With touch screen cell phones all the rage these days, the LG Dare from Verizon Wireless has entered the fray adding a few new features to an exciting platform.

Standout Features

• 3” touch screen
• 400 x 240 display
• Virtual QWERTY keyboard
• 3.2 MP camera

Features
Touch Screen
Sporting a 3” wide touch screen with a resolution of 400x240 pixels, the Dare has a strong display. Its extremely sensitive interface includes the ability to drag and drop icons onto home screen to create custom shortcuts to often-used programs and haptic feedback for both tapping and scrolling. One of the more unusual options of the feedback is that it allows you to calibrate the vibration intensity to your own tastes. Another interesting element is the hand-(finger?) writing recognition along with a drawing pad to doodle on. There is no physical keyboard but the virtual Qwerty keyboard is displayed in landscape orientation which makes the buttons easier to tap and more accurate.

Other Features
The Dare has several other multimedia features. Its 3.2 MP camera features face detection, noise reduction and panorama photo stitching as well as a nice built-in video recorder which is unusual for most US cell phones.

The phone utilizes a standard 3.5mm headset jack and supports stereo Bluetooth but the digital music player’s sound quality is pretty middle-of-the-road. While the Dare isn’t a smartphone it does have a web browser with Touch Navigation but here again, it’s not groundbreaking.

The battery’s usage time is a respectable 280 minutes which should keep you talking for up to 4 and a half hours.

What’s Missing
Since the Dare has web browsing capabilities, we find it a little odd that it doesn’t support WiFi. However, Verizon’s CDMA EV-DO Rev A speeds are equal to browsing over WiFi. The only real drawback to not having WiFi is that you won’t be able to surf the ‘net and talk on the phone at the same time.

Summary
Overall, the LG Dare is a solid touch screen cell phone at a reasonable price point. It would be an ideal phone for individuals who want a bit more gusto in their cell phone without the complexity (and cost) of a smartphone.
 

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