LG Shine KE970 > Reviews (72)

Sleek, Sexy, Sophisticated, no I'm not describing my ideal man, I'm talking abouit my new acquisition, the LG Shine KE970.

Previously, I've been known to change my phone roughly every 6-8 months, and after spending 6 months on o2 Pay as You Go after my last contracted ended, the pro's of being tied into a monthly contract far outweighed the cons of being on Pay As You Go, even as o2 are constantly bringing out extra incentives to stay on it.

I was attracted to the LG Shine purely down to the fact it was the only good-looking phone on the market in February this year. Nokia had their flashy, suave N95 with the best spec on the market, but on closer inspection it wasn't very feminine and would have been too bulky for my handbag.
It seems that when Nokia bring out their new phones with high spec cameras and funky mp3 players, they don't ever compromise on the size and design specifications, which I personally feel makes them alot more of a boy's toy.

I saw an ad for the Shine and purely on aesthetics, decided I'd opt for it. Unfortunately this was before Samsung bought out their version, the sleek D840, and although it doesn't have the Mirror aspect, I'd always pick a Samsung above an LG because I know the brand and have had several phones manufactured by them in the past.

Aesthetics:

The KE970 is a good looking piece of kit. Featuring a mirror LCD and stainless steel exterior, it does look quite flashy. I've had the plastic sticker over my screen for the last month because I'm worried I'll scratch the screen.
For a slide phone the Shine is deceptively slim, and you'd be forgiven for thinking this may compromise the phone's actual abilities but this isn't the case. Featuring a scroller button in the centre and a "click" button on each side, LG have definitely gone all out for the design of the phone, and it does get some admiring glances from people.
Mentioning the screen again, I would say the only downside to the phone is the mirror screen because it shows up every tiny scuff, and if you're wearing foundation it does tend to stick to the screen if you are on the phone for more than five minutes.

Features:

2 megapixel camera

I tend to use the camera on my phone alot for nights out and occasions, probably due to sheer laziness and also lack of space in my handbag that I don't carry a proper camera. Having had a Sony k800i (Perfect phone but too big), the difference in picture clarity and image quality is noticeably evident. Thge K800i boasts a 3 megapixel camera whereas the shine is only a 2, however you'd think for all the macro settings, flash and lighting settings, the image quality would be better than it is.
LG source the actual camera lens from a company called Schneider-Kreuznach, who were responsible for the Variogon (the first zoom lens for motion picture and still photography). Integrating a lens like this with the kind of camera technology available, I would have thought the overall result would have been better quality, but it could be down to the slim design and other aspects which have compromised what is now a standard feature on most mobile phones.

MP3 Player:

At first glance, the MP3 player is quite a snazzy little number built into the phone. Allowing playback of both mp3 and mp4 files the sound quality through the LG earphones is quite crisp and clear. However play through the phone and the speaker is actually very quiet and you'll find some distortion, even when changing the equalizer on the mp3 player.
The equalizer features 10 different preset options dependant onthe type of music you are listening to, from Live to Country. To be honest there is no real audible difference when switching between them.
A second fault I have with the mp3 player function is that it does not have the capacity to create your own playlists. Any songs you put on your phone are listed alphabetically in one long list, song title followed by artist name. Again after owning phones from both Sony and Samsung, I'm quite used to having this feature as I use my phone as my main mp3 player for travellling to and from work on public transport. It becomes a bit time consuming having to scroll through to find the next track you want to play!
In the end I bough an Ipod!

On the subject of the mp3 player, you'll notice that the earphone socket is located on the side of the phone, the same socket used as the USB port. The socket has a small plastic cover that pulls to one side and is quite flimsy. If youi have the phone in your pocket when the earphones are plugged in, it becomes most annoying when the earphone plug gets dislodged by general walking movement and your songs start playing on loudspeaker!

Video Camera

I haven't really utilised this feature much as I have no real need for it, apart from on nights out filming my friends drunken and often embarassing antics. Surprisingly the picture quality is quite good, although if you use the zoom the quality becomes poorer, fuzzier and quite distorted, but thats what you get with a digital zoom and 2 megapixels, it'll never be anything close to a video camera.!

Ease of Use:

Apart from being a flash looking phone, the Shine is simple enough. The slide aspect makes it quite quick to answer calls, and the keypad is soft enough for quick dialling, although texting is a little more of a challenge after a few beverages as the keys are set into the phone and not raised so it ends up taking half an hour to write a message.

The phone menu itself is simple and easy to access, and the upside of having the scroll bar is that you can get to things quickly, but also use your keypad if the scroller becomes an annoyance.
The menu is displayed as a list, and clicking a subject will then take you to a sub-menu, very simple and anyone could use it.

Battery Life:

One thing I can't complain about is the battery life on the phone. With a Lithium Ion battery (as with most phones nowadays), the life of the battery is not really compromised by excessive texting or calling as such. It's all down to personal use. General use of the phone, plus listening to the mp3 player for half an hour in the morning and half an hour on the way home still leaves me with roughly half my battery life left when I get home.

This is based on a full charge. Obviously this will differ according to your usage but it gives you an idea.

Value for Money:

As I purchased my phone on an o2 contract, the phone was free based on signing up for a £35 a month contract. 600 minutes and 500 texts are pretty good for that kind of outlay. This was with 02 Carphone Warehouse, who also threw in a 1gb memory card worth £60, when I took out the contract. There are some good deals out there dependant on who you go with, but this is the best I have found so far.

Conclusion:

Although I was disappointed when the LG Prada was released a month after I took out my contract, I'm still okay with what I have. If you're after somethign that looks good (and has also recently come down in price for the handset) then I would definitely recommend the LG Shine. It's simple, sleek and does what it's supposed to.

Having sung it's praises however, I feel I must also give a word of warning. I am now on the third handset since I took out the contract in February (and luckily am covered by insurance). This is due to the number of software faults I have experienced with each handset. On the first one I had which was a brand new, straight from the shop in a box job, the alarm clock stopped working and started freezing the whole phone after 3 weeks. You may think I expect too much from my phone but for the amount you are paying these people in Line rental for the value of the phone, all aspects of it should be working and not seize up within the first month.

The second phone I recieved (a reconditioned one from o2 although they don't like admitting this), also had what they called a software fault. I'd write a line of a text message and the phone would automatically say I had written a 2 page text, and it would come off my text allowance in the same manner. It seems the phone assumed that the 2nd page of a text message was actually the first, then I had problems with making phone calls, whereby the phone would freeze mid-call and I would lose the call. I am now on my thrid handset, I've had it for a month, and not had any problems with it yet, fingers crossed. If you do go to a store and take out a contract, make sure you take out insurance, as it's the only way you'll get another handset. If you do not have insurance, you have to go down the route of the store sending your phone away for inspection and it could come back on you if they find you have ever dropped the thing. Repairs can cost in excess of £150 so it's worth being insured.

I've had a mixed experience with this phone, and for all it's downsides, it still looks stylish. Having mentioned the benefits of insurance, it also means I can cancel my contract after 6 months, pick something better and take out a brand new contract without affecting my rights or credit record so it's something to bear in mind with any phone you purchase.

23/05/07: Since writing this review I have encountered an additional problem with my handset, in that when composing a text message or email, the keypad doesn't communciate properly with the screen, resulting in the cursor freezing as you type. It also does this when T9 (predictive text spelling) is switched on, resulting in mis-spelling of words or the text message screen freezing completely. This maybe just a fault with some handsets but, as I am experiencing these problems, I think it only fair to let others know.