellent color and sharp details - a 2.4-inch touchscreen (320 x 240 resolution) outside and a 2.4-inch non-touch LCD ( also 320 x 240 resolution) inside. The unusual styling makes it possible to access a lot of the phone functions without needing to flip the lid. There's no virtual keypad, though, so you'll have to to use the internal QWERTY keyboard (very good travel, comfortable to use) to type messages.
As a phone, the Lotus Elite makes for impressive calls. Everything went through clearly, with no distortion on either end of the conversations. Speakerphone function, however, was below average, producing muffled sound despite offering ample volume. Battery is rated at 5.9 hours of talk time, which should make it good for at least two days of moderate use.
On the features end, it comes with the expected basics, including a 1,000-entry phonebook, some PIM tools, a mobile Web browser and even aGPS. Messaging is at the heart of the handset, offering extensive support for both IM and emails (POP, IMAP and corporate mail).
It's equipped with EV-DO Rev 0, which is not quite as fast as Rev A. Regardless, broadband speeds were rather impressive, especially when using Sprint's range of multimedia services, including streaming videos. The music player is very barebones, but usable. It also comes with a 2.0 megapixel camera that offers a good amount of editing options, along with very average photo quality.
Overall, the LG Lotus Elite is an exciting phone with stylish looks, ample features and excellent performance. The external touchscreen is more than just a gimmick, making for a highly-useful addition. At the $99 price (with two-year contract from Sprint), it's certainly a compelling purchase when you're looking for a messaging phone that offers just a little bit more.
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Unique design, indeed. For $99 seems a good device, sleek looks, qwerty keyboard..Always loved devices featuring GPS, nice to see that on LG Lotus Elite.