LG supplies a nifty stereo headset in the box, which comes with a remote control box for operating the MP3 player. What's more, LG earns extra marks for providing a standard 3.5mm jack socket on the remote unit so you can either use the reasonable inear headset supplied or any regular set of headphones - thus boosting quality and playback performance. Alternatively you could try the stereo Bluetooth headset option, as the Shine supports the A2DP Bluetooth profile.

Should you wish to, you can use the onboard speakers but this, predictably, doesn't do full justice to the phone's music player.

The Shine can also be used to store other files onboard, which can be copied over via a USB connection. For this device, LG has stacked in some 70MB of internal memory, although swappable MicroSD cards can be used to expand this.

Usefully, the phone includes a neat document viewer, that can zoom in on PowerPoint, Word, PDF, Excel and text files sent to the phone via email or copied over via Bluetooth or on the memory card.

Other extras include an alarm clock, calculator, memo, stopwatch function, unit convertor and a world clock. Gamers may want to while away their time on BubbleSoccer or Fishing Mania games preinstalled on the phone - but they can also download other Java ones to complement these.

When you get a phone as good-looking at this, the second reaction (following the initial impressed eyebrow-raising) is to scour the spec sheet for potential flaws.

With the Shine, LG has targeted a particular market with a phone that hits the right buttons on design and style. It will, of course, fly off the shelves based on its looks alone. But it also manages to impress with a healthy line-up of features.

Sure, it doesn't have 3G capability (with all the high-speed multimedia goodies that brings as part of the package), but it does offer a very good camera package and a decent enough MP3 player to keep you tuned up for a good while, particularly if you've invested in extra MicroSD card expandable memory.

As a phone alone, it produces an impressive audio performance and battery life - while not the best we've come across - is adequate.

Some may find the roller key arrangement a little too tricksy, but it does add to the aesthetic excellence of the handset by maintaining the fascia's minimalist look. And let's face it, for many buyers of the Shine this is going to be its overwhelming attraction.