Price Range: $386.10 to $458.44

The Ultra Slim Slider

The navigation zone is separated from the upper part of the front with a slightly protruding chrome line, which helps to open the phone. Instead of buttons or a color display, like in KF600, here we see a touch sensitive area with LEDs, where we have the soft keys, the green receiver, and the “Clear” button. There are no arrows and you’ll have to either run a finger in or just touch the area, pointing at the direction desired in order to scroll. This system is actually pretty convenient, but as any innovation, it takes time to get used to it. However, you can only go vertical/horizontal. There’s also an option for a vibration feedback (three levels) or a sound, to confirm commands, in case you have difficulties understanding when it happens.

The phone is done in slider form factor, is quite slim and looks rather attractive. The case is fully metalic, including the back lid. The design is very smart and compact; the memory card slot is positioned in the upper back of the phone, and the SIM slot is hidden right under the battery, in a small pull-out tray.Changing the SIM card is a pretty complicated process, so there’s even a 4-step instruction drawn right on the case above the tray of how to do it right.

It is quite obvious that sleek looks and youthful appeal are very high on the LG list of priorities recently. Just as we gave you the flamboyant LG KF600, LG KF510 makes us wonder how much sweeter Chocolate can get. Undoubtedly of the same bloodline, the two handsets take a different approach to full touch navigation with InteractPad and Touch Lighting. The rest of the ammo is basically the same. The really sleek metallic finish and bigger 2.2″ display (no InteractPad to shrink the screen) are the LG KF510 major assets. The ultra slim slider has the looks and handling to get us exited, so let’s get rolling.

The right side of the LG KF510 offers more than the left side, the unit features a USB port on the top right hand side, followed by a microSD card. Below the microSD card slot is the sliding end key, its a like odd to get use to, but in essence it works just like a standard end key button control. The new sliding end key serves all the purposes of a Red Receiver key, like exiting menus and powering the handset on and off. Finally below the end key is the units Music Player key which also acts at the devices camera key when held down.

Key Features:

Deeply Alluring Color Gradation

Tempered Glass

Real Metal Body

3MP Camera with Autofocus

MP3 Player and FM Radio

Specifications:

Type Slider

Vibration Yes

SIM toolkit Yes

GPRS Yes

Video MMS Yes

EMail Yes

Predictive text Yes

USB/PC sync Yes (2.0)/Yes

Scheduler/alarm Yes/Yes

Camera Yes (3.0MP, CMOS AF)

Internal memory 16MB

External memory Yes (Micro SD up to 4Gb)

MP3 Yes

Bluetooth Yes (2.0)

Price Range:

Boasting a stunning black and silver finish, a smooth sliding action and luxurious to the touch, the U400 is something you won’t want to let go of. The U400 also features a Jog Wheel that lets you navigate through the handset with speed and ease as well as operate one of the handset’s coolest features, the DJ-ing mode.

The built in media player can play music in AMR, MP3, AAC, AAC+, ADPCM & WMA formats which provide the user with the highest quality performance. The user will find that all music controls are easily accessible & the jog wheel is the perfect DJ-ing tool for the scratching. The user can move the jog wheel freely to start scratching or simply press a number on the keypad to start playing a music sample. The user can create their own melodies with a choice of two modes, thirty one styles, ten instruments & five tempos. The LG U400 can play ringtones in imelody, emelody, MP3, AAC+, AAC LC, XMF, AMR NB & AMR WB formats. The user can stream music with the audio on demand streaming feature & enjoy streaming wirelessly using Bluetooth® technology. The user can connect the U400 to a pair of Bluetooth® stereo headphones & enjoy listening to their favourite tunes wirelessly.

One performance problem that sends our review scores south is when text entry suffers from lags. We are pleased to report that we were able to speed through text message composition with no problems on the U400, so those who like to type in a frenzy of flurried thumbs won’t suffer the frustrations of delays and errors. Transferring videos to a PC via Bluetooth was easily and quickly done. We also appreciated the phone’s support for the A2DP profile (which allows for streaming to Bluetooth stereo headphones), a feature common to Nokia’s upcoming music slider, the 5300.

Key Features:

Stylish design in two fantastic colours!
Multimedia handset
Get the information you need with the U300’s dual screens
MicroSD memory card slot
MSN Messenger
Tri-Band with USB charger
Video Telephony
Embedded Java technology

Specifications:

Network WCDMA
Form Factor SLIDER
Message Email
MP3 Player yes
Bluetooth yes
Ringtone 64ch
Internal Memory Less 8MB
Memory Slot microSD
Java yes
GPRS yes
EDGE yes
3G yes
USB yes
Color Black, Silver
Video Camera yes

Price Range: $199.99 - $409.99

Fast TV, Music and Data Downloads

The TU720 retains the Shine’s sliding screen, which moves up to reveal a fairly cramped keypad; a flaw that has not improved from the previous model. Not only is it rather compressed, but the buttons are quite stiff and unnecessarily difficult to press, which is going to annoy avid text writers.

The phone can be used as an MP3 player and includes headphones, but any 3.5mm headphones can be used instead. You can also use the Bluetooth 1.2 with A2DP support to stream audio to wireless headphones. A MicroSD slot allows the 140MB internal memory to be expanded by 4GB at any given time, though no card is included. Songs can be transferred using the included USB cable and the Titanium Shine can even be used as a modem with the included software and a PC.

Specifications:

Network 3G
Form Factor Slide
Message SMS, MMS
Pixel 2.0 Mega Pixel
Mp3 player Yes
Bluetooth Yes
Internal Memory 140MB
Memory Slot Yes
Standby time 250 hours
Java MIDP 2.0
Digital Zoom up to 4x
GPRS Yes
HSCSD 7.2
3G YES
Color Titanium
Pixel 262K COLOUR TFT
TV Yes
Video Camera Yes

Price Range: $286.00 - $329.00

It’s dark, with a dark LCD screen, and just an LG logo and a silver OK button to give any clue about what to do with it. The hidden keypad is touch sensitive and glows red when in use. When opened, the full keypad is available. There are also buttons around the edge for volume control and multimedia - MP3, camera and video. The design works well and looks fantastic, although the touch-sensitive keys are quite sensitive and take a little getting used to.

The LG KG800 Chocolate comes with a built in video feature which allows the user to record, play & store video in the gallery. The user can record & watch 3GP videos on their KG800 Chocolate which is all displayed on the LCD 256k colour screen. The user can edit, change settings & add effects easily to ensure the perfect video is recorded & saved.

Surprisingly, the touch sensitive controls are very accurate, though you do have to make sure you use the tip of your finger to press them, rather than use a finger nail. The KG800 would be useless for a female with long nails, as the d-pad works off the heat in your finger tip. When the slide is closed, the d-pad turns off, making it impossible to press the keys with your leg . The non-touch sensitive numeric keypad does not have any spacing between the keys, but each key is convex in shape and quite large, producing one of the best keypads I have used on a slider handset.

Specifications:

Network GSM
Form Factor SLIDER
Message Email
MP3 Player yes
Bluetooth yes
Ringtone 64ch
Internal Memory 128MB
Standby time(h) 200
Java yes
Digital zoom yes
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
USB yes
Color Black
Video Camera yes

Price Range: $239.00 to $324.00

The KG290 from LG Mobile

The KG290 is a smart looking 1.3 MP camera phone from LG. With the addition of tri-brand it means you never have to leave this phone at home when going abroad.

The LG KG290 Rhino mobile phone is one of the latest in a line of LG slider handsets not only incorporating sophisticated good looks but at the same time maintaining value for money for the customer.With its 1.3 Megapixel Camera and ability to capture video the LG KG290 will appeal to those Mobile Phone users who enjoy the fun things in life enabling you to share those special moments with friends. Added to this is an MP3 player and FM radio allowing you to listen to your favourite tracks whenever you want.

With its silver finish, smooth sliding action and petite dimensions, the KG290 is certainly one of the tastiest-looking budget handsets we’ve seen in a long time. The phone is also pretty easy to use as its main menu is laid out as a typical 3×3 grid of icons. It looks and feels very similar to the menus on the latest Sony Ericsson or Nokia handsets, so most people will instantly feel right at home. LG has also added a handy shortcut menu to the standby screen, which assigns functions to the four direction keys of the central D-pad. It gives you almost instant access to things like the text message screen, silent mode or contacts book.

Specifications:

Network GSM Tri-band(900/1800/1900)
Form Factor Slider
Message SMS/MMS/VideoMMS
FM Radio Yes
MP3 Player Yes
Bluetooth Yes, Ver. 1.1
Ring Tone MP3/AAC/AAC+/AAC++
Internal Memory 5 MB
Memory Slot Micro SD
Java 2.0
Camera 1.3 MP
Digital Zoom 4 x
Built-in Game Yes. 2 EA.
USB/PC Sync Yes, Ver. 1.1
Speaker Phone Yes
WAP wap 2.0
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps