The LG Spectrum is the Verizon version of the LG Nitro HD on AT&T, a phone we liked quite well other than its weak battery life. The spectrum gets a casing makeover with gloss plastics and a CDMA radio for voice and 3G, but otherwise the internals are mostly the same. But the Spectrum lags where the Nitro moved along decently, and that really gets in the way of enjoying what should be a fast, high end Android smartphone. We’ve also found it a bit less stable, and in the week we’ve had it, it’s spontaneously rebooted a few times (not a common occurrence with other recent Android phones). We get the feeling there’s a lot of promise here, but LG needs to work out the software kinks to bring better performance and stability.

The smartphone runs on a 1.5GHz dual core Snapdragon CPU like the HTC Rezound and several recent AT&T LTE phones. Qualcomm’s radio and CPU chipset integration are excellent when it comes to LTE performance. We see none of the waffling between 3G and 4G in weaker LTE coverage areas that plague us with the RAZR line and Galaxy Nexus. Now, if you’re in a good LTE coverage area, or conversely have none at all and disable LTE on the phone, this won’t matter to you. But if you are in marginal coverage areas, the Spectrum and Rezound are your best bet.

The display is lovely. It’s an IPS panel with good brightness and much more natural and accurate colors than Super AMOLED. You won’t see Super AMOLED’s hyper-vivid hues and amazing blacks, but will see plenty of sharp detail, crisp colors and good contrast. The 1280 x 720 panel makes for a relatively tall but narrow phone, and that means it’s easier to hold in a narrow palm, but it will likely stick out the top of all but deep pockets. There are times when the display doesn’t seem to respond to a tap, but it’s hard to judge if it’s a display issue or lag (I suspect it’s lag).

The phone has a high gloss plastic back with a fine silvery checkerboard pattern that looks lovely until you handle it: it gets noxiously gummy. The 5 ounce phone feels weighty and looks like a decent quality piece, and we like the contrasting home button that’s easy to see in the dark. The phone has 3 rather than the usual 4 capacitive buttons because LG combines the menu and search buttons into one on the left, and that’s fine by us. There’s an option to turn off capacitive button backlighting when the display is turned on, and we turned that option off immediately because it’s difficult to see the menu/search and back buttons with no backlighting.

The micro USB port is located up top under a door: I find the location inconvenient when trying to both charge and talk at the same time, and the door is fiddly. The headphone jack is up top, as is the power button. The volume controls are on the right and the microSD card slot is under the back cover. Verizon includes a 16 gig card since the phone has only 4 gigs of internal storage with approximately 1.45 gigs available. The rear door is easy to remove and snap on, and the 1830 mAh battery, LTE SIM card slot and microSD card slot are under the door. There’s no word whether the Spectrum has NFC.

LG Spectrum Video Review

Calling and Data

Voice quality is good but not among the best Verizon Wireless phones (we give the Droid RAZR, RAZR MAXX and Bionic a nod for their excellent voice). Volume through the earpiece is good and voice on both ends is clearly intelligible but not crisp or very clear. The speakerphone isn’t terribly loud for calls or multimedia. It doesn’t help that the speaker is located on the back towards the bottom where one tends to grip the phone.

The LG Spectrum has 3G EV-DO and 4G LTE on Verizon’s network. Data speeds are very good and the Spectrum matched Verizon’s other top LTE phones. As noted, the phone really manages to hold onto a weak LTE signal and on my desk where the RAZR MAXX spends most of its time on 3G the Spectrum stays on LTE.

Performance and Horsepower

In terms of performance, this Android OS 2.3.5 Gingerbread phone gets middle marks for a dual core on synthetic benchmarks, and it falls behind better performing Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket running on the same CPU. We spoke of UI lag, and we wonder how much of this has to do with LG’s custom UI. The LG Nitro runs nearly the same UI and feels snappier however. If you haven’t seen LG’s UI, do watch our video review to see it in action. It reminds us a bit of older versions of TouchWiz, and LG adds some nice touches like sectional dividers for the app drawer (you can create groups for different kinds of apps) and a lovely media quick-access widget.

Multimedia

LG makes good cameras, and the Spectrum takes pleasing shots with good colors and reasonable exposure though it’s prone to some whiteout in high contrast outdoor settings. Indoors it does surprisingly well with dim settings even with the flash off. The camera can shoot 1080p video at 30 fps, and again, other than a bit of whiteout for sunny day settings, it did a good job.

The phone easily handles video playback, be it streaming YouTube and Netflix or locally stored MPEG4 content up to 1080p resolution (even high profile plays well). The speaker won’t win any awards but the phone has good sound via Bluetooth and wired stereo headphones. The high resolution IPS display really shines for video playback and we found watching movies thoroughly enjoyable. The Spectrum has WiFi for streaming without eating into your data bucket, and it supports WiFi Direct. Bluetooth stereo speakers and headphones work via the Bluetooth 3.0 radio.

Battery Life

Verizon LTE phones aren’t Energizer bunnies when running on LTE. The two cellular radios for CDMA and LTE take their toll, and today’s fast CPUs and large displays don’t help. That said, the 1830 mAh Lithium Ion battery fared decently compared to other Verizon LTE phones, and we managed 6.5 hours of talk time (LG claims up to 8.3 hours of use time). There’s an optional 3040 mAh battery available and a wireless charging back that works with the wireless charging mat sold in Verizon Wireless stores.

Conclusion

There’s a lot to like about the LG Spectrum. It has LTE with strong 4G reception, a really lovely 4.5″ IPS 720p display and a fast Qualcomm S3 dual core CPU. It’s promised an upgrade to Android 4.0 and handles video playback like a champ. Not bad for $199 with contract. But we’re put off by the occasional stutters and lags, and the phone isn’t as stable as we’d like. A firmware update might remedy these issues, but we’re not sure if the phone will get much tweaking before OS 4.0 ICS comes out by mid-year.

Specs:

Display: 4.5″ capacitive multi-touch display. Resolution: 1280 x720, supports both portrait and landscape modes via accelerometer. Has an ambient light sensor.

Battery: 1830 mAh Lithium Ion rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. Optional 3040 mAh extended battery available, optional wireless charging back available.

Performance: 1.5GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 CPU. 1 gig RAM, 4 gigs storage with ~1.45 gigs available.

Size: 5.33 x 2.71 x 0.41 inches. Weight: 4.99 ounces.

Phone: CDMA dual band digital with 3G EV-DO Rev. A and 4G LTE. Has Mobile Hotspot feature.

Camera: 1.3MP front video chat camera and rear 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash. Can shoot 1080p video.

Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack.

Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g/n (supports WiFi Direct) and Bluetooth 3.0.

Software: Android OS 2.3.5 Gingerbread. Upgradable to OS 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. LG UI and widgets included along with Adobe Flash and the usual selection of Google Android apps like email, gmail, YouTube, Gallery, Mobile Hotspot, Maps and Navigation. Verizon software: VZ Navigator, V CAST Media Manager, V CAST Tones, Verizon Video, Backup Assistant and account manager. Third party software: Polaris Office (view, edit and create MS Office documents), TuneWiki, BitBop, Blockbuster, Amazon Kindle, Rhapsody, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit and Let’s Golf 2. LG software: SmartShare DLNA, SmartMovie HD, RichNote and widgets.

Expansion: 1 SDHC microSD card slot, 16 gig card included.

Source

The LG Thrill runs Android OS 2.2 Froyo, and it’s upgradable to 2.3 Gingerbread, though we don’t have an upgrade timetable. In fact, we’re not quite sure when AT&T will release the somewhat delayed Thrill, but we’re assuming it will be available in early September. LG uses their standard Android UI overlay, and it makes for a mostly pleasing experience. The phone has 8 gigs of internal storage and it comes with an 8 gig microSD card installed in the slot under the back cover. It has 512 megs of RAM and a 1500 mAh battery.

Beyond its relatively high end specs, the phone’s claim to fame is its glass-less autostereoscopic 3D display and dual 5 megapixel rear cameras that can shoot 720p 3D video as well as 1080p 2D video, and it can shoot 3D and 2D photos. I haven’t been a fan of consumer 3D, be it in phones like the HTC EVO 3D, tablets like the LG G-Slate or 3D TVs. The LG Thrill bucks that trend, and our staff and I actually found 3D video and photos so enjoyable it made the 2D stuff seem boring. As with other glass-less 3D mobile displays, you have to find the sweet spot and get accustomed to the 3D experience, but once we did we didn’t feel queasy, dizzy or otherwise uncomfortable, despite on-screen warnings that precede 3D content that tell you to take breaks and not view 3D content for too long lest you feel uncomfy.

Design and Ergonomics

As you’d expect from a smartphone with a 4.3″ display, the Thrill is large and the viewing experience is excellent. This is a parallax barrier display, a 3D display technology, and it provides an average 2D viewing experience. It lacks the unreal colors of Samsung’s Super AMOLED displays and contrast is average. Outdoor visibility is passable, and viewing angles aren’t particularly good. The resolution is 800 x 480, a common resolution for mid to high end Android phones, and we wouldn’t mind the even higher qHD. But 3D requires plenty of graphics power and at $99 we won’t complain.

As with other autostereoscopic (the fancy word for 3D displays that don’t require glasses) 3D handsets on the market, there’s a limited sweet spot for viewing 3D content. Move the handset around and tilt it until you see a clear 3D effect, and all is good. The Thrill has an on-screen slider in all 3D apps that allows you to adjust the 3D effect level, and we liked it best at max, though your eyes may be different. We felt less eye fatigue with the LG Thrill than the HTC EVO 3D, but that said, I enjoyed it for up to 30 minutes at a time. Beyond that, and my eyes and brain did feel tired. That means feature length movies are best viewed with rest breaks, but watching that 5 minute 3D video you just shot with the camera isn’t a problem. Keep in mind that the phone’s UI and non-3D apps are presented in good old fashioned 2D, so your eyes won’t suffer, but you also won’t see that “wow” effect everywhere.

The phone looks like a larger version of the T-Mobile LG G2x, and that’s not a bad thing. The front is dominated by the glass display with brushed metal top and bottom bezels. The soft touch back finish feels great in the hand and it doesn’t attract as many fingerprints as glossy plastic backs. The 5.9 ounce phone feels solid and weighty, and the metal accent strip on the back gives it a more interesting and quality look. The strip also highlights the dual camera lenses that are set well apart (by phone standards) for better 3D capture.

The LG Thrill 4G has micro USB and micro HDMI ports under rubber covers, a 3.5mm stereo jack and a 3D hardware button on the side that launches the 3D app launcher and switches between 2D and 3D modes when using the camera. The small power button is up top, and the microSD card slot is under the back cover. There’s no need to remove the battery to access the card.

Performance and Horsepower

The phone runs on a 1GHz dual core OMAP processor, and it both feels fast and benchmarks well. It scored 2676 on the Quadrant benchmark, putting it among the fastest dual core Android phones. It scores an excellent 70 MFLOPS on the multi-thread test in Linpack. App launching, UI navigation and Adobe Flash 10.3 playback and 2D/3D gaming are all excellent. The phone performed well outputting HD video content via HDMI to our HD TV, and like many LG phones, it supports the DivX format in addition to MPEG4. Even if you’re not interested in 3D, the Thrill 4G is worth considering for its performance, large display and 4G data speeds. Despite the fast CPU, the phone managed good runtimes, and with average use we had no problem making it through the day and night on a charge. 3D drains the battery more quickly, especially 3D recording.

Calling and Data

LG phones don’t always have the best GSM reception, but the Thrill 4G bucked the trend with good 3G/4G HSPA+ on AT&T’s network in the Dallas area. AT&T’s HSPA+ network was slow in coming, but we’ve now got pervasive coverage in the metroplex, and saw speeds ranging from 3.6-5 megs down and 1 Mbps up according to Ookla’s Speedtest.net app. That’s not quite as fast as T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 4G network, but it’s significantly better than AT&T’s older 3G phones (especially upload speeds since those aren’t capped on the LG Thrill).

Call quality is good, with clear voice and reasonably full audio. Callers said we sounded very good, with little background noise and we heard no background white noise.

Camera

The LG Thrill 4G has a front facing 2D VGA camera for video chat, and a dual lens 5 megapixel rear main camera that can shoot in 2D and 3D. The camera uses both lenses when shooting in 3D, and they’re well spaced, for a deeper 3D effect. It can shoot up to 1080p video in 2D and 720p in 3D. Both photo and video quality are very good in 2D mode: we noted strong colors and sharp shots as long as we kept the phone still when shooting. The LED flash helps with subjects at close range, and didn’t white out foreground objects terribly.

3D image and video capture are quite convincing; photos look much more cool than their 2D counterparts, though they lack the sharpness of 2D images (a limitation of current technology). LG suggests that 3D is most effective with subjects within a 10 foot range, but we found long shots taken in malls and back yards to show a good bit of 3D depth. 3D images are saved in .JPS format: re-name them to .JPG and you’ll be able to view them in standard image editors, and you’ll see 2 frames side-by-side. 3D videos are saved in .MP4 format, and you’ll see two side-by-side video frames if you use a non-3D viewer.

Conclusion

We really like the LG Thrill 4G, especially at the surprisingly low $99 contract price. It’s a fast dual core Android phone, and though we’re a little disappointed that it runs Android OS 2.2 Froyo, AT&T says it will get the Gingerbread 2.3 upgrade. The Thrill has a large display and solid build, though the display doesn’t wow us in 2D mode. We’re not yet sold on 3D phones, but the LG Thrill is the first phone that makes us want one, and we’ll forgive its just OK 2D screen for the very good 3D quality. Call quality is solid, 4G speeds by AT&T HSPA+ standards are good and the smartphone is more than able to handle HD video playback over HDMI, Adobe Flash and everything else we threw at it.

Source: MobileTechReview.com

But while certain carriers were busy lobbying the International Telecommunications Union or launching crafty marketing campaigns, Verizon Wireless launched the fastest cellular network U.S. consumers have ever seen. On May 26th, Verizon released the LG Revolution and gave its subscribers their third 4G smartphone option. Does LG’s first 4G LTE phone address the shortcomings of Verizon Wireless’ earlier offerings? Read on for the full review.

The Inside

Reviewing Froyo phones isn’t getting any easier thanks to the countless offerings that have launched over the past year. While Google has since released two new versions of Android, Gingerbread and Honeycomb, new Froyo devices are still being pushed out to market more than one year following the build’s unveiling at Google I/O in May 2010. There is a reason for this, of course: building phone software is expensive.
Android might be free and open source, but R&D, engineering and testing are most certainly not free. Manufacturers like LG, HTC and others used Froyo as a base when building their custom UIs and making other tweaks to the Android OS. To carry these designs forward to new builds of the Android OS is a very costly and time-consuming process.

After the major investment made in Froyo, it seems as though cell phone makers have slowed down the development cycle with Gingerbread, especially with Google’s next major version of Android — Ice Cream Sandwich — looming on the horizon. This will be the build that unifies tablets and smartphones, merging the best of Honeycomb and Gingerbread into a single universal OS. Manufacturers have likely already begun porting their respective UIs to Ice Cream Sandwich, so devoting time and resources to Gingerbread is a double-edged sword.

LG’s Optimus UI on top of Froyo is tricky business. On one hand, it does its job fairly well and provides several nifty widgets that can be placed on any of the phone’s seven home screens. On the other hand, it often reads like a cheap, cartoony Sense UI knock-off. The app icons within the Optimus UI in particular are a bit too bright and cheery for me, and the stylized widgets are also not to my taste. To be clear, this is a cosmetic qualm and the issue certainly doesn’t impact function.

LG has included widgets that will take care of just about any need the typical smartphone user might have — from checking the time and weather to controlling music playback or viewing live stock quotes — and there are plenty of third-party widget options to fill in the blanks. The utility is definitely there, but styling is still an important factor that should be considered; this is a gadget you’ll potentially be looking at day in and day out for years to come. As far as my taste goes, I would place LG’s Optimus UI in between Samsung’s TouchWiz and HTC’s Sense, which still wears the crown by a long shot.

Where function is concerned, the LG Revolution can definitely keep up with the bulk of modern Android smartphones currently on the market. It doesn’t have a dual-core Tegra 2 processor, but its 1GHz Snapdragon CPU has yet to give me any real problems during typical usage. I did find that it slowed a bit under extremely heavy strain, but this is expected of any Android device at this point due to the free rein developers have with background processes. Again, however, bogging is most definitely the exception to the rule with LG’s Revolution, and most functions free of any real stuttering. There is some UI slowness at times, but this is an issue with Android and it can be seen even on the fastest dual-core smartphones on the market today.

Verizon Wireless users will be excited by the fact that data continues to come and go during voice calls, though the calls themselves will not be overly exciting. Call quality is mediocre at best, though the ear speaker volume is more than sufficient. I found the audio quality with speakerphone enabled to be sub par, and the distortion was simply unbearable with the volume turned up above approximately 60%. Callers on the other end of the phone weren’t impressed with call quality either, so I would definitely recommend investing in a decent Bluetooth headset if you intend to pick up a Revolution.

The Outside

When it comes to build quality, LG is hit or miss. Some of its devices feel like cheap toys that climbed out of the bottom of a cereal box, while others — like the G-Slate tablet, for example — feature top-notch materials and a solid build that can rival any device on the market. Thankfully, the Revolution falls into the latter of those two categories. The phone is a bit hefty at 6.06 ounces, but I like a phone that has a substantial feel. The front of the device is smooth glass that is noticeably devoid of an oleophobic coating, the bezel is a hard black plastic that feels very solid, and the back sports a smooth, slightly rubbery feel that greets the hand perfectly.

The top of the Revolution is home to a power/lock button and a 3.5-millimeter audio jack, and the bottom of the phone sports only a microphone. The left side features a covered microUSB port for charging and connectivity to a PC, while the right side is home to a volume rocker and an HDMI-out port.

The back of the phone features a second microphone for noise cancellation, which is accompanied by a black chrome strip down the center of the device. This strip holds LG, Verizon and “4G LTE” logos along with a 5-megapixel camera and an LED flash. A second camera is located on the face of the phone to facilitate video chats, and the four standard capacitive Android buttons are located beneath the display.

LG’s Revolution sports a 5-megapixel camera while the HTC ThunderBolt and Samsung DROID Charge feature 8-megapixel shooters. Anyone who owns a camera phone can tell you megapixels mean precious little in terms of the quality of the resulting images — I would take the 5-megapixel camera from Apple’s iPhone 4 or even 2-year-old Nokia smartphones like the N82 or N95 ahead of any currently available 8-megapixel cell phone camera. In the case of the Revolution, the images captured by its camera are at least on par with the ThunderBolt and DROID Charge, if not marginally more clear. Low light images are pretty bad, as they are with 99% of camera phones, but the Revolution’s camera performed quite well in daylight and in well lit rooms.

The Upside

Speed, speed, speed. The biggest benefit of the LG Revolution over the majority of smartphones on the market is undoubtedly the 4G LTE network behind it. I regularly saw data speeds between 10 and 13Mbps down and 5Mbps or more up. Latency generally fell between 65 and 80 milliseconds, which is also quite impressive for a mobile network, especially considering latency was very consistent. This performance is far better than land-based broadband service from many ISPs. In fact, it’s even better than services offered by some of the country’s top Internet providers. I use Time Warner Cable, for example, and while my download speeds of up to 30Mbps far exceed Verizon Wireless’ LTE, my real-world tests of Verizon’s 4G upload speeds were over 10 times faster than by cable Internet, which is capped at a laughable 500Kbps.

What am I supposed to do with all that speed? Good question. Having access to this kind of speed on a mobile phone has limited utility in the real world for the time being. It can still definitely come in handy, however. The LG Revolution ships with a Netflix app that I’ve not yet been able to trip up a single time. I have started to stream movies while downloading giant email attachments, for example, and I couldn’t even get the Netflix app to choke for a fraction of a second. There is also a YouTube app, a link to download Bitbop, Slacker Radio, a link to download Blockbuster’s app, a link to download Rhapsody and several V Cast media apps on the device, just begging users to stream as much media as possible.
Then there’s the mobile hotspot function, of course, which supports up to eight concurrent connections while covered by 4G. Here is a test I performed yesterday evening with a MacBook Air tethered to the LG Revolution via the integrated mobile hotspot feature:

“Faster than 88% of US.” Enough said.
Of course don’t expect the mobile hotspot feature to take you very far unless you have a charger and an outlet near by. Also, I found that it sometimes took me quite some a while before I was able to move data once connected to the Revolution via Wi-Fi. Even while I could send and receive data on the phone itself, connected devices such as my laptop, a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and a BlackBerry PlayBook were unable to send or receive data until they were connected for about 90 seconds. Then, other times, I was able to connect to the Internet just fine within a few seconds of negotiating an IP address.

The Downside

Just as I would place the Optimus UI between HTC and Samsung’s competitive offerings, battery size is another area where the LG falls squarely in between HTC and Samsung — the revolution’s 1,500 mAh battery sits directly between the ThunderBolt’s 1,400 mAh battery and the DROID Charge’s 1,600 mAh offering. To the end user, this hardly matters. What does matter, however, is a smartphone’s ability to manage battery life and perform its various functions without leaving the user worried about having his or her phone die. In this regard, the LG Revolution fails miserably.
With 4G enabled, I could barely get the Revolution to idle for a full day without running out of juice. With regular usage, the phone would cough and sputter by the early afternoon and with heavy usage, I was lucky to get a few hours out of the Revolution. In a day and age where people rely on their smartphones more than ever, this is simply unacceptable.

For reasons unknown, Verizon and LG have chosen not to give users a simple way to enable and disable 4G LTE. I can understand that 4G is novel for Verizon and it wants users to bask in the glow of its blistering data speeds, but when that glow only lasts a few short hours per charge, common sense needs to be exercised. I use a third-party app called “LTE Switch” to enable and disable LTE on my Revolution review unit, and it works like a charm. The device needs to reboot every time you switch LTE on or off, but I was able to get just about a full day of usage out of the phone when I disabled LTE often. I shed a tear when subsequent speed tests rang up at below 1Mbps down, but whenever I needed a boost I just fired up LTE and let the Revolution soar.
My only other major issue with this smartphone is the display. The giant 4.3-inch display consumers can’t seem to get enough of on Android phones just so happens to be my least favorite thing about the Revolution’s hardware. It’s bad. The size is great, the backlighting is sufficiently bright, the resolution is decent at a now-baseline 480 x 800 pixels… but the panel itself just doesn’t do it for me. The viewing angle is terrible, colors are very washed out and graphics just don’t pop compared to more modern displays.
Also — and this may be an issue with the UI as much as it is with the screen — color gradients are particularly terrible on the Revolution’s display. On a better screen like one of Samsung’s offerings or Apple’s Retina Display, colors fade very smoothly from one to the next on UI elements, and this really enhances the look of the graphics. On the Revolution, this effect cannot be pulled off. Gradients that fade from black to dark gray, for example, render as horizontal or vertical bars that are aligned in progressively lighter colors. The transition is not smooth and seamless, as it should be on a modern smartphone display.

The Bottom Line

Every time we mention Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network here on BGR, we write about how ridiculously fast it is compared to the competition. At this point in time, it really has no rival. Those looking for a new smartphone who value blazing fast data speeds above all else really have three choices, and they’re all Verizon phones. LG’s Revolution is the newest of the three, and while it can’t match the gorgeous Super AMOLED Plus display on the DROID Charge or the sleek and stylish Sense UI on the ThunderBolt, it easily features my favorite design and build of the three devices. The Revolution also features the same Android 2.2 OS as the Charge and the ThunderBolt, so it is essentially just as capable.
The trade off with an LTE phone, of course, is battery life. There’s just no way to sugar coat it… battery life on the LG Revolution is abysmal, just like it is on the ThunderBolt and the DROID Charge. Those seriously considering any of these smartphones should be prepared to purchase several additional wall chargers and a car charger in order to have access to power as often as possible.

Source: BGR.com

LG Optimus T Design And Looks

At a first glance you wil find that LG Optimus T T-Mobile looks pretty much the same as that of LG Optimus S. The phone is constructed of soft-touch, burgundy colored plastic which makes it look pretty good. You will find the same silver accent band as that of Optimus S around the edges of the phone. The phone feels solid on hand. LG Optimus T dimension measures 113.5 x 59 x 13.3 mm  which makes it sleek and lets it easily slip into the pocket. The phone weighs 129 grams which is in lines with weight of several other smartphones.

LG Optimus T sports a 3.2 inches TFT capacitive touch screen which displays 256K colors of resolution measuring 320×480 pixels. The display is equipped with accelerometer and proximity sensors. The display offers good viewing angles and the tiniest of texts are displayed sharp. The display suffers greatly in direct sunlight but is pretty responsive and responds to the slightest of touches.

LG Optimus T Apps

Google Talk, Gmail, Google Search etc are some of the in-built apps in the phone. LG Optimus T Youtube application allows users to enjoy Youtube videos on their device. Users can also download several applications of their choices from the Android market. The phone also has preloaded Facebook and Twitter application which allows users to hook onto the social networks and keep in constant touch with their family and friends.

LG Optimus T Features

LG Optimus T offers 5 home screens, but you can expand to 7. The phone allows you to sync your address book with various social networks. LG Optimus T keyboard is QWERTY in nature and text can be inputted in two ways. You can either use the Android keyboard or the Swype keyboard. The phone also offers easy setting of emails and from the Android market you can get access to various other services.

LG Optimus T Specs

LG Optimus T offers internal memory storage of 170 MB. There is a 2GB memory card included in the device. With the help of microSD card slot, the memory can be increased to 32GB. The phone runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo) OS and the operations are stepped up by the presence of 600 MHz processor.

LG Optimus T Camera

LG Optimus T Android is equipped with a 3.2 MP camera which clicks pictures of resolution measuring 2048×1536 pixels. The photographs produced are not that stunning but are decent enough. Absence of LG Optimus T flash in the camera makes taking picture in the dim light a bit of a problem. LG Optimus T video is captured at 18fps.

LG Optimus T Connectivity And Multimedia

Connectivity is seamless with LG Optimus T mobile with the phone supporting both 2G and 3G networks. There is also support for GRPS (Class 10) and EDGE (Class 10). LG Optimus T USB 2.0 along with support for 3.5 mm audio jack enhances the connectivity of the device. Local connectivity is also consolidated with the presence of Bluetooth 2.1 with support for A2DP profile. The phone is also equipped with an FM radio which will be loved by music lovers.

LG Optimus T Call Quality

The call quality of the phone is good enough with reception good enough in most of the areas. We did not feel drop in call in most of the areas. LG Optimus T sound quality is also quite decent.

LG Optimus T Battery

The phone is equipped with a standard Li-ion 1500 mAH battery which provides a talk time of around 5 hours.

LG Optimus T Accessories

During LG Optimus T unlock we found the phone to be equipped with standard accessories such as wall charger, microUSB cable, stereo headset, user guide and the phone itself.

LG Optimus T Price

LG Optimus T on contract price is approximately $ 30 while LG Optimus T price in India is approximately Rs 13,500. The phone is a decent one which offers great value for money and if you want to experience Android at a cost effective price point then LG Optimus T is the one for you.

The T-Mobile G2x is the first dual-core Android smartphone to be offered by T-Mobile. Basically a re-badged LG Optimus 2X, the G2x performs amazingly well in benchmarks, thanks to its 1GHz Tegra 2 CPU, and has the nuts when it comes to mobile gaming, as evidenced by the included Need For Speed: Shift game, which was tons of fun.

The T-Mobile G2x has a great design that is understated and elegant, but different than many of the generic black slabs that are available on the market today. It’s body is made up of rich feeling materials, and it’s high-quality TFT display is a pleasure to look at.

While I would have liked a more customized and flashy user interface on the G2x, the vanilla Android UI will appeal to many and certainly won’t get in your way when it comes to getting work (or play) done. It is, quite simply, a fantastic phone that does most everything well.

Hardware

The T-Mobile G2x is a fairly large smartphone with a 4-inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) capacitive touchscreen display. It weighs a solid 147.4g (5.1oz) and measures 124mm x 63mm x 11mm (4.9in x 2.5in x .4in) in size, which is still pocketable. The finish on the phone is a nice mixture of gray metal and soft-touch paint with a high-gloss front display. It feels solidly built, and it would look perfectly at home in a board room.

There are few hardware controls on the G2x. The main controls on the front of the device are touch sensitive, and work well. Volume buttons sit on the right edge of the phone, while a power button rests up top next to a covered micro HDMI port and an uncovered 3.5mm headphone jack. Stereo speakers flank the micro-USB port on the bottom of the phone.

The back of the phone is home to the 8 megapixel camera and its LED flash, both of which sit upon a slight bulge on the rear cover. A metal strip runs down the middle of the back and has “with Google” stamped into it. It looks very nice. Under the easily removed battery cover are the 1,500mAh battery, the SIM card slot, and the microSD memory card slot. 8GB of storage is built into the phone (5.5GB or so available), so a microSD memory card (not included) is not necessarily needed.

In spite of being made with a typical TFT LCD type display, the screen on the T-Mobile G2x is very bright and very colorful. The pre-loaded wallpapers, for example, really pop, and the display was reasonably usable in direct sunlight – especially if the auto-brightness setting was enabled.

Usability

The T-Mobile G2x runs the Android 2.2 Froyo operating system. Unfortunately the G2x lacks some of the very nice user interface work that LG had on the original Optimus 2X. Gone is the customizable main menu, for example. Instead we get a rather stock Android 2.2 main menu that works, but is very much a “one size fits all” type of deal.

Also missing is the ability to set the number of home screen panels that are available. The G2x offers a set 5 panels for customization. LG’s custom widgets are also nowhere to be found. What you are left with is a fairly sparse selection of stock widgets, lacking proper widgets for bookmarks and contacts, for example. Gone, too, are the handy shortcuts in the notification area for things like Wi-Fi, silent mode, and Bluetooth.

The stock contacts application and dialer are sufficient, but offer no quick index for long lists of contacts. You do have easy access to your favorite contacts, but there is no built-in integration with any of the popular social networks. Ring profile support on the phone is limited, offering only volume control and vibrate/silent modes.

In general the G2x was very responsive in use, but I don’t know that the dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor had much of anything to do with that. The phone felt fast, but often no faster than other high-end devices with 1GHz processors. I can say that the software on the T-Mobile G2x was more stable than that on the LG Optimus 2X, so perhaps we can thank the fairly vanilla Android experience for that, at least.

Calling / Data

I tested the T-Mobile G2x on T-Mobile USA’s network, but it is worth pointing out that the device also fully supports the 3G bands used by AT&T, as well as the 2100MHz band used in other countries. This means that the G2x will be able to survive a merged AT&T/T-Mobile even if AT&T were to reuse T-Mobile’s 3G spectrum for 4G LTE use, something it has indicated a desire to do. You could call the G2x future proof in that regard. Voice quality was average in general, but I found the speakerphone to be pretty solid – at least for the G2x user. Reception on the G2x appeared to be on par with Samsung’s Google Nexus S, a phone that I consider to perform quite well.

What I really love about the G2x’s voice capabilities, though, is the fact that it can place and receive calls over a Wi-Fi connection. That makes it a perfect device for use in weak signal areas, such as my current location in Florida. I found the audio quality to not be quite as good over Wi-Fi for some reason, but I loved having a solid connection at all times. I’m a bit surprised, but the Qik video chatting software on the G2x actually performed pretty well for me, something that has not been the case in the past. I chalk that up more to Qik getting its act together rather than something that LG did with the G2x, though.

When it came to data speeds, the G2x performed impressively. Download speeds in the 7 to 8Mbps range were routine, and upload speeds in the 1600Mbps range were very common. That’s quite fast. The fact that it supports both USB tethering as well as use as a Wi-Fi hotspot makes the data even more attractive. Bluetooth wireless headsets and headphones are supported, and Bluetooth can also be used for simple sharing of photos. Unlike my experience with the LG Optimus 2X that I reviewed, I had no trouble getting the USB mass storage mode to activate when I attached the T-Mobile G2x to my desktop computer.

Messaging

The T-Mobile G2x provides users with good messaging capabilities all around. The threaded SMS application is basic but workable, and the email application is visually appealing. A combined inbox view of email is available, but it is not easily reached, something that greatly limits that function’s utility. It was very easy to configure, though, accepting POP, IMAP, and Exchange server accounts with no trouble at all.

There is a separate Gmail client that can be used for Gmail. Like Exchange in the regular email client, Gmail can be used to synchronize contacts and calendar appointments. Push mode is supported on both email clients, and the Gmail client also offers Google features like priority inbox and conversation views.

There is little in the way of instant messaging support on the G2x. Only Google’s Gtalk client comes pre-installed. There are no pre-loaded social networking applications, either, but many are easily located within the Android Market for free.

Apps / App Store

Like other Google Android based smartphones, T-Mobile’s G2x has access to well over 150,000 apps available from the Android Market. The new version of the Android Market is loaded on the G2x, and it is much prettier to look at than the old.

There are relatively few pre-loaded applications on the T-Mobile G2x. Need For Speed: Shift is available, though, and it’s very fun to play and really shows off the graphics and processing capabilities of the G2x. Nova, a first person shooter, also plays well on the G2x. T-Mobile also includes its T-Mobile TV streaming video application, which I don’t care for, and the capable Telenav GPS navigation system. I also like the Polaris Office document viewer application that is pre-installed.

The typical suite of Google apps, including Maps with Navigation, are available. A DLNA(INFO) application can be used for playing media on compatible devices, and the Tegra Zone apps store is available from the Android Market for finding new high-end games that take advantage of the phone’s dual-core processor – though there are few to choose from.

Browser

With a dual-core processor and a 4-inch display, the T-Mobile G2x appears to be made for web browsing. And while the browser offers all of the functionality you would expect to find, including multi-touch zooming, the second processor core didn’t seem to speed things up appreciably when compared to single-core devices. That said, the browsing experience was still very good – even with Adobe Flash enabled.

The browser supports multiple windows and nicely organizes bookmarks and history, but does not do much to set itself apart from the competition. That’s not really a problem, though, it’s just that I’m waiting for manufacturers to start doing something more interesting with the stock Android browser.

Camera

LG appears to have done some tweaking to the camera for the T-Mobile G2x, since it shoots nicer photos that did the LG Optimus 2X that I reviewed. The colors are more accurate, and the images pop more in general. The focusing system doesn’t feel quite as fast to me, though, and had a few misfires while I was shooting test shots. There are a number of interesting settings that one can adjust, including image stabilization and face tracking focus.

One of the phone’s claims to fame is its 1080p HD video recording and HDMI output capability. As was the case with the Optimus 2X, I wasn’t overly impressed by it. The footage I shot often looked muted, and the camera doesn’t appear to have the ability to re-focus while recording. The 720p HD video was basically as good, and used up less storage space. The 1.3 megapixel forward facing camera was good for video chatting, which is something people will enjoy.

Music

The T-Mobile G2x features the stock Android music player. That means it does an adequate job, but doesn’t offer cool visual effects like flipping album covers or anything of that sort. Music is organized well by artist, album, song title, and playlists, and the audio quality is good as well. There’s no FM radio in the G2x, for those of you that prefer your music over the airwaves.

Battery

T-Mobile and LG rate the 1500mAh battery in the G2x as being good for up to 7 hours of talk time or 12 days of standby time. In real world terms, it all seems to settle in at the ever so common “about a day’s worth of use.” As was the case with the LG Optimus 2X, I didn’t find that the dual-core processor had much of an impact, positive or negative, on the phone’s battery. You’ll be charging it daily, but should not have too much trouble getting through a work day without the charger.

Reviewer Spin

As the first dual-core smartphone being offered by T-Mobile, it is no surprise that the G2x can dance circles around existing T-Mobile smartphones when it comes to benchmarks. And while I have to admit that the gaming experience on the device is fantastic, thanks partly to the gyroscopic sensor, I just didn’t feel that that extra processor core was doing anything useful for me 99% of the time.

The industrial design of the G2x is subtle, but attractive in a way that I like. The phone has most everything you could possibly wish for on its spec sheet, but I would have preferred that the vanilla Android 2.2 Froyo interface had been updated a bit with, at minimum, some interesting widgets. I was also not totally impressed with the camera’s video recording capabilities, though it handled still photos well enough.

But configured for T-Mobile’s network, including its support of Wi-Fi calling, I’m convinced that the T-Mobile G2x has a bit more going for it than the original LG Optimus 2X, inspite of the plain interface. It’s a very nice phone with some real power, a stable software build, and good looks.

If you are looking for a smartphone packed with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS with a slide out keypad, then LG Quantum can be the device which will attract you. LG Quantum is with its robust look and features will attract users who are looking for a cell phone running on Microsoft’s mobile OS. LG Quantum C900 faces strong competition in the market not only from Android, Blackberry and iOS mobile platform but also from other Windows Phone such as Samsung Focus, HTC Surround and Optimus 7.  Read on the LG Quantum review to know more this Windows Phone.

LG Quantum Looks And Design

The glance of LG Quantum Windows Phone makes you feel that the phone is solidly built. LG Quantum case on the exterior has a soft coating while the metallic rear cover of the phone gives it a pretty robust feel. The phone is a bit thick and oval shaped. LG Quantum weight (176 grams) will make the device feel heavy in their pocket. The solid construction is one of the great LG Quantum features as it gives users a sense of durability of the device. The phone feels nice to grip and overall we were quite impressed by the design and construction of device.

The phone has a 3.5 inches TFT capacitive touch screen display which displays 16 M colors of resolution measuring 480×800 pixels. The display of the phone is decent and it provides ample visibility. Sunlight visibility of display is a bit of concern though. The display of LG Quantum is equipped with features such as accelerometer and proximity sensors.

LG Quantum Keyboard

LG Quantum has a sliding QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard is quite good with its big backlit keys which are well spread out. The well spread out keys facilitates typing but the keys are a bit on the slippery side. The phone also has a virtual keyboard. LG Quantum virtual keyboard is nicely spread out and is quite responsive. So, if you do not want to open the device and type, you can use the virtual keyboard.

LG Quantum Specs

LG has tried to pack the device with robust specifications. LG Quantum memory (internal) offers a storage space of around 16GB which allows you to store a large number of contacts, images, photocalls etc. However, if you are looking to increase the memory then you will be disappointed as LG Quantum MicroSd card slot is missing. This can be one the major issues of the device. Like other Windows Phone 7, LG Quantum AT&T uses a 1 GHz Scorpion processor.

LG Quantum Apps

LG Quantum has several in-built apps such as basic photo editor, unit converters, photo panorama sticher etc. LG has packed the device with a new media app known as “Play To” and users can also download other apps from LG Apps Store.

LG Quantum Software

AT&T is the carrier of the device and both LG and AT&T have added a bit of software in the device. Well the basic software starts with packing the device with Windows Phone 7 OS. The user interface of the device of the device is pretty simple and the OS brings transitions such as Slide and Page Peel. If you happen to be a game lover than the Xbox Live Store is there to satisfy your need.

LG Quantum Email Setup

LG Quantum Email setup is seamless as the phone gives easy access to clients like Gmail and Yahoo. Users can log onto these clients by simply giving their user id and password.

LG Quantum Camera

The phone is equipped with a 5 mega-pixel camera which is capable of clicking pictures of resolution measuring 2592 x 1944 pixels. The camera is equipped with auto-focus and flash and the details of the captured images are good enough. But the flash of the camera is not so good and therefore clicking clear pictures in dim light is a bit of a problem. LG Quantum video is however good as the phone allows one to shoot 720 p videos.

LG Quantum Connectivity And Multimedia

Connectivity is seamless with the phone, with LG Quantum supporting both 2G and 3G networks. There is also support for GPRS (Class 10), EDGE and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n. LG Quantum Bluetooth 2.1 with support for A2DP profile enhances local connectivity of the device. Presence of MicroUSB 2.0 completes all the connectivity options of the device. The phone has a stereo FM radio and with the help of LG Quantum headphone jack (3.5mm), users can enjoy great music. LG Quantum sound quality is good and the amplitude increases dramatically when heard over headphone.

LG Quantum Call Quality

The call quality of the phone is quite good, though a bit low when compared to Samsung Focus. Yet the reception of the calls is good enough and in case the caller is loud, the calls tend to distort a bit.

LG Quantum Accessories

During LG Quantum unboxing, we found the phone to be packed with standard accessories such as charger, headset, micro USB cable and user guide.

LG Quantum Battery

The phone is equipped with a 1500 mAh battery which offers a talk time of around 5 hours and a standby time of around 300 hours.

LG Quantum Cost

LG Quantum price in India is approximately Rs 30,000. LG Quantum is a decent Windows Phone which has features to attract users towards it. But somewhere it seems that it lags behind Samsung Focus, another Windows phone on quite a few aspects such as display and camera. So users have to decide for themselves whether to go for LG Quantum or Samsung Focus as both of them aims to seek to enhance Windows Phone experience.

With the rising popularity of Dual-SIM phones, several cell phone manufacturers have been focusing on rolling out dual-SIM handsets. LG one of the prominent cell phone manufacturers in the world has come out with a dual-SIM QWERTY handset, which looks like an-improved version of LG C300. LG C310 features several things which will be liked by users who look forward to have smartphone experience at a cost effective price point. LG C310 is also known as LG C310 Cookie Duet and LG C310 Cookie. Read on the LG C310 review to know more about this product.

LG C310 – Design And Looks

LG C310 Dual-SIM is a pretty cool form factor bar mobile phone which measures 116 x 61.9 x 11.9 mm. The phone is quite slim and slips easily into your pocket. At the same time it is quite light weighing just around 93 grams. The nicely shaped edges of the LG C310 mobile make it pretty good to grab on hand.

The QWERTY keypad of the LG C310 mobile phone is well spaced out which facilitates typing. LG C310 Dual SIM smartphone boasts of a 2.4 inches TFT display which is capable of displaying 256 K colors of resolution measuring 240 x 320 pixels. The readability of the display suffers greatly during sunlight. However, in normal light, the display is quite good and though the contrast is a bit down, still it is acceptable considering the budget of the phone.

The display is also equipped with an accelerometer sensor. Overall, we were pretty impressed by the design and the construction of the phone. The phone supports various Java applications and other applications can be downloaded too.

LG C310 Specs

Solid technical specification is of paramount importance for any smartphone. LG has tried to justify the LG C310 price with the specifications it has provided with the phone. The internal memory of the phone is around 15MB. There is a 2GB memory card included in the phone with the phone supporting 1000 entries. The memory can be increased to 4GB with the help of a micro-SD card slot.

LG C310 Connectivity And Multimedia

Connectivity of the device is decent with the phone supporting tri-band GSM Connectivity. One of the greatest disadvantages of the phone is the lack of support for 3G. With 3G services being launched in various countries, lack of support for 3G connectivity is a major drawback of the phone. Anyways, the phone has support for GPRS and EDGE. But there is no Wi-Fi support in the device.

We felt that LG C310 Wi-Fi would been better in competing with its counterparts. The phone has support for Bluetooth 2.1 with support for A2DP profile and USB 2.0. Presence of 3.5 mm audio jack also strengthens the connectivity of the device. The phone has also an FM radio which will be liked by music lovers.

LG C310 Camera

The phone is equipped with an 2 MP camera which is capable of clicking pictures of resolution measuring 1600×1200 pixels. The quality of the images is at par with 2MP camera. The camera however, lacks advanced features like auto-focus and LED flash. So clicking pictures in dim light will be a huge problem. The camera is equipped with features like white balance, self timer, digital zoom and capture resolution. LG C310 video capture resolution measures 176×144 pixels which is pretty dull.

LG C310 Battery and Colors

The phone is equipped with a standard Li-Ion 1250 mAh battery which gives a talk time and standby time of approximately 18 hours and 500 hours. The phone is available in two colors – LG C310 Black and Red.

LG C310 Unlock

The phone is equipped with standard accessories such as battery, charger, earphone, user manual, Data CD and USB data cable. LG C310 manual helps in better understanding of device.

LG C310 Cost And Verdict

Price of LG C310 In India is approximately Rs 4950. LG C310 cell phone is a good device for those who want to experience smartphone at a cost effective price point. The device may not be that very popular among those looking for higher-end apps, but will certainly lure mid-range consumers.

The LG Optimus Me P350 launch has come at a time when LG’s market share during the fourth quarter of 2010 dropped to 7.6% from 10% during the corresponding period last year. Optimus Me P350 is a budgetary smartphone which aims to carry forward the success of Optimus series of phones launched by the company. Read on the LG Optimus Me P350 review to know what this device stores for you.

LG Optimus Me P350 Looks And Display

LG Optimus Me P350 is a pretty compact phone and is comfortable to grip. LG Optimus Me P350 dimensions measures 108 x 53 x 12.5 mm and the phone is quite light weighing around 130 grams. The phone easily slips into your pocket and we were impressed by the overall design and construction of the phone.

LG Optimus Me P350 sports a 2.8 inches TFT capacitive touch-screen which is capable of displaying 256K colors of resolution measuring 240×320 pixels. The screen is equipped with accelerometer and proximity sensors. Though we preferred AMOLED screen, considering the budget of the phone the display looked reasonable to us.

LG Optimus Me P350 Features

LG Optimus Me P350 phone supports touch navigation and gesture UI. Through gesture UI, users can navigate around the unit and the LG Optimus Me P350 keypad is well spaced enough to facilitate texting and e-mailing.

LG Optimus Me P350 Specs

Technically, LG Optimus Me P350 is robust among budgetary smartphone category. LG Optimus Me P350 is powered by a 600 MHz processor and runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo) OS. The phone offers an internal memory of 140 MB which can be increased to a staggering 32GB with the help of a microSD card.

LG Optimus Me P350 Connectivity And Multimedia

Connectivity is an important feature for any smartphone. With users looking forward to use smartphones as devices to surf net and remain connected with their family and friends, connectivity is of paramount importance for smartphone. LG Optimus Me P350 offers standard connectivity options with support for both 2G (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) as well as 3G (HSDPA 900 / 2100, HSDPA 850 / 1900) networks. The phone lacks infrared port, but presence of Bluetooth 2.1 supporting A2DP, EDR profiles and Wi-Fi802.11 b/g makes up for it.

There is also support for GPRS and EDGE and 3.5 mm audio jack. LG Optimus Me P350 supports standard messaging options such as SMS, MMS, e-mails and support for various IMs. The phone is equipped with an FM radio with RDS and supports various music and video formats. Some of the music formats supported by the phone are MP3, WAV, WMA, eAAC+ while MP4, H.263, H.264 are some of the video formats supported by the phone.

LG Optimus Me P350 Camera

LG Optimus Me P350 Android is integrated with a 3.15 MP camera which is capable of clicking pictures of resolution measuring 2048×1536 pixels. The camera is equipped with auto-focus and geo-tagging facilities. The camera however, lacks flash which makes clicking sharp pictures in dim light pretty tough. LG Optimus Me P350 Video is not up to the mark as the phone allows you to record videos @ 24 fps.

LG Optimus Me P350 Colors

The phone is available in various colors such as silver, blue, black, red and pink.

LG Optimus Me P350 Battery Life

LG Optimus Me P350 is equipped with a standard 1250 mAh battery which offers a talk time of approximately 5 hours.

LG Optimus Me P350 Price And Verdict

LG Optimus Me P350 Price in US is expected to be around $ 200 while LG Optimus Me P350 price in India is yet to be announced. As said earlier that the phone is a budgetary one, it will perfectly suit those who want to have smartphone experience at a cost effective price point. It will be interesting to note whether it can emulate success of LG Optimus One or not.

Specifications (Specs sheet)

Availability in the United States TBD

* 4-inch capacitive display (480X800)
* NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz processor
* 8 Megapixel Camera with LED flash
* Android 2.2 with LG UI
* 1080p HD video recording
* WiFi (B/G/N)
* GPS, 3G (HSDPA), Bluetooth, acceleromer

The Good

* Tegra 2 processor makes for a smooth overall experience
* It absolutely feels like a premium device
* 1080p HD video recording is awesome and the camera (UI, quality) is great
* Hot-swappable microSD card slot

The Bad

* LG UI is inoffensive but doesn’t add much value
* Software keyboard could be smarter
* No Android 2.3 Gingerbread

Hardware

The design of the Ally  and the Optimus lineup never really appealed to me because these felt a bit safe and even a little cheap but the Optimus 2X shows that LG knows how to design a top-shelf smartphone that feels like a premium device. The look, feel and performance of the device are all high quality.

The big story about the LG Optimus 2X is that it’s the first smartphone to have the Tegra 2 dual-core processor and this gives the device a ton of horsepower to work with.

Well, you do get the ability to record in full 1080p HD (more on that in the camera segment) but most of the benefits are kind of subtle. You’re not immediately blown away by the Tegra 2 chip but once you’re able to quickly launch apps and switch between them with ease, you realize how much better Android is when it has the right hardware to run it. In about a week with the LG Optimus 2X, I didn’t have one force close of an app and while that’s also indicative of the way the software is written, you know the Tegra 2 has a lot to do with that.

The LG Optimus 2X has a 4-inch display with a 480×800 resolution and it’s responsive and bright. I’m starting to think that the 4-inch screen is the sweet spot – as brilliant as the Retina Display is, I pine for a little more real estate and the 4.3 or 4.5-inch screens might be a tad bit too large.

There’s also a slight curve to the screen which isn’t immediately noticeable but it definitely looks cool. This screen isn’t as nice as the Super AMOLED Plus screens but it definitely gets the job done.

On the face, you also have a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera above the screen, a notification light and the four standard Android buttons on the bottom in capacitive form. I had no problems getting the Menu, Home, Back or Search buttons to respond.

Along the top of the LG Optimus 2X, you have a standard headphone jack, the HDMI-out port and an unlock/power button. The HDMI port is covered by a plastic cover that snaps out but I would have preferred some sort of hard, sliding cover door like on the Galaxy S devices. I don’t know, the cover isn’t bad and it locks in nicely but I feel like it could snap off easily.

There’s a nice dark grey/blueish trim along the bezel and rounded corners which make it feel good in the hand. Along the right spine you have two separate button for volume (and zooming in and out with the camera) and these are easy to find by feel and are responsive. The left spine is completely empty and on the bottom you’ll find the microUSB port and some speakers.

The back cover of the LG Optimus 2X is very subdued and I dig it. Most of it is a soft plastic black finish and there’s a silver stripe in the center that sports the “with Google” logo. There’s a slight hump where the 8-megapixel camera module is but this thing gives your hands a wonderful feeling.

There’s nothing too bold or crazy about the design of the LG Optimus 2X, as it’s basically a full touch slate design that we’ve seen before, but it’s highly refined, done well and makes me feel like I’m holding a powerful and slick phone. So, I guess that means LG has done a great job.

Software

Sadly, the LG Optimus 2X doesn’t come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread  and it instead rocks Android 2.2.1 Froyo. We don’t when it will get the latest and greatest version but we hope it’s sooner rather than later.

I won’t spend too much time on Froyo, as you should have a good idea what that entails by now. Like most Android devices, the LG Optimus 2X makes it easy to get your e-mails, make calls, send text messages, install apps and browser the web. As I mentioned before, the Tegra 2 chip makes the OS run like a champ: app switching is quick and easy, things just work and gaming is an excellent experience.

I’ll focus more on the custom user interface that has been slapped on by LG, which I’ll call the LG UI. I don’t think this is bad at all but I’m wondering if it really adds much value for most users.

We’ll start at the unlock screen, which is kind of a cool semi-transparent window that you have to slide up to unlock. If you have, say, a missed call, you’ll be notified of it at this screen but you can’t dive directly into you missed call log directly. I dig this ambient information but think it could have been a deeper, richer experience like what we’ve seen the competition do.

The LG Optimus 2X offers you seven home screens to fill up with apps and like the Leap feature of HTC Sense, you can do pinch gesture to bring up all seven screens at once.

The LG UI also presents app icons in a more visually-pleasing way but the default mode separates apps between the preloaded ones and the apps you download from the Android Market. I did like the ability to customize that by adding new categories and renaming categories though.

The LG UI also tweaks the notification window by giving you access to things like the WiFi, GPS, auto-rotate and even small controls over the music player. While we still don’t have the ability to individually kill app notifications in line like with Honeycomb, I like what LG has done with this.

You also get the LG widgets and these are about what you expect: a digital clock, picture frames, social networking aggregate clients, customized apps for Facebook and Twitter and more. As a “with Google” device, this also comes preloaded with some of the search giant’s apps including Gmail, Maps and the Places app. Also, this version came with the F-Secure mobile security app, the TegraZone portal (more on that later) and some document-editing software. Please note: we’re reviewing an international version and the one that hits the United States may have carrier-specific apps loaded on it.

There’s also a neat “mirror mode” which lets you output the phone to a television or monitor – this isn’t just for music or videos either, as you can even get your web browser outputted.

I wasn’t in love with the standard virtual keyboard, even though it was incredibly responsive. It does do autocorrect but I didn’t find it intelligent enough to keep up with what I wanted. As an Android device though, a better keyboard is only a download away.

The LG Optimus 2X runs beautifully thanks to the Tegra 2 chip and the customized UI is inoffensive and looks pretty nice. The only issue I have is that I don’t think it really adds much functionality outside of the stellar camera software. We know that customized layers can delay future software updates, so is this really worth it?

With that said, this is still a very good smartphone experience and even if, god forbid, it remains on Froyo for the next six months, it would still be a rocking device.

Web Browsing, Camera and Multimedia/Gaming

Web Browser

You should know what the Android browsing experience means by now, as the Froyo version brings improved JavaScript support and the LG Optimus 2X provides a good mobile web experience. There’s intelligent zooming and formatting, plus you also get the pinch-to-zoom feature that has been standard with smartphone for a while now.

Camera

The LG Optimus 2X is making a big deal about its camera functionality and for good reason: this thing rocks. I may be able to quibble about how the image quality for an 8-megapixel camera is still about on par with the 5-megapixel shooter on the iPhone 4 but that’s just a minor beef.

The camera UI on the LG Optimus 2X is pretty darn good, although I still miss a hard picture-taking button. While you can snap pictures in portrait mode, you’re encouraged to hold the device in landscape. In this mode, the software shutter button is on the right, along with a picture preview which will launch you into the gallery and the ability to toggle between the camera and the video recorder.

On the left side, the LG Optimus 2X gives you the ability to move to the front-facing camera. You can change the focus (face-tracking included), the image size, the ISO, the white balance, as well as add effects like sepia, black and white and more. Also, it includes image stabilization, geo-tagging, timers and nearly everything you could want in a camera.

The shot mode is my favorite category though, as the LG Optimus 2X has shooting modes that I didn’t even know I wanted. The continuous shot mode will snap off six quick pictures in about the same time it takes for a phone to take one. This has become my default shooting method, as it is great to have multiple shots of the same thing for redundancy (it will go through your memory quicker though).

There’s also a stitch mode which will let you take panorama shots and stitch them together. This isn’t an exclusive feature but it’s nice to have.

The image quality is pretty darn nice too, as images are crisp, sharp and vibrant. I don’t think the low-light photos come out that well and the flash might be a bit too bright for good shooting, but it’s still not bad.

One of the major selling points about the LG Optimus 2X and the Tegra 2 chip is the ability to do full 1080p HD video recording. That’s a decent bump up from the 720p HD that most modern high-end devices can do.

A small but awesome feature is being able to record in full 1080p HD and still be able to use the volume buttons to zoom in and out. Some other devices don’t even let you zoom while recording videos!

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with the camera capabilities of the LG Optimus 2X.

Multimedia and gaming

It doesn’t look like LG did much to boost the multimedia functionality on the Optimus 2X, as it has a few tweaks but is essentially the same standard multimedia player you expect from Android. It’s good enough but not as good as what Apple is doing with its iPhone.

Gaming on the LG Optimus 2X is a different story though, as the NVIDIA chip means we can get some cool 3D games going. We had some early access to the Tegra Zone, which offers access to games that have been specifically optimized to take advantage of the extra horsepower this processor offers.

That means you’ll get console-like graphics on your phone and I found the graphics to be quite stunning. I’m not really a mobile gamer but I could appreciate it.

The cool thing about the Tegra Zone is that NVIDIA is working with developers to properly optimize their code – with some tweaking, existing games will be able to detect if a device has Tegra 2 and then it could have better graphics. Fruit Ninja, for example, gets even more textures for that fruit-smashing goodness. I’m excited to see what else game makers can cook up.

Call quality, Coverage and Battery Life

The LG Optimus 2X had excellent voice quality in the San Francisco Bay Area when I tested it out. Voices were clear and call recipients said I sound clear without any hissing or crackles you associate with bad cell phone calls. I would have preferred a louder speaker phone but it wasn’t a big deal.

Unfortunately, we only have a European model, so we couldn’t get 3G. I walked around on T-Mobile’s EDGE coverage and have been so spoiled by 3G and 4G that mobile data usage seemed excruciatingly slow. WiFi worked well and connected easily to multiple networks. We’ll be in Barcelona soon for the Mobile World Congress trade show, so we’ll update this section soon.

We’ve also heard rumors that this phone could land on T-Mobile as early as next month, so let’s hope it has HSPA+ support. I like the sound of “Optimus 4G.”

The battery life was surprisingly good for a smartphone but much of that may have to do with the lack of U.S. 3G. I was able to get a full day out of this thing on a single charge and that’s about all you can ask for with these modern, high-end devices.

The final take: The best of the best?

There are a lot of questions associated with the LG Optimus 2X: Does the Tegra 2 chip actually make a major difference? Can LG really make a high-end smartphone that competes at the highest levels?

I’m happy to say that the answer to both is an enthusiastic “yes.” The LG Optimus 2X is certainly the best Android phone on the market right now and, depending on your preferences, is better than Apple’s iPhone in many respects.

The only issue is that we don’t know when it will land in the United States and for how much. With high-end devices like the Droid Bionic with 4G LTE and the expected dual-core iPhone 5, LG’s phone is going to face some stiff competition in the next few months. With the powerful Tegra 2 chip, great camera and wealth of features, the Optimus 2X will be able to go toe-to-toe with whatever hits the market over the next few months.

Let’s just hope that it lands in the United States with 4G support.

LG Optimus One P500 happens to be fastest selling phone in the history of the company. Among several other features of the phone, one of the major LG Optimus One P500 features includes the cost-effective price tag associated with it. Read on the LG Optimus One P500 review to know more about the device.

LG Optimus One P500 Design And Looks

LG Optimus One P500 is a compact phone and has a stylish design. The phone has a simple and pleasing look and comes with nice rounded edges. The phone feels solid and comfortable to grip. It is quite heavy weighing 129 grams and the metallic strip of the phone further enhances its looks. The phone measures 113.5 x 59 x 13.3 mm and overall we were impressed by the design and build of the device.

LG Optimus One P500 comes with a 3.2 inches TFT capacitive touch-screen display which is capable of displaying 256K colors of resolution measuring 320×480 pixels. The display is equipped with an accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate and proximity sensor for auto-turn off. The screen responds well to touches, but we were a bit disappointed to find that the phone lacks digital track pad. Lack of analogue input might make a bit difficult to edit texts. The volume control buttons are located on the right side of the phone while the Home, Menu, Back and Search keys can be found below the display.

LG Optimus One P500 Apps

The phone has several built-in apps, such as Facebook and Twitter. Other apps can be downloaded from the Android market. The device has built-in games and you can also download games in the handset.

LG Optimus One P500 Specs

The phone is powered by Qualcomm MSM7227, 600 MHz CPU and comes with internal memory storage of 170 MB. A 2GB microSD card included in the phone lets you store a large number of contacts. The memory can be stored to a whopping 32GB. The phone is available in variety of colors. LG Optimus One P500 Colors include black, blue, silver, wine, purple, titan etc.

LG Optimus One P500 Connectivity And Multimedia

LG Optimus One p500 provides standard connectivity options supporting both 2G (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) and 3G (HSDPA 900 / 2100) networks. There is also support for GPRS, EDGE and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g. Local connectivity is enhanced by the presence of Bluetooth 2.1 with support for A2DP profile. The presence of 3.5 mm audio jack also increases connectivity of the phone.

When it comes to messaging, the device provides usual MMS and SMS application along with e-mail and GMail client. We found the browser of the phone to be a bit on the slower side. LG Optimus One P500 is equipped with an FM radio and a wide range of music formats is supported by its music player. Music though the headphone is pretty loud.

LG Optimus One P500 Camera

The phone is equipped with a 3.15 MP camera which is capable of clicking pictures of resolution 2048×1536 pixels. The camera, however, lacks flash. So clicking clear photos in dim light is a bit of a problem. LG Optimus One P500 Video is hardly impressive as the phone records videos @ 18 fps.

LG Optimus One P500 Battery Life And Accessories

The phone is powered by 1500 mAh Li-Ion standard battery. The phone comes with standard accessories such as battery charger, headset, USB cable, 2GB microSD card and a user manual.

LG Optimus One P500 Cost And Verdict

The cost of the phone in the USA is approximately $350 while LG Optimus One P500 Price in India is approximately Rs 12,000. The phone brings Android experience at cost effective price range and is packed with several powerful features. The phone is one of the best mid range Android handsets available in the market and is perfect for customers willing to get a pleasant Android experience.