Hands-on with the LG KF510: Adding a little sparkle to your life

Our relationship with this phone has been more on-again- off-again than the baggage at Terminal 5. When we first heard about the LG KF510, we were very excited indeed -- it is very shiny -- but then after getting a close-up look at it, at the Mobile World Congress, we hastily revised our expectations downwards. Now, weeks later, we've spent some quality time with it and you know what? We actually like it -- again. Similar to LG's Chocolate phone, the KF510 features a touch-sensitive navigation pad, but this one comes with a little extra sparkle.

Whenever you press the touch-sensitive pad you'll see a very cool mini light display on the pad, depending on your input -- if you swipe down, it has a simple Space Invaders-esque animation of a down arrow. But it's not all about the flash. Aside from being responsive and providing vibrating feedback when you press it, the touchpad also lets you quickly scroll up down, left and right by swiping your finger across it -- very useful if you're looking through hundreds of music tracks or contacts.

The slide-out keypad for dialling and texting is very well designed and easy to use because of its large keys. Other features include a 3-megapixel camera with auto-focus and an LED photo light, an MP3 player -- unfortunately there's no 3.5mm headphone jack -- and an expandable microSD slot.

It's not one of LG's most exciting phones to date feature-wise, but it is a very slim handset with a slick design. Be warned though -- if you've never used touch-sensitive keys before, you might find this difficult to get used to. The LG KF510 will be available soon from several retailers, including the Carphone Warehouse, but pricing has yet to be announced. We'll have a full review for you shortly. -Andrew Lim

Update: Read our full LG KF510 review.