It has been a fairly good year for LG’s phone division as they have introduced a number of firsts in the industry. While LG has not traditionally been a big name in the world of smartphones they have managed to increase their market share substantially with the introduction of the first dual core smartphone in the form of the Optimus 2X (T-Mobile G2x in the United States) and the first 3D smartphone in most markets with the Optimus 3D.
Even though their Optimus Black was not dual core or 3D enabled it was also quite an illustrious phone being the first to feature LG’s NOVA screen technology for superior visuals and reduced battery consumption. Now LG is moving away from the high end of the market to introduce a couple of affordable phones into their Optimus range with the Optimus Pro and the Optimus Net.
The Optimus Pro is an Android phone with a BlackBerry style QWERTY keyboard for typing messages and emails. Although it is running on the latest Gingerbread version of Android it comes with a less powerful 800MHz processor and a smaller 2.8″ screen. The Pro has 3G and Wi-Fi on offer, as well as excellent email and social networking support.
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The Optimus Net is fairly similar in terms of hardware although it features a full touchscreen design and no physical QWERTY keyboard. It is being positioned as the successor to the LG Optimus One which was a very popular budget Android device back in its day. Likewise, this runs on Gingerbread Android and comes with 3G, Wi-Fi and great support for social networking and email.
Both phones feature 3 megapixel cameras with VGA video recording, a potential 32GB storage with microSD (2GB included) and support for excellent entertainment like YouTube and games.
LG has not placed much emphasis on the lower end of the phone market in recent months as they have been keen to make a name for themselves with their higher end products. It has been a shame because LG has been a company that has always excelled at making more affordable smartphones and were the first to bring touchscreen smartphones to a wider audience with their budget LG Cookie back in 2008.
With their excellent support for social networking these phones will be good for younger users, although their wealth of email and internet options also make them well suited for older professional phone users as well. The Optimus Net is great for people looking for a touchscreen phone experience and the Optimus Pro will appeal to people who spend a lot of time communicating through text.