Phone Review: LG Shine KE970

After the success of the Chocolate series, LG’s new Shine phone, the KE970 was always going to have a lot to live up to and on first glance it is definitely eye-catching. Its soft lines and brushed stainless steel exterior draw you in and it certainly looks true to its name. The front sports a mirrored display which seamlessly flows into the main body, and although it looks a little chunky, it has a depth of only 13.8mm, well on a par with any other slimline slider handsets.

Because of its metal frame, the Shine feels nicely weighted and has that feeling of quality. It also looks compact and in proportion, even though it is a touch wider and longer than the Chocolate.

Turning on the phone it's immediately obvious that LG put a lot of thought into the design and construction and it really feels like a first-rate handset. Where the mirror display once was, the 2.2” wide LCD screen comes to life boasting 262,000 colours and a resolution of 240x320 pixels. The spring-assisted slider action is very slick, while the etched keypad is responsive and pleasing to use.

Central to the Shine’s navigation is its roller scroll bar. After a little getting used to, we found that this actually works very well, and functions can be located with a minimum of fuss. The bar can be pressed to select commands, but initially we found that it was easy to slip and activate unwanted functions. For selection the left soft key proved better to use.

Directly flanking the roller either side are two buttons that help with left/right directions if you opt for the grid style menu. The side buttons are all on the right edge and consist of volume controls, shortcuts to the music player, camera, as well as a covered connector for headphones, PC link cable and power. There is a microSD card slot on the left edge and you need to remove the battery cover to get to it.

The Shine’s features won’t blow you away, but it offers a respectable two-megapixel camera, microSD card slot and built-in music player with stereo Bluetooth.

Camera

The two-megapixel lens comes with auto-focus and, at its maximum, shoots at 1600x1200-pixel resolution. The only letdown is the LED light that's too soft to really illuminate any low light environment.

Otherwise, the Shine offers a full range of photography features like macro focus for close-ups, metering, colour effects, white balance and a self timer. These can be changed while in capture mode.

In all, picture quality is pretty impressive, with strong detail and focus, vivid colours and high contrast achieved.

However, while overall the camera interface was straightforward enough, the autofocus system seemed quite fiddly to use, and fared better indoors than outside in bright sunshine where it proved difficult to see the screen.

The music player with the shortcut key on the right edge is a solid performer and with 10 equaliser settings, you can adapt the sound to any song. The Shine supports the A2DP profile for wirelessly streaming audio to speakers or headphones, and the phone comes with a 3.5mm remote adapter. The microSD card slot, located under the SIM card slot, can accommodate a 2GB card to store your tunes and photos in addition to the 45MB of internal memory already present.

Conclusion

In conclusion LG have come up with a phone that will definitely turn heads. Where the Chocolate was a little more stealth-like, the Shine craves attention. The mirror display will appeal to the ladies as a compact mirror, and men will like the metallic frame. The only downside is keeping it clean. Fingerprints and smear marks seem to be attracted to this phone and you will find that it will need a regular wipe after use. However, this is a small issue with what is otherwise a very well designed, elegant phone.

Verdict:

A stunning phone with good usability and solid features. Initially a bit tricky to use but, over time, enjoyment is guaranteed.