LG Optimus 2X review: Double the potential

Introduction

Begun the dual-core revolution has. And there’s no scouting time – the offensive starts with the big guns. The LG Optimus 2X is not just counting on the fancy Tegra 2 name to generate the sales – it is a powerful smartphone through and through.

LG Optimus 2X official photos

The fancy camera with Full HD video recording alone is enough to bring any handset into the limelight and the fact that it’s not even the Optimus 2X key feature speaks volume. As far as hardware evolution goes, the Optimus 2X promises to be one of the biggest steps forward in the mobile phone industry.

Key features:

• Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
• 10.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.0" 16M-color capacitive IPS LCD touchscreen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
• Android OS v2.2 Froyo with LG Home launcher
• Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, ULP GeForce GPU, Tegra 2 chipset
• 512 MB RAM
• 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash, face detection and geotagging
• 1080p video recording @ 24fps, 720p@30fps
• 1.3 MP front-facing camera with videocalls
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS, digital compass
• 8GB internal storage and microSDslot for up to 32GB cards
• Accelerometer, gyroscope, and proximity sensor
• microHDMI port with HDMI mirroring
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• DivX/XviD video support
• Innovative gesture controls
• Adobe Flash 10.2 support
• Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancement

Main disadvantages

• Despite similar technology LCD isn’t quite as impressive as the iPhone4 screen
• No dedicated camera key and no lens cover
• Captured 1080p videos not big improvement over 720p, have low frame rate
• No Android 2.3 Gingerbread at launch
• Audio quality is only average
• Below average speaker loudness

There are always a few compromises necessary with modern-day smartphones, but those are brought to a minimum with the Optimus 2X. You have a relatively good display (large, too), lots of oomph under the sleek hood and an excellent snapper at the back, plus all but the kitchen sink in the connectivity department.

LG Optimus 2X live shots

Or at least that’s what papers will make you believe. Our experience, however, has thought us better than blindly believing the fancy PR talk. The excellent first impression certainly helps the Optimus 2X cause, but we’ll only be able to recommend it wholeheartedly if it passes the test of a full review.

Update 25 March: We just got our hands on a retail Optimus 2X unit (we originally tested a pre-production unit for this review). We've updated the text where necessary. The new stuff is marked in bold, but the major changes are in the video recording section.

So, shall we start? Join us after the break for the hardware review.