LG Optimus Pro (LG C660)

Available now
15th July 2011

We've seen quite a lot of Optimus devices.. and quite a lot of "Pro" devices. Surprisingly, this is the first time that they have come together in the LG Optimus Pro.

"Pro" has become a common moniker for any device with a QWERTY keyboard, and here the Optimus Pro is a BlackBerry-style messaging device running Android 2.3.

This handset is almost identical in specification terms to the Motorola FIRE that we looked at a couple of days ago, except that the Optimus Pro has a faster processor, an 800 MHz CPU compared with a 600 MHz one in the Motorola.

As with its Motorola rival, the Optimus Pro has a fairly small 2.8" 320 x 240 pixel touchscreen display. We suspect that most existing Android users would find the small screen size an annoyance, but perhaps this is aimed at getting BlackBerry Curve users to migrate over instead.

On the back is a basic 3 megapixel camera with VGA video capture. The Optimus Pro has an FM radio and a 3.5mm audio socket in addition to the usual good multimedia support that Android devices come with.

All the standard Android features are here, including 3.5G support, WiFi, GPS, a web browser and access to thousands of applications. There aren't many Android 2.3 devices like this on the market at the moment, and it's always good to have the latest and greatest version of this operating system

Inside is a modest 256MB of RAM, 150MB of flash memory plus a 2GB microSD card in the box and a large 1500 mAh battery that should provide a useful amount of talktime.

LG say that the Optimus Pro should be available in Europe this summer in Black, White and Titan colour schemes.