LG KF750 Secret preview: Adding to the fun

LG KF750 Secret 360-degree spin

Measuring 102.8 x 50.8 x 11.8 mm LG KF750 Secret is a truly compact slider. The most impressive is of course the less than twelve millimeter thickness. That makes the LG KF750 Secret one of the most pocket-friendly devices out there.

The weight of 116 grams is more of a compliment considering the high-quality materials used. In fact, the weight does benefit the handling of the LG Secret.

Design and construction

The Black Label series LG Secret is dressed to kill. As far as we are concerned, it has no problem matching those high expectations. The tempered glass on the display is awesome and so is the carbon fiber / leather-like combo at the back. The metal frame around the front panel is another sleek ornament.

Truth be told, the finish might not appeal to just everybody and we find that understandable. Some of the members of our team were not too fond of the way the carbon-fiber looks blend with the rest of the surface, while others thought the leather-like back is just too much. But hey, everyone is entitled to their own preferences, right?

Now let's get back back to today's Top Secret show. The earpiece of LG KF750 Secret is centrally placed near the upper edge of the front. Next to it are the video-call camera and the ambient light sensor. The latter allows the device to automatically adjust display brightness to its current environment. It can also be disabled, should the LG Secret user find it necessary.

The earpiece, the ambient light sensor and the videocall camera

Below the earpiece is the 262K-color display of QVGA resolution. The LG Secret screen measures 2.4 inches in diagonal. Picture quality is excellent but the glossy surface seriously harms sunlight legibility. Other than that, brightness and contrast levels are commendable.

An interesting detail about the display is that it's actually touch-enabled but the touchscreen functionality is limited to the multimedia menu only. We will come back to that a little later in this preview.

Below the display is the rather exotic navigation solution of LG KF750 Secret - the Neon Touch navigation pad. It basically is a touch-sensitive pad with only the confirmation center a regular knob. Some nice illumination effects enhance the navigation experience.

The Neon Touch navigation pad

We should warn you that we had a bit of trouble getting used to the touchpad - the reason for that is there are two context keys on the pad besides the four directional ones, which are not marked in any way, so finding them is at times a trial-and-error process. Furthermore, the combination of hardware and touch sensitive keys can be really confusing to some.

Nevertheless, once we got the hang of it, we found it a very smooth and fun way to control the phone. LG are worth commending for the fun-and-friendly navigation implemented in their recent releases.

Sliding LG KF750 Secret open reveals the alphanumeric keypad, which scores a point too. The keys are large enough and well defined, to offer good touch orientation and press feedback.

The LG KF750 Secret's alphanumeric keypad is rather nice to use

The mouthpiece on LG Secret is at the bottom, while the USB slot and the lanyard eyelet are on the left.

The microphone pinhole at the bottom and the USB slot and the lanyard eyelet on the left

There are four keys on the right side of the handset. They include a volume rocker, the touch media key, the shortcut menu key and the camera button. All of those are comfortable enough to use. The touch media key deserves more attention since it's used to turn the touch sensitivity of the display on and off. The top part is quite bare.

There are four keys on the right side of LG KF750 Secret

The back side of LG KF750 Secret features the 5 megapixel camera, the LED flash and the AF assist light. The AF assist light is really of help when shooting in dark environments. The LED flash however isn't powerful enough so, unless you're taking a photo of a close object or shooting video, it won't be of much value.

The 5 megapixel camera is also equipped with an AF assist light

The battery cover is made of carbon fiber and it looks really nice (at least to some of us, that is). We did expect it to have some sort of rough surface, but actually it feels like glass when you touch it.

The opening mechanism is also very smartly designed. You only need to press the key below the battery cover and it pops up. When you fit it back on, a click indicates that the piece has locked in its proper position.

Under the carbon fibre back cover of LG KF750 Secret lies the 800 mAh Li-ion battery quoted at 260 hours of stand-by time and 4 hours of talk-time. Having spent so little time with the LG Secret, we are still unable to elaborate on those numbers.

LG KF750 Secret torn apart

The memory card slot is also under the battery cover. Not the most comfortable solution, but with the smart opening mechanism we just described, it might not be such a big issue.

We are delighted with the build quality and handling of LG Secret. The high-quality casing is a true showoff.

LG KF750 Secret held in hand