Hip to be square?
The QuckMemo app and the rather generic capacitive stylus is nothing like as all encompassing a partnership as the S Pen system fitted to the Galaxy Note 2 - there’s no handwriting recognition, to start with - but it does let you perform many of the same basic tasks.
Goes like stink: Antutu and SunSpider numbers
The version of the Vu that has washed up on Blighty’s shores contains a 1.3GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 rather the 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm S4 chip found in Far East models. The downside is no LTE support, the upside is that it goes like a scalded cat.
The Vu doesn’t have a MicroSD card slot but with 32GB of built-in storage it’s an omission I can live with. Something you may not be able to live with is LG’s lamentable record in rolling out updates.
Film fans, you don't mind a few black bars do you?
Sat nav users will love the Vu's screen
Like the 4X HD, the Vu has battery made using SiO+ ‘silicon monoxide plus’ chemistry which gets more juice into a given size than a standard Li-ion cell. LG could have taken more advantage of this - the 2080mAh battery will only get you through a day and bit rather than the two and a bit days the Galaxy Note 2 can deliver.
The last thing to mention about the Vu is the price. Unlocked it’s yours for £350, which is the best part of £200 cheaper than an unlocked Galaxy Note 2. That makes it something of a steal in my book.
Verdict
The Vu is an idiosyncratic device that many folk will dismiss out of hand for its odd shape. But in its defence, I’d say it offers a lot of high-quality screen real estate, 32GB of storage and is the cheapest unlocked Tegra 3 smartphone around. It may take to leap of faith to get over the sheer bloody-minded strangeness of it but I think it a leap worth taking. ®
Thanks to Expansys for the loan of the review handset.
More Handset Reviews |
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 A History of the
Smartphone |
 Samsung
Galaxy Note 2 |
 Apple
iPhone 5 |
 Motorola Razr i |
 Nokia Asha 311 |
LG Vu
COMMENTS
Re: 1024x768?
Probably more along the lines of; we've got 2M industrial 5" 4:3 IPS screens from a cancelled order, no one wants them, what shall we do with them?
Don't hurry. 700 quid laptops will still be x768 for another decade.
<gets off hobby horse>
Deal breaker for me is the fixed battery, from the look of the charging cycles thingy it will be fooked in just over a year of daily charging.
Or, expanding consumer choice by bringing out a device with an unusual aspect ratio.
Re: "The Vu doesn’t have a MicroSD card slot ..."
"However, for the past year I haven't removed the microSD card from my phone because WiFi transfer is fast enough for pictures and music files."
I don't think I have ever removed the SD card from any of my phones to transfer data to it.
However, I still don't want a phone without a card slow, because:
a) With a card I can upgrade when I want. Without, handset upgrade time.
b) With a card, I can upgrade handset and not have to copy all my data over. Without, there's a lot of work to move the data over
c) With a card, if the card fails I just buy a new one (£15?). With internal memory only, I have to buy a new phone (£350).
d) With a card, I can pop the card out to back up the data quickly. Without, backing up several GB over Wifi/USB is slooow, and over Wifi normally fails before it's complete.
A separate memory card is just more flexible.
