LG Optimus 2X Review

Here is the FoneArena LG Optimus 2X review. And guess what ? It’s the first time we have reviewed a Dual-Core phone. Until recently LG was loosing ground in the smartphone race but they surprised the world when they announced the world’s first smartphone powered by a Nvidia Tegra2 processor. At CES 2011 , several handset makers announced products based on the Tegra2 but this is the first smartphone or super-smart phone to hit the market. LG needs a nice pat on the back for making the first move. Lets see how the device meets our expectations.

Interesting Features of LG Optimus 2X

• GSM Quad Band , HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
• World’s first Dual Core phone powered by Nvidia Tegra2
• Dual Core 1Ghz CPU with Geforce GPU
• World’s first camera phone to offer 1080p (1920x1080px) video recording
• 480x800 Capacitive IPS Display
• 8 MP Camera with LED Flash
• 1.3 MP video calling camera
• 1920x1080px Video playback , HDMI mirroring, DLNA
• Android 2.2.1 with update to 2.3 promised
• 8GB memory , supports upto 32 GB microSD cards
• Bluetooth 3.0 , WiFi b/g/n , aGPS
• Browser with Adobe Flash Player 10.1
• Stereo speakers
• FM Radio
• 1500 mAh 3.7 V battery
• Accelerometer , Gyro sensor

Hardware

The first thing you would notice about the phone is the huge 4 inch display which has great clarity and color reproduction. The display runs on a 800x480 px resolution. The left and right edges of the display have a minor curve towards the end and its nice to use.

You have a nice metallic bezel running though the sides of the phone which gives it a nice feel.

Although the phone is made of plastic for the most part, it does not feel cheap like other phones like the Samsung Galaxy S.

You have the video calling camera on the top right and lg branding in the center. The earpiece above the LG logo. The proximity sensor and ambient light sensor sit on the left.

Below the display are the 4 keys for common operations of the Android OS -- Menu, Home, Back and Search

On the top you have the power button / lock key on the right , mini HDMI port in the center and the 3.5 mm audio jack on the left.At the bottom of the phone are a pair of speakers with the microUSB port / charging port in the middle.

The volume rocker is on the right and the left is free.

On the back , what caught our attention was the thin metal strip with the Google branding in the center.The top houses the 8MP camera along with a LED Flash.

Below the battery cover is a 1500 mAh battery, SIM card slot and microSD card slot. While you can access the memory card slot without removing the battery , you cannot access the SIM slot.

The phone is certainly big compared to other devices but since this is the world’s first dual core smartphone , we are not complaining.

Camera

The LG Optimus 2X is equipped with an 8 Megapixel camera, autofocus and an LED flash. The amount of detail in the pictures is great. The colour rendering is on the more natural side. No artificial colouring or over saturation.

The noise level is kept to a minimum even though it is present. The LED flash is not as powerful as a Xenon or Dual-LED so lighting up a dark room is out of the question. But it can do a decent job. Try avoiding using the flash while taking macros as it may wash away the colour of the subject.

Camera Samples

Check out the samples below taken with the LG Optimus 2X

You can find all the full size images here

Here is a video taken with the phone in Full HD 1080p. The level of detail in the video is brilliant. One of the best we’ve seen in recent devices. It becomes quite useless in low light because of the amount of noise in the videos.

Another problem is that the videos are recorded in 3GP format and are compressed quite a bit. We feel that the quality would have been even better if the compression rate wasn’t so high and also at least an mp4 format would have been more helpful. But the compression rate and the video format can be fixed with a software update and we hope that LG do bring these changes.