LG Shine II GD710 Review

Introduction:

With over 2 years under its belt, the LG Shine was able to turn heads thanks to its stylish exterior and savvy marketing campaign with AT&T. You couldn’t help but gaze into its mirror-like screen to either look at yourself or at someone secretly across the room. In any case, the LG Shine II GD710 is the successor to the popular slider phone and will be scrutinized from head to toe – let’s hope it still has what it takes to grab the center of attention in a crowded room.

The package contains:

• LG Shine II
• Charger
• User Manual
• Quick Start Guide
  

Design:

There’s no arguing how stylish the original LG Shine looked, but we were thoroughly baffled at the LG Shine II’s design approach. Its overall dimensions have increased to make it look larger than the original – all the while retaining the same brushed metal finish. When it’s fully opened (4.2”), it feels a bit hefty in the hand when compared to other slider phones. There’s no question that the construction feels top notch, but the additional weight (4.4 oz) packed on will definitely be noticeable to anyone holding it. Overall, we feel that the uninspired design remains stagnant and doesn’t continue the evolution set forth by its predecessor.



You can compare the LG Shine II GD710 with many other phones using ourSize Visualization Tool.



You’d think that the LG Shine II would boast a better display; unfortunately you’ll quickly find that there is nothing different. Sadly it’s the same 2.2” TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 and support for 262k colors. The mirror-like finish does add that fashion factor that the original embodied, but it’s already been done before. You won’t have to squint when viewing text thanks to the sharp display with its superb viewing angles.


Gone now is the navigational joystick and in its place is just your regular 5-way directional pad. We really can’t help but wonder why a fashionable centric phone like the Shine II deviates outside its zone and opts for something so traditional. Unfortunately the buttons are extremely stiff and require a solid press in order to register. The keypad has been left unchanged and so have the rest of the buttons found on the phone.

Software/Features:

Thankfully the software running on the LG Shine II GD710got somewhat of a new makeover – it’s still relatively simple to navigate. There are more animated icons in the main menu and a strangely looking home screen where you can choose two different alert avatars as your wallpaper. Specific avatars will come alive when someone either calls or messages you – it may be somewhat untraditional and may not appeal to everyone, but it does add a hint of personalization. Finally, there is a multi-tasking element implemented with the aid of a dedicated button that allows you to toggle between running programs. Other than that, moving in and out of the phone can be accomplished with ease and no hints of slowdown.
 


If you’re a more traditional texter, then you’ll fit right in using the numeric keypad for all your messages. You can trim off some time if you set the phone to T9 for a predictive text option. Whichever way you decide to go, the messaging application is simple enough to maneuver around – allowing you to easily add pictures, videos, or sounds.

Setting up email on the LG Shine II is the same we’ve seen recently on other AT&T phones – there’s a listing of some popular providers that you can setup quickly. You can also place specific email accounts by providing additional information like server addresses. We managed to get our PhoneArena email up and running on the phone quickly enough thanks to the phone’s application.

Following suit with the email application, the instant messaging client allows you to login using AIM, Windows Live Messenger, or Yahoo Messenger. You’ll continue to receive notifications if you exit back out to the home screen or run another application.



Third party software support is the same on the LG Shine II – some useful while others you may never use. Some of these include Mobile Banking, MobiTV, My-Cast Weather, and Yellow Pages mobile to name a few. For people on the go, AT&T Navigator is loaded for location based services and can get you to a destination in a timely manner. As usual, standard tools like the calculator, world clock, timer, stopwatch, and alarms are all available for your disposal.




We are left to wonder why the new LG Shine is still packing the same 2-megapixel camera that the original one had 2 years ago. Images had good detail in conditions with good lighting, but colors looked more on the bland side. It didn’t fare too well in low lit conditions either with image quality taking a dive – almost fuzzy looking at times.  There’s nothing worth noting with the simple looking interface – the application took 3 seconds to load and 2 seconds to take a photo after pressing the shutter button.




Video recording on the Shine II is nothing breathtaking – especially when its maximum shooting resolution is 320 x 240 pixels. It didn’t have too much detail, but enough to be passable for any novice user. Although it did run somewhat smooth in good lighting conditions, we did notice it become choppy whenever it moved to areas with poor lighting. Sound from the video was decent even though there was some faint background noise.

The LG Shine series may not be known for its musical prowess, but its music player does stand out among other similar AT&T phones. It’ll display all the usual information you’ll need to know about the song you’re playing along with the on-screen functions. We especially liked the three different visualization options that will run as you play a song as well as the various equalizer settings to cater to specific genres of music. The speakerphone had some nice tones to make listening to music on the Shine II a joy – you’ll just want to stay away from the loudest volume setting because some crackling will be heard.



Other than viewing videos on a smaller sized screen, the LG Shine II GD710 was able to play smooth looking videos with no lag or choppiness. After loading up two different movie trailers coded in MPEG-4 at 320 x 240 and H.263 at 320 x 144, it’s safe to say that the Shine II won’t slow down during playback. Colors looked crisp with the audio sounding evenly to the video. Viewing it in portrait may be a bit difficult, but the option for landscape makes for a better experience.



Saving various things on the LG Shine II GD710 should be no problem thanks to its 182MB of total memory. If you see yourself exceeding those levels, you can always pop in microSD cards of up to 16GB in size.

Taking the handset to other countries for voice calls won't be an issue thanks to the quad-band GSM capability (850/900/18000/1900 Mhz) of the LG Shine II GD710. For data use, the dual-band UMTS support (850/1900 Mhz) will allow you to access 3G speeds in the US.

There are no complaints with the Opera Mini browser on the Shine II – pages loaded fairly quickly and looked almost identical to what you see on a computer. Scrolling was smooth even with the stiff feeling directional pad. Still it doesn’t have the depth of features that some more advanced browsers offer; but good enough to get you by.

Performance

The Shine II is a decent performer when it comes to calling quality. Voices sounded crystal clear and audible with barely any background distortion on our end. Our callers stated that our voice had a normal tone with also some static sound. When using the speakerphone, we did notice that voices sounded more muffled and definitely strained when set on the highest volume.

Using the same battery (900 mAh) found on the original, the LG Shine II GD710 managed to survive 5 days of normal use before requiring a recharge. That’s a respectable figure when you compare it to other similar phones. We had the brightness set to the maximum and used the phone primarily for calling and texting with the occasional web surfing. LG has the phone rated for 3.3 hours of talk and 300 hours of standby.

Conclusion:

If you really had to pit the LG Shine II GD710 with the original, you’ll be hard pressed to see any impressive features between the two. Although it still embodies some of the fashionable appeal its predecessor exuded, it doesn’t reinvent itself to truly be considered as a worthy successor. When 2 years flies by, we would’ve expected more out of the LG Shine II GD710 – we’re just left with an uninspiring handset that passes by as being nonchalant with its name.