A straight no-nonsense handset, LG KE500 blends clean styling with decent multimedia. It doesn't pretend to outShine and outsweet its haughty siblings, but still has enough to offer: neat sliding design, a 2 MP camera, memory card slot and FM radio.

Key features

• Neat styling
• 2 MP camera with LED flash
• 55 MB of onboard memory
• microSD memory card slot
• Very fast menu navigation
• Music player and FM radio
• Flight mode
• Bluetooth with A2DP profile
• Bluetooth messaging
• USB Mass Storage
• GPRS and EDGE class 10
• Headset with a 3.5 mm jack adapter and volume control in the main package

Main disadvantages

• Display is hardly legible under direct sunlight
• More refined materials would've suited the handset better
• Memory card is not hotswappable
• No indication of missed calls
• Video recording at 176 x 144 pixels only
• No email client

LG KE500

The South Korean maker has always put special emphasis on design. The new mid-tier LG KE500 is an attempt to cater to budget-minded, yet style-sensitive mobile users.

Slider driving on simplicity • neat and adornment-free back panel