tech: LG Prada 2 phone
Throughout history, people have come together to create amazing things through shared experience and partnership. Spielberg and Hanks. Jobs and Woz. But one partnership you don’t immediately think of is Prada and LG. A high couture fashion brand pairing with a fairly boring consumer electronics manufacturer doesn’t immediately scream success.
But, nevertheless, this is the LG Prada phone Mark 2, the latest touchscreen phone to have been developed under the stylish guise of the Italian design house. Although fashion houses are built on seasonal style and the latest trends, the design of the Prada phone line doesn’t seem to have changed much since the first Prada phone came out 2 years ago B.I.P. (before iPhone).
However, it does now have a slide out keyboard. This is very easy to type on with the keys nicely spaced and easy to push and is definitely one of the better phone keyboards out there. However, it’s hard not to feel that the clash of labels on the buttons isn’t particularly stylish.
The Prada 2 has a very minimalist button system with just make and end call buttons on the front and the usual array of functions around the edges. The menu system is basically the same touchscreen menu system LG has been bundling with all its latest phones, so there’s not much Prada styling to be had here - apart from the Prada label on the clock, obviousy.
All the usual gubbins are included in the phone with 3G connectivity, a 5 megpixel camera (which is alright in terms of picture quality), some nondescript media software for music playback and a couple of games. However, the Prada 2 does have an FM radio which will be great for all those fashion junkies listening to… I don’t know, Radio 4?
As a bonus, the picture browser does at least manage to work in some iPhone-a-like pinching and zooming and panning functions. But the Prada’s iPhone apery is really its downfall. With the recent O2 price cuts the iPhone can now be had free on a relatively cheap contract, and on pay as you go the Prada 2 is actually more expensive than the iPhone 3G.
If you’re going to make a touchscreen phone that’s more expensive than the market leader then it needs to be better, and this isn’t - by a long shot. What this is is a nice touchscreen phone with a fancy logo and a weird leather case. 3 stars.
If you were to see the studio then echo cancellation is an ugly hack but I’ll live with it 
I had an LG phone for a while and it was definite case of style over function. It was also very girly, as is this ‘PRADA’ phone.
Wil, you seem to have sorted the acoustics out in your studio at last. It definitely makes for a better listening experience without the echo, echo, echo.