However, the emergence of the new Shine handset has put paid to our doubts once and for all. LG has come up with yet another dramatic fashion phone statement that will turn heads. The Shine is poised to take the mobile fashion world by storm, à la its predecessor.

Metal guru
Where the Chocolate phone was a little more mysterious, the KE970 Shine craves the spotlight. It has been lovingly mined from stainless steel and flaunts a mirrored display that, when inactive, almost dissolves into its frame. This mirror magic is perfect for ladies wanting to apply the war paint on the move or for gentlemen needing to smooth out those eyebrows. The Shine’s full metal jacket is also reminiscent of Nokia’s 8800 series, but where these flirted with a more exclusive audience, the Shine is primed for the mainstream.

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Because of its metal frame, the Shine is nicely weighted, but a lot heavier and a tad longer and wider than the Chocolate slider. However, surprisingly it is 1.5mm thinner than its colleague and makes for a trim and compact proposition. The spring-assisted slider action is very slick, while the etched keypad, although RAZR-inspired, is responsive and lucid to operate. You can tell LG has gone to town on the design and construction and it really feels like a premium handset.

Unfortunately, there is a down side to the Shine’s burnished and mirrored veneer: it attracts the dreaded greasy smears and fingerprints like a miner’s beer glass. This attraction to grime afflicted the KG800 Chocolate and numerous other glazed fashionistas, so it’s not an exclusive problem, but the Shine appears more susceptible. Because of its stunning looks, you almost feel obliged to keep its façade in pristine condition and you will need considerable buffing skills to maintain the gleam. In fact, LG is fully aware of its grease monkey tendencies and supplies a polishing cloth with the phone.

Roll on
Central to navigating the Shine is a roller scroll bar, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the bygone era of the Nokia 7110, when WAP was considered the killer application du jour. This reviewer is too young to remember those antiquated times, but this technique seems to work well on the Shine.

It occasionally proves insensitive and can lag when you speed off down the menu list, but after you get used to its idiosyncrasies, it becomes more manageable. You can also press down on the roller for selection commands, but again, if you’re not careful, you can slip and activate unwanted functions. We recommend you use the left soft key for these commands. Directly flanking the roller either side are two buttons that help with left/right directions if you opt for the grid style menu, while LG’s user interface is highly agreeable and won’t outfox you.

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Unfortunately, the Shine’s feature set doesn’t match its irresistible looks, but is respectable nevertheless. Of course, the attraction will be the design element, but you won’t feel cheated by the two-megapixel camera, microSD card slot or the built-in music player with stereo Bluetooth.

The two-megapixel lens comes with auto-focus and has been certified by optic specialist Schneider Kreuznach. Don’t confuse this with ‘built by’, but, with such high standards, Schneider and co won’t have passed a dud. The camera shoots in a maximum 1600x1200-pixel resolution and is accompanied by a redundant LED light that’s too crude to really illuminate any low light environment.

Otherwise, the Shine offers a full suite of photography features like macro focus for close-ups, metering, colour effects, white balance and a self timer. These can be changed easily via the straightforward camera interface while in capture mode. At this level, picture quality is impressive enough, displaying keen detail and focus, strong colour representation and true contrast.

The built-in music player, fired up by a dedicated side button, delivers a steady performance, and with 10 equaliser settings, you can adapt the sound to the song. The Shine also supports the A2DP profile for wirelessly streaming audio to compatible headphones or speakers, plus 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 and this augments the 45MB of internal memory.

By the time you read this, LG will have launched an HSPDA version of the Shine that maintains the original’s exact design, with a front-loaded lens for video calling being the only difference. If you’re hungry for rapid download speeds, then plump for this version, but either way you’re getting a gorgeous handset. We didn’t think LG had the potential to eclipse the Chocolate phone so soon, but with the Shine, it has a phone capable of doing just that.