We had a closer look of LG’s first ever Android phone today — the LG Optimus (LG GT540). LG Philippines is positioning it to be the most affordable Android phone in the country with a suggested retail price of Php12,900USD 220INR 18,635EUR 209CNY 1,601.
The specs of the LG Optimus is close to that of the HTC Hero, only way cheaper, and could be closely compared to the Samsung Spica. The line-up consists of 4 colors (white, black, silver and pink) although LG reps say they’ll skip the white one once it’s released in stores.
The various colors are targeted to specific demographics with the black (brushed-metal finish) one for men and the pink (quilt-like pattern on a glossy finish) one for women. LG is obviously looking to capture the lifestyle-inclined segment of the market.
One big question we repeatedly discussed was the use of a resistive screen instead the more commonly used capacitive display in Android phones. It takes a bit of time getting used to (especially if you’re very used to capacitive touchscreen phones) and there are obvious drawbacks like the inability to do multi-touch.
I reckon LG is looking to repeat the success of the Cookie with the Optimus (thus the resistive-TFT) — an affordable, fashionable Android phone.
LG added a UI layer on top of Android 1.6 (Donut) that allows for user-selectable (3, 5 or 7) Home Screens. First time I saw this option on an Android phone. Here’s a short clip of how the UI looks like.
LG Optimus GT540 specs:
3.0″ screen @ 320×480 pixels
Qualcomm MSM7227 600MHz CPU
130MB internal storage
up to 32GB via (2GB included)
3G/HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.1
3.15MP autofocus camera
FM Radio w/ RDS
GPS w/ aGPS support
Android 1.6
Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery
Instead of adding its own LG App Store, the system has an App Advisor that recommends useful and cool apps in the over 50,000 selections of the Android Market. LG also promised that an upgrade to Android 2.1 will be available via Service Center before the end of the year.
The LG Optimus will hit the stores in the first or second week of August with a recommended retail price of Php12,900USD 220INR 18,635EUR 209CNY 1,601.
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Teknisyan says:
Love the name… Optimus!! Lols!
Android, Droid, Optimus… what’s next?
First one here?! lols
manong says:
fashionable it is! magiging mabenta ito regardless of “flaws”, promise!
mael says:
hmm.. i didnt like the spica coz it didnt have an FM radio. good thing this one does..
so overall.. optimus or spica?
Fleeb says:
Screen bit depth?
lawrence says:
ok sya as long as upgradeable sa 2.1. spica has capacitive screen pero ala rin nman multi-touch dba?
@abe
sobrang layo ba ng user experience ng resistive compare to capacitive screens?
leeto says:
ano ba ang kaibahan ng resistive screen at capacitive display sorry ha, baguhan pa lang ako sa mga terms na yan. please teach me.
bryanflurry says:
Hi Abe, what’s the RAM of this phone? Thanks
irv says:
wala ba talagang pag-asa na magkamulti-touch kung resistive screen?
that kinda sucks.
Fleeb says:
irv – it’s a technological limitation, kaya nga nagkaroon ng capacitive touch screen para magkaroon ng multitouch and at the same time it is cheaper to make, di mo pwedeng pilitin yun kahit software update.
Curious ako sa bit depth ng screen na to. 24bit ba?
seaman says:
whats the difference between resistive screen and capacitive screen ? Apple – iphone, ipod touch what type of screen?
Fleeb says:
Resistive detects “touch” through “pressure”. Capacitive detects “touch” through electrical interaction between the screen and an object. Multitouch = capacitive.
poche says:
resistive un sa mga stylus or handwriting magaling sila. sa capacitive pwede magmulti touch disadvantage naman to un sa handwriting di kasing ganda pag resistive kaso pwede pa din naman. another disadvantage e pag naka gloves ka.
since pressure ang resistive ang isang tip dito e kuko gamitin nio pang pindot para mas mabilis response.
lawrence says:
there are some capacitive screened phones naman na hindi din nagsusupport ng multi-touch, by purpose siguro via software limitations. gaya nlng ng xperias at ng spica. pinaka advantage siguro tlaga ng resistive e ung lower price nya compare sa capacitive..
allan says:
P12k+ for an android phone is a steal. though i’m sure may shortcomings sya, but P12k+, that’s a bargain na. i hope abe will do more review sa phone na to. i think this phone may do well sa market with its price. & it’s 2.1 upgradable pa. san ka pa. nice one LG.
Miguel says:
HVGA resolution – nice! Gotta try out a unit. Multitouch isn’t that important for me.
Wakocoke says:
wow cheap android! eclair pa! haha sana pwede froyo
chintoguy29 says:
I’m a bit concerned about its resistive touchscreen. I saw a review from You Tube and the screen is not as responsive as capacitive touchscreen. I like the phone because of the price. But if there is no big difference on adjusting to resistive touchscreen I may buy this phone.
Pipo says:
I’m not sure if it’s visually appealing. Hmmm
lawrence says:
sabe sa gsmarena.. pangit daw ang lens ng camera.. like pics tend to be noisy and lack details.. kun totoo, medyo let down sya.. even video recording max out at vga 17fps.. O_o
Fleeb says:
We are not supposed to expect too much of smart phones in such price point.
simplynice93 says:
I have seen this phone at SM manila last monday lang. Problema lang talaga yung resistive touchscreen nya kung sanay ka na sa capacitive touchscreen. Pero ito na siguro ang pinakamurang android…for now. :)
mike says:
just wait for the Samsung Corby Android. It is priced at 11k pesos.
or better wait for the Redfox Android phone. It is priced at 9k pesos, dual sim.
Miguel says:
But the Samsung i5500 “Corby” has a QVGA screen – perhaps the comparison should be against the i5800 “Apollo.”
Ton says:
vs. Spica….spica has no radio, but higher proc and slimmer build. But this has less buttons (which I think is better on a touchscreen UI). Still Spica for me.
Guest says:
The HTC Wildfire was just available today. found 2 sellers in TPC selling them for 15,500.
sylv3rblade says:
@Ton
Capacity touch screen too. That’s a plus
nero says:
wow i like this!
leeto says:
thanks everyone. now i know the difference between a capacitive and resistive screens. SALAMAT sa inyo
melai says:
i like the phone it’s fantastic…i wish i had not yet purchased my nokia phone, too bad…hahahaha
melai says:
comment ulit ako..
ndi super nice and specs nia okay lang..
i thought super nice kasi i just looked at the pic knina…hahai
Sheena Go says:
When will this arrive? Where can I find this? Thanks!
yukime says:
Went to an LG shop and a saleslady let me try an actual unit for a few seconds. Waaaahaaaw! I want one. But I’m having doubts with the battery life of this one. Having a 6-month LG Cookie, I get out of the house with a fully-charged fone and at 10pm, I need to charge it again. And I’m not a heavy texter, not even a caller.
Clarz says:
sang brach / place po available ung white LG optimus na yan??
my friend really want that badly.. nagpa2help po siya..
bubbles says:
too late na ba mag comment dito? nawala optimus ko eh. Okey video capt niya. ung camera walei (walang flash). but im fine with it being resistive kuno kasi di siya kasing bilis magrespond. I mean, onting hawak mo lang kahit di mo sinasadya di naman siya bigla gagana. ung iba ang hirap gamitin, nadikitan mo lang kung anu ano na napipindot. okey na android siya kasi may freedom sa halos lahat. ewan. trip ko bumili ulit nito… tas bumili na lang ng matinong camera.
Adi says:
Got this phone and it is very nice… 600mghz is not bad for the cheapest android flatform mobile phone. The web browser is fantastic.
jun says:
Dont buy any LG products.. !!!Low quality… low Resale Value….
John Ray Ebora says:
eto na lang kaya ipabili ko sa ate ko, gusto ko kc eh archos 70 tablet, since £100 lang to sa uk, which is 6,800php to be exact, mas mkakatipid pa xa.
ok lang kaya features nito? mejo sanay naman ako sa resistive (Im a samsung star user)
hehe.
marco says:
@JR ebora tama ka jn bro..d2 kna pabili £100 lng makakamura ka..i got this phone last dec 15..ngayon nkasale pa..its user friendly..android 2.1 na..lot of features..kulang nlng mg-transform..LOL!cheers!!
tebenets says:
just recently acquired this unit. graduated from symbian phone (E71). so far so good. but i noticed that sometimes it had do an auto reboot (updated to eclair). hopefully they give this a froyo update.
battery life is not as good as e71 (2 days vs 3-4 days). internal memory is quite limited.
planning to upgrade this to Wildfire but after seeing some problems, might as well stick around with this. that is until globe offers the rumored iphone 5. hehehe