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LG is not backward about coming forwards with its mobile phones at the moment. The last one I had in my hands was the Secret and before that the KF700. Both are sliders just like the LG phone I am holding right now, the KF510.

The KF510 is a solid phone with tempered glass and a metal fascia that don't contribute too much to its overall weight. At 110g it is on a par with others in its class. However, as is generally the case with handsets that incorporate this sleek, glassy design, the front fascia grabs grease and I was forever wiping fingerprints off.

If you can keep it grease-free, the phone is quite a looker. The design incorporates what the press release calls ‘metal gradation paint schemes'. Basically this means that the handset's grey front fascia is darker at the top than it is at the bottom, subtly shifting between shades through its length. No, it isn't enough to make you hanker after the phone, but it is distinctive.

What might endear you more is that this is a very thin slider. Just 10.9mm thin to be precise. It is 49.5mm wide and 104.5mm tall growing to about 133mm when opened.

Open the slide and the number pad is huge. It is just a number pad, and so the keys can be stretched out to accommodate all the available space. Call, End and other keys are, well, elsewhere.

The key size might be a plus but the hardware design of the numberpad is disappointing. The flat keys are faced with a rubbery layer which feels like it won't take too much bashing. In fact, with no effort at all, I lifted it away from the base with a fingernail. I just wonder how well it will survive in the real world.

With the slide closed the screen seems a little lost in its surroundings. It measures 2.2-inches across the diagonal, and I reckon a little more could have been squeezed out. Its 240 x 320 pixels aren't a surprise, though and its 262 thousand colours are par for the course.

What makes the screen look small is the huge expanse of nothingness beneath it. Directly under the screen is a horizontal metal bar, and beneath that an area devoid of any markings or buttons at all.

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