IN CASE you haven’t heard about it already, LG’s latest secret is out... literally, in the form of the KF750 or better known as the LG Secret.

This is the third model in the company’s luxury Black Label series and just like its predecessors, the LG Secret exudes glamour with fine materials and luxurious features.

It is dressed to impress — carbon fibre, glossy front panel housing, leather-like back and a ­tempered glass display adorn this phone.

Thanks to the tempered glass, users can expect the screen to remain unscratched for a long time.

The 2.4in large screen enables users to comfortably view content but unfortunately, the glossy front surface makes the phone impossible to use outside on a sunny day.

Moving on, there is the “Neon Touch” touchscreen control pad, which makes the LG Secret cool to use (more about this slightly later).

Honestly, there is little to fault with the phone’s stylish design but does it work as well as it looks?

It is time to find out.

The waiting game

The LG Secret supports HSDPA networks, which means you can get up to 3.6Mbps surfing speeds wherever there’s coverage.

There is no WiFi but the phone supports other modes of data transfers including 3G, EDGE, GPRS and Bluetooth with A2DP for a wireless stereo sound.

As mentioned earlier, one of the most visible features on the front panel is the Neon Touch control pad (with a silver mechanical OK key in the middle). It is located just ­underneath the screen and is used to navigate the phone’s functions.

Blue lights flicker (dots or circles according to what you select) as you touch the control pad. It was fun to show off at first but after a while, it turned out to be just another novelty item in our book.

Note however, because it uses capacitive technology, the control pad is activated by the touch of the skin and cannot be operated with other objects or when ­wearing gloves.

We noticed there is a slight delay between the time you touch the pad and for the function to start working.

It is pretty annoying as we literally had to wait to see how the function worked. In short, the Neon Touch makes the phone feel really sluggish.

Multimedia powerhouse

One thing for sure, the Secret is well-equipped for both video and music playback.

Unlike most phones, this one supports the popular DivX format, meaning you can watch your favourite TV programs or shows that are ­downloadable from the Web.

It also plays other video formats, including MPEG4, H.263, H.264 and RV.

As a music player, the phone supports a variety of formats such as MP3, AAC, AAC+, RA and WMA. There is even integrated FM radio if you feel like tuning in.

We have to say that the phone does produce good quality audio and video ­playback.

The Secret ships with 100MB of internal memory, which means you can store lots of songs and short video clips but the storage capacity can be easily expanded with microSD cards.

The Secret also features an integrated accelerometer sensor that is used mainly for the pre-installed games. A flick of the wrist and you can throw a dart, go fishing or even shake a Magic 8 ball.

The sensor also helps in ­automatically adjusting the screen orientation when viewing pictures or videos.

Other applications that are pr­e-installed in the device include Google Maps for mobile, Gmail and Opera Mini.

Battery life lasted for over two days, which is slightly shorter compared to LG’s claim but overall, it still depends on your usage patterns.

A fun shooter

SHARP SHOOTER: The Secret boasts a 5-megapixel camera.

LG claims that the Secret is the slimmest 5-megapixel camera phone around, and at just 11.8mm it probably is.

The still camera function offers a few options including autofocus, sports face detection, AF assist light, LED flash and a macro mode.

There are seven different scene modes to help users get better pictures such as auto, portrait, landscape, night, beach, sports and party.

We also found that shooting videos with the Secret can be quite fun.

It allows you to shoot DivX video at up to 120 frames per second and even add music by overlaying it on to a video while you’re shooting or afterwards to create a music video.

There are editing tools built into the phone for you to add special effects such as “face morphing” and others. Gimmicky, but we still found it be fun nevertheless.

Conclusion

The LG Secret is well-dressed and will suit every occasion that you want to take it to, but looks alone do not make it a bestseller.

In terms of features, it comes with tons of must-have functions including DivX ­shooting and playback, and a built-in accelerator sensor.

However, low legibility under sunlight, mostly novelty functions and sluggish performance are some of the thorny issues for this particular model.

To wrap it up, although it may make heads turn, LG has a lot of work to do to iron out most of the problems that we’ve highlighted before the Secret can be fully recommended to consumers.

Pros: Scratchproof glass for the display; good picture quality; DivX playback, built-in accelerometer.

Cons: Sluggish performance; poor outdoor legibility; limited touchscreen functionality.

SECRET KF750 Features
Slider camera phone
Camera: 5.0-megapixels
Display: 2.4in TFT 262,000 colours (240 x 320pixels)
Messaging: MMS, SMS, E-mail
Connectivity: HSDPA, EDGE, GPRS, Bluetooth
Phone memory: 100MB
Expansion slot: Micro Secure Digital up to 4GB
Battery type: 700mAh lithium-ion
Standby/talk time: 400/40 hours
Other features: FM radio, MP3 player, DivX video player, Java applications
Weight: 116g
Dimensions (w x d x h): 102.8 x 50.8 x 11.8mm
Price: RM1,999
Review unit courtesy of LG Electronics, (03) 7491-2888

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