It's hard to judge a smartphone on its own merits with the iPhone on the horizon. Gadget lovers are much too keen to brand every new device an iPhone-killer or knock-off, as long as it sports a touchscreen.

So, let's not be too quick to slap those labels on LG's latest phone — the KS20. This sleek (12.8mm thin) and lightweight (92.5g) device is similar to LG's previous offerings, namely the KE850 Prada and KU990 Viewty.

However, the KS20 is the first offering from LG to use the Windows Mobile 6 operating system, which enables it to run productivity applications from Microsoft, as well as third-party applications.

LG has customised the user interface of Windows Mobile slightly, adding shortcuts at the bottom of the screen.

This lets you access functions like the dialpad, inbox or application menu with just one stylus tap or thumb press.

The device's 2.8-inch touchscreen is responsive enough. You also get a five-way joystick and two call buttons on the front.

The KS20 includes a solid feature set for connectivity — WiFi (802.11 b/g), Bluetooth 2.0 and HSDPA (with download speeds of up to 3.6Mbps). It sports a 400MHz Qualcomm processor with 128MB of RAM and 256MB ROM. Storage is measly and the microSD slot can only take up to 2GB of storage.

The smartphone has a 2-megapixel camera, with flash and a secondary VGA camera for video calls and self-portrait pictures.

If you rely on your phone to be a digital audio player, you'll be exhilarated that the KS20 has a 3.5mm audio jack adapter so you can use your headphones. Bluetooth A2DP lets you stream music wirelessly and tune into stereo FM radio stations.

Heavy use, with multimedia playback and with WiFi enabled, sucked out the life from the battery in two-and-a-half hours. Intermittent usage stretched this to about eight hours.

The KS20 has a good list of features but there are a few flaws. The onscreen keyboard is too small and is not adapted for finger input. You'll probably need to switch to a stylus whenever you need to enter text. This is one glitch that LG could fix with a software update, we hope.

The smartphone also uses proprietary cables, not your standard mini or micro USB ones, for its adapters — which we think is rather daft. Handset manufacturers like Nokia and HTC have started to abandon this practice. Imagine losing one of the cables on an overseas trip and having to scramble to find a replacement.

Get with the programme, LG.

VERDICT

The KS20 ($888, without operator contract) looks pretty spartan but it has a worthy set of features for more casual users of Windows Mobile-based smartphones.

The only thing missing here is GPS. A word of caution for early adopters: Hot smartphones like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and maybe RIM’s BlackBerry 9000 or a 3G iPhone, are hot on the heels of the KS20. - TODAY/fa