We got our hands on the new LG Optimus Black last week, which is LG’s latest Android smartphone, and we have been testing it out over the weekend, so we thought it was about time to let you guys know what we thought of the LG Optimus Black.

The LG Optimus Black is an Android 2.2 device, it comes with Android 2.2.2 out of the box, although LG have said that they intend to updated it to 2.3 shortly after release. The Optimus Black is due to launch in the UK and Europe later this month and it is scheduled to launch in the US next month.

Specifications

The LG Optimus Black features a 4 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, there is also a 5 megapixel camera on the back, which has a range of features that include a dual LED flash, autofocus and Geo-tagging.

The camera is capable of recording HD video in 720p at 30 frames per second, and you also get a 2 megapixel up front for video chat. processing is provided by a 1GHz TI IMAP 3630 processor.

Other features on the LG Optimus Black include a built in FM Radio, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, DNLA, and the Optimus Black can be used as a mobile hotspot.

Design, Display, UI

The Optimus Black measures 4.8 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide, and it is pretty thin measuring just 0.23 inches at its thinnest part, it is also very light weighing in at just 3.84 ounces, it does fell like a wall made and well designed device.

The Display on the Optimus Black is excellent, it uses NOVA technology which is designed to provide you with a much brighter display, without using up your battery, and everything looks sharp and crystal clear on the Optimus Black display.

The Optimus Black Display is designed to give you a much brighter screen for outdoor use, and this works pretty well, and it is definitely a lot easier to use outdoors than some of the other devices available on the market.

The User Interface on the Optimus Black is very good, LG have kept things to a minimum and haven’t added a lot extra widgets, and it makes the UI very nice to use and easily customizable to suit your needs.

Hopefully this should ensure that LG will be able to upgrade the Optimus Black to future versions of Android without too much trouble.

Processor And Camera

The Optimus Black features a single core 1GHz OMAP 3630 processor, and it seems pretty snappy, there we no delays or lag when launching apps, watching videos, browsing the web, and the processor seemed to handle the majority of tasks very well.

The main camera on the Optimus Black is a 5 megapixel one on the back, it features a dual LED flash, and ge0-tagging, there is also built in autofocus, and the camera does a good job, exactly what you would expect from a five megapixel camera on a smartphone.

The rear camera is capable of recording HD video, in 720p at 30 frames per second, and just like with the still photos the Optimus Black gives you exactly what you would expect from a decent smartphone camera.

You also get a two megapixel camera up front for video chat, which is a lot better than some of the other smartphones available that come with a VGA camera on the front.

Battery Life

The Optimus Black features a 1500mAh battery, and with the bright 4 inch display I was expecting the battery life to suffer a little on the Optimus Black, I was quite surprised with the results. LG’s NOVA technology, obviously does exactly what it was designed too, give you a bright and crisp display without sacrificing battery life.

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.

We are expecting the Optimus Black to go on sale in the UK next week, and then in the US next month, we don’t have any information on pricing as yet, as soon as we get some more information we will let you know, make sure you check out the Optimus Black gallery below.