LG KC910 Renoir preview: First look

LG KC910 Renoir represents the latest and greatest of the cameraphone breed. It tops latest connectivity technology such as HSDPA, Wi-Fi and GPS with serious image and video capabilities. Xenon flash, face tracking and blink detection, geo-tagging and touchscreen focus are combined with XviD and DivX video playback and high-res recording.

The LG Renoir is also equipped with a 3-inch TFT display and the latest version of LG own Flash-based full touch user interface. It's simple, intuitive and functional, and is further enhanced by automatic screen rotation and landscape on-screen QWERTY text input.

LG KC910 Renoir official images

Today LG announced that they are starting shipments of the LG KC910 to the European market. We however got an early start with a pre-release unit and we'd like to share with you our first enthusiastic impressions. We hope to push a detailed review somewhere in the near future, but until then this LG Renoir preview will keep you warm.

LG KC910 Renoir at a glance

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 2100 MHz, GPRS/EDGE class 10, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
• Dimensions: 107.8 x 55.9 x 14 mm, 114 g
• Display: 3-inch 256K color TFT, 240 x 400 pixels resolution
• Memory: 100MB, hot-swappable microSD card slot (ships with 8GB card)
• Still camera: 8 megapixel autofocus, xenon flash, digital image stabilizer, geo-tagging, face tracking, blink detection, touch screen focus, manual focus
• Video camera: DiVX AVI, VGA@30fps, 640x384@30fps, 400x240@30fps, QVGA@120fps high-speed recording,
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, Wi-Fi, TV-out, GPS receiver with A-GPS
• Misc: Accelerometer for screen auto rotate, DivX/XviD video playback and editing, Dolby Mobile sound enhancement, FM radio with RDS, GPS
• sports application, office document viewer
• Battery: Li-Ion 1000 mAh, Talk time: 4 h, Standby: 430 h
• Release date: early October 2008
• Expected retail price: N/A

At first glance LG Renoir seems remarkably compact for the rich multimedia capabilities it has got to offer.

Back in the day, when we saw the first images of the device, the buttons below the display struck us as rather cheap looking. Now that we have in our hands, we see that we were wrong.

LG KC910 Renoir up close and personal

LG KC910 Renoir has a subdued and conservative design, which however looks and talks shop. The high-quality materials used and the nice shiny finish add for a really nice first impression.

Samsung also have their full touch cameraphone - called the Samsung M8800 Pixon. We are working on a separate Pixon article, but we couldn't help but throw in a few comparative shots.

You may notice that despite Samsung are claiming that the Pixon is a tad slimmer than the Renoir, the reality is that the Samsung M8800 is 1.5mm thicker. After a careful measurement with a caliper (yeah, way too geeky, we know), the Samsung Pixon scored a profile measurement of 15.5mm at its slimmest part.

Update 20 Oct: We received a more final Samsung Pixon unit and as it seems they've successfully shaved a couple of millimeters off it, so indeed, the Samsung M8800 Pixon still retains the slimmest 8 megapixel phone title. There's a Samsung Pixon review coming up pretty soon, so stay tuned.

LG Renoir compared to Samsung Pixon and Apple iPhone

Join us after this very short jump as we mark down our first impressions and provide you with hands-on report of how the LG Renoir looks and feels. We also have an impromptu camera shootout with the Samsung M8800 Pixon, which also happens to be at our office. But let's not keep you waiting, hit the next page for more of the LG Renoir design.