LG KF750 Secret

It's amazing to think that the name LG was once synonymous with entry-level phones and budget consumer electronics. When the company unveiled the KG800 Chocolate in 2006 it went from industry also-ran to leading light overnight, and has since built on its new-found reputation with other highly desirable handsets like the KE850 Shine and KE970 Prada.

That trend looks set to continue with the release of the latest product in LG's highly esteemed 'Black Label Series' – the KF750, better known as The Secret. Effortlessly attractive and constructed from high-grade materials, this phone has the visual clout to leave a lasting impression. The casing is a mixture of metal, pleather (plastic leather, if you must know) and carbon fibre, and while some might argue this combination won't be to everyone's taste, it nevertheless exudes class and sophistication.

Thankfully, it's no slouch in the technology department either. Sporting a five-megapixel camera (at the time of writing this is the slimmest 5MP slider phone, fact fans), motion-controlled games and a touchscreen display, The Secret ticks pretty much all of the boxes you'd expect from a top of the line mobile.

The camera is practically identical to the one seen in the popular LG Viewty, which is no bad thing when you consider that the Viewty was marketed as 'a camera with a phone' as opposed to the other way around. The 5MP sensor generates top-notch snaps and the auto-focus works well considering how thin The Secret is.

The flash can be a little overbearing in dark situations but, this minor niggle aside, we were extremely impressed with the standard of photography. This is the kind of handset that just might convince us to ditch our digital camera altogether.

As well as taking pictures the camera can also be used to capture movies, which can be recorded at 120 frames a second to produce a 'slow motion' effect. It's also possible to go in the opposite direction and record comical Benny Hill-style clips. The chances of these features proving to be anything but amusing diversions is negotiable, but they're an enjoyable addition regardless.

Sticking with the theme of multimedia for the moment, The Secret also possesses some respectable music playback credentials. While the software isn't as adept as that seen in Sony Ericsson's latest Walkman phones, it more than gets the job done. The phone comes with a measly amount of onboard memory so the purchase of a MicroSD card is essential if you want to listen to your beloved tunes on the move. To augment the audio package there's also an FM radio with RDS ('Radio Data System').

The Secret also makes sure that prospective gamers are well catered for. The phone comes pre-loaded with LG's own 'M-Toy' gaming system, which showcases six different motion-sensitive titles. These range from the genuinely engaging (Baseball, Fishing, Maze) to the dangerously lightweight (Magic Eight Ball). Thankfully, there's more than enough depth here to keep dedicated mobile gamers happy, although it remains to be seen if LG will release more games for the service.

As well as M-Toy there's support for traditional downloadable Java games. The pin-sharp 2.4-inch TFT screen makes them look stunning – provided they've been coded to support such visual opulence. We tried to download a few of our favourite titles in order to benchmark the gaming performance of The Secret but sadly we found that most weren't supported by the handset. Whether or not this is a problem that can be overcome given time is a question for the future, but it would severely dent The Secret's appeal to pocket gamers if the situation isn't resolved.

Like The Chocolate and The Shine before it, The Secret makes use of touch-sensitive controls – surely the technological fad of the moment. Boasting a unique 'Neon Touch' interface, the blank and otherwise featureless surface of the direction pad lights up whenever your digit makes contact. It's a pleasingly eye-catching characteristic that will result in a few envious glances from those around you.

Although the entire display of The Secret is touch-sensitive, the application of this element is rather strange. To activate full-screen touch capability you have to hold down the 'Touch Media' button on the side of the phone. This presents you with a menu system of seriously scaled-down options, such as opening your media gallery, playing music or loading up a game. In this mode you cannot drop back to your messages or call someone; to do that you must deactivate the Touch Media menu and revert back to the direction pad.

For a phone that proudly boasts a touchscreen facility, this is a puzzling choice. We can only guess that the designers at LG feared giving The Secret this trait 100 per cent of the time would result in people mistakenly dialling out when the phone was in their pocket, but surely a robust screen-lock would have circumvented such an issue.

As it stands, the Touch Media interface is likely to be ignored; activating it feels clunky and counter-intuitive and after a few days you'll forget it's even included, which is a crying shame. Apple has convincingly shown how well this technology can be integrated into mobile phones and had LG taken the same route with The Secret it would only have added to the already substantial appeal the handset possesses.

Unfortunately there are other issues. The tempered glass screen is virtually indestructible (no need for a screen protector here) but it proves to be a major magnet for unsightly finger marks; the battery life is typical of your average slim slider (poor) and ring volume isn't really loud enough for our liking – but to be brutally honest these aren't really serious enough to impinge on the overall experience, which is excellent.

Few phones can compete with the aesthetic allure of The Secret and what's under the bonnet is undeniably impressive as well; a few minor problems prevent it from being a wholly perfect product but the gorgeous design, robust multimedia abilities and engaging gaming features make this a phone we have no qualms about recommending.