Looks aren't everything, but they can sure shift a mobile phone. The Shine, then, has all the hallmarks of an instant classic. Its stunning silver looks grab attention wherever you are - and the first question isn't 'what can it do?' but 'where can I get one?'.

There's no mistaking, the LG Shine is a beautifully crafted sliderphone, its brushed metal casing complemented by a front panel with a large mirrored display. When inactive, the phone's 2.2-inch display fades and completely disappears behind the mirror, giving the phone a strikingly minimalist and elegant, reflective look.

LG announced the arrival of its Black Label series of must-have mobiles with the original KG800 Chocolate phone last year. The Shine is the second in this line of phones that aims to combine 'design, style and fashion' with technology.

The KG800 combined a sleekly proportioned slider form with touch-sensitive controls and a screen that 'disappeared' when not in use. Similarly, the Shine brings into play that now-you-see-it-now-you-don't aesthetic, but takes it a step further with the attention-grabbing mirror finish.

When it comes to functionality the Shine has high-fashion features to complement the looks. A 2- megapixel camera sits on the back of the phone, there's a multi-format digital music player and video player onboard, swappable MicroSD card memory and stereo Bluetooth.

What's notably absent from the first version of the Shine is 3G-enabled functionality - it's a regular quad-band GSM/GPRS model. However, those looking for 3G capability need not be too disappointed - a 3G variant of this device, featuring HSDPA high speed downloads and video call camera, is hot on it heels and expected to roll into UK stores shortly.

The LG Shine KE970s brushed metal body gives the phone considerable substance that broadens its appeal - LG claims its research shows that this phone hits the buttons of both sexes equally. It adds some weight too, tipping the scales at 116g (compared to 83g with the original Chocolate). It's a fraction slimmer, if a touch wider and taller than the KG800, though it's still comfortably pocketable.

Classy feel

Slipping up the slider, the smooth brushed-metal keypad beneath maintains the classy feel (with a stylistic nod to the Motorola RAZR). The finish, with all the keys flush to the surface, benefits from precise fingering, and the larger-digited may find the headroom between call start/end and cancel keys and the slider is a bit tight.

Closed, the Shine is a sharp looker; the front panel controls you'd usually expect of a slider phone have been reduced down to what appears to be a thin bar below the mirror screen, and a pair of minimally marked softkey controls on either side. The central part of the bar is actually a novel joywheel scroll control, with additional tiny menu navigation keys on either side. The roller wheel is an interesting alternative to standard four-way buttons (included on the Chocolate, among others).

In standby mode, like the software on the Chocolate range, these roll-and-scroll keys offer shortcuts to certain functions, such as contacts, ringtone setting, message inbox, and your selfcompiled favourite functions list. Similarly, the flanking softkeys tap you straight into the main menu screen or contacts list.

The scroll roller can also be pressed down to select the main menu, and subsequently to highlight and choose menu options. It's pretty intuitive stuff, though the buttons squeezed onto the same barrel as the roller are so small they can be fiddly to select without pressing the roller by mistake if you haven't got nails or have non-dainty fingers.