The KE770 is the second phone in the shine series from LG.  It’s a candybar; “sleek and shiny” is the best way to describe it.  At 9.9mm, it’s slimmer than the motorola L9 phone (on which it is modelled). Built from stainless steel with no moving parts, the KE770 excludes the built-to-last feel.

When the display is in inactive mode,the mirror-finished display screen can be, well, a mirror. The well-lit, flat keypad is a joy to use, with distinct tactile feedback. The navigational keys are well-spaced-out and free from the glitches you’ll see on the KE970. The Call End button is placed near the top and to the side; it also acts as a power down switch-strange placement,we’d say,but effective for one-handed operation.

The volume control buttons,camera/MP3button, and USB connectors are on the same side. Internal memory s 70MB, which can be increased via the micro SD card. The memory slot is placed below the battery, and it isn’t hot-swappable.

The 2MP camera with the photo-assist light and self-portrait mirror is on the back of the phone . The camera is similar to the one on the KE970, and the performance is similar, too. Indoors shots lack tonal accuracy,and are often overexposed. Outdoor images retain tonal accuracy but lack crispness.

Music quality is not really great,but given that it isn’t touted as a music phone,we’d say the music capability is reasonable. There are no external playback control. MP3, AAC, AAC+, 3GP, and MPEG4 are supported, but files need to be copied to the right folder on the phone -else the media player can’t search through to them. Video playback is just about okay-it is seriously limited by the screen size.

The phone has good bundle of applications: MS office file viewers, PDF readers, a health chart,and a data wallet. The phone also support the lost mobile tracking system(LMTS). You’ll also find regular applications such as clock,calculator, games, and more.

Signal reception was good ,but voice clarity could do witha lot of improvement-especially that of the speakerphone. The volume is too low,and it crackles as well. Flight mode figures,and that’s a plus. Battery life is around a day and a half with nominal usage.

Aprice of Rs7,990 means the KE970 is a good buy if you are looking for a sleek, cool-looking phone. If you’re planning on using multimedia features on a regular basis ,we’d suggest you look elsewhere.