Mobile

LG Optimus Black lands; priced at Php19,990

Abe Olandres May 6, 2011 · 2 min read

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Aside from the Optimus 2X which was launched by LG yesterday, they also showed us the LG Optimus Black. This 4-inch, 1GHz Android smartphone will have a retail price only Php19,990.

The Optimus Black is among the thinnest we’ve seen lately (SE Xperia Arc comes in at 8.7mm and the Galaxy S2 is 8.5mm) at only 9.2mm — that’s still 0.1mm thinner than the iPhone4.

The Optimus Black will definitely go head to head with the likes of the Desire S, Galaxy SL and Xperia Arc.

LG Optimus Black P970
TI OMAP 3630 1.0GHz processor
4-inch Nova display @ 480Ã—800 pixels
2 GB storage
512 MB RAM
up to 32GB via microSD
HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
WiFi Direct
Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP
GPS w/ aGPS support
Stereo FM radio with RDS
5MP autofocus camera with LED flash
720p video recording
2MP front-facing camera
Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery
Optimus UI 2.0
Android 2.2 Froyo (upgradable to 2.3)

The Optimus Black is also the first smartphone I’ve tried that runs on a Texas Instrument processor (though only single-core compared to the dual core on the Optimus 2X). It’s Android 2.2 out of the box but LG says it will be upgradeable to Android 2.3 once the updates are out.

See video demo below:

The Optimus UI really reminded me of the TouchWiz UI from Samsung. The display screen is really bright and the colors are crisp and vivid (an indicator that their Nova display really shows what it claims to be).

The LG Optimus Black will be available in all LG Concept Stores starting next week with a suggested retail price of Php19,990.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

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177 Comments

dhang · 14 years ago

may bumili na ba nito via kimstore?
okay ba quality, hindi ba fake or whatever like a china made phone?

CH4M13 · 14 years ago

opo ok anq mqa phones sa kimstore :) mura lnq sa knila anq optimus black.

dhang · 14 years ago

guess SARJ both the BLACK online.
best quality ba kapag online ka bumili?
i usually buy phone on TELCO service providers.
i wanted to buy also, but its too xpensive pa!
guess i have to wait till next month or June. =(

sarj · 14 years ago

hahah just got optimus black for only 11k.. yipee!! awesome phone!

CH4M13 · 14 years ago

really? san k po nakabili? laqi kase out of stock dito sa place namen e. help me naman to find out kunq san my avail pa nq black? :) Thanks

asianobserver · 14 years ago

I got mine 2 weeks ago at LG store in SM North Edsa Annex. You can get it at Php 15,490 for cash payment. The seller also gave me an extra Php 200 off. Great customer service.

cham · 14 years ago

san kaya avail pa ung optimus black? how much na kaya ngayon yan?

andrew · 14 years ago

upgradable kaya to hanngang honeycomb 3.0???

Joel · 15 years ago

San pong mall makakabili ng LG optimus Black?

mis · 15 years ago

Has LG already released the White version of LG Optimus Black here in the Phil? San po pde mkabili?

einna · 15 years ago

I am sooooo in love with this phone right now it hurts! Especially the price. I need to earn extra cash to buy this. Aaaarrrrggggghhhhhh! So frustrating!

jesse · 15 years ago

I’m looking forward for the 2.3 update. *sighs* I’ve been desperately waiting!!!

hayme · 15 years ago

hi there.if you’re asking for the applications you can download it from the android market which is available in every android phones. :)

babybob · 15 years ago

is the price in the market now is still the same? and i’m wondering if there is a site were you can download a free application. thanks.. this would be helpful because i’m still can’t make up my mind if i’m going to buy lg optimus black or the galaxy s2 which is a bit expensive. thanks

babybob · 15 years ago

just want to ask meron bang free download application ang lg? plan to buy this phone.. thanks

ajcantonio · 15 years ago

optimus black user here since july 23. got mine for a little over the srp (deferred) pero it’s worth every centavo. first android phone ko ito. well, coming from symbian and ios phones, in my opinion, panalo imho… it’s processing speed is fast enough for me. maganda display, it has gorilla glass (no immediate need for screen protectors), manipis at sleek ang kaha. the features are more than enough for me. i just hope magkaroon na ng gingerbread update ito asap para mas exciting…

yohann · 15 years ago

Yes, it is equipped with Gorilla Glass.
@jaiconruedas walang binatbat ang samsung ace mo dito, ni flash player wala ang ace ni hindi ka din mkalaro ng hd games. wahahaha

memer · 15 years ago

http://www.corninggorillaglass.com/products-with-gorilla/lg

it has Gorilla Glass

Alexis · 15 years ago

Saw it too, the dummy i mean. Can’t they have an actual phone, running the OS, the apps, etc.? I must say that design-wise it looks kinda cheap.

friend.com.ph · 15 years ago

this phone is really great and very thin. I saw it on sm north edsa yesterday.

mei · 15 years ago

Any one of you guys know when it will be available on LG stores??

please i badly want this phone..

mei · 15 years ago

wala parin sya until now.. :(

d0t · 15 years ago

Unfortunately, Engadget gave it a poor review. Sluggish performance, poor battery life, unresponsive touchscreen. (Seen Engadget review, can’t post the direct link since it is spam daw)

d0t · 15 years ago

Unfortunately, Engadget gave it a poor review. Sluggish performance, poor battery life, unresponsive touchscreen.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/11/lg-optimus-black-review

LG Optimus PH · 15 years ago

Starting May16, 2011, Watch out for LG Optimus Amazing Discounts! Get as much as Php 5,000.00 savings! Visit this page and wait for the Discount Announcement for the day! http://lgoptimus.tmsmanila.com

ain · 15 years ago

Does this support Flash 10.1?
For Facebook games..:)

Mayapot · 15 years ago

I wanna have this phone..

adam · 15 years ago

nice phone.

florencia · 15 years ago

wow. ang mura naman for that price. is there a catch? haha. but it’s LG. is it worth it? I’ve never tried LG before kasi.

vince · 15 years ago

No Gorilla Glass display… Sigh…

GORI · 15 years ago

IMO, hindi naman mahalaga ang gorilla glass kase kht gorilla o godzilla glass pa yan, lalagyan at lalagyan pa rin ng screen protector.

jaiconruedas · 15 years ago

oh no…i have mid range phone, galaxy ace which fortunately has GORILLA glass, di ako gumagamit ng screen protector,,,kasi its glass is enough na..
bleh

vince · 15 years ago

No Gorilla Glass… Sigh…

amboy · 15 years ago

hahaha nauna tayo sa lahat!!

http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_optimus_black_gets_a_price_tag_of_319_euros_in_the_philippines-news-2613.php

2toyzki · 15 years ago

ako nagsabi sa gsma hehe! Honestly nagulat talaga ko sa price tag nito, kala ko hindi ako makakabili ng high end phone pero mlamang mabili ko ito :D

Night · 15 years ago

This is a very good phone for its price. The UI needs improvement though. I think it looks ugly and dated.

Arc · 15 years ago

Magmura ka na xperia arc! Mahiya ka naman, mga kaparehas mong phones less than 20k lang. Feeling ka.

amao10 · 15 years ago

may white version kaya ito??

Arc · 15 years ago

Meron, optimus white. Hehe

Kidding aside, alam ko may iba pang kulay ito. Yung sa likod nya. I think may white at pink din

Gams · 15 years ago

LG phones? I regret to have own one.

al · 15 years ago

which cheap lg phone do have? i dont think they hav any pricy phone execpt for the new ones that are coming, dont expect too much. you get what you paid for

Marvin · 15 years ago

lucky me! i don;t regret one. im really happy w/ my purchase of optimus one. now i think im ready to do an upgrade. prolly, it will be optimus black.

Mikhail · 15 years ago

Wow! Didn’t expect the price will be that low. People should buy this one instead of Desire S, even Nexus S. No Gingerbread no problem, XDA is there anyway. And don’t even think about BlackBerry (sigh).

Phia Villanueva · 15 years ago

Of all the android phones that are out in the market today, this one really got my attention. Aside from the specs, it’s design looks so simple which i preferred.

Justin Bieber · 15 years ago

Long Live Yugatech!

jp · 15 years ago

mas magiging mura pa yan kung sa CMK :D

sana mura lang din ang Xperia Neo

csseyah · 15 years ago

sa wakas nakita ko na rin ang bibilhin kong android phone…

wreek888 · 15 years ago

GalaxySL is 16k and has 4gb internal memory. 5mp auto focus.

Marvin · 15 years ago

wala namang special sa galaxy SL. di bale sana kung super amoled ang screen pero hindi naman. wala ngang flash ang galaxy sL. mas maganda po camera ng optimus black. kahit sa video may continous auto focus.

gary · 15 years ago

decent phone. but LG brand cant compete with other name brands like Apple & Blackberry in smartphone arena. so sorry, but let’s face the relaity.

michael · 15 years ago

what? blackberry?
apple pwede pa pero blackberry?

blackberry uses old software and hardware, we all know that. kaya nga ang lakas ng pagbaba bigla ng sales and market share nila last year, nagpapanic na ang RIM.
i think it is blackberry who is striving very hard to compete with android OEMs like LG, samsung, htc etc. not the other way around,

al · 15 years ago

i think this person refers to common people whos not into specs and not reading techblogs like yugatech and most people if not all are like them. blackberry is still on top when it comes to brand recognition, samsung and lg havent nailed it yet in my opinion. Trust me ive had several high end phones and most people would only recognize an iphone or a blackberry

Marvin · 15 years ago

i agree. most pinoys tend to go with the brand name instead of knowing the specs, the software and hardware part of the phone. i hate that the PH is stuck with nokia’s symbian w/c is really outdated and slow. heck, BB doesnt even have a good ecosystem. they don’t even have good apps on their own apps store.
natatawa nga ako bat ang taas ng tingin ng mga pinoy sa BB. oh well…

al · 15 years ago

I guess its because blackberry started as a corporate brand synonymous to expensive, unlike lg samsung and nokia who started with feature/dumb phones or budget phones. I started with blackberry with that mindset then realized that it wasn’t keeping up with my needs so i moved to iphone then started reading blogs so i tried android and loving it. Also most people are not into apps or mobile browsing they buy phone for texting/calling needs so a blackberry would be first in mind for the keyboard specially now that bbm is starting to boom here in the philippines

Wakocoke · 15 years ago

do you live under a rock? android is on its verge of conquering the smartphone market!

daniel · 15 years ago

and to tell you… samsung galaxy SL has super LCD and 2005 dated GPU and less ram. id definitely go for Optimus black…. ALL LATEST :D

technobaboy · 15 years ago

agree! sobrang sulit ng specs nito

hhckabg · 15 years ago

samsung galaxy sl and optimus black use the same GPU powervr sgx 530 but like what others mentioned here black has: flash, superior screen & etc. so mas sulit talaga ang optimus black
i just wanted to clarify that hehe :)

technobaboy · 15 years ago

hehe.

Furby · 15 years ago

For some reason, i find android phones ugly.

ee · 15 years ago

Nobody asked you if they are ulgy! Troll!

Wakocoke · 15 years ago

i feel sorry for your taste

technobaboy · 15 years ago

What’s you’re OS of choice then, symbian? :)

Casey · 15 years ago

Hey, Nokia will never fail you when it comes to functionality. May point din nman na halos lahat ng Filipino nakaSymbian. Hndi na lang natin pwedeng basta basta pintasan kasi dun din tayo nangggaling. :)) and besides, iddevelop pa rin nman siya eh

Calvin · 15 years ago

Even if the arc and S2 have thinner measurement,pag nilapat mo silang tatlo sa mesa lumalabas mas manipis ang optimus black.

Messie · 15 years ago

The direct competitor of Optimus Black is definitely the Samsung Galaxy SL. In terms of price and specs, they are almost the same. The difference I guess will lie on the screen.

redclimax · 15 years ago

Galaxy Sl? No Camera Flash, I’ll go for Optimus Black..^^

michael · 15 years ago

Optimus black has better features IMO. It has gestures control. It has wifi direct, better screen and a better camera.i would 100% get this than SGS1. and its thinner too..

sylv3rblade · 15 years ago

One more point for LG is it’s vanilla android. No TouchWiz!

Messie · 15 years ago

I believe LG is using it’s own UI which IMO, looks aweful. Although yeah, di rin talaga kagandahan ang Touchwiz. =P

Paul · 15 years ago

Ive been waiting for this phone. This one has Wifi direct for file transfer. it may not have dual core but hey the price is awesome. The nearest priced phone is the Desire S which sells for 21k. The Black has better specs, bigger internal memory of 2Gb compared to 1.1Gb, definitely the black has a better screen, the desire s has only slcd. It has a 2mp front facing cam, the desire s has a vga only. but RAM wise it loses with only 512mb
OS wise yes it only has 2.2 but there is already a plan for its 2.3 upgrade. really cool deal.

Ernest · 15 years ago

Been waiting for Optimus Black to come here in the Philippines. i thought we are going to be left out again. :)
Nova display here i come!!!

sylv3rblade · 15 years ago

Looks like I just found my birthday gift.

sylv3rblade · 15 years ago

I went to the LG Store at megamall, still no word on the official release date :/

sylv3rblade · 15 years ago

3rd trip to the LG Concept Store, still no Optimus Black

tonio · 15 years ago

hardware looks really nice for 20k especially the 4inch screen. only downside is it runs on android 2.2 (who knows when they will release the upgrade for this???). if it can run cyanogen then this will be great deal.

Marvin · 15 years ago

OMG. only 20k???? sweet price for a great phone. with the size+nova display(to w/c many reviewers claim that it is better than super amoled found on the nexus S) + thinness +unique gestures. the price is definitely worth it. i might consider buying this instead of a tab.