• Review: LG Optimus 2X

    Review: LG Optimus 2X

    Chandrakant 'ck' Isi, Aug 11, 2011 1552 hrs IST

    Tastes bad without Gingerbread.

    Dual-core CPU; Great design; Superb display; 1080p video recording; Impressive multimedia performance; Well priced.

    Miserable battery performance; Buggy UI; Still camera not upto the mark; No Gingerbread update yet; Dull speaker.

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LG Optimus 2X
MRP: Rs 29,000
Street Price: Rs 25,500 (Letsbuy.com)

We are finally reviewing the Android that started the dual-core wave. I know it's a bit late, but this is what happens when your product manager spends his day stalking girls on FaceBook. Jokes apart, LG took its own sweet time to send us this device. The company is known for its "Who cares?" attitude, and the recent class-action lawsuit over defects in the Optimus 2X is evident of this fact. The lawsuit claims that the manufacturer was aware of the phone's defects, but ignored them to make its own life good. Continuing its legacy, LG still hasn't rolled out the Gingerbread update for the 2X in India. Worse, the company has no FOTA (Firmware Over the Air) system in place. This means that you have to connect the phone to a PC just to update the device. To add to your woes, once you get through the painful driver installation procedure, LG's updater greets you with the following message:


Review: LG Optimus 2X


wHy iS u teLl tHiS t0 mE?



 
There is a workaround to install Gingerbread on this device, but most buyers will use the phone without jailbreaking it. Hence, I'll review the 2X as it is.


Design And Build Quality
The retail package contains the phone, earphones, a charger with a detachable micro-USB cable, and an HDMI cable. This makes it a bag full of goodies, since you don't have to buy any more accessories. The device measures 123.9 mm (l) x 63.2 mm (w) x 10.9 mm (d). Not being as slim as the Galaxy S II (GS2) works in the 2X's favour, as it offers a better grip and feels more comfortable to hold. The device's design is impressive, and the curved Gorilla Glass over the 4" screen makes a style statement without being loud.




Review: LG Optimus 2X




The metallic rim and matte plastic back panel with its rubbery texture add to the looks as well sturdiness. Weighing in at 139 grammes, it's slightly heavy, but gets away with the additional weight due to its rugged build.


Review: LG Optimus 2X




Here are a few shots of the device from different angles:


Review: LG Optimus 2X

Top view.




Review: LG Optimus 2X

Left view.




Review: LG Optimus 2X

Bottom view.




Under the hood, the device contains a dual-core 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, coupled with a ULP GeForce GPU based on the Tegra 2 chipset. The other specs include an 8 megapixel primary and 1.3 megapixel front camera, 8 GB inbuilt memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, accelerometer, proximity sensor, and HDMI port.


The 4" screen has pixel dimensions of 480x800. Courtesy of IPS technology, the viewing angles are impressive. Moreover, the colour reproduction and contrast is spectacular. However, don't expect it to be as vibrant as the GS2's Super AMOLED Plus.


UI And Applications
The Optimus 2X runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo). LG has done enough to make the interface look good. To start with, the unlock slider looks better than the one seen on the GS2. The widgets and icons are a pretty standard Android affair though. The device supports up to seven home screens, with an option to cut them down to five or even three.


Review: LG Optimus 2X





You can swipe through the home screens, or use the pinch-zoom gesture to activate a thumbnail view and navigate to the desired home screen. As in every Android device, this one lets you rearrange icons and widgets as you like.


Review: LG Optimus 2X




The notification bar sports toggle buttons for Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, sound, and the auto-rotate feature. This is similar to what we've seen in the phones of LG's twin brother Samsung.

Coming to multitasking, the device handles it with ease. A long press of the Home key brings up the task switcher that lists recent apps. Thanks to the dual-core CPU, app switching is instantaneous.


Review: LG Optimus 2X




Out of the pre-installed stuff, Polaris office deserves special mention. It can edit Word, Excel, and Power Point documents with ease. Moreover, this app doubles up as a file browser, which the phone otherwise lacks.


Maps and navigation are taken care by Google Maps 5.8. It's similar to what we have seen on other Froyo devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Ace. As mentioned in previous reviews, it's good for planning your travels or finding your house on the map, but not really useful for navigation. Much like the GS2, the GPS receiver is weak and takes more than 15 minutes to lock onto satellites, even if A-GPS (Assisted GPS) is on.


Despite running on Froyo, the browser is nothing short of spectacular. It renders almost every website properly with great speed. Moreover, it is capable of playing 1080p YouTube videos without any problems.


Review: LG Optimus 2X




The LG App Advisor is useless though. Fortunately, the Android Market is full of amazing and free stuff. Throw any app at this device and it will run it without a problem. To test its capabilities, I tried some resource-hungry games by Gameloft. The Brothers in Arms 2, previously tested on the GS2, ran equally well on this device. Moreover, the phone also rendered the open world of Gangstar: Miami Vindication without any hiccups.


Review: LG Optimus 2X




Apart from standard multi-touch gestures, the gadget responds to side-tapping. This means that you can go to the next photograph in the gallery by tapping the device's side. Although innovative, this feature is not reliable as sometimes it just doesn't work.

The overall UI and performance of the phone is good. However, it sometimes lags while swiping through the home screens. Moreover, the transition effects feel jerky if you have activated a Live wallpaper. The hardware is capable for sure, so the software seems to be the weakest link here. I'm looking at you Froyo - but then again, it's LG's fault for not having rolled out the Gingerbread update.

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Discussion Board
(6) Comments
Justin
,X, on Aug 12, 2011 11:34 PM
Did you have any issues with freezing/random rebooting in your review?
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dude
,kochi, on Aug 12, 2011 09:18 PM
I think the review was pretty much to the point and nicely done. If it was me who had bought this device, the first thing I would do is install a custom rom. Luckily, LG hasn't locked the bootloader. But, I have to admit that the pathetic battery life is a HUGE turnoff. Not even a day's worth of usage? So that restricts the main buyers to modders and devs on a budget who are looking for an unrestricted dual core phone. It's funny how the hardware tech grows by leaps and bounds yet the battery evolution doesn't seem to keep up.
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Kotni Pundari K
,BERHAMPUR, State. Orissa, Republic of INDIA, on Aug 11, 2011 06:35 PM
Hi, This product is curious tome, but I am littele understandable man so far this advantages you provide in this. I am a resident of India. Can your people contact me for further information and education. Herewith I am giving my details
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Susanta
,Hyderabad, on Aug 12, 2011 06:37 PM
you lost me...what were trying to say?
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pvgk
,hyd, on Aug 11, 2011 04:10 PM
spend Rs 10000 more and get an iphone 4 !! though iphone 4 is not dual core processor, all the features in iphone 4 are above all !!! Though android has gained prominence recently, android phones are value for money when they are priced under Rs. 20000/-
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Neo
,Mumbai, on Aug 11, 2011 05:45 PM
I dont agree with you PVGK... Apple is charging you for the goodwill ... Its like buying a "levis jeans" when you have "levis signatureJeans" available in the market .... I have Samsung Galaxy GT9003 and I am very happy with android. Its Amazing. PS: I HATE BLACKBERRY
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