LG attempts to 'outshine' its competition. (LG Shine KE970)

Member Name: spudzy123

Product:	LG Shine KE970
Date:	22/08/09 (304 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stylish looks, Great quality, Great price

Disadvantages: Fiddly buttons, hard to see screen in sunlight

My old mobile phone suddenly gave up the ghost and so I had a quick look at Tesco's whilst I was doing the shopping. I wanted a pay as you go phone which wasn't too expensive but had a bit of quality to it, and of course something which looked good too.
Nothing really stood out from the crowd and so I started to walk away, and it was then that I saw the little LG Shine which was on a special offer at the end of the display. The price was £59.99 with a free £10 top up included, which seemed to be a good offer; but the offer got even better when they overcharged me by £10 and had to refund me twice the amount as per their policy.

Grinning all the way home with my new bargain, I opened the box and put the phone on charge whilst having a little mess about with it; you see the LG Shine is a very tactile little object which sits nice and weighty in the palm with its soft sculpted rounded edges and brushed stainless steel back, making it one of those objects that you just have to pick up and play with. I particularly like the way the blue lit laser cut keypad is nicely protected and concealed away from view which only comes into action when the sliding mirrored cover is moved up; this also feels smooth and positive to operate.

The super smooth mirrored frontage of the phone doubles up as the main display screen which seems to work fine indoors; but unfortunately when using the display screen out in strong daylight, you soon reveal one of the phones 3 main faults. I find it virtually impossible to see the display when I am out and about and have to huddle up in a dark corner of the nearest building and then stick it under my top to see what I am doing. Try explaining that one away to Mr Policeman down at the station.

After being released from the Police station and getting your little LG Shine back, you will need to text your partner to tell them that you are on your way home. Here lies the second of its weaknesses as the buttons are fiddly, the keypad is very small and the keys are close together which proves difficult for dialling numbers let alone texting. Good old sausage fingers will soon be back at the Police station in no time when they realize that you were responsible for all the anonymous calls made as a result of dialling the wrong number.

The third and final issue that I have with the LG Shine is that it doesn't keep its shine for very long and requires a good wipe after each time you use it to keep it looking in tip top condition. Having said that, I was very sceptical about how scratch resistant the mirrored plastic finish would be, but after owning this for several months, I can say that the finish seems to be holding up without any noticeable scratches. I do keep mine in a case so maybe yours won't look the same if you sling it in your pocket with your keys and loose change.

Having said all that, I still can't help but like this little phone because it still ticks all the same boxes that made me buy it in the first place: good price and great looks with a quality feel. It also has the other usual stuff like a 2 megapixel camera, video recorder and player, Bluetooth connection, and more stuff than I can be bothered to look at because to be perfectly honest, I don't need anymore from a pay as you go phone other than to make calls on it every now and again.

Ok then, here's some more of the LG Shine's key features:

2 megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach lens, autofocus, flash and 2x digital zoom
Video recorder
Display: TFT, 262,000 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
Stereo music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+ and AAC++ file formats)
MP3, AAC and AAC+ ringtones (40 voice polyphonic)
Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, Email
3D Java games
Document Viewer (.ppt, .doc, .pdf, .xls and .txt files)
Flight Mode
Caller ID (photo / video)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.2, USB
Memory: MicroSD memory card (up to 2 Gbytes)
WAP 2.0, EDGE
Triband
Size: 100 x 51 x 14 mm
Weight: 119g
Battery standby: 280 hours

As with most new electrical items, they eventually start to come down in price which means that you can easily get your hands on one of these phones for under £50 with £10 credit to go, making this a cracking buy for the money.

Summary: A lovely looking phone, great price but a few little niggles.

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