LG Optimus Black

The Optimus Black is the latest addition to LG's collection of Android smartphones.  With a less impressive hardware spec than the Optimus 2X, the manufacturer is hoping that this new Google phone will appeal to a broader range of customers.  It has a reworked design, a new, brighter Nova screen and a 5 Megapixel camera as well as video calling and a whole new user interface, but what's the Optimus Black like under the pressure of everyday use?  We took it for a spin to find out ...

Sleek, ultra-light design

The Optimus Black's unfussy design is helped by the fact that it's just 7 mm thick at the thinnest point, which gives it a certain minimalist chic.  We're glad to see a matte black finish has finally replaced the traditional glossy black which so often gets covered with greasy fingerprints.

When we first picked it up, we were so surprised by how light the Optimus Black is that we thought we'd forgotten to install the battery.  But we hadn't: at just 109 g, compared to the 147 g from the Optimus 2X, the Optimus Black is so light you hardly notice it's there, whether you've slid it into a pocket or are holding it in your hands.  There's nothing to criticise about the build quality, which is impeccable right down to the assembly of the individual components and the flaps that cover the connectors.


Unlike the Optimus 2X—LG's flagship smartphone—the Optimus Black doesn't have an HDMI port.  It still supports the DLNA standard though, which is supposed to speed up moving multimedia between compatible devices.  We're not convinced that the technology is that mature yet.

Nova, a new display technology from LG, is making its début on the Optimus Black.  It promises unrivalled brightness and whites that are whiter than white.  In reality, the new 4'', 800 x 460'' IPS screen is very bright—without even turning the brightness up to maximum, which should help save a little bit of battery life.  You can still see what's going on in bright sunlight. 

The contrast is reasonable, but nothing like what you get from Super AMOLED technology which is capable of producing infinite contrast ratios.  When it comes to the information shown on screen, it's very clear with very legible text, even if it's not quite as precise as on the iPhone 4's Retina display.

In general, the colours could do with being a little bit less saturated: even pastel shades look bright, a problem that also afflicts Super AMOLED displays.  Still, unlike most mobile phone displays, the white on show here is neutral and really looks like white for once.

Interface and Navigation

In general, the user interface is the same as the one found on the Optimus 2X.  LG's custom Facebook, MySpace and Twitter apps are fun to use on their own, but LG doesn't offer a combined app that brings together content from different social networks in the same place.


LG has added a feature (or a gizmo?) called gestures that you can activate using the 'G' button on the side of the phone.  Users can associate around a dozen different gestures with functions on the phone: in the music player, you can tap on the left-hand side of the phone to skip back a track or on the right-hand side to skip forward for example.  Or you can hold down the G button and shake the phone to open the camera app.  We're sure some people think it's great fun, and maybe even useful, but it takes quite a while to get used to shaking your phone so much.


The Optimus Black has a 1 GHz TI processor which gives it enough power to be responsive and generally smooth.  But even though it's a real treat to use, this smartphone isn't quite as fast as some of its rivals especially when it's running several apps at once.  That goes for Apple, HTC and Samsung, but also LG's own Optimus 2X and Optimus 3D, both of which have a duel-core processor.  This is visible when you open apps: it's fast enough, but we've seen faster.  Extremely demanding users who are used to ultra-fast scrolling should watch out as they might find themselves frustrated.

Multimedia

We're glad to report that the Korean manufacturer has though to include a better audio player than the one we're used to in Android.  We'd still be careful to not turn the volume on the speakers up too much to avoid them getting saturated.  Overall, the sound they produce is pretty clear, but stereo isn't great.  That's not a problem for a phone call but discerning listeners will be able to hear the difference when it comes to music.  The Optimus Black has an FM radio.

Web browsing doesn't present any problems, apart from the fact that scrolling through long pages isn't entirely exempt from a little lag.  Managing favourites and the history is as you'd expect for a mobile phone.



LG has also included its own video player, which works well and deserves its direct shortcut on the homescreen.  It can play DivX and Xvid files natively without any conversion, which is a definite strength.  More disappointing is the fact that it can't handle the MKV format, which is now increasingly standard.

Recording HD video is limited to 720p, unlike the 1080p offered by the Optimus 2X and the results are reasonable for a smartphone in this segment.

To finish up with a look at battery life, it's easy to get through two days with needing to recharge the Optimus Black.  That's not exactly wonderful, but it's good enough.