LG Optimus Black review

LG’s Optimus Black was launched with much less fanfare than the company’s flagship LG Optimus 2X or fancy LG Optimus 3D, but it’s an Android 2.2 handset with a single-core 1GHz processor that’s lighter than the Samsung Galaxy S2. It’s not quite as thin, but we preferred its design to the aforementioned LG phones.

The phone looks similar to the iPhone 4, with edge-to-edge glass on the front and rounded edges. There’s a large space above the screen for LG’s logo and a front-facing camera, while below the screen are four touch-sensitive buttons for the standard Android shortcuts – Menu, Home, Back and Search. The power button and screen unlock is at the top of the phone, and there’s a small sliding cover for the micro-USB port. It’s worth noting that removing the back cover gives you direct access to the microSD card slot, unlike some phones which require the removal of the battery.

A major selling point is the bright 4in screen, which has a high 480×800 resolution. It’s actually an IPS panel, which means it has better contrast and wider viewing angles than standard LCD TN panels. Its maximum brightness of 700cd/m2 is enough to make it readable in direct sunlight, although in everyday use we found the automatic brightness setting was sufficient – giving vibrant colours and good contrast under most types of lighting. It may not have as high a resolution as some of the latest Quarter HD (540 x 960) screens, but there’s plenty of room for nearly all apps and it’s ideal for web browsing in landscape mode.

Powering the Optimus Black is a single-core ARM Cortex-A8 processor running at 1GHz. This may not be as fast as the latest dual-core mobile processors, but in everyday operation we didn’t notice any lag in the phone’s operation. A Quadrant score of 1310 means it’s about as fast as an HTC Desire S, while a score of 6302 in the SunSpider JavaScript test is about the same as the HTC Sensation, so web pages should load quickly and work smoothly.

Like Samsung, LG has replaced most of the standard Android icons with flashier versions, but unlike Samsung it hasn’t actually replaced the applications themselves, so you still get the great Android Clock and Gallery apps. LG has added a separate alarm clock app, but it doesn’t offer any extra functionality. App Advisor shows a small list of recommended apps, while RemoteCall lets an LG support engineer log into your phone to fix problems. SmartShare is a DLNA-aware app that lets you browse for media servers to stream audio and video to the phone, and there’s also a copy of Polaris Office, an office file and PDF viewer.

You can use gestures, which differ depending on context, to control some of the apps. Flipping the phone over while it’s ringing sends the call to voicemail, while doing so while watching a movie will pause it, for example. You can also tap the side of the phone to move horizontally through the Gallery or home pages, and there’s a dedicated ‘G’ button that can be used in conjunction with other gestures to execute more actions.

Sadly, LG has decided to replace the standard Android keyboard completely – you don’t even have the option to switch back to it. LG’s keyboard doesn’t have word prediction turned on by default, and it’s not very good anyway. Selecting words isn’t as easy as on Android 2.3 or HTC’s Sense – there’s no pop-up magnifying glass to help you move the small cursor. If you’re feeling adventurous, it does let you use voice input using Google’s experimental libraries, but we found this unreliable.

Although the Optimus Black is a bit expensive SIM-free at £320, we’ve managed to find it on contract for just over £20 per month on an 18-month contract, including a data allowance. While some of the Optimus Black’s software is annoying, this can be fixed by installing replacement apps (or even installing a custom ROM, if you’re adventurous). It’s the hardware that’s really impressive – the low weight, bright screen and novel gesture control make it great value on contract, so it wins our Budget Buy award.