LG enV Review

With the enclosed keyboard, the phone cannot and does not attempt to compete with the latest ultra-slim devices floating around on the market. Nevertheless, at 118 x 53 x 20 mm and 130 grams, the phone is far from bulky. Its dimensions and weight fit nicely into the hand, whether the unit is being held vertically (phone) or horizontally (camera, keyboard).

The front of the closed device contains all the features of a standard block-type cell phone. With a two-tone black and silver front plate, the phone looks both interesting and professional. The small external screen is located close to the top, and is large enough to handle the usual call-related display necessities. Beneath the screen, the power and navigation keys arrange themselves in the usual fashion. The number keys fit neatly into the bottom third of the phone in the form of slender rectangles, an arrangement that makes for easy dialing. The bottom edge contains the power port, while the microSD slot and headphone jack dwell along the right edge. With its relatively small size and compact, two-tone design, the "phone" makes for a nice device by itself, regardless of the other technologies rolled into the enV.

The "back" of the phone is really the digital camera. Turned sideways, the phone becomes the "back" of the digital camera, so that the phone screen becomes the camera viewing window. The camera face itself is mostly silver, with a large circular black-colored lens area. The battery slides in to the right of the camera lens, taking up about two-thirds of the camera's "face." Still, the battery is not so intrusive that it detracts from the look of the camera. All in all, the "camera" side of the phone looks much more like an actual digital camera than that of the average cameraphone, which is usually no more than a circular afterthought on the frontplate.