LG Optimus 2X

Editor's Review of the Optimus 2X

Launched as a "game changer", the LG Optimus 2X is the first smartphone to pack NVIDIA's dual-core Tegra 2 processor under the hood. Without a doubt, it's the fastest, smoothest Android phone yet, but can it live up to in-depth review?

Design & Build

Motorola and Samsung may have already jumped on the dual-core bandwagon, but as the first to hit the UK, the Optimus 2X is leading the charge of super-fast smartphones about to take-over the shelves.

With NVIDIA's dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 chip under the hood, there's no doubting, this phone is fast. Really, really fast. It blows all single-core rivals out of the water in terms of speed, and also outshines the competition with its super slick menus and web browsing talents. For example, we love the iPhone 4 when it comes to pinching-and-zooming, and the Optimus 2X is the only any Android phone available that has come to matching its talents.

It may pack whizzy innards, but the LG has by no means compromised on looks. In fact, with a thickness of just 10.9mm, its almost as skinny as its Apple-branded rival. In terms of design, the Optimus 2X is reminiscent of the Desire HD, with its all black-frontage and touch-sensitive Android keys. These are coupled alongside its 4 inch 480 x 800 WVGA display, and although it's by no means a match against Super AMOLED, the screen is bright and vibrant, and coloured looked super-sharp on the high-res display.

OS & Interface

The Optimus 2X may not have received a taste of Gingerbread just yet, but thanks to its silky-smoothness, LG's latest effort puts other phones running Android 2.2 to shame.

LG has dressed the handset with 7 customizable screens, and a host of added-touches clearly inspired by HTC's much-loved Sense UI. The custom skin is full of brightly-coloured icons, and is extremely easy to get to grips with. Much like HTC's Android smartphones, the Optimus 2X arrives equipped with a selection of pre-loaded widgets, our favourite being Social Feeds, enabling you to aggregate Facebook and Twiter updates. There's also LG App Advisor and Voice Control thrown in for good measure, for when you're not busy spying on your
friends.

LG's proprietary apps really show off the speed of this handset, and there's absolutely no waiting around for your widgets to load. The transitions just seemed to happen instantly, without the bouncy animations used on the iPhone. In fact, the interface as a whole proved unsurprisingly slick, no doubt down to the 2GHz of power behind it.

Multimedia & Storage

On its back-side, the LG Optimus 2X packs a powerful 8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash. There are a host of advanced options for budding photographers, including digital zoom, exposure and flash settings, but the snapper failed to live up to our testing. Don't get us wrong, it managed to produce some decent-looking shots, but the LED flash is typically blinding. Still, snaps are perfectly good enough for posting on Twitter, which can easily be done thanks to Android's built-in sharing features.

However, taking stills isn't where the 2X's talents lie. Its rear-facing snapper is also capable of capturing 1080p HD footage at 24fps, while you can also opt for 720p footage at 30fps. Thankfully, it offers excellent results, and video is just as smooth when shared on a 42 inch TV via HDMI.

When not behind the camera, the advanced processor of NVIDIA's Tegra 2 chip means viewing media on the handset is one of its stand out features. The 4 inch display excels at playing back high-quality HD footage, and video remains untampered when transferred to your HDTV.

Everything Else

As you may have guessed from our earlier comparison with Apple's iPhone 4, the Optimus 2X doesn't disappoint when it comes to the net. With HSDPA and 3G connectivity onboard, like its processor, the handset certainly managed to impress us with its speed. The phone maintained a fast connection, and the browser itself is equally impressive. Pages appear in a flash, and multi-touch gestures are just as slick at keeping up with your fingers.

Adobe Flash support also comes as standard, and video loads, and plays just as smoothly as the most basic of web pages. We found the finger-controlled buttons a little fiddly to use however, but we soon got to grips with the tiny onscreen keys.

With all this high-speed connectivity going on, we were hoping for a hefty battery. We weren't left downhearted, as the 1500mAh effort managed to cope with our thorough testing. With Flash turned off, you should be able to get 2 days of life from a single-juice, which is certainly good enough for us.

Conclusion

In the past, LG haven't been renowned for their highly-specced, "game changing" handsets, but it looks like that could be about to change with the Optimus 2X. Thanks to its dual-core innards, the Froyo-packing handset lived up to our expectations, as did its excellent screen and multimedia features. If you've got a need for speed, the LG Optimus 2X is the handset for you. If you're not after an awesome camera phone, that is.