The second collaboration between LG and fashion house Prada, the KF900 Prada Phone by LG delivers a distinctly refreshed and reworked take on the original touchscreen luxury-brand phone, whilst retaining much of the minimalist charm of the original.

Sharp design is obviously a key part of the package, and the KF900 Prada II doesn't veer too much from the upfront look of the first Prada phone.

That sleek black body with tasteful chrome trim that originally arrived a few months ahead of the iPhone has been repeated almost exactly on the new device.

Slide-out keyboard

What's definitely new, though, is the slide out full Qwerty keyboard that slips out from the side of the phone, all elegantly buttoned up with 39 keys well-spaced on the metallic slider. It adds some spread to the dimensions, and ups the weight of the handset, but it also adds to the functionality of the phone's messaging, note taking and browsing capabilities.

It's not only its fashionable form that's been enhanced though, function has been upgraded too. The Prada phone's touchscreen user interface has been refined, adding much of the usability seen on models like LG's Renoir and Cookie, plus pinch-to-zoom multi-touch control for browsing and image viewing.

Features have also had a facelift; this model has HSDPA high-speed 3G connectivity (up to 7.2Mbps) plus Wi-Fi support, and a 5-megapixel camera with a Schneider-Kreuznach certified lens and slow-motion video playback.

Its parade of multimedia functions include music and video players, support for high-speed streaming and downloading of content, plus video calling via a secondary front-facing camera.

Multi-touch screen

The original minimalist Prada phone design reprised here is still very stylish, even if our post-iPhone familiarity with that much-imitated look has made it less immediately striking.

The large 3-inch screen is a WQVGA (240x400 pixels) resolution, 262K-colour capacitive multi-touch display, which takes up much of the front panel. An accelerometer automatically switches screen orientation in certain features, so you get appropriate sideways or portrait views of images, browser pages, video clips and so on.

At 104.5(h) x 54(w) x 16.75 mm the phone is noticeably thicker in the pocket than the original Prada, and the extra bulk of the keyboard helps chunk up the weight to a substantial 130g. It gives it a very different in-pocket feel from the skinny 12mm thin, 85g Prada 1.

A thin chrome strip beneath the display features Call, End and Clear keys, but besides a Prada logo and a video call camera above the screen, that's pretty much it for the front. Around the side are a lock button, a camera key, and volume/zoom controls. A further Multi-tasking button pulls up tabbed lists of live apps and favourite functions.

Practical layout

The slide out Qwerty keyboard is robust, and has a solid but smooth action. The rectangular keys are large and well spaced for comfortable tapping.

Sliding out the keyboard from standby automatically switches the screen sideways, bringing up a carousel display of touch icons for apps where the keyboard comes into its own, such as text messaging, memo, browser, to-do lists and emails. It's a practical set-up for heavy text typers.

Prada features

Touch action control is, naturally, star of the show though. The user interface employs similar but not identical operation to the Renoir and Cookie.

The monochrome themes – black on white, white on black – pre-loaded on the phone are stark by contrast, and minimal chic can feel a bit dull after a while. Special Prada wallpapers – including model shots from its autumn/winter lookbook – add a splash of colour, and Prada ringtones and effects are included to extend the exclusive fashion house feel.