Introduction
Phones can talk to you and even talk back to you. Every now and then, they might even say something funny. Your phone knows where you are and what you're doing. Your phone is always watching. Now, look at your phone. It'll look back.
Meet the LG AKA. A funny phone with a personality. Big anime eyes smiling, squinting, blinking right at you. Different expressions depending on what time it is, on your actions or on what's incoming. Who thought the glance screen would be taken so literally?
The LG AKA wasn't the phone to remember at the last CES, but sure was hard to forget. A cute phone - never thought we'd ever say that about a five-incher - most likely for kids and teens, or the fans of phone charms and bunny-eared cases. And mascots.
There are four of them in the AKA lineup, a name and a color for each character. Eggy is yellow, Wooky is white, YoYo is pink and Soul is Blue.
The phone itself has midrange specs at bests with some features borrowed from the LG G series. The AKA runs Android 4.4 KitKat on a Snapdragon 400 chipset and packs a 5" 720p screen. There's an 8MP camera, 16GB of inbuilt storage with a microSD card slot, LTE connectivity and a 2,610mAh battery. The camera has laser-assisted auto-focus and the volume rocker and power button are placed at the back.
Key features
- Different interface (personalities) for the different color options, mascots included in the box
- 5.0" 16M-color 720p IPS capacitive touchscreen
- Android OS v4.4.2 KitKat with Optimus UI and AKA notifications
- Snapdragon 400 chipset with a quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex A7 processor and Adreno 305 GPU
- 1.5GB of RAM
- 8MP rear camera, laser-assisted auto-focus, LED flash
- 1080p video recording @ 30fps
- 2.1MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording
- LTE Cat. 4; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; GPS/GLONASS receiver; Bluetooth v4.0; NFC; FM Radio
- 16 GB of built-in storage; microSD card slot up to 32GB
- microUSB 2.0 port with USB host and MHL 2.0
- Standard 3.5mm audio jack
- Accelerometer and proximity sensor
- Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
- 2,610 mAh battery (2,540mAh for model H788N, which we are reviewing)
Main disadvantages
- Rather pricey (before carrier subsidies)
- No Android Lollipop at launch
- Dated chipset
The Snapdragon 400 is soon to be retired but that didn't seem to bother LG. The chipset is still capable of handling the essentials, including an LTE radio, so the lack of 64-bit support can be forgiven. After all, if one's buying an AKA we bet they're are not getting it for the performance and specs.
LG Aka: meet Eggy, Wooky, Soul and YoYo
The LG AKA comes in different colors and personality - which is to say the interface changes to match the case. Not an entirely new concept but certainly taken a couple of steps further. We got to review YoYo, the pink and chubby one. It's our reviewer vs. LG AKA right after the break - let's see who blinks first.
LG AKA retail box
Just like the LG AKA itself, the bundle is rather unusual. The mandatory accessories are of course supplied, a 1.2A A/C adapter and a microUSB cable, along with a cheapish looking headset.
But half of the box is occupied by your AKA mascot, YoYo in our case. It's rather solid and heavy, with a pleasant rubbery feel to it. The mascots can be used in a dedicated selfie cam shooting mode, but more on that later.
LG AKA retail box
Finally, the box cover is a nice folding page, which introduces you to the four different AKA creatures.
Design and build quality
The LG AKA has the spirit and feel of the G series, scaled to its budget of course. The handset has clean and simple design with the trademark rear-placed power and volume keys. There is even the laser-assisted autofocus for the camera too. If it wasn't for the proprietary front covers, the AKA would have looked like the LG G2 mini with its matte textured battery cover.
LG AKA
The AKA's mask is made of glossy plastic, which is quite prone to fingerprints. LG did a great job shaping it though and it feels natural on top of the AKA. It snaps on firmly, and smoothly slides up and down to reveal whatever those smiling/asking/mysterious/drowsy eyes are looking at.
LG is selling all the proprietary cases separately (rear cover + mask), so when you've had enough of your Aka's original personality, you can easily change it just by snapping a new case on. There's a point system associated with buying new accessories for your Aka, which is an interesting (if a bit questionable) monetization strategy from LG.
The LG AKA is a nice phone with simple and efficient design. The mask is easy to use, and the comfortable rear control deck certainly helps the handling at this screen size. We've always been keen on the idea of the rear keys and this time the screen mask has made them even more relevant.
Handling the LG AKA
The overall handling of the AKA, despite the glossy mask, is very good. The phone is of solid build, the rear cover provides excellent grip thanks to the matte finish and texture. If you don't mind cleaning fingerprints off the mask every now and then, there is a good chance you'll like the AKA too.
Controls
Above the 5.0" IPS display, there is the earpiece and the 2.1MP secondary camera, capable of 1080p video recording. A hidden status LED and a couple of sensors are also around.
There are no hardware controls below the AKA's screen.
LG AKA front
The left and right sides of the LG AKA are completely bereft of controls as well. There is a lanyard eyelet in the top right corner - which will most likely be used for attaching charms.
LG AKA left and right sides
The top of the LG G2 features the secondary mic and the 3.5mm audio jack. The bottom has the microUSB port between two grilles: one for the primary mic and another one for the speaker.
LG AKA top and bottom sides
AKA's back is where things are quite familiar for the signature LG combo of volume controls each side of a Power/Lock key. The 8MP camera lens is placed left of the buttons, the LED flash and the focus assist are on the right.
When the screen is locked a long press on the Volume Up key launches the Quick Memo tool, while a long press on the Volume Down control fires up the camera. You can use that key as a shutter button too.
LG AKA back
Popping the battery cover open grants access to the removable 2610 mAh battery. Unfortunately, the microSD card and SIM slots aren't hot-swappable as the battery gets in the way.
The battery, microSD and SIM card slots.
[via GSMARENA]
