LG GD510 a.k.a Pop review

LG GD510, also known as the Pop. An innovative and compact touchscreen bar.

Featuring mainly a 3" touchscreen, an easy 3 way interface, a 3MP camera & also a multimedia player, the Pop doesnt stop here.

The Pop also boasts of having eco friendly features & many other cool features stuffed into this small box.

It is made up of hazardous free material, which includes PVC. Offers a beeping alert when charging is finished to prevent wastage of electricity and it's packaging is made up from recycled paper with soy ink printing.

The Pop comes in 2 colours - Silver & Black. Each phone's colour has 1 normal back cover & also has 2 different fun & colourful back covers given together in the box.

I really liked the design & feel of the Pop. Measuring at 97.8(h) x 49.5(w) x 11.2(d) mm and weighs just 87g, this compact bar gives users like me a nice grip of the phone in my palm. Despite the small size, the Pop has a 3" full touchscreen and a smart all-in-one button that acts as a Call/End/Clear/Home button. It also supports up to 8GB MicroSD memory card.

Although the back cover is plastic, it looks alike an authentic brushed chrome back cover, giving owners a slightly more luxurious feel.


A 4.8mm thin bezel around the screen with a matte silver casing alongside a couple of chrome buttons around the phone here and there.

The power button on the top works not only to turn the phone ON/OFF, it also acts as a lock key with a short press on the button. The camera button also brings up your favourite applications page on-screen upon pressing it once shortly. The volume keys on the other side also work as zoom keys when the camera is in use.

1 thing I like about this Pop is the way people SMS with it.

The QWERTY on-screen keyboard when the phone is in horizontal mode. The size was perfect for my thumbs to SMS. But I'm sorry to say this, those with big thumbs should avoid using the QWERTY keyboard. You might accidentally press a wrong key and end up backspacing more than typing the message.

Unlike other expensive touchscreen phones that try to offer the best in their phone, this reasonably priced Pop comes with all the base essentials like a music player, video player, camera, FM radio as well as E-Mail support. It doesnt come with 3G/WiFi, instead it uses GPRS/EDGE to get online. Surprisingly it doesnt lag much, so users should expect very mild delays on their phone.

The Pop runs on LG's very own A-Class interface, a more lightweight version compared to LG's S-Class interface like what you see on the more pricey Arena/Crystal/Chocolate BL40 etc. Users will get a more luxurious & classy feel with a small price tag.

The Pop also has a ratherly simple music player interface. Put aside all the unwanted/not necessary icons and menu's, users can also play music directly on their homepage without needing to enter the music player.

The music player worked well, though it got sluggish when I loaded more songs in it. Also the sound quality deteriorates much after volume 15 (Note that volume 15 is already loud enough) Max volume is 25.

Another thing which I liked about the Pop is this application - The Weather Forecast app.

It tells you the weather and temperature forecast around your area, and users may also check the forecast for the next 3 days. This app requires the internet to work, though. So try using it when you get a good reception signal.

The camera isnt something worth shouting about. The 3megapixel camera snaps at 2048 x 1537 resolution without pixilation. Didnt try taking a video with this baby though. Below are sample shots taken by the Pop & edited using the editing tool on the phone itself.

The MicroUSB port located on the bottom left side of the phone is used for the handsfree kit, charging the phone and also data transfer from/to the PC.

A compact charger is also provided. It uses the MicroUSB cable provided to plug into the phone for charging, saves up space. A single charge lasts about 2 days upon normal usage, with regular calls & SMS coming in/going out. The Pop also has an add-on Solar Power Battery Cover, but it will be sold separately from the phone.

The pocket applications are really fun to use and good for wasting time if you're bored.

I hope this review gives you a good sight on what the phone is/isnt capable of. It's reasonably priced so users wont have to feel a massive heartache when purchasing this phone.

Overall ratings -