Among the low/mid*range Android devices in the arket, the LG Optimus One P500 stands out for its up-to-date OS (Froyo), snappy performance, and bundled apps. Built solidly, the 3.2-inch screen has a wide bezel, below which lie the Android buttons, with home and return grouped on a single large centre button, with options and search beside it on separate buttons. The Android buttons have a solid tactility to them, and the vol ume rocker and power/lock button, curved, are ergonomically located and pro*vide crispy feedback.

The 600MHz CPU is surpris*ingly snappy, barely showing any lag even when running several third party and native apps, and this is undoubtedly where the phone's 512MB RAM and Froyo (a much speedier OS) make it shine over most of its competitors, including the Galaxy 3. Slight lag is felt from the moment when one clicks the call button to the time it takes for the calling begin, occur*ring when plenty of apps are hogging the memory.

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It did not drop any calls during our testing. The device earpiece volume was sufficient, but could have been louder. Call clarity is good in both handset and hands*free mode. Slight banding can be seen in certain videos. Both Xvid and DivX are sup*ported, and in our testing, almost all the videos played flawlessly, except for some stuttering with some AVI files.

Picture sharp*ness, colour accu*racy (slight red hue), and noise levels are all quite good for a 3MP camera. Under low light, with no flash onboard, quite a lot of noise is evident Only real compromises a buyer has to make for getting Android 2.2 at roughly U3,000 are the flashless camera and the lack of free Office document editing.

Specifications
OS: Android 2.1; Pre-loaded maps; Screen: 3.2-inch capacitive; Camera: 5MP; Battery: 1500mAh