After the success of the Chocolate phone with its touch-sensitive controls, LG has come up with a phone with almost no buttons. Designed from the ground up in conjunction with high fashion label Prada, the new mobile is a real joy.

And a real head-turner. Although lots of the attention it gained was initially accompanied with the question, ‘Is that the Apple iPhone?’ the discovery that it was the Prada handset attracted coos of excitement in its own right.

The Prada by LG uses a capacitance sensor – like the touchpad on a notebook computer – which creates an electric field which the touch of a finger interrupts. So you can’t use a stylus to operate it, and thick gloves may get in the way.

Where the LG Chocolate phone had only a small sensor, the Prada handset sensor covers almost the entire front of the phone. So jabbing away with your finger pretty much anywhere has an effect. For example, pick the Fish theme to load a wallpaper animation that has a cute and colourful pond background. Touch the screen and a goldfish swims to your finger.

But this is a fashion phone, if ever there was one, so most of the chic-crowd will probably stick with the demure black-and-white Prada default screen with a clock in the middle of the display – unless, that is, you’d prefer the clock to be in the top left corner, in which case you can drag it there with your finger. A tap on the clock sets the alarm. All the screen options are strong enough to be easily read in bright daylight, but this is the easiest to see.

Such a large screen could be susceptible to scratches, perhaps. So Prada supplies a stiff leather (Prada-branded) case for the phone. It’s certainly a magnet for finger smudges, but since this gives you an excuse to polish the handset, it’s not entirely a negative thing.

The virtual dialling pad that appears when you want to make calls is large – bigger than on many conventional mobiles – and responsive. Less successful is the letter pad that pops up when you’re texting. It certainly works, but you’ll want to press the virtual keys just that little bit more carefully, and therefore slowly, than a regular phone. It’s definitely not a problem, but not quite as wonderful as the rest of the phone’s attributes.

Battery life is acceptable, though not outstanding, lasting a day and a half of moderate use – you may want to charge it each day to be on the safe side.
When using the 2-megapixel camera, shooting and viewing pictures full screen is great, and the large display makes surfing the internet a breeze, too.

Overall this is an impressive, though not a perfect handset, but any drawbacks are more than offset by the sheer stylishness of the phone and the knowledge that everyone is going to be jealous you’ve got one.