After nearly a week of comparisons between Samsung Galaxy S, Samsung Google Nexus S, Dell Venue & LG Optimus Black, I took the decision of buying LG Optimus Black. I have been using it for about couple of days now and I think I made a wise decision to go with it.
One of the things I always see while buying a Mobile phone is whether it is value for money – My first Android phone was Samsung Galaxy Spica and I have been extremely happy with it for close to 15 months that I have used it. Apart from some trivial issues here and there, it served me perfectly. It was worth every penny I spent on it and more..
And I hope LG Optimus Black will follow the same legacy!
This post specifically talks about why I made the decision of buying LG Optimus Black – If you are currently looking to buy a mid-range Android phone, this post should interest you!
Reasons why I bought LG Optimus Black
Before I start talking about LG Optimus Black, let me tell you why I did not buy its competitors…
When I started hunting for phones, my first choice phone was Google Nexus S. Android 2.3.3 and NFC were the 2 reasons I decided to go for it and additionally, I knew, I would have bragging rights to the latest Android OS, now and in the future. Flipkart’s price of Rs. 19,999 was too enticing and I just stopped shy of ordering it. Looking back I think I made the right decision.
Google Nexus S is a developer phone, there is no better handset for developers, but it has some basic flaws. It does not support external SD card, so no additional storage and although 16 GB is a lot, what happens if the phone’s OS gets corrupted or falls in a puddle of water in this rainy season. It’s not the phone, but you will lose your data and there is no way of getting it back. Also, the phone is quite clunky and the plastic back looks quite flimsy. When I handled the phone in the shop, it just did not give me a good comfort feeling.
Samsung Galaxy S was my 2nd choice phone, and again SGS has nearly everything that LG Optimus Black has but as of today it i sa phone that was launched about an year back and comparing it face to face with LG Optimus black looked like a winner.
Dell Venue was out of question because not only was it expensive, but lacked some of the basic features – I guess you just search for its specifications on Google and you will know what I was talking about. Dell Venue never really interested me!
And finally – Why LG Optimus Black? Here are the reasons…
- 4” Nova display is awesome…If you crank up the brightness to maximum, it is so bright that probably your eyes hurt (in a good way). I can confidently say it is brighter than AMOLED – I used it in SUN (the little that I could get due to cloudy monsoon days) and the screen remained perfectly clear. A welcome change from my Samsung Galaxy Spica, which really made me difficult to use it is proper sunlight !
- Not only is the Nova Display bright and vivid, LG claims it saves 50% battery as compared to AMOLED.
- 2 megapixel front camera (only SGS II has it) in addition to 5 megapixel back. It also has HD recording (720p). Although, I have not tried it as yet, looks good from whatever I have seen it as yet
- Direct Wireless transfer – LG Optimus Black is the only phone that has it. It is very similar to Bluetooth transfer, only that it is much faster. This is an awesome feature when you want to transfer heavy files and it supports any wi-fi device !
- It is unbelievably light – All of 112 grams I think, It is one of the lightest Smartphones for its screen size
- Very comfortable form factor – Although, it has a large 4” screen, much thinner – Infact, I guess it is the thinnest phone of the lot around 6 mm thick.
- Full Front Gorilla Glass from top to bottom with no buttons. The front of this phone is probably the best I have seen!
- Gesture strokes…this sure does have bragging rights attached to it!
- Mpeg, DIV, Mp4 Video format play …throw any video file at it and it should probably play
- The biggest reason I got this phone was the relatively low cost. I tried searching online and the cost is roughly 20,000 including Flipkart. But I was lucky to get it at Rs. 18,800/- at a local store!
At that cost LG Optimus Black is real value…No doubt about it !
Let us know if you have any questions…Comments are open
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23 Comments
Parag
Hey Arun,
This is a pretty nice review.
Could you tell how is the battery for this phone with 3G service enabled?
arun
Hey Parag,
Its a 1500 MAh battery, which is standard. If you are very heavy user of 3g, the battery may die before the day is over…but if you are moderate user – it gives very decent 1 to 1.5 day of usage… The battery life is neither great not bad…its average..
Hope that helps..
Suhas
Hi Arun,
What store did you get this phone from?
arun
I bought it from a Shop on JM Road in Pune called New Digital Zone. This shop is next to Panchali hotel…
Ramesh
Hi Arun,
Is it upgradeable to 2.3 gingerbread ? and any problem with camera like stills getting shaked or with recording video ? wont the brightness of the display eat up battery power ? i read a review http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/11/lg-optimus-bla… its says battery backup is worst is that true ?
arun
Yup, It says upgradeable to 2.3 gingerbread, But I tried doing it at home and it just upgraded to Froyo 2.2.2… I will have to go to LG dealer and find out about the upgrade…will update once I know about it..
About Battery…after 3-4 days usage, I think battery is on the lower side but cant call it worst by any standard. I have been using it heavily so battery discharges before the day ends…but SGS and other phones in same league are equal… I think after gingerbread comes in, battery utilization should improve as there are lot of inbuilt optimizations
Ramesh
Thanks for your reply. what about camera stills and video recording any problem with that ? even thought nova display reduces power consumption to 50% why its eating up battery i mean to ask what are the things which eat up battery ?
chetan
Hi Arun…
Today I went to mobile shop line near panchali hotel. I am not sure it is Digital mobile, but the guy there told me the price min 19,800/-
Can u help me for getting the same for u paid..
arun
Hey Chetan,
Please click on this link – http://bit.ly/iZxGGH . The mobile number is given. Please tell him I had come 4 days back to pick up Optimus Black and want the same price…and he will give it..
Deepak
hey dude plz tell me how the audio quality of the phone is?does it have nice bass?
I am looking for smarphone with good music and web browser as i heavily use internett
Sarah
Hi Arun
Thanks for the post. I just had one query…. does it have a word, excel editor? if it does then i m surely buying it… coz thats the most imp feature for me.Waiting for ur response…
arun
Dear Sarah,
Yes, it has an inbuilt office editor…called polaris office – https://www.infraware.co.kr/eng/01_product/produc… . if you dont like it…you can also download few apps available in Android market… I think it should not disappoint you…
Sarah
thanks a ton arun for a quick response.
andhrababu
Hi Arun,
It is nice review.. I am planning to buy this mobile this weekend, but have a question…
in some reviews it is mentioned that audio quality is poor and no bass at all.
Can you please confirm how is the audio quality??
arun
Audio Quality is not poor – but average. The Audio quality is good, but the volume is a little lower. It does play high, middle and lower notes well…Bass is not like woofer offcourse…but for a such a sleek phone it is good enough for me.
"Good" is a perception – What may be excellent for me may not be necessarily as good for you…
Bottom Line – It has average speakers…and as far as I can they are similar to nearly all 4 inch android phones available in the market…
The Gadget Fan
arun says
Andrababu . i would not say that audio is bad , but the volume is on slightly lower side. Again.. high, mids and lows are clear….
i would rate audio as average
shabhrish
hi buddy,
Thanks for your review over the phone , can you please help me find the store where you bought it at 18,800/- even i am planning to buy 1. Kindly reply soon possible. i stay in bangalore.
sumedh7r
Will wait for 4-5 months….the price seems to go down till 17999/-
RAJESH
ARUN I HAVE CHECKED IN IGYAAN VIDEO REVIEW OF THIS BLACK,,,,,,HE HAS CLEARLY SHOWED THE WEAK SIGNAL CATHCHING ABILITIES OF THIS CELL,,,,,,IS IT TRUE
R U FACING THE SAME PROBLEMS
timelife
To be honest I have not faced those problems as yet….having said that I have not tried using the phone in bad conditions… One thing though… I have used mobile properly in closed elevators / lifts and have still managed to speak without any issues….so I am not sure if it has signal catching problem…
Vaibhav
Hi Arun,
that was really good detailed review u wrote abt this the way u sorted out Opti Black is same i have gone thru ……….its just like BAAP in specs …but just little worried about battery life yaar …since i m too lazy to charge my phone………so as u would had a good long experience of using it ….so please frankly share with us Did it got any low battery life problems because even official LG website shows its talk-time of 250mins ( 4.4 hrs )….w8ing for ur reply as after clearing this query i m gona buy it……….!!!!
timelife
Like I said in the post – it all depends on your usage. If you keep 3G on all the time, the battery will finish before the day is over. If you use 3G judiciously or use one of the many apps that help you to keep juice in you android phone battery, then it will go over a day. IF you shut of 3G and use edge/ gprs only…it should easily got for 1.5 to 2 days…
Swanidhi
Hey ! Nice article. I will probably order this cell phone tomorrow. Getting for 18250 on flipkart.
MY QUESTION IS ABOUT THE SCREEN.. Is the screen resistant enough towards scratches? if not, i would have no choice, but to go for Samsung G S i9003. Do lemme know at the earliest, because I have'nt read any suck specification about its screen anywhere.
– http://swanidhisingh.com