Playing with the 3G LG Shine

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Originally uploaded by smstextnews.

This, by the way, is what-was-in-the-box.

I’ve been really enjoying using the LG Shine 3G version. On the face of it there’s not much to differentiate it from the older version — the critical upgrade feature being the fact it’s got a camera on the front and makes use of 3G facilities.

I really, really like the satisfying open and close clunk. Quite different from that of the Nokia E65 which is, if anything, slightly Fisher-Price by comparison. The brushed metal really is a delight to hold and use. It’s weighty enough in my hand and it feels super when I’m calling someone. I love it as a phone-phone — a normal phone that does pictures, sounds and the odd cool thing.

As an all-singing-all-dancing handset, it doesn’t quite match up to my uber-geek demands (does it have Sat Nav? No. Does it do the washing up? No.). The LG Shine is a brilliant phone for a subset of the marketplace (the ones who are snapping them up at the shops) who want an ultra handsome, solid handset that does the job.

The single best feature everyone — EVERYONE — comments on? The mirror.

One girl I know uses the handset exclusively for that reason (“because I know I always have a mirror with me”).

I’m going to continue to use the LG Shine for a little while as a phone and see how I get on with it.