As evident from the name, the Rhythm is a latest music phone from world’s leading cell phone manufacturer, LG. The new handset features a number of improvements over previous music phones from LG. The handset uses mechanical scroll and slider to navigate through menus along with much-improved music application which supports a number of equalizer. Priced around $120, the handset is available from two regional carriers- Alltel and U.S. Cellular.
The Rhythm looks similar quite similar to LG VX8550 Chocolate as both the handsets are provided with touch-sensitive navigation array, mechanical scroll wheels, a slider form factor, and rather sleek, streamlined profile. Measuring 4.06 inches long, 1.93 inches wide and 0.64 inch thick, the Rhythm is little bigger in size than the VX8550. But the Rhythm is designed with curvaceous casing which looks pretty glossy on the front side, silver chrome trimmed back cover.
The Rhythm boasts of 2.0-inch display which has a native resolution of 240×320 and has support for 262,144 colors. The display looks brilliant with bright and vibrant colors. The menus look pretty attractive with sharp colors and graphics. The handset does not use grid or list style for displaying menu icons instead the icons are displayed in semi-circular fashion. This menu lay out works pretty good in coherence with the round scroll wheel.
The most distinguished feature of the handset lies in the middle of the navigation array. All the handsets features Menu/OK button in the middle of the scroll wheel but the Rhythm goes one step ahead with 1-inch circular touch screen. The circular touch screen provides feedback when it is pressed.
The main features of the handset include a 1,000 contact phone book, speakerphone, text messaging. MMS, calculator, voice command and dialing, alarm clock, tip calculator, calendar, unit converter, stopwatch, world clock, notepad, and vibrate mode. The advanced features include Wireless Web browser, mobile Web e-mail with support for Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, AOL Mail, and Gmail, IM, and stereo Bluetooth support. The Rhythm is equipped with EV-DO, which makes Web surfing faster.
The music application is more improved as compared to previous LG handsets. The user interface looks similar to the one found on full-blown MP3 player and it also has built-in FM transmitter. The songs are classified according to artists, albums, and genres. Other options include shuffle and repeat modes, playlist creation and editing, and highlight animations, and option to keep the music player in the background. It also has robust set of equalizers which include Natural Sound, Virtual Bass, Flat, Live, Comfort, and Clear. The Rhythm also boasts 3D sound, digital signal processing, and stereo speakers.
The 1.3-megapixel camera captures images in five resolution settings- 1,280×960, 640×480, 320×240, 176×144, and 160×120 along with five white balance presets, three quality settings, and six color effects. It also records clips in two resolutions- 320×240 and 176×144 with 15 seconds clip for MMS and up to 1 hour for saving.
