LG Optimus GT540 Review

Introduction:

LG has been relatively quiet on the Android market. We have already reviewed its first device with Google's mobile OS, the GW620, and were left with rather mixed feelings. The LG Optimus GT540 is the second smartphone with the platform by the manufacturer, and it comes in a quite futuristic form, kind of reminding us of the Batmobile. However, functionality and experience quality often come first in the users' wish lists. Get ready to see if the Optimus GT540 will ultimately rise victorious like a true Optimus Prime, or will eventually fall in the battle for the love of customers.

Design:

There's no doubt that the LG Optimus GT540 has some distinct Transformers-like looks, due to the specific curves of the top and bottom. The handset is by no means among the smallest ones, but feels very natural in the hand. It can be easily operated with one hand only, similarly to most of the Android phones of this caliber.

The LG Optimus GT540 is made of plastic, textured like brushed metal. It feels fine in the hand, and due to the phone's weight and solidness, doesn't feel cheap.



You can compare the LG Optimus GT540 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

LG is really walking a knife edge with these resistive touchscreens it places in its smartphones. First the GW620, now the Optimus. The 3" panel in the GT540 is definitely one of the better resistive screens we have used, but the experience can by no means be compared to that of the increasingly popular capacitive displays. Anyway, at least the image quality is very good, not only because of the utilized HVGA resolution, which works great on that screen size, but also thanks to the very rich and saturated colors. We even wondered if it is not AMOLED at one point, but once we looked at it from an angle, we realized we were dreaming.

The South Korean manufacturer has utilized both touch-sensitive and physical keys for the control scheme of the LG Optimus GT540. Right below the display you have resistive menu and back keys, while below them are situated the physical send, home and end buttons. Thankfully, they are all nice and easy to use. The same goes for the search key and camera shutter on the lower right, but the volume rocker, which is situated on the left is just a bit on the harder-to-press side. That is in case you don't use your fingernails to press it. The back only has the 3MP autofocus camera with no flash.