LG KE970 Shine review: High-gloss, high-class

Revamped web browser

As much as connectivity is concerned, the phone features 3-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900, as well as Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support.

The integrated WAP browser in the previous LG GSM phones we reviewed didn’t have full HTML support and managed to open only simple HTML pages such as Google. It was a regular WAP browser used in older phones and it wasn’t even able to open the GSMArena.com website.

On the contrary, the browser integrated in the KE970 Shine is on par with the web browsers used in most recent mobile phones which is a big development for LG. Still it doesn’t feature zoom and landscape mode, but well we can live without that.

After all you can always install the Opera Mini Browser as an additional Java application.

The new LG web browser

Calendar and other tools

The Calendar is pretty straightforward – it offers a monthly view for navigation among the dates. Once you find the date you need, simply enter it and add an event. Finally, the first day of the week is Monday. All the previous LG mobiles we have reviewed had the week starting on Sunday – something that’s not that common around whole Europe.

Calendar: monthly view • adding a task

There is also a Memos feature that allows for storing some notes. Each note can have a maximum of 80 characters. The Tools menu also stores some other useful applications, though they seem rather standard nowadays. There is the Alarm clock, the Calculator, the Unit converter, the Stop watch and the World time clock. Much like on KE800 Platinum the Alarm clock allows for setting only one alarm, which can be repeated. It’s a certain downgrade since the original KG800 Chocolate allowed for the setting of 5 different alarms.

Alarm clock: only one alarm!?

The Calculator is completely redesigned to work with seamlessly with the new navigation solution and offers two modes – a regular calculator and a scientific one.

Calculator: basic and science mode

The Unit Converter also has a nice list of units such as Currency, Area, Length, Weight, Temperature, Volume, and Velocity.

Unit converter application • converting area units

As we’ve seen so far the LG KE970 is among the most mature GSM product of the Korean manufacturer that is trying to build its reputation of offering not only fashionable but also high-tech mobile products.

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The World Time application is among the nicest we’ve seem – it really manages to please the eye.

World Time application

The Voice recorder application is not found in the Tools menu but in the Multimedia menu instead. Much like the KE800 Platinum it has no limitation in the duration of the recorded files.

The voice recorder

Gaming

The phone we tested had two preinstalled game – Bubble Soccer and Fishing Mania. In Bubble Soccer you shoot soccer balls on balls of the same color until you manage to clear them all. As the name itself implies, Fishing Mania is a fishing game. It seems rather complicated at first sight because of the various rules and equipment used by your fisherman but it is really enjoyable.

Bubble soccer & Fishing mania

Final words…

As we’ve seen so far the LG KE970 is among the most mature GSM product of the Korean manufacturer that is trying to build its reputation of offering not only fashionable but also high-tech mobile products. Well LG has managed to score great in both fields since the LG KE970 Shine is a great-looking phone which is also the most feature-rich device in the manufacturer’s product lineup.

If it weren’t for the clumsy navigation solution we would have recommended it wholeheartedly as a great fashion multimedia device. As we saw in the 3G-enabled KU970 Shine the design of the navigation roller is not inherently bad it just needs to be tweaked better. As far as battery life is concerned we really couldn’t understand what drained the battery so quickly – the KU970 again scored way better in this field.

So after getting our low down on the pros and cons of the device in the end of the day it’s you that should take the final buying decision. All in all, the LG KE970 Shine is a great device that managed to warm our hearts.