The LG Optimus Black is a smartly designed Android phone that features a nice-looking display, a simple and clean user interface, and battery life that would make some far-more-expensive smartphones envious.
I spent a day using the phone and found it to be dependable and easy to use, despite the fact that its hardware and features are far from top-of-the-line among Android phones.
The phone's single-core processor was sufficient for the modest tasks I tried to perform using the phone's Android 2.2 (Froyo) OS. LG says that the Optimus is easy to upgrade to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).
LG Optimus Black - Design and build quality:
The LG Optimus Black is the leaner Optimus 2X: it still uses the same button layout and smudgy black plastic, but at 9.2mm deep it’s noticeably thinner, despite sporting a display of the same size. It’s not knock-out gorgeous like an iPhone 4, but LG’s added most of the right slots and holes: on the left you’ll find a volume rocker, while the top houses the screen lock/power button, micro USB port and 3.5mm audio jack for your headphones.
LG’s even found space for an extra key we’ve not seen before, the G button. With gestures turned on in the phone’s settings, you hold the G button to pull off various shortcuts. You can tap sides of the screen to skip a music track, or more usefully, shake the phone to answer or hang up a call when locked – it’s very handy if you’ve only got one paw free and you start ringing.
As thin and light as the LG Optimus Black is, it’s not the mesmerising mobile you might imagine it to be from its measurements. Its sloped edges actually serve to make it feel bulkier, and certainly several sizes up from the anorexic Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc and 8.5mm Samsung Galaxy S 2.
LG Optimus Black - Screen:
The screen on the LG Optimus Black brings a new word to the smartphone tech lexicon: it’s a “NOVA” display, which LG claims delivers the brightest colours yet with no impact on battery life.
Now it has delivered on this claim, since it’s more visible than most smartphone screens in direct sunlight, without sucking too much power. But truth be told it’s still more buzzword than anything else: all it amounts to is a bright screen with a relatively sharp 480×800 screen and decent viewing angles – we think most people will still prefer the incredible saturation and deep blacks of the Super AMOLED Plus panel on the Samsung Galaxy S 2. But this is the next best thing, and that’s no bad thing – naturally, touch response is flawless.
LG Optimus Black - Key features:
If the LG Optimus 2X was LG’s monster phone for spec heads, the LG Optimus Black is the next step down: a phone for people who value design and ease of use over benchmark scores and hackability.
LG’s forsaken a dual-core processor for a thinner frame, and infused it with a social ethos, from the contact syncing address book to its new Wi-Fi Direct tech. It hasn’t quite pulled off its lofty goal however: HTC does social better, while Sony Ericsson provides a better petite phone experience coupled with a killer camera.
LG Optimus Black - Usability:
The LG Optimus Black is powered by a single core processor clocked “only” at 1GHz. It’s nowhere near as fast as the twin-core Optimus 2X and Galaxy S 2 handsets, but most people won’t notice that in day to day use. It’s only when it comes to crunching multiple apps and games that you might trip it up.
Things aren’t so rosy on the software side of things however. LG’s shipped the Optimus Black with Android 2.2, a now year-old build of Google’s smartphone operating system. It’s not a kiss of death, but more problematic is how LG has skinned the software: it’s added some truly daft tweaks, like custom Facebook and Twitter apps that don’t do as much as the official ones, and a lock screen that you have to swipe up, and then enter your PIN to open.
LG Optimus Black - Connectivity:
As with any Android 2.2 or up smartphone, the LG Optimus Black comes with the trifecta of Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G, and can act as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot to get your laptop online wherever you have signal – for free.
While a HDMI telly connection is conspicuous by its absence, it also comes with one other new fangled but of tech: Wi-Fi Direct. Compatible phones (such as the Samsung Galaxy S 2) can connect at Wi-Fi speeds outside of hotspots to transfer files, like Bluetooth on speed. The number of supported phones makes it a bit pointless at the moment, but it’s a nice option to have and one we’re sure will steadily become the norm.
LG Optimus Black - Video and camera:
The five megapixel shooter on the LG Optimus Black turns in perfectly respectable stills in daylight. But one area where you may actually notice the slower processor is in the camera app: it’s oddly slow to load and process between shots, which can be a bit distracting. On the plus side, it also shoots reasonable 720p HD video, but then of course, so does the thinner Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, and its eight megapixel Exmor R sensor is a far superior still performer.
LG Optimus Black - Media playback:
LG hasn’t improved Android’s typical file format support beyond throwing in DivX support, but it has added a nice flourish: track controls in the notification tray, so you can pause, play and skip through songs without having to move back to your music player app every time. The LG Optimus Black also supports Flash, so you can stream online video straight to your handset.
LG Optimus Black - Call quality/battery life:
We couldn’t expect much better when it comes to acoustics from a thin phone, and we think any speakerphone obsessives will be particularly pleased with the sounds it emits. The 1500mAh battery inside the LG Optimus Black will last a solid day with all your connections turned on, but isn’t quite the match for HTC’s staminariffic Incredible S, which comes with very similar specifications.
Conclusion:
Overall I was quite impressed with the LG Optimus Black, it has an excellent display, and I really like the user interface, it is good too see a manufacturer just adding the bare minimum to Android, although we would have liked to see the Optimus Black come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box.
It does a good job with videos and gaming, and it well designed and light, and has a number of cool features, plus a decent camera, I would definitely recommend you take a look at the LG Optimus Black if you are in the market for a new smartphone.
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