LG Optimus GT540 is the newest 'cheapest Android phone' in the Philippines | News | Techie.com.ph
10:53 PM | Thursday | 09 September 2010

Okay, before you get too excited, we should probably tell you that the Optimus in question here is neither the One nor the Chic. LG Philippines is instead bringing in the Korean mobile giant's first Android phone called the LG Optimus GT540. According to LG, the phone will sell for less than P14,000, thus making it the cheapest Android phone in the Philippines.

The GT450 is a pretty basic phone with Wi-Fi and 7.2mbps HSDPA. It runs on the slightly older Android 1.6 "Donut" operating system, and its LCD touch screen is of the primitive kind (resistive, with no multitouch capabilities). There's nothing surprising with the specs, really, but the wow factor isn't intended to come from the features in the first place.

LG is banking on the Optimus' affordability to rake in the money. The previous "cheapest" title holder was the Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700, which sold for a respectable P14,900. The Spica, in turn, stole the crown from HTC Tattoo, which sold at P14,990.

LG is hoping that upgraders will choose the Optimus as their first smartphone given the easy learning curve of the OS and the cheap price. We're hoping to play with one ASAP.

Click here to see the LG Optimus GT540 in the Buyer's Guide.

• Network
• 2G: Quadband GSM
  
• 3G: 3.5G HSDPA 7.2mbps
  
• Screen
• Type: TFT resistive touchscreen
• Size: 3 inches
  
• Resolution: 320 x 480 pixels
  
• Colors: 256,000
  
• Memory
• Internal: 130MB
  
• Expansion: microSD up to 32GB
  
• Connectivity
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth: ver. 2.1 with A2DP (stereo Bluetooth)
  
• Cable: miniUSB 2.0
• GPS: yes, with A-GPS
  
• FM Radio: yes
  
• Input: resistive touchscreen
  
• Camera
• Stills Resolution: 3 megapixels
  
• Flash: n/a
  
• Autofocus: yes, with face detection
  
• Video Recording: 640 x 480 pixels VGA at 17fps
  
• Operating System: Android OS 1.6
  
• Audio Formats Supported: MP3, WAV, WMA, eAAC+
• Video Formats Supported: MP4, DivX, Xvid, H.264, H.263, WMV
• Battery Life
• Talk: up to 5.5 hours
  
• Standby: up to 500 hours
  
• Size: 109 x 54.5 x 12.7 mm
• Weigh: 115g