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It's time for HTC's Incredible S to earn its moniker as it goes head-to-head with LG's bank balance friendly super phone, the Optimus Black
As the successor to the fantastic Desire HD, the HTC Incredible S has had some pretty big shoes to fill, but fill them it has. Now it's time for a new challenge as we pitch the Incredible S against LG's fantastic Optimus Black, a device which under promises and over delivers.
Screen
LG has imbued the Optimus Black with a stunning 4-inch IPS LCD display which, although it operates at a slightly lower resolution (480 x 800) has plenty in common with the iPhone 4 and its stunning Retina Display. The Optimus Black's screen is sharp, responsive and offers vivid colours and pin-sharp clarity.
The HTC Incredible S comes with a Super LCD display that operates at 480 x 800 and provides the user with everything they need to enjoy a full and rewarding multimedia experience. Colours are well rendered, blacks are deep(ish) and the screen is responsive and sharp but for all its virtues the Incredible S falls just short of the quality on offer in the Optimus Black.
Winner - LG Optimus Black
Power
The LG Optimus Black is powered by a Ti-OMAP 3630 CPU clocked at 1GHz and features 512MB RAM. Operation is pretty snappy and you won't find any lag or slow-down on the device. If we were nit-picking we'd say the device could do with some more memory to allow it to hold its own into the future but that's a small drawback to what is overall a pleasing and fast device to use.
The HTC Incredible S is similarly spec'd with a Qualcomm MSM8255 chipset that includes a 1GHz Scorpion CPU and Adreno 205 GPU, as well as 768MB RAM allowing the device to chug along at a good turn of pace. Even with the extra burden of HTC's Sense UI on its shoulders the device manages to run lag-free and cope with multi-tasking well, making it a pleasure to use.
Winner - HTC Incredible S
Form & Build
HTC Incredible S - 120 x 64 x 11.7 mm, 135.5g
LG Optimus Black - 120 x 64 x 11.7 mm, 109g
The Incredible S is based upon HTC's standard design and it proves the old adage 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' perfectly. The device is constructed of high-grade materials and feels comfortable in the hand, even if it is at the weightier end of the smartphone chart. The sweeping curves give it a sleek appearance which even the most fashion conscious user will be happy to whip-out at the pub and you'll find yourself operating the device one-handed without much difficulty (unless you're particularly small handed).
The LG Optimus Black is a slim, light device which is pleasing to eye as well as the pocket and it's nice to see LG take a step in the right direction when it comes to design. The curved edges and bevel effect on the rear give the device a pleasant, unique feel and the variety of colours on offer (white, pink & graphite) will likely appeal to younger users.
Winner - Draw
Camera
The LG Optimus Black comes features dual cameras and we were pleasantly surprised to see the front facing, video -call shooter was a 2-megapixel offering! The rear-facing 5-megapixel snapper performs well and captures video at 720p as well as offering an LED flash, geo-tagging and face and smile detection, making the device very competitive.
The HTC Incredible S features a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and a top notch, 8-megapixel rear-facing effort with a dual-LED flash, geo-tagging, touch focus and image stabilisation as well as 720p video capture capable of some really impressive shots, making the Incredible S a shoo-in for this round.
Winner - HTC Incredible S
Software
The LG Optimus Black runs on version 2.2 (Froyo) of Google's Android OS with an upgrade to 2.3 (Gingerbread) planned for the near future, though there aren't many drawbacks with the installed software.
LG's customisations are a little thin on the ground though, which led us to wonder why the company didn't just leave things be and give the Optimus Black a vanilla install of the OS which would, of course, speed-up rollout times for planned software updates.
The HTC Incredible S comes with version 2.2 of Android too (though it will be updated to at least 2.4 in due course) but the icing on the Incredible S cake is the inclusion of the aforementioned Sense UI, HTC's stunning custom overlay, which includes apps, widgets, social networking integration and a raft of visual enhancements to make the user experience unparalleled in the world of Android.
Winner - HTC Incredible S
The totting up of the scores show a well deserved victory for HTC's Incredible S, a device which takes some beating. Even now, three months after its original release the device should be seriously considered if you're after a decent, mid-range Android smartphone.
The LG Optimus Black is a good device though, and with a few tweaks here and there would be close to perfect. Value-wise it's one to watch out for because it can be snapped up for some good deals, but if you're looking for the complete package we couldn't currently recommend it over the Incredible S.
It's time for HTC's Incredible S to earn its moniker as it goes head-to-head with LG's bank balance friendly super phone, the Optimus Black
As the successor to the fantastic Desire HD, the HTC Incredible S has had some pretty big shoes to fill, but fill them it has. Now it's time for a new challenge as we pitch the Incredible S against LG's fantastic Optimus Black, a device which under promises and over delivers.
Screen
LG has imbued the Optimus Black with a stunning 4-inch IPS LCD display which, although it operates at a slightly lower resolution (480 x 800) has plenty in common with the iPhone 4 and its stunning Retina Display. The Optimus Black's screen is sharp, responsive and offers vivid colours and pin-sharp clarity.
The HTC Incredible S comes with a Super LCD display that operates at 480 x 800 and provides the user with everything they need to enjoy a full and rewarding multimedia experience. Colours are well rendered, blacks are deep(ish) and the screen is responsive and sharp but for all its virtues the Incredible S falls just short of the quality on offer in the Optimus Black.
Winner - LG Optimus Black
Power
The LG Optimus Black is powered by a Ti-OMAP 3630 CPU clocked at 1GHz and features 512MB RAM. Operation is pretty snappy and you won't find any lag or slow-down on the device. If we were nit-picking we'd say the device could do with some more memory to allow it to hold its own into the future but that's a small drawback to what is overall a pleasing and fast device to use.
The HTC Incredible S is similarly spec'd with a Qualcomm MSM8255 chipset that includes a 1GHz Scorpion CPU and Adreno 205 GPU, as well as 768MB RAM allowing the device to chug along at a good turn of pace. Even with the extra burden of HTC's Sense UI on its shoulders the device manages to run lag-free and cope with multi-tasking well, making it a pleasure to use.
Winner - HTC Incredible S
Form & Build
HTC Incredible S - 120 x 64 x 11.7 mm, 135.5g
LG Optimus Black - 120 x 64 x 11.7 mm, 109g
The Incredible S is based upon HTC's standard design and it proves the old adage 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' perfectly. The device is constructed of high-grade materials and feels comfortable in the hand, even if it is at the weightier end of the smartphone chart. The sweeping curves give it a sleek appearance which even the most fashion conscious user will be happy to whip-out at the pub and you'll find yourself operating the device one-handed without much difficulty (unless you're particularly small handed).
The LG Optimus Black is a slim, light device which is pleasing to eye as well as the pocket and it's nice to see LG take a step in the right direction when it comes to design. The curved edges and bevel effect on the rear give the device a pleasant, unique feel and the variety of colours on offer (white, pink & graphite) will likely appeal to younger users.
Winner - Draw
Camera
The LG Optimus Black comes features dual cameras and we were pleasantly surprised to see the front facing, video -call shooter was a 2-megapixel offering! The rear-facing 5-megapixel snapper performs well and captures video at 720p as well as offering an LED flash, geo-tagging and face and smile detection, making the device very competitive.
The HTC Incredible S features a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and a top notch, 8-megapixel rear-facing effort with a dual-LED flash, geo-tagging, touch focus and image stabilisation as well as 720p video capture capable of some really impressive shots, making the Incredible S a shoo-in for this round.
Winner - HTC Incredible S
Software
The LG Optimus Black runs on version 2.2 (Froyo) of Google's Android OS with an upgrade to 2.3 (Gingerbread) planned for the near future, though there aren't many drawbacks with the installed software.
LG's customisations are a little thin on the ground though, which led us to wonder why the company didn't just leave things be and give the Optimus Black a vanilla install of the OS which would, of course, speed-up rollout times for planned software updates.
The HTC Incredible S comes with version 2.2 of Android too (though it will be updated to at least 2.4 in due course) but the icing on the Incredible S cake is the inclusion of the aforementioned Sense UI, HTC's stunning custom overlay, which includes apps, widgets, social networking integration and a raft of visual enhancements to make the user experience unparalleled in the world of Android.
Winner - HTC Incredible S
The totting up of the scores show a well deserved victory for HTC's Incredible S, a device which takes some beating. Even now, three months after its original release the device should be seriously considered if you're after a decent, mid-range Android smartphone.
The LG Optimus Black is a good device though, and with a few tweaks here and there would be close to perfect. Value-wise it's one to watch out for because it can be snapped up for some good deals, but if you're looking for the complete package we couldn't currently recommend it over the Incredible S.
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