LG Optimus Black P970 (Black Titan, 2 GB)

The LG Optimus Black is a smartphone running Android 2.2 Froyo OS with a WVGA display. The Optimus Black P970 is powered by a 1 GHz Cortex-A8 processor with a PowerVR SGX530 GPU for handling graphic intensive apps.

The LG Optimus Black features a Nova IPS Display which LG claims it to be the best ever display they have fitted on a smartphone. The screen packs the same 800 x 480 pixels as that on the LG Optimus 2X, albeit with enhanced brightness, richer contrast ratios and improved sunlight legibility. The 5 megapixel camera on the Optimus P970 is complimented by a LED flash and can record 720p HD video. There is a front facing 2 megapixel camera for video calls.

The phone features LG's Optimus 2.0 UI and brings new features like missed calls or new message alerts on your lockscreen. The intelligent lockscreen also takes you to the relevant section as soon as you unlock the screen. Apart from that, the LG Black packs the usual Froyo 2.2 goodies like flash supported browser, Wi-Fi tethering support and wireless control from the notification bar.

Design

The Optimus Black wears a sleek, minimalistic chassis and conveys a sense of understated sophistication with its continuous lines. Weighing a frugal 109 g and measuring 9.2 mm in thickness, the Optimus Black is one of the slimmest and most portable mid-high end Android phones in the market. The phone comes with a accelerometer for auto UI orientation, a proximity sensor for auto turn-off and a ambient light sensor for auto brightness adjust.

LG has introduced a G button in the Optimus Black P970, once pressed, it allows you to control the phone with various preset motion gestures. The button utilizes the handset's accelerometer to understand the gestures and allows various functions like panning around a web page, changing homescreens or accepting calls without unlocking the screen.

Battery and Storage

LG has slimmed down the 1500 mAh battery to fit it into the thin chassis of the Optimus Black. The Lithium Ion cell gives 16 hrs of talk time and 455 hrs of standby. The P970 comes with 1 GB of internal memory and supports up to 32 GB microSD cards.

Connectivity and Features

The Optimus Black can connect to the Internet via 3G, Wi-Fi and GPRS networks. The phone is preloaded with Android Webkit browser with pinch-to-zoom and kinetic scrolling support. LG has preloaded the Optimus Black with custom versions of Facebook and Twitter apps, with contact integration and sharing support. The SmartShare app detects songs/videos in your computer and offers to play it on your TV via DLNA connectivity. The media player on the Optimus Black supports Dolby Mobile effect which gives a discernible acoustic improvement when you connect your headphones.

The Wi-Fi Direct feature on the LG Optimus Black P970 facilitates quick and easy wireless transfers between compatible devices. The best part about the technology is that it does not require a wireless access point (Router) and works similar to Bluetooth transfers. The Optimus Black features A-GPS connectivity with Digital Compass and syncs with Google Maps. Other features in the P970 include Document Viewer, Push Mail support, Voice commands and Organizer.