The way it handles video and complex games
has to be seen to be believed
When it comes to sales LG is only a
bit-part player on the Android scene, so the Optimus 4X HD will naturally
struggle to reach out from under the huge weight of publicity its fellow
quad-core devices the Samsung Galaxy S III and HTC One X are getting, but it is
a handset that has surprised us in almost every way. The design is unusually well
thought out for an LG phone and includes a number of touches that you may not
expect to see in high-end Android devices these days. The back cover and edges
are subtly retro in appearance and add just enough personality to make it feel
more than simply a large Android phone that is all about the screen. On the
subject of the screen, it performs well in all lighting conditions and the way
it handles video and complex games has to be seen to be believed. It does not
offer the same immediate gratification as the HTC One X, but the processors and
screen technology work together to put it at an advantage for certain tasks.
LG Optimus 4X HD
LG has not overdone the changes to Ice
Cream Sandwich, but has included a number of well-chosen apps and also tweaked
the interface which can be customized immediately using one of the included
themes. Other changes include a re-arranged Settings menu, which Google would
do well to use for all versions of Android and other small tweaks to the Phone
app which show that LG has really thought about how users will want to interact
with a smartphone. It has managed to make many tasks easier to complete with
minimal changes. A couple of the included games also highlight just how
powerful the video processing is in this phone and at times the gaming
experience feels very close to console quality.
The camera offers exceptional speed for
still photography and feels as though it is taking a photo before you have even
pressed the capture button. There is some clever technology employed to enable
this process to occur so quickly and once you feel a camera react this quickly,
it will be difficult to accept any lag at all from a competitor. Video capture
was not as good as we hoped for in comparison to stills, and we found that the
auto-focus would lag at times and thus reduce the overall quality of clips. Our
test model was not running the absolute final firmware so we would expect this
to have been fixed by the time the device goes on sale.
The
camera offers exceptional speed for still photography and feels as though it is
taking a photo before you have even pressed the capture button.
Battery performance was more than
acceptable, particular in standby and when performing less demanding tasks, but
of course power users will still be having to find a charger once a day. For
most users, however, two days of use will not be unusual and at a push even
three days could be possible with some limited use. When the minimal depth of
the phone and large screen are considered, this is a seriously impressive
battery performance overall.
A good smartphone needs to bring all of its
features together cohesively and to work perfectly in tandem with the software
it is using, and the 4X HD manages to achieve this with ease. It surprised us
in almost every way and is a huge leap forward from previous LG Android
smartphones. The form factor, materials used and the overall performance make
it a trusty workhorse with a different look to many of the other high-end
Android phones and it grew on us very quickly. Some phones feel too delicate to
handle without careful use and others try to cram too much in to a small space,
but the 4X HD gets the balance right in almost every area. Besides some
concerns over video capture performance, this really is a genuine alternative
to the HTC One X and Galaxy S III, and proves that the quality of high-end
Android phones is getting better all of the time.
Retro feel - Camera - Screen LG Optimus 4XHD
Retro feel
Subtle design tweaks around the edges make
this phone feel somewhat retro. LG has done well to add a touch of personality
without distracting from the practicalities that are required to make a
smartphone useful every single day
Camera
There are two cameras on board: an
eight-megapixel solution at the back and 1.3 megapixels at the front (useful
for video calling). They work well in most conditions, but video capture could
be better
Screen
The screen offers a 1280x720 resolution and
is able to power video along with its HD IPS display. You really need to watch
a high definition video on this phone to believe how crisp it is in real life
Battery life
In our tests the battery handled all tasks
very well. A charge every one or two days is still required, however.
Performance
At no point in our tests did the 4X HD
stutter at all. It is a true powerhouse of a handset
Design
Super slim, light and with some nice retro
touches. What’s not to like?
Features
Every feature is near the high-end with
minimal changes made to the Android OS
Value for money
As a high-end phone it is expensive and so
‘value’ will be in the eye of the beholder
Verdict
This phone surprised us in many ways. It
feels good, performs almost flawlessly and competes well with its rivals
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Information
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Price
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$716
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More information
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www.lg.com
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Supplied
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www.clove.co.uk
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Technical
specs
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Operating system
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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
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Processor
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1.5GHz Quad-Core NVIDIA Tegra 3 4-PLUS-1
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Memory
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16GB
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Dimensions
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132.4 x 68.1 x 8.9mm
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Weight
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133 grams
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Display size
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4.7 inch
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Display resolution
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1280x720 pixels
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Expansion slot
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micro SD up to 32GB
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