LG Optimus 4 X Review

LG is often regarded as a company which can make good technology but not great phones. It has all the technological capabilities to manufacture a great phone which it Korean competitor Samsung has been doing desperately. To Reverse its fortunes, LG desperately needs a reboot at the sharp end of the smartphone market - can its slim quad-core offering, in the shape of the much-vaunted Optimus 4X HD, step up to the plate?

LG Optimus 4X vs Samsung Galaxy SII

We got a few promises from LG in the form of offerings like last year's Optimus 3D – but that just felt a bit gimmicky. LG needs to pull something out of the bag if it wants to muscle in on an arena now dominated by Samsung, HTC, Sony and Motorola. So here comes LG's Latest Warrior in the fierce battle at the top end of Smart Phone Market.

Specifications

Processor: Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A9 processor

Display: 4.7in 720x1280 pixels True HD-IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen

Storage: 16GB storage

Camera: 8MP rear facing, 1.3MP front facing

Connectivity: GSM/HSPA+, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC

Ports: Micro USB, MicroSD

Operating system: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich 

Dimensions: 132x68x8.9mm

Weight: 133g

Design and Build

The LG Optimus 4X HD looks fairly similar to Samsung's Galaxy S2, featuring an angular, slightly boxy design that looks fairly dated in today's curvy smartphone world. But No Legal Action from apple on this One for Sure. In fact, aside from the lack of a physical home button and the inclusion of an LG logo, you could quite easily get the two confused at first glance. It's only marginally bigger at 132.4 x 68.1 x 8.9mm, and heavier at 133g.As far as the dimensions go, this is a handset that should fit comfortably in the palm if you've got decent sized pincers.LG has really done something special here and given it a brushed, hard plastic feel which really does make it feel a premium device. It's actually the same as the back found on the LG Prada 3 and that, combined with that metal trim, gives it a feeling of quality.There is a great decorative metal trim around the sides which adds to its Premium look. And Lack of Home Button allows it fit in a bigger screen.

Screen

The Optimus 4X features a 4.7in 720x1280 pixels True HD-IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen. Boasting 312ppi and coated in Corning Gorilla Glass, the Optimus 4X HD's screen should been one of its selling points.. Yes, the resolution is spot on – it's a True HD-IPS LCD capacitive job. And yes, LG does make amazing TVs so I expected something good. But there is a Small problem. Recent handsets have had the screens moved really high up against the glass protecting them from the elements. So, on a handset like the Samsung Galaxy S3, Sony Xperia S or HTC One X, you get a really vivid, sharp, almost-too-perfect display.But on the Optimus 4X HD, there is a huge gap between the screen and the glass. So that Exceptional clarity is somewhat lost.

Processor

The Optimus 4X HD comes with an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A9 processor. This differentiates it from the One X and S3 which feature Qualcomm Snapdragon and Samsung Exynos components respectively. The Tegra is Pretty fast and don't expect any lags on this beast.

Software

Home Screen of LG Optimus 4X

By default, you get a Yahoo! Weather, Google Search and music widgets loaded on the Homescreen. The LG Optimus 4X HD runs on the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS with the Optimus UI 3.0. It is the LG’s first Android phone to come with ICS out of the box and the new UI is the best one LG has ever had on Android. The Home screen has different look with the Google Voice search at the top and the usual shortcuts for Phone, Contacts, Messaging and Apps at the bottom.

On the whole, it's a really intuitive, user-friendly system and has the advantage of being something that a first-time Android user will instantly be able to pick up. In a market that is completely oversaturated with Google-toting handsets, this is a real plus.

Connectivity

The connectivity features include 3G HSPA+ (21 Mbps) that is pretty good. There is WiFi 802.11 a/ b/g/n with WiFi direct and DNLA, Bluetooth v4.0. There is a Smartshare app to share content to DLNA enabled devices. There is NFC support which lets you activate features using programmable Tag+ NFC tags. Overall a Good phone on this front

Camera

The Optimus 4X HD is a really competent point and shoot. It comes with two cameras on board – a 1.3MP job on the front which is good for vanity and an 8MP shooter round the back. In no light, the LED flash made a world of difference and illuminated a pitch black room well enough to take a snap. That flash is pretty intense – much like the Samsung Galaxy S2 and S3 and far superior to the HTC One X which tends to throw in a bit of noise for good measure. Overall, it's a competent camera that  matches the power of the HTC One X or Galaxy S3.

Final Word

It is available for 450 $ in USA and about 400 pounds in UK.In India it sells for 32,000 which is a bit less than galaxy SIII. However, its price range puts it in direct conflict with  HTC One X. The specs and the design of the phone looks good. It excels in Quad-core Tegra-3 performance, UI, Camera and build. The battery life with the 2150 mAh battery is good, but not up to the mark. It lasts for a day with browsing over 3G, few phone calls, couple of hours of music and some gaming. The standby is good, so you don’t lose battery when you don’t use that phone.  A tad cheaper and we might have a winner in our hands