[Also visit the LG Shine : Final Thoughts and First Impression on the LG Shine Software entries.]
Today was the day that I finally got my hands on that much anticipated LG Shine phone. The LG Shine, successor of the so popular LG Chocolate.
Reviewing the LG Shine is not an easy job : the review totally depends on what you expect from a mobile phone and what your experiences with mobile phones are. And if you’re a fashion icon or not.
Personally I want a mobile phone to be a useful utensil and not a collection of gadgets. If I want to take a lot of pictures, I buy a camera. If I want to maintain a a database of all my contacts, I need (at least) a PDA, or a smartphone. So far no phone could really impress me. Except for the iPhone at Apple’s Keynote some weeks ago. But it didn’t take long before I agreed on the major $u(kage that the iPhone would become. No third party software, a permanently dirty screen and the prohibition to eat crisps while browsing your music collection. iTunes. $h|t.
After having read several preview blog posts around the internet my expectations were high. Really high.
- Most popular phone in Korea
- Successor of fashion icon LG Chocolate
- 2″2 bright screen
- Full metal case
- 2MP camera with flash/torch
- 1GB storage, MP3 player and the already famous scroll wheel.
I was told that the pre-release model would come without software CD and without manual, but that didn’t cool me down, although I surely had wished to test the phone together with Windows XP and several Linux distris.1,2
My colleague told me he would be totally hyped to be one of the few people in the country able to play with this so hot phone. I wasn’t hyped out, but pretty curious. Would this phone finally be what I have been looking for, years long already?
The package of the LG Shine is traditional, but stylish. Attention has been paid to the details. Details such as a small hidden magnet to keep the box closed.
Exactly how things should be nowadays. Even more when you have profiled your brand as a design A-Lister, an icon like LG has. Fashion. Chocolate, Shine, Prada. Think of this phone and start dreaming about Aspen.
And that is exactly almost what you get once you have unpacked the content of the box :
- A stylish phone with a huge mirror. Time for a make up check before hitting up that woman/man at the bar? Grab your Shine.
Sadly the Shine doesn’t come as promoted totally in metal. There is a metal frame around the slider/screen and the back cover is metal. The keypad and other buttons are metal as well. The rest feels like/is cheap plastic. A sad detail for a wannabe fashion icon.
But the phone still looks great. Really great. Be ready to collect plenty of Ooohhs and AAAaahhhsss as your colleagues and friends see the phone. - Much attention has been paid to the standard ear buds and remote control. Although I had wished a stylish wireless (bluetooth) set of ear buds, even the wired version looks great. Awesome.
Surely the Mac community will tell you it’s just a rip off, but the earphones and the remote control are bound to catch attention
As soon as you touch one of the 5 buttons unders the screens a new world of brilliance wakes up. The scroll wheel will soon become your best friend in live, and you’ll start navigating through all the menus with the aid of the 4 other push buttons. Two of them are lit.
Sliding open the Shine is a pleasure. One smooth movement and the screen lights up. The keyboard is backlit. Flat metal soft touch buttons become blue.
LG Shine, lighten up your world
At last now you know that this phone is going to be a huge success. You’ll see Celebrities use them. They’ll be on the main page of gossip magazines.
Your neighbor will hate you because you got one and now his daughter also wants one!
If you’re a man like me, don’t even think of putting the LG Shine on the bar at your local cocktail lounge, because you are sure to lose attention. Forget that hot babe. She only wants your phone!
But is it all only shine and glamor? Is the LG Shine really the wonder phone?
In a few days I will post my experiences with the operating system of the LG Shine and its usability. Can the next big fashion phone convince the geek?
Will more than 20 years of computer and gadget experience help me find my way blindly or will I have to RTFM? Will this phone find his place in to the pockets of Italian pin-striped suits?
If you want to see more pictures, make sure to follow my LG Shine picture set at Flickr.com. I will update this set regularly, even without posting.
And don’t forget to check out the LG Shine Blog to keep up with official news about the LG Shine phone, the release and many more.
So far, one is sure : the LG Shine Phone is a design winner. You’ll surely be noticed with this phone!
Also visit First Impression on the LG Shine Software post.
Disclaimer : This is a free review part of my LG Shine series. In this series of reviews I only express my own opinion. I have absolutely no obligation to LG or Hills & Knowlton other than to return the LG Shine phone.
1 I hope the Hills & Knowlton team can mail me the files so I can have a play with the phone and synchronize. Or discover there is no synchronization.
My mailbox is big. ;-)
2 The phone gets recognized under Windows XP as Mass Storage Device over USB and Bluetooth also finds the phone.
50 have made me smarter ↓
1 Avitable // Jan 22, 2007 at 8:38 pm// View all comments by Avitable //
You should test its functionality after being washed in the washing machine.
2 Danalyn // Jan 22, 2007 at 11:59 pm// View all comments by Danalyn //
Or dropped in the toilet.
3 First impressions - Visual & Design at The LG Shine Blog // Jan 23, 2007 at 10:55 am// View all comments by First impressions - Visual & Design at The LG Shine Blog //
[...] I must say, I held my breath when Franky, blogger of Am I famous Now wrote about his first impressions on LG Shine. If he’s impressed then you must know that it’s something worth looking at - take a peak! Let others know about this:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
4 my name does not matter // Feb 5, 2007 at 11:14 pm// View all comments by my name does not matter //
its a great phone but i am having trouble transferring songs to my one it comes up with an error message how do i fix it?
5 Franky // Feb 5, 2007 at 11:16 pm// View all comments by Franky //
How do you want to transfer them? Over USB, and what OS do you use? Windows XP?
Do you have enough of available memory? The 2G phone we have only has 45MB build in memory.
6 my name does not matter // Feb 5, 2007 at 11:18 pm// View all comments by my name does not matter //
i am using USB and a compatible PC but it just comes up with the error message its really annoying me, if i had less control it would have gone hurling across the room and i only got it on saturday
7 Franky // Feb 5, 2007 at 11:23 pm// View all comments by Franky //
What is a compatible PC? Windows 98 is also a compatible PC but needs a Driver for Mass Storage Devices. You will need Windows XP SP2 to have optimal plug’n play comptaibility (or Mac OS X 10.4.7 updated).
What kind of error message do you get? What does it say or is it just an error code?
Did you check the available space?
8 my name does not matter // Feb 5, 2007 at 11:27 pm// View all comments by my name does not matter //
well i have an XP but every time i try to put songs or pictures or videos etc it starts, the bar gets half way and stops and doesn’t move at all and then th phone says service disabled and my PC says unable to move this file because its the wrong format or i need to find the file path or name.
9 Franky // Feb 5, 2007 at 11:32 pm// View all comments by Franky //
Have you tried to restart the phone while connected to the PC? Otherwise I’d say an error in the cable/connector. Sounds like the connection gets interrupted.
10 Heather // Feb 6, 2007 at 1:39 am// View all comments by Heather //
Jealous!
11 Tavla // Feb 11, 2007 at 2:00 pm// View all comments by Tavla //
Very nice posting, thank you very much. Cheers. Michael.
12 Justin Lee // Feb 11, 2007 at 7:47 pm// View all comments by Justin Lee //
Has anyone had any problems with setting images as picture IDs? The phone seems to be fine with photos taken with the phone itself, but I moved across all the images I was using on my own phone and it comes up with ‘not supported’ when I try to set one as a picture ID.
Appreciate any help.
13 Franky // Feb 20, 2007 at 1:45 am// View all comments by Franky //
Justin, sorry it took that long to answer but there were major site problems.
No I haven’t figured out how to do this either. Nor have I discovered how to change SMS tunes.
14 Hellow // Feb 20, 2007 at 4:53 pm// View all comments by Hellow //
I’ve have a problem with the ringtone. I’ve done everything, but it won’t work. Yesterday I’ve used my alarm clock and since then when someone calls me, that tone rings and not my own ringtone. I’ve tried to reset everyting, but nothing helps.. I really want to use the ringtone “worn out’ Does someone know how to do this?
15 Franky // Feb 20, 2007 at 5:13 pm// View all comments by Franky //
Hellow, did you try to reset the phone settings to default and afterwards set the ringtones in the profiles you want to use?
Select a profile and edit it. Once in the profile settings, actually pretty straightforward.
16 Hellow // Feb 20, 2007 at 5:31 pm// View all comments by Hellow //
Franky, i’ve tried to default the settings, but when I’ve done that, all the things i’ve put it in were still there.. So how can I default the phone settings?
17 Franky // Feb 20, 2007 at 5:38 pm// View all comments by Franky //
Go into the Menu —> Setting —> Reset default (option #9).
Be careful tho as I don’t know if this will also erase all your phone numbers. If you have the original software, first synchronize with your PC!
When done go back to the main menu —> Profiles –> [Select desired profile] —> Personalise —> Enjoy
18 Hellow // Feb 20, 2007 at 5:40 pm// View all comments by Hellow //
I’ve done that, but it doesn’t erase anything.. But I will try to synchronize with the pc, thnx!
19 Franky // Feb 20, 2007 at 5:46 pm// View all comments by Franky //
Strange. To be honest, the longer I use the phone (I have to come with my final review), the more it just shouts FIRMWARE! to me. But maybe I am a usability dork.
In this case I would drain the phone and hope it would erase the memory : synchronize everything, take the battery and SIM card out andpush some minutes long the ON-button. If the memory doesn’t have its own power circuit you’ll drain all the power this way and on next start the system is supposed to restore the installed standard settings.
Of course this is just a theoretical guess. Do this at own risk!
Also before you do this, delete every file, ringtone, mp3, video aso you have on your phone (take memory card out) and try again to reset. Who knows.
20 Justin Lee // Feb 20, 2007 at 6:34 pm// View all comments by Justin Lee //
Franky, thanks for your reply. To be honest, I took a couple of photos with the phone’s camera, set them up as photo IDs, and they came up so small on the screen that they were pointless.
I agree, there are plenty of signs that the current firmware is a bit ropey, and I remain unconvinced at the moment.
I wouldn’t quite go so far as to say I feel like I’ve bought the RAZR again (having overpaid for one when it first came out and hating it from a usability point of view, then loving the Samsung D600 that I got to replace it), but the same feelings are there - it looks great, but a fortnight on I’m still hitting the wrong buttons, ending up in the wrong menus and generally taking too long to do what I want to do with it. Ah well…
21 Franky // Feb 20, 2007 at 6:44 pm// View all comments by Franky //
Justin, I totally hear you. Actually the longer I use the phone the more I start disliking it.
Not because it is a bad phone, no it looks awesome, the software is well laid out, but those button assignments!
This is totally sad because the 5 buttons could actually be reassigned pretty easily to function much more intuitively.
I hate it to feel dumb because after 4-5 weeks I still don’t find my way blindly. The learning curve with Windows XP even went faster (and that was a huge change after previous versions).
Aren’t you Mac user? You must hate the navigation (at leat the button assignment)???
I wished this phone gave me the option to configure all the buttons (and even the menu order), I’d love the LG Shine if it did.
22 Hellow // Feb 20, 2007 at 7:39 pm// View all comments by Hellow //
I don’t dare to drain the phone :$
23 Hellow // Feb 20, 2007 at 9:46 pm// View all comments by Hellow //
Oh my gosh, now my phone wón’t get on :S. What to do now?
24 Justin Lee // Feb 20, 2007 at 9:55 pm// View all comments by Justin Lee //
Franky - Spot on. I’m never quite sure what the button I press is going to do. Plus the redundancy, which I think has already been mentioned, is pretty hard to excuse as well.
It does look great, the software seems pretty good (contacts and messaging, probably the most important aspects to me, are pretty solid), but it’s that cluster of buttons on the top panel. It doesn’t help that the two buttons next to the scroll are small and difficult to hit precisely, if you think about the typical right handed user using their thumb to press them.
With the Shine it’s lots of little things that are starting to add up. Like the gorgeously rendered fonts that are spoiled by the ugly digital clock in the bottom left corner. The scroll wheel shortcut that would be so much more useful if I could configure it to show all my message folders rather than just inbox and voicemail, and causes me to dial voicemail by accident time and time again. The way I keep pressing the contacts right soft key and get frustrated because I want to get direct access to my contacts. The irony is, my two previous phones have pretty much the same layout and let me configure them so I ended up with my perfect layout. Now I’m forced to adapt to a new layout and I’m having to rely on the favourites menu.
Funnily enough I’m an XP user but I’ve been using Macs on and off for a while now. Haven’t quite made the step to OS X but that may still happen, who knows?
(Sorry, bit of a rant.)
25 Franky // Feb 22, 2007 at 3:19 am// View all comments by Franky //
Hellow, have you tried starting the phone when on charger for some minutes already?
26 David // Feb 23, 2007 at 11:59 am// View all comments by David //
OK, i’m a big Nokia fan, however it’s time for a new phone and there is NOTHING on the market from Nokia that i like. This LG phone is seeming to be my prefered choice but i’m nervous of the layout and user friendly-ness (which, in my opinion Nokia have perfected). Honest opinions from people who have had this phone for a while….. should i get it??? thanks!!
27 Franky // Feb 23, 2007 at 2:47 pm// View all comments by Franky //
David, follow the links at the beginning of the article, or click the LG Shine tag link, and you’ll find my honest opinion on the LG Shine. The review covers 3 entries. ;-)
28 my name does not matter // Feb 23, 2007 at 8:18 pm// View all comments by my name does not matter //
i now have a new problem, i have taken a lot of things off my phone and it says i have used all my memory please help!
29 Avitable // Feb 23, 2007 at 8:20 pm// View all comments by Avitable //
Look, now you’re tech support for all the fucking retards out there!
30 Franky // Feb 23, 2007 at 8:37 pm// View all comments by Franky //
Your Name Does…, IMHO you still have a USB cable problem as you haven’t answered that problem.
Also lots of things doesn’t mean anything to me. What have you taken off : keypad, slider and battery?
Avi, that is called Tech and Customer sucker.
31 my name does not matter // Feb 23, 2007 at 8:42 pm// View all comments by my name does not matter //
i dont have a problem with the usb i just gave up on it but anyway i ask a friend to send it to me through bluetooth but my memory is messing up, when i say taken off i mean sound files and videos etc but the memory meter doesn’t go down
32 Franky // Feb 23, 2007 at 8:46 pm// View all comments by Franky //
Actually, have you already asked H & K? I presume you are a pre-release tester since you have commented here before the launch of the phone?
You do know that the internal memory only 47MB are? And have you tried a restart?
33 my name does not matter // Feb 23, 2007 at 8:49 pm// View all comments by my name does not matter //
no i havn’t tried a restart and i have only got 2 audio files that were not on the phone making up 6MB but its still messing up
34 Hellow // Feb 27, 2007 at 4:10 pm// View all comments by Hellow //
Hi Franky, sorry I didn’t replied earlier. I”ve called LG with my problem and they said that it’s a software problem. So I have to send my phone back to the factory :(. Ooh I wish I’d never bought this stupid phone!
35 Franky // Feb 27, 2007 at 4:12 pm// View all comments by Franky //
Hi Hellow, the phone isn’t that bad. And what has happened to you, could have happened with any other phone phone as well. ;-)
36 Hellow // Feb 27, 2007 at 4:15 pm// View all comments by Hellow //
Haha I know.. but I just have the phone for 2 weeks and already have to send it back.
37 Wouter // Mar 3, 2007 at 9:23 pm// View all comments by Wouter //
Hi, does anyone know the quality of the video recorder on the shine phone? I’m planning to buy one next week but i’m just very curious! Is it qcif cif or whatever? Thanks!
38 Franky // Mar 3, 2007 at 9:27 pm// View all comments by Franky //
WTF is qcif or cif? Am I supposed to Google those ramblings?
39 Wouter // Mar 3, 2007 at 9:31 pm// View all comments by Wouter //
meaning the height and width (qcif 176 x 144 , cif 352×288, qvga 320 × 240, etc.)?
40 Franky // Mar 3, 2007 at 9:35 pm// View all comments by Franky //
QCIF is maximum size.
It’s a phone remember. :)
41 Wouter // Mar 3, 2007 at 9:36 pm// View all comments by Wouter //
thank you :) i had an w900 but it snapped in 2 pieces last week :( the quality with my SE was 320×240 :( well too bad :)
42 builder // Mar 16, 2007 at 2:39 pm// View all comments by builder //
How are people finding the MP3 player? I may be (and probably am) being stupid, but can you really not play a sequence of MP3s from the external memory…?
43 Franky // Mar 16, 2007 at 2:45 pm// View all comments by Franky //
builder, there is no possibility to play playlists, the player will play whether random order, whether in successive order.
44 builder // Mar 16, 2007 at 2:49 pm// View all comments by builder //
thanks Franky, but I really meant just from the micro-sd card; whenever I play an mp3 from the external memory, it gets to the end of the track and then stops…
45 Franky // Mar 16, 2007 at 2:50 pm// View all comments by Franky //
Sorry, I haven’t used an external memory card so far.
46 builder // Mar 16, 2007 at 3:44 pm// View all comments by builder //
’s okay, sussed it now; the files need to be in the /sounds/mp3/ directory. If they in a sub directory (ie /sounds/mp3/artist/album/song.mp3) they get tottaly ignored.
47 susan // Mar 24, 2007 at 3:46 pm// View all comments by susan //
I am a massive Nokia fan due to ease of use but I lost my phone and the model was discontinued so I ended up gatting the shine because there are no good nokias out at the moment. I am really happy with the shine but have a major p[roblem transferring the photos that i have taken to my mac. there also seems to be no way to get mps files from my mac on to the phone, so no matter how good the earphones are i have not yet had the opportunity to try them. It seems that you must have a pc to use this phones features. I have searched the internet for mac software downloads for this phone but none seem to exist.
so for now i will have to use my ipod for music and use my other camera to take pics. the photos i have taken seem to be stuck on my phone forever unless some new software is developed soon.
48 Franky // Mar 24, 2007 at 7:34 pm// View all comments by Franky //
susan, it has always been known… sucks to be a mac user!
49 Danalyn // Mar 24, 2007 at 7:40 pm// View all comments by Danalyn //
But…but…Macs get you laid!!!1111eleventyone
50 jenni // Apr 9, 2007 at 1:00 pm// View all comments by jenni //
just a tip but 4 any1 who gets there phone wet an water in the screen put it it the airing cubord 4 around 24 hours and it might evaporise the water that is what i did on my sisters phone and it still works