Testing The Mettle

In the battle of the slides, intelligent plastic trumps the shiny metal

Armed with shiny, sturdy, metalled exteriors and large colour screens, the new range of slide phones from LG and Samsung have been fighting for consumer attention. Even though both the companies have stuck to their claims of fetching features and lightning fast responses, we decided to test their mettle.

When it comes to looks, the LG Shine KE 970 easily surpasses its rivals. The slide phone looks like it has been welded open from a metal block and is soldered for connectivity. Compared to the Samsung E840 and D900i metal series, the Shine is heavier and bulkier, with a keypad that demands muscular, ahem, fingertips. Samsung phones have gone the other way, keeping up the appearances of titanium hardness while sticking to the featherweight plastic.

All three have screens that are the normal 2.2-inch format and display 262,000 colours. But a flick of the power switch brings alive the differences. While the E840 and D900i have gone in for the standard Samsung menu and static wallpapers, the LG has opted for a minimalist animated wallpaper with flowers that bloom as you rush through the central scroll key. Yet, it8217;s this key that gives the Shine a whole new user experience.

The scroll key gives access to a menu system which lets you move vertically with a gentle slide, and horizontally by pressing the side buttons. Selections are still through the two main buttons placed right under the screen. Samsung, on the other hand, has stuck to the older, reliable and comfortable configuration of four buttons to pick and cancel calls and menu selections, and a navigational central key. While the D900i has done this with buttons, the E840 has four touch-sensitive spots, which make navigation very easy.

All three metal monsters are also equipped with music and video players, cameras, movie clips and sound recorders, and a host of connectivity options. Here, the E840 is the clear winner. Though the camera is just 2 megapixels, it8217;s fast and preloaded with a range of frames, colour options, speed settings and effects. From sepia to motion shots, it gives results that are worth printing. The only drawback is the lack of a flash. The other two have flash, yet the D900i with its 3-megapixel camera has a slow response and a very feeble flash while the Shine lacks Samsung8217;s features.

The most fun feature of Samsung is an inbuilt image editor that lets you do basic image editing and set these as customised wallpapers, backgrounds and caller-specific images. The Shine simply fails to shine here.

All the phones have user-friendly music players that churn out tunes in a variety of formats. Yet, the Samsung E840 takes the lead. Sonic majors Bang and Olufsen have equipped the phone, and true to their name, the sound player8217;s quality remains unmatched.

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While both, the LG Shine slide and the D900i are priced reasonably at Rs 12,990 and Rs 14,899, the E840 comes for a more affordable Rs 11,499. The metal shines, but intelligent plastic wins this round.