Review: LG Ally
Camera
The Ally's camera is surprisingly new and different compared to other Android devices. It behaves more like the camera would on a Verizon Wireless feature phone. The main shutter control is on the far right side of the screen, as are software buttons for switching between video/camera mode, and jumping into the photo gallery. A quick press of the screen calls up two different sets of camera tools.
The first runs across the top of the screen, and shows you what resolution the camera is set for, what metering mode it is set to, and how much battery power is left. On the left side of the screen is a vertical set of icons that let you adjust zoom, brightness, the flash, toggle macro on/off, or dive into the full settings menu.
The settings menu is extensive, and permits for rather finite control of the camera and its properties. White balance, image quality, ISO, scene mode, color effects and so on can be adjusted, as can resolution (3M, 2M, 1M, VGA, QVGA). This is where the positives end, I am afraid.
The Ally is dreadfully slow to focus. It takes a full 3 seconds to focus images before it is ready to take the picture. Once the image is in focus, you press the two-stage button down all the way to snap the picture. There's about a 1.5 second pause between the time you press the shutter release and the time the Ally actually captures the image. The slow focusing and slow shooting process together mean you're not going to be able to fire off quick shots of the kids or any sports action. Need to take a shot of a static landscape? Go for it. Need to catch the kids scoring a soccer goal? Good luck.
The video camera software is identical to that of the still camera.
Gallery
The Ally's photo gallery is the stock Android 2.1 photo gallery. It's the same as the gallery on the Nexus One or Motorola Droid. It bunches photos in a timeline, and users swipe left or right to move through the timeline. It attaches time stamps so you can look through your gallery based on dates. That is very helpful if you need to find a specific picture and happen to know when you took it.
Images can be shared, deleted, and manipulated in only the most rudimentary fashion. Editing features are limited to cropping, and rotating left or right. That's it. No other editing features are available. As with all Android handsets, it is a snap to send images to others via MMS, SMS, and so on.
Hands On: LG Ally Android Phone
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LG Ally / Apex / Axis
