The LG GD900 gained a lot of people's attention with it's highly-unusual slide-out keypad. Unlike anything that's come out of a phone before, the whole panel is transparent, almost looking like a decorative fitting instead of a functional input mechanism at first glance.
While the transparent surface is obviously intended to set the handset apart from its peers, LG does a good job of implementing it. Instead of just a nominal control set, it fits in a highly-useful touchpad to go with the numeric keypad.
It works much like any regular T9 input, with the 12 keys illuminated in white, creating a translucent appearance. You can say what you want about the gimmickry, but it looks way cooler than any keypad I've ever used. It offers ample spacing and is a very usable addition to the phone.
More than just a facility for entering text and numbers, though, the slide-out panel doubles as a touchpad that you can use as a shortcut facility (e.g. writing the letter M will load the music player), a handwriting input, a scroll-and-tap control, a two-finger zoom facility (when browsing the web) and many more. It's a nice touch that offers plenty of conveniences (though some may be a bit repetitive with what you can do on the touchscreen).
Yes, the GD900 sports a 3-inch touchscreen display too, with a 480 x 800 resolution. It offers great touch response, facilitated by the same snazzy S-Class UI that LG runs on the Viewty Smart and the Arena. You can use it pretty much like a regular touchscreen handset, though a few of the functions (such as web browsing, for instance) really benefit from the added slide-out controls.
As a phone, the GD900 offers great usability. Texting is easy either onscreen or via the numeric keys while calls come through pretty good (a little sharpness every now and then). Battery life suffers a bit, but a nightly charging isn't really that bad of a proposition.
The camera module is a hefty 8 megapixel unit, with LED flash and autofocus. Overall use is pretty amiable, although it lacks the full range of controls available on the Viewty Smart. Image quality is slightly above average (though, again, not as pronounced as the Viewty Smart), with good colors and a decent amount of detail. Video quality is considerably better than most camera phones I've seen, with relatively smooth movements and good response to lighting.
Other features on the GD900 reflect a high-end sensibility, including HSDPA connectivity (very fast page loads), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and media playback (very capable, including DivX support). Two drawbacks, however, are the lack of a GPS tuner and the use of a non-standard headphone jack.
Despite the minor complaints, the LG GD900 Crystal is a very impressive effort. The unique keypad is especially useful and serves more than just a mere novelty. The S-Class UI, the wide range of input controls and the 8 megapixel optics make this handset well worth the premium price.
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