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The Chocolate was the first global hit product of LG, being successful first in Asia and then, conquering Europe and America. The new product line was marketed under the “Black Label” logo, which later became a symbol of the interesting and elegant vision of its models. The following year, Shine became the second generation of the series, also distributed on the three continents...
In the beginning of 2008, LG gave us a hint for the existence of the third entry under the same logo without giving out details. Kept hidden for a few months, it was announced with the name Secret. The newcomer is touted not only for its appearance but also for the nature of the materials used and the quality of the make. In contrast to its predecessors, it is not only expected to look good but to have decent functionality. The Secret is intended for the consumer who cares mostly about the looks and still wouldn’t like to own a device, characterized by the features found in most mid-level phones.
Design:
According to us, the Secret’s image is a strange combination of all sorts of materials, which LG claims is one of its key features. Striving to have as many exotic solutions in its advertising campaign as possible, the company has created a phone, which is made of incompatible materials such as brushed metal, pleather and carbon fiber. While the brushed metal looks good almost everywhere (remember Shine), that is not so for the other two solutions. It’s not just that we don’t like pleather, but even genuine one wouldn’t fit the overall design of the device. We have the same opinion about the use of carbon fiber (reinforced plastic), which otherwise looks interesting. This material is used where the combination of strength and lightweight is of the essence. If we were talking about building a 300,000 lb plane, the benefit of using that material would be much more obvious, but we don’t see what is there to gain if using it in the battery lid of a phone. Well, if the entire device (or at least most of it) was made out of carbon fiber, it would’ve definitely been an intriguing piece. Now it looks like a patch screaming, “Look what we’ve used”.
In the beginning of 2008, LG gave us a hint for the existence of the third entry under the same logo without giving out details. Kept hidden for a few months, it was announced with the name Secret. The newcomer is touted not only for its appearance but also for the nature of the materials used and the quality of the make. In contrast to its predecessors, it is not only expected to look good but to have decent functionality. The Secret is intended for the consumer who cares mostly about the looks and still wouldn’t like to own a device, characterized by the features found in most mid-level phones.
Design:
According to us, the Secret’s image is a strange combination of all sorts of materials, which LG claims is one of its key features. Striving to have as many exotic solutions in its advertising campaign as possible, the company has created a phone, which is made of incompatible materials such as brushed metal, pleather and carbon fiber. While the brushed metal looks good almost everywhere (remember Shine), that is not so for the other two solutions. It’s not just that we don’t like pleather, but even genuine one wouldn’t fit the overall design of the device. We have the same opinion about the use of carbon fiber (reinforced plastic), which otherwise looks interesting. This material is used where the combination of strength and lightweight is of the essence. If we were talking about building a 300,000 lb plane, the benefit of using that material would be much more obvious, but we don’t see what is there to gain if using it in the battery lid of a phone. Well, if the entire device (or at least most of it) was made out of carbon fiber, it would’ve definitely been an intriguing piece. Now it looks like a patch screaming, “Look what we’ve used”.
Since its design is a mix of unmatching materials, clearly, the phone is not as stylish as many other solutions by rivals, including LG’s own KF510. It’s a matter of taste of course and there may be many individuals or audiences, to which the phone will appeal, at the very least because it is different. Take a look at the many pictures we’ve added and decide for yourself.
We can’t act against our conscience by not applauding LG, for the fact that the glass covering the front panel is tempered. Same as in KF510, it will remain unscratched for a long time. Our test with a sharp knife showed that only an extremely big pressure on a very small surface (using the tip of the knife) leaves marks. However, we doubt that your phone will ever go through something like that. Unfortunately, although very strong, the carbon fiber lid will not stay in perfect condition for long.
We are disappointed by the display, because it is not good enough for a high-end phone. It could’ve been larger than 2.4” with an excellent image and not only a good one. However, outdoors you can hardly see anything on the screen. The only excuse LG has is that it is touch sensitive. Right, haven’t we mentioned that earlier? In contrast to the full touch models, the screen is pressed in certain cases only (more on that in the software part of the review) and basically, the phone is controlled via the buttons like a regular phone.
Well not exactly, since the navigational buttons are touch sensitive as well and you only have to touch them instead of press them. Because they are capacitive (like in Chocolate), they are activated by the touch of the skin and cannot be operated with other objects or when wearing gloves. Unfortunately, here same as in Chocolate, there is a delay between the moment you touch the key and it reacts. This is very annoying for us and makes operating the phone slower, giving us a sense of insecurity. The visualization of the directions (dots or circles according to what you select) and the animated circumferences when pressing any of them, do not fit the design, but is one of the things, which LG is proud of (“Neon Touch Navigation buttons”).
The central button, send, end and the “clear” keys are in a contrasting metal gray color and even though they do not clearly provide feedback when they have been pressed, they are much better than the capacitive ones. Luckily, the numeric keys are also physical and overall, operating them is trouble free. However, since they do not have a well-expressed relief, you are unable to feel where exactly a specific one is located.
he only remark we have for the side buttons is that they are too many (4) on a relatively small surface, which means that they are at a small distance between each other. Since they all have a very well expressed relief and are easily pressed, you’ll operate them trouble free once you get familiar with their nature. Among the already standard camera and volume control buttons, there are shortcuts for multitasking and screen sensitivity activation (i.e. links to those applications).
