LG Lotus Elite hands-on: it's red, square, and marginally attractive
By Sean Cooper 
posted January 8th 2010 6:01PM
posted January 8th 2010 6:01PM
We saw the LG Lotus Elite launch yesterday and today we had a chance to play with it for a few minutes. Sure, we did poke a bit of fun at its strange styling, but, once in hand we were pleasantly surprised to find it's really no better. Though, the keyboard, both displays, and the UI are actually quite nice to use, so we'd wager this will likely be a pretty successful handset at the $99 price tag it launches at. What definitely stood out, though, was the ability to get at so many features via the external display and the swiveling camera -- that actually rotates with the hinge -- is a nice touch, too. Luckily for us, Martin Valdez -- you may remember him from last year -- was on hand to give us a walkthrough, and did so in fine style. Follow on for a gallery and a video that shows off most of the standout features.
Isn't there ALREADY a mobile device called "Lotus Elite" out there somewhere? Like here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Elite
@scjessey
-1 because your picture scares me.
@James
-1 because that comment was totally irrelevant and unnecessary.
@scjessey
Or the more modern Lotus Elise sounds similar.
@scjessey More like the Lotus Elite, a sports car which started production back in the late fifties. Based on the video, it seems like there is also an LG Lotus already sold, but this is a newer version.
This guy is awesome. He really enjoys what he does. At least it seams like it.
The phone seems a bit bulky but cool.
@nDevil
Yeah, he's kick ass. Made a decent phone seem cool. He and his Elvis-do get a +1.
@nDevil Yeah I really liked his attitude, the phone wasn't much but he made it mildly interesting. That's the enthusiasm we need in the workplace. :D
@nDevil : Lol, I definitely agree. The whole emoticon gag near the end actually made me laugh.
He makes a pretty good spokesman.
m'Yeah why not, at least the LG-guy is very excited about the phone :p
meh, its sprint
@Ha
Commie
Well this is good for kids looking for a cool looking phone that does almost everything they need. I would never personally get it but I'm sure there are many out there who'd love to get this.
"and marginally attractive" if you a teenage girl
@(Unverified) exactly who its marketed for!
C'mon Sprint you really dissappointed me at CES.
Verizon AT&T and even T-mobile are getting marquee phones, where is that HTC Bravo? we been hearing about.
@TomBlaze The 4G router was huge, man.
Good phone for my mom.
While not a phone I'd get, it actually looks like a very nice dumbphone.
IMHO, they uglied it up from the last version.
And FFS, give us some non-lame colours!
Looks... interesting.
I need two smartphones :HTC Hero (private use) and HTC HD2 (business & bullsh.) but to me this thing seems as good as a featurephone (whatever that means) can get.
Me I like this, really. I do man.
Eh, so so device, but boy, that presentation was pleasant to look at. For once there weren't any awkward moments with the device doing nothing after constant touches to the screen following with a silence
What a tragic new phone to add to Sprint's pathetic line up. No HD2, no Nexus, no iphone - WTF we don't even have the antiquated imagio. No shortage of kiddie phones though.
That actually looks kinda cool. I don't know if it's much my taste, but if they don't have the completely bullshit mandatory data plan that's becoming standard in the industry (especially considering this isn't even even a smart phone), then it could be pretty successful for LG. I've said it before, but LG is the king of feature phones. In a lot of ways they completely uprooted both Nokia and Motorola.
LG Elite demoed by the LG Elvis Presly Wannabe.
@HardToBelieve
Presley*. Dumb typo-inducing fingers.
Come on sprint... this bs? why can't you get the Nexus One? I just got out of my ETF so I have 30 days to decide if I'm going to leave sprint and go with T-mobile for the Nexus One.
This phone looks pretty neat! I love that the front screen is touch and then you can have the full keyboard inside...not to mention that the colour is absolutely delightful and girlish:D
The interface is quite snappy.
fatty elvis =)...with a mobile phone
Red square eh, watch out for the parades comrades.
When it comes to LG cell phones, I continue to be unimpressed. They are going to have to create something extremely innovative to reel me in. After owning the LG Venus, I haven't given LG the time of day.
I somehow like this form-factor. It's nice to be able to hide all the controls when you just need to carry the phone in your pocket and glance the front screen every now and then. Though I hope they make them in manly colors unlike the previous lotus :)
@KVirtanen I just got to add that this was probably among the most entertaining gadget presentations I've seen! Props to the dude in the video :)
black color and fuck yeah, i would buy it if it appears on finland
What's interesting (and pretty sad, really) is that I did remember him from last year as soon as you said the name. He was that guy that showed off the phone with the transparent keypad and made that controversial move of sneakily pressing the back button when the gesture didn't work and making it look like he did the gesture. On another note, where are all these obscure editors coming from? Are they like backup for CES or something?