Optimus 4x HD plays ball in a pretty rarefied league, the quad-core phones. Alongside the LG Optimus 4X HD are HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S III.
There are some similarities between HTC One X and LG. Both are based on a quad-core Tegra 3 processor at 1.5 GHz, 1 GB RAM + GeForce ULP as a graphics accelerator. LG was the first company worldwide to sell a dual-core smartphone - LG Optimus 2X. Now I suppose they want to deliver a completely new product with a bang : Full name - LG P880 Optimus 4X HD.
Let’s see the the hardware and the strong points of this south koreean baby. Their ambitions are big and I suppose they do not like to stand in the shadow of Samsung smart phones.
Key features
• Quad-band GSM and quad-band 3G support
• 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.7" 16M-color True HD-IPS capacitive touchscreen of 720p resolution (720 x 1280 pixels), ~312 ppi; Gorilla glass
• Android OS v4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich with Optimus UI v3.0
• 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 CPUs, low-power companion core, ULP GeForce 2 GPU, Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset
• 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB (12.26 GB user accessible) of storage
• micros card support (up to 32 GB)
• 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash; face and smile detection , geotagging and image stabilization
• 1080p and 720p video recording @ 30fps with stereo sound
• 1.3 MP 720p-capable front-facing camera for video-chat
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n and DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
• GPS with A-GPS
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and auto-brightness sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• micro USB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v4.0
• MHL TV-out (requires MHL-to-HDMI adapter)
• DivX/XviD video support
• High-capacity 2150 mAh Li-Ion battery
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• NFC support
• LG SmartWorld app
Full specs here.
Optimus 4x comes in an extra solid cardboard box with a slip-on lid with glossy black 4X imprints that opens halfway. Here we find the smartphone, a charger, the micro USB cable - USB 2.0, a set of 3.5 mm in ear headphones and the manual. What's missing is a memory card, although the inbuilt storage of 16 GB is more than enough to get you started.
The phone is characterized by rectangular shapes, it has right angles slightly rounded at the corners. Straight lines dominate, it’s a minimalist design.
LG has managed to make the most compact quad-core smartphone with a 4.7-inch display, at least in width. That is why it seems easier to handle.
Build quality is very good, even if the case is entirely made of plastic, LG managed to fit a massive HD screen in a slim body keeping the weight in normal limits.
Optimus 4x ‘s display is a True-HD IPS of 4.7 inches with a resolution 1280 x 720 pixels, 312 pixels-per-inch density, features Corning Gorilla Glass-protected glass.
It is an excellent screen, the colors are displayed naturally with impressive detail and crisp. The display of the LG 4X HD is brighter than AMOLED and uses a RGB matrix with a full set of sub pixels, as opposed to the PenTile panel in AMOLED.
Sunlight legibility is decent, even if not as good as in AMOLED screens, no surprises here.
Above the 4.7" screen is the earpiece, along with proximity and ambient light sensors. Below the screen are the three capacitive controls - Back, Home and Menu. At the top side we have a 3.5 mm headphones jack and a secondary microphone, at the bottom the micro USB port (which allows HD TV output) and the main microphone in the corner.
On the back we have the 8 Megapixels with a single LED flash camera and the loudspeaker grille. The back panel has leather like texture, looks and feels cheap; I was disappointed in this regard.
Underneath the back cover we find a big strong 2150 mAh battery, a Micro SD card slot and a regular size SIM. This is the biggest battery I have ever found in a mobile phone so far and it features SiO+battery technology for better performance.
Unlike the One X, the LG 4X HD has a removable battery (using a new advanced technology at that) and expandable memory.
Optimus features Android 4.0.3 ICS with the custom Optimus UI 3.0 on top, the LG customized interface which looks pretty nice.
Telephony is very good; I had no trouble holding on to signal even in areas of poor coverage and the in-call audio is consistently good too.
The audio quality doesn’t shine, it is mediocre at most and that’s a bit of a bummer, it’s nowhere near what you would expect from flagship smartphone. The music player is ok though.
The video player is excellent, it has a simple interface and it plays everything, DivX, XviD, MKV and MP4/MOV up to, and including, 1080p resolution. The AC3 audio codec (among lots of others) is supported, so you don't have to worry about the sound either. There are no limitations for the bitrate, file size, etc.
The camera has 8 Megapixels and it’s capable of capturing 3264 x 2448 resolution images. In terms of picture quality, the phone is doing rather well; the photos have plenty of detail and accurate colors. The Video recorder is capable of shooting 1080p videos at 30fps.
In terms of connectivity, Optimus has quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE for global roaming and three-band HSDPA with 21 Mbps of download and 5.76 Mbps of upload. Wi-Fi is dual-band with a/b/g/n support, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct and Hotspot capabilities. There is NFC and Bluetooth 4.0 too.
SmartShare is an app that lets you control a DLNA network - you can play media from other devices (e.g. NAS) on your phone or play something from the phone onto another device (e.g. a DLNA-enabled TV).
Also, you get an excellent web browser, minimalist and competent, that’s the Google way. The powerful quad-core hardware enables the Optimus 4X HD browser to play 1080p Flash video without a hitch. That was truly impressive stuff considering a lot of netbooks would choke on something like that. You also have Google Maps and Navigation.
Final words, the Koreans managed to offer a really solid smartphone with focus on the essentials, with no weak points and at an attractive price. It has the latest hardware in terms of processing power and display quality but it costs less than its direct rivals.
You can get one free on a monthly contract deal here.
No comments:
Post a Comment