LG Optimus 2X dual core Android smartphone
Talkin' fast
Review There was much talk of dual core handsets at this year’s Mobile World Congress – devices which effectively double the processing power available on smart phones. Samsung Galaxy S II and the Motorola Atrix are coming soon, but the LG Optimus 2X is first out of the traps, and also includes Android 2.2, an 8Mp camera and an HDMI connection.
Dual core: LG's Optimus 2X
It’s a sophisticated looking handset, with the glossy black front entirely covered by a sheet of glass, iPhone-style. The four familiar Android controls are rendered in touch-sensitive fashion beneath the screen. The curved sides are bounded by a metal strip, with volume buttons on the side, micro USB power/sync port and stereo speakers on the bottom, and power button, 3.5mm headphone jack and covered HDMI port on top.
The 4in multi-touch screen offers 800 x 480-pixel resolution with enviable contrast and clarity. It looks great, but unfortunately doesn’t always perform as well as it looks – but we’ll get to that later.
The big deal with the Optimus 2X is that it has a dual core processor, a new Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset in fact, which promises improved graphics processing and, in theory, should make it notably faster and more capable than any of the single core processors we’ve seen on handsets so far. And that includes those nifty 1GHz models that still seemed super-fast just last year.
Not the slimmest, but certainly pocketable
Is it fast? Yes, it’s fast. Does it mean that lag has been completely obliterated? No, of course not. There are still occasional moments when it seems to be taking its time, but the effect is relative – when jumping between apps or flicking between portrait and landscape modes in the browser, any delay, no matter how slight, is telling. And while it certainly feels quick in general use, it’s at most only a little quicker than, say, the HTC Desire S or the Samsung Galaxy S, both 1GHz single processor Android beasts.
Next page: Game on
COMMENTS
I think Jim Coleman is underestimating his mum.
Managing ROMs on an Android device using something like the deviously named and super secret "ROM Manager" app is, if you will forgive the complicated technical terminology, a complete piece of piss.
Given that the app has been downloaded over 600000 times, and taking your figure of 99.999% who would "no way!!!" use such a tool, that suggests that the android userbase must be around ten times the population of the planet.
Cool.
Wait ... hang on ... perhaps you're just talking shite.
eh?
What makes any of us "Android apologists"? The review and others here have pointed out the flaws in the phone, and have suggested flashing it with a custom ROM as a solution. This doesn't mean this is the right phone for the average joe. Thus the ho-hum score the reg gave it.
I bought this phone well aware of the software flaws, but I waited until good custom ROMs were out until I did. That's me. But I'd tell my Mum to by an iPhone. But the iPhone doesn't suit me.
And not all Android phones have these problems, so why generalize so? Many of my non-techie friends have Android phones and are happy with them.
This is a techie site, so maybe expect people who like to tinker with technology to be here. Just because we like to flash custom ROM's doesn't mean we're "pandering" to anyone. It just means we like to combine the best hardware and software together to get the job done. Just as when I buy a new laptop and take the original OS off it, because it doesn't full-fill my requirements.
Interesting..
"I mean honestly - would you give that advice to your milkman? Your mum? Your kids? The job centre receptionist? They may all have this phone, and all experience its wretchedness."
No that would be stupid, almost as stupid as telling them it is because they are holding it wrong.
What?
So the touchscreen isn't great (!), the camera average at best, the battery life poor and it has a largely pointless dual core CPU which doesn't even eliminate lag and just makes the UI and video recording a bit smoother.
And this is worth 80%?
Sort your scoring out, chaps, this doesn't make a damn bit of sense at the moment.
Btw, Android phone makers: dual core CPUs are stupid unless you've got an improved battery to cope, and touch sensitive buttons are shite.
Learn to read Jim
I said this is a tech forum, we discuss technical solutions. If you don't like it, the Cosmo forums are that way -->
You seem to want to turn someone discussing a technical solution into a reason to dislike Android because the general public might not be able to do something technical. You are a luddite. This is the wrong forum / website for you. There's nothing wrong with that, and i'm not disagreeing with the point that there will be people who find the idea of custom roms too much. Those folk should buy something else, and read the Cosmo forums, rather than this one. See ya.
