Product Listing

LG Optimus Black - Shining Black (Updated!)

By Seow Tein Hee - 7 Jul 2011
Launch SRP: S$768

Performance - Part II

In Brightest Day

The Optimus Black's unique proposition comes from its Nova display, an IPS panel which the company claims has a brightness level of 700 nits and reduces power consumption by 50 percent. Now, the former claim is definitely true, given how we had to keep the display brightness relatively low. Under direct sunlight, the Optimus Black managed to have good screen legibility even at a moderate brightness level of 50%. Eventually, we realized it's not exactly a good idea to leave the device on auto-brightness, since it tends to overcompensate and blinded us when we were indoors.

Screen brightness aside, the Optimus Black sports a 4.0-inch display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. While there's nothing game-changing over these specifications, the device was sufficient to bring out the clarity and sharpness of images and movies played on it. Sound quality was average, giving a modest showing of its multimedia performance.

The Optimus Black doesn't go out of its way to impress in the imaging sector, choosing a 5-megapixel camera and a single LED to do its imaging chores. Fortunately, we got some good results from the camera. Images were well-balanced along the color spectrum, while details were mostly up to par from what we saw on the resolution chart. Great for general shots, we say, but that's about it.

The 5-megapixel camera proved to be an average performer, with decent imaging quality and color reproduction across the test charts.

Even with a strong incandescent light source active, the white balance was faithful, though we did notice images seem a tad darker than usual.

As for its battery life, we conducted our usual battery tests to ascertain LG's claims. Our testing methodology involves test video with a 480 x 800 resolution looping under the following conditions:

  • Screen brightness and volume at 100%
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection active
  • Constant data stream via email and Twitter

To ascertain the company's claims against AMOLED devices, we gathered the data from our earlier test done on the Samsung Galaxy S as a comparison point. To give a better gauge, we also included the Samsung Nexus S, which is essentially the S-LCD variant of the Galaxy S, and the HTC Incredible S with similar display size and specifications.

Specifications/Device LG Optimus Black Samsung Galaxy S Samsung Nexus S HTC Desire
Processor
  • Single core 1GHz
  • Single core 1GHz
  • Single core 1GHz
  • Single core 1GHz
Display Size
  • 4.0-inch
  • 4.0-inch
  • 4.0-inch
  • 3.7-inch
Display Type
  • IPS Nova
  • Super AMOLED
  • S-LCD
  • AMOLED / S-LCD
Display Resolution
  • 480 x 800 pixels
  • 480 x 800 pixels
  • 480 x 800 pixels
  • 480 x 800 pixels
Dimensions
  • 122 x 64 x 9.2mm
  • 122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9mm
  • 127.74 x 63 x 11.5mm
  • 119 x 60 x 11.9mm
Weight
  • 109g
  • 119g
  • 140g
  • 135g
Battery
  • 1500 mAh
  • 1500 mAh
  • 1500 mAh
  • 1400 mAh

The numbers do speak for themselves. Against the Samsung Galaxy S and its Super AMOLED display, the Optimus Black paled in comparison. Our earlier data from the first production batch of the HTC Desire using an AMOLED screen also refuted LG's power efficiency claim of its Nova display. While the Optimus Black was lacking in battery mileage, its overall weight and dimensions managed to give it an edge over the Samsung Nexus S in the portability index. While it does come in close to the HTC Desire's numbers, it has quite a fair bit to catch up against the Samsung Galaxy S.

With different panels such as IPS, AMOLED and S-LCD under comparison, the test parameters aim to keep the data under strict control. But here's some food for thought: the Optimus Black's maximum brightness is relatively higher than its counterparts. While our test parameters are kept consistent to get a fair assessment on the battery performance, it is understandable that power consumption is increased with a higher brightness level. As such, the lower scores from the Optimus Black's battery life is not a surprise, and given how we've mentioned that the screen can be a tad blinding, you'll most likely keep the brightness to a minimum level and thus get a slightly better overall mileage.

This is relfected in our real-world usage of the Optimus Black. This includes the usual calls, SMS, web browsing and apps loading on both the Wi-Fi and 3G networks. Lasting slightly more than a full day, this is a subjective indication of how the device should work for the average user, and it could vary if you focus more on data usage.

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7.5
  • Design 7.5
  • Features 7.5
  • User-Friendliness 7.5
  • Performance 7.5
  • Value 7.5
The Good
Light and slim
Good display legibility under strong sunlight
Minimal buttons to keep design sleek
The Bad
Poor handling, tends to slip from grip
Low battery mileage for single-core device
Lacking in responsiveness
Design/build could have been better
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