LG Optimus 4X HD P880 review: Firing on all fours

Introduction

Last year LG was in pole position in the dual-core game with the Optimus 2X. It was the phone everyone looked up to, before there was a Galaxy S II and before there was an HTC Sensation.

There was obviously no rush this time although, to be fair, LG did announce their forthcoming flagship well on time. The Optimus 4X HD was among the headliners at the MWC in February, right next to the HTC One X. Back then, the Samsung Galaxy S3 was but a distant rumor.

LG Optimus 4X HD P880 official photos

In the end, LG were beaten to market by their closest rivals. A bit beyond fashionably late to the quad-core party, you can bet it doesn't want to miss out on the action. Its name is on the guest list and, if things like 4X and HD don't get them in the VIP lounge, we don't know what will.

There's more to the Optimus 4X HD though than multiple CPU cores and a 720p screen. LG may be late but not behind. They made sure that, at least specs-wise, their quad-core flagship matches the competition.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and quad-band 3G support
• 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.7" 16M-color True HD-IPS capacitive touchscreen of 720p resolution (720 x 1280 pixels), ~312 ppi; Gorilla glass
• Android OS v4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich with Optimus UI v3.0
• 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 CPUs, low-power companion core, ULP GeForce 2 GPU, Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset
• 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB (12.26 GB user accessible) of storage
• microSD card support (up to 32 GB)
• 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash; face and smile detection , geotagging and image stabilization
• 1080p and 720p video recording @ 30fps with stereo sound
• 1.3 MP 720p-capable front-facing camera for video-chat
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n and DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
• GPS with A-GPS
• Stereo FM radio
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and auto-brightness sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v4.0
• MHL TV-out (requires MHL-to-HDMI adapter)
• DivX/XviD video support
• High-capacity 2150 mAh Li-Ion battery
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• NFC support
• LG SmartWorld app

Main disadvantages

• No native video calls
• Video recording has autofocus issues
• Tegra 3 CPUs are built on 40nm process, while Exynos uses 32nm
• Disappointing audio output

The Optimus 4X HD is Tegra-powered just like its dual-core predecessor. It's the Tegra 3 platform this time around, adding two more cores to do the heavy lifting and an extra one to discretely handle the low-key computing.

Unlike last year's Optimus 2X, which was behind the curve on Android 2.2 Froyo, the LG 4X HD has Android ICS 4.0.3 right out of the box and the custom Optimus launcher is doing its best to offer both visual and functional improvements.

LG Optimus 4X live shots

LG has pulled all the stops out to design a phone that can hold up against the heaviest competition imaginable. The screen resolution and processing power are the minimum requirements for entry into the elite club. It's from then on that the contenders are trying to make a difference. It's now LG's turn to present their credentials to the discriminating user. Ready to be impressed once again?