Customer Reviews

LG Shine KE970 Unlocked Phone Black-Label Series with Tri Band GSM, 2 MP Camera, Camcorder, Bluetooth, and MicroSD Memory Expansion--International Version with No Warranty (Shining Silver)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I must echo other online reviews about this phone. It shines... and basically that's what it does.

This is a phone about fashion. And thus, I believe it's geared towards fashion concious women.
I'm a middle aged male and I enjoy the shiny look and appreciate the elgant metal that covers most of the phone (so much that it's not just an "accent").
I also appreciate the good sound of the MP3 player and the autofocus of the 2 Megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach Optics (whoever they are).

Therefore, I bought it for my wife. BUT I didn't notice that it didn't work on her operator's band, so I'm stuck with it.

As a middle aged male who's looking for more function than form, this beautiful phone just doesn't work for me, and here's why:
1. The scrolling wheel is not responsive enough.
2. The keys are awkardly placed. Reaching for the bottom row is uncomfortable, and the send and end keys are not where I expect them to be.
3. Also, there's not much tactile feedback to notice the separation between the keys (so you must be able to look at the phone when dialing). Try texting fast with it...
4. The interfase software is not great. Very basic MP3 player.
5. Love the autofocus... Hate the autofocus! It's great that you can get the camera to focus on things 1 inch away from the lens. Great to take a good pic of a business card or any other stationary object. Bad if you try to shoot a moving target, because it takes at least one full second to focus. It just won't work because there's such a delay (at least 2 seconds) from the moment you press the button to the moment the picture is taken, that you get either blurred pictures or the events you want to picture have already passed (and gone). You can't shut down the shutter (no mute, can't change the sound either). And where's the ZOOM??? Couldn't figure it out: Volume keys don't do it and scroll wheel doesn't do it either.
6. Shine! Really, I had never experienced such a frustrating thing as trying to use this phone in sunlight. It's near impossible. It REALLY is that bad.
7. Bluetooth connection has not happened smoothly. I haven't been able to send pics via bluetooth to my BlackBerry Curve. And when I connect the ear piece to the Shine, the ear piece loses all settings and stops connecting to my BB (so I must do the whole pairing process again). I had a Nokia before and I could connect my ear piece to both phones simmultaneously without a problem (I'm not saying I could have two conversations at once, but I could receive a call from any of the two phones at one time).
8. Reception is not good
9. Scratches easily all over; fingerprint magnet
10. I drive a lot. I LOVE voice dialing. Where is it?
11. The loudspeaker is so underpowered that the speakerphone function is close to useless. I love speakerphones because I can multi-task with both hands free.

So, if you're someone who expects a cell phone to be more functional than a basic $10 household phone, maybe this one's not for you.
If you want to shell $200 for a great looking phone that only works as a phone (and not the best at that), that's your call. You can alwas look at it as a piece of jewelery (or get one of those gold plated phones with diamonds and rubies).
I'm fine and happy with my BlackBerry Curve, thank you. Even if I still have to get me a better camera.

Two other words of advice:
1. I bought an unlocked phone imported from I don't know where. Thus, be sure to check connectivity with your operator first! Tri-Band means the phone works on any of 3 bands... make sure your operator has one of them.
2. My primary language is spanish and the phone I got seems to be an asian version. Thus I can only choose between english and a bunch of asian languages (vietnamese, chinese, simplified chinese, etc.)

Wow! This is a BEAUTIFUL phone, kicks butt of flip version of Shine from Verizon. Slider is sweet, phone feels solid. AND boy DOES it SHINE!!.... in virtually most lighting. Roll bar select key is a bit tricky at first but soon becomes very natural, AND you look so cool because of it! Has basic goodies, SIM card very accessible and compatible, battery life better than average. Standard MP3 player. Has microSD expansion slot for up to 2GB. Slight problems with reception outside of major metropolitan areas and some dead spots in small cities due to tri-band but overall pretty good (I use AT&T/Cingular). Tons of cool ringtones and sound effects. Mirrored effect slightly difficult to read in strong sunlight. USB connection to desktop worked effortlessly like direct plug flash drive. Camera quite decent although some delay in trigger. Has flash but only on/off - no auto. 2 megapixel photos are better than most. Hottest slider around, no doubt. I use this as my cool factor phone. Highly recommend it! Please check out tri-band reception in your area first to avoid disappointment.

This is probably the first device that excited me before I even unboxed it since I got my iBook a couple years ago. I give credit to LG for taking the time and investing the money in exciting packaging. I mean, you're dropping $300. That's not chump change for most of us. Give us some bang for our buck, and LG does that. Props for that.

The phone itself is stunning to look at and its surprising heft is a nice change from all the pennyweight ultra slim phones out there. You'd do some damage if you chucked this phone at someone.

You may want to throw it when you realize that it's packaged with an AC adaptor which is most definitely not of US origin. I don't know if that thing came from Korea or Germany or what but it looked like a stun gun to me. Fortunately a nearby store had a cheap compatible adaptor.

Setting up the phone has been a little tedious but I can get online after a day and I can make calls and send/receive SMS/MMS messages. I think it's lack of the 850 band makes it a bit of a risk in some areas but I think I can manage missing the occasional call. I'm not owned by my phone.

The LG Shine is a good call if you want a cool phone that isn't like every other phone out there and you don't mind monkeying around with WAP and MMS settings.

The shine is a very good phone, definitely looks great, sound is clear as well as reception. Music player is decent and camera takes pretty good pics (for a phone). It would be a 5-star without discussion IF it had voice dialing... Amazon review is wrong when states it has a speaker independent voice dialing, it doesn't have one at all. It's a shame a high end product lacks such a basic feature you can find in almost any mid priced nokia or motorola

I have had all the top phone from Japan, and was getting sick of my little razr, so bought this little gem after reading all the reviews, it made very well, strong build, the screen is bright and clear love the menu scroll buttons, I think I have found the perfect phone, no fingerprints on the mirror screen, amazing... about the same size as my razr, but a bit heavier...Loving it check out my photos

This phone was an international version, which we weren't aware of at purchase. It came locked and we were never able to get the code to unlock so we could access our wireless network. We got 2 weeks of run around and were finally given an overseas number to call. At that point we finally returned it and called our wireless company to order the phone through them.

i looked at all the reviews for this phone and weighed the pros and cons.. i used to get phones based on all the new stuff out there, but i realized all i need in a phone is calling, texting, decent camera, and a nice stylish finish.. this phone looks alot better in person and in your hands than on the computer screen.. the features could be more intuitive but after trying them out 2-3 times it's simple and easy.. this phone looks amazing.. i recommend for anyone looking for a really nice phone that isn't into data stuff way too much

Purchased this LG SHine, received it in the box and noticed thebox had been opened and wires were not in a new package, looked to be opened and used, not sure why amazon would send me a used item, contacted them and they says they will give me %30 off so go figure

I bought this phone to replace my t-mobile samsung t629 or whatever-it- was-called slider phone when the screen on it decided to flunk after a year and a couple months. no phone insurance, and i was actually kinda glad to have an excuse to get rid of that awful phone that t-mobile conned me into getting. this LG is basically the same design, but 100 times better build quality and just all around a better phone. i slid my tmobile sim card in and when i turned it on immediately had full service, much more so than my old samsung. i opted for standard shipping and still receieved the phone within 2 days. this cell is perfect in every aspect, i'd give it 5 stars except for the lack of text message ringtones that was already previously mentioned. it only has 5 different tones and they all suck. you can set mp3's for calls, but nothing for texts. thats the worst part but i can deal with it. other than that a terrific buy, would have cost me twice as much to get a replacement phone even remotely as good from the t mobile store. another A+ for amazon, who never cease to amaze me with great deals and superb shipping you can't find anywhere else.

I got the phone today, but I used it on speaker for about an hour and a half and the battery didn't budge. Feels sturdy, has a REALLY good sliding action, nice to have the "profiles" so you can easily/quickly change the alert settings, nice to be able to use mp3's as ring tones (unlike some motorolas I have had...) has a nice menu function with shortcuts, and is very nice looking. The one thing I wish it had is a better AlarmClock. It only has a very limited number of tones (none of them very good for an alarm clock) and you can only set on alarm. That is the ONE thing I miss from my slvr, with it you could set multiple alarms. If I find out anything else of interest, I will edit this review, after all, I have only had the phone for about 8 hours...