LG Optimus 2X review

LG’s Optimus 2X is the world’s first dual-core smartphone, but it certainly isn’t the only one we’ll see in 2011. The Samsung Galaxy S2 is already out, and HTC and Apple should have dual-core devices on sale soon. The 2X may have been the first to market, but it still has plenty to prove.

First impressions aren’t brilliant, as the phone isn’t much of a looker. It’s also fairly large, measuring 124 x 63.2 x 11 mm. The device looks and feels pretty chunky in the hand, and weighs 139g, compared to 116g for the Galaxy S2.

The front of the phone works well – it’s a solid piece of glass with bevelled edges leading down to the metal strip around the edge of the handset. Unfortunately, the Optimus 2X’s plastic back panel and creaky build quality mean it feels more like a mid-range Android handset than a premium grade smartphone in the hand. It’s certainly nothing like the slim and good-looking Galaxy S2.

LG has opted for a 4-inch 800 x 480 IPS LCD display. While it isn’t going to give Samsung or Apple anything to worry about, it’s still pretty good. Colours are bright and vivid, images are clear and viewing angles are wide. The Optimus 2X’s screen is easily on a par with favourites such as the HTC Incredible S and Desire HD’s displays.

The Optimus 2X ships with Android 2.2 rather than the latest 2.3, although LG says an Android 2.3 update is imminent. This is disappointing, as the Optimus 2X is meant to be LG’s best and most up-to-date phone. The phone’s software problems don’t end there, either. The device’s UI is sluggish when switching between home screens and we noticed some lag on the virtual keyboard once we had more than a few applications running in the background. Applications open quickly, but the phone is plagued by rogue background apps (Car Home, for instance) that sit there running even if you haven’t opened them.

We can’t help but feel that LG’s software is letting down its powerful hardware. Whether Android 2.3 with its improved background app management will improve this sluggishness remains to be seen, but we certainly didn’t expect to come across any slowdowns on the first dual-core phone.

LG’s custom skin is no great shakes either, especially when compared with HTC’s Sense and Samsung’s TouchWiz user interfaces. The widgets aren’t pretty and we weren’t impressed with LG’s bundled Facebook, Twitter and MySpace clients – you’re much better off searching for alternatives on the Market.

There are also many UI alternatives on the Android Market, such as Launcher Pro, which you can download for free and use instead of LG’s rather lacklustre effort. However, the 2X does have a selection of pre-loaded applications, such as Polaris Office, which will open Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, and comes with full editing and document creation capability. The Optimus 2X’s browser is fast, has full Flash support and an attractive simple layout. It’s easy to assign and navigate bookmarks and the pinch-to-zoom function works well.

The phone has some interesting multimedia features. DLNA lets you stream media wirelessly to compatible devices from the handset, and there’s also an HDMI output. You can set the phone to mirror mode, which gives you one display on the phone and one on the TV – and this does come in handy if you like displaying pictures and websites on a larger screen. This feature also means you can use the handset as a controller and play games on the TV – when combined with the Optimus 2X’s Gyro sensor for tilt controls and you have a great-fun gaming platform.

You can also send 1080p video to a TV over HDMI with the included cable. You plug it into your TV and the video appears instantly, with no setup needed. Video stops playing on the handset when it’s showing on the TV, but this is unlikely to bother most people.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the camera. All the megapixels are as they should be, as are the effects and settings, but image quality isn’t particularly sharp and lacked the kind of colour and definition we’ve seen on other 8-megapixel cameras. We also found the camera app would crash when we tried to take a picture. The phone will capture video at 1080p and 24fps, and footage was reasonable if a little dull.

The 2X has a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, which, as you would expect, has graphics acceleration built in. When it comes to gaming, the Optimus 2X really comes into its own. Angry Birds, Gun Bros and Need for Speed all play like they were made especially for the device. This is the first time we really saw evidence of the Optimus 2X’s powerful hardware. Unfortunately, as with Samsung’s Galaxy S2, battery life suffers. You’ll definitely be charging this phone every night.

Despite its fantastic gaming abilities, LG’s Optimus 2X comes across as a thoroughly average handset, especially compared to Samsung’s Galaxy S2. There’s no Android 2.3, the UI is laggy and the preinstalled apps are mediocre. We’d buy the Galaxy S2 or better still, hold out to see how HTC’s dual-core Sensation compares first.