2.0-megapixel camera with flash.

Weatherproof multimedia buttons.

Flat V3-like metallic keypad.

All thanks to the iconic Motorola V3, there is no arguing that the current trend in mobile phones heavily focuses on slim and thin designs, hence it is hardly surprising to find competitors such as LG responding to the market needs with its own slim and thin P7200 mobile phone. Appearance wise, it is evident that the P7200 had many of its styling attributes inspired by the RAZR V3. The keypad in particular is almost a mirror image of that found in V3. However, despite having a similar feel and appearance, the keypad of the P7200 is neither as tactile nor nearly as easy on the fingers as the V3 equivalent. This mechanical shortcoming might just turn away serious messaging aficionados. It's Built Right No corners were cut in the construction of the all-metal P7200. Held in hand, the handset felt expensive with barely a squeak when grasped firmly. The hinge assembly and the flip mechanism are also well put together and gave the impression that it will go the distance where durability is concerned. The attention to details can also be seen along the flanks of the handset where spray painted hardened plastic instead of cheap rubber stoppers are used to cover up the various input/output ports featured on the P7200. Different From the RAZR V3 While the P7200 is similar to the RAZR V3 in many ways, not least its appearance and design, much thought was also given to ensure that it will not be branded as a lazy V3 copycat. A row of multimedia buttons can be found accompanying the external LCD, which also doubles up as a viewfinder in camera mode. Then there's the 2.0-megapixel camera with flash and an audio-out jack on the P7200 that are both unavailable on the Motorola counterpart.

The latter is presumably the major selling point of the multifunction P7200. Paired with the aforementioned multimedia controls, bundled wired remote control and earphones, a user-friendly mediaplayer that comes standard with both preset and customizable equalizer settings, the P7200 is quite a convincing MP3 player in its own right. But if that's not attractive enough to tempt you into considering the P7200 for your long overdue upgrade, how about the fact that downloading and uploading of media files is just a simple drag-and-drop affair into the onboard 64MB or microSD memory card? Overall Performance Unfortunately, the P7200 lacks the fidelity to rival standalone MP3 players – mainly due to frequent distortion of higher frequencies. Though stills and videos captured by the 2.0-megapixel camera were decent, saturation and sharpness were both a little off the mark from the quality expected of modern cameraphones. On a brighter note however, the slim battery pack of the P7200 was able to provide a fairly respectable battery mileage of two days, despite frequent usage of its MP3 playback function. Closing Thoughts There's no denying that the LG P7200 is a handsome handset, and while its styling may be heavily influenced by the Motorola V3, the P7200 is barely a mere carbon copy with no substance. With its multimedia flair and microSD memory slot, the US$441 cameraphone is undeniably more feature packed than the aging V3. However, when pitted against the latest Motorola V3i (with iTunes) that has MP3 playback, a memory expansion slot, a megapixel camera and a similar street price, opting for the P7200 to avoid being just another cliché just suddenly seems less certain than before.

Product Specifications Tri-band GSM Primary LCD: 262K-color TFT (176 x 220 pixels) Secondary LCD: 65K-color TFT (96 x 96 pixels) WAP 2.0, GPRS, Bluetooth and USB sync English, Simplified Chinese, Malay and Vietnamese 2.0-Megapixel Camera for Up to 1600 x 1200 Stills and 208 x 160 pixels for Videos 64MB Onboard Memory 820mAh Li-Ion Battery Pack Up to 200 hours Standby Time Up to 4 hours Talk Time Polyphonic Ringtones, Video Playback and Java Support Dimensions: 97 x 50 x 17mm (D x W x H) Weight: 105g