Officially recognized as the first dual core smartphone in the world, LG’s Optimus 2x needs to set the bar high.
It starts off on the right foot with an imposing presence, more-than-capable hardware, a large screen, matt surfaces and an overall pleasing form-factor and build quality.
The design does not break any conventions, with the standard large display and capacitive buttons layout becoming increasingly common on high-end Android smartphones.
The casing is mostly plastic, but the 2x has a metallic surround and a nice strip of brushed aluminium at the back with an embossed Google logo. On top is a micro HDMI output, with the standard micro USB and 3.5mm audio out also present — no surprises here.
Luckily, LG includes a micro HDMI to HDMI cable in the box – thoughtful, because they’re not easy to find. The box also includes a decent pair of earphones, a soft pouch, USB wall charger and micro USB data cable.
Under the hood is Nvidia’s Tegra 2 dual core processor rated at 1Ghz per core and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GPU chipset. The primary advantage you can expect with going the dualcore way is speed – speed in launching apps, switching between apps and speedy navigation.
The processor also enables 1080p video recording using the 8MP rear camera, 1080p video playback and 1080p video output using HDMI. The camera takes good quality stills with low noise and bright colours.
It records 1080p video at 24 fps, and 720p video at 30fps — though the only recording format available is the highly compressed 3GP. The 2x performs admirably in all departments, including returning a good 1.5 days of battery life with normal usage.
Probably the only two disappointments with the 2x are that it has Android 2.2 (Android 2.3 is promised) and that the IPS screen pales when compared to AMOLED technology.
At the time of writing, the nearest competitor to the Optimus 2x is Samsung’s latest flagship, the Galaxy S II.
While we did have the Galaxy S II on hand for a comparison, the price was not confirmed at the time of writing (but is expected to be priced at about 35,000).
The Optimus 2x meanwhile, is available in the market for 27,000 — a price difference of 8,000 — pretty substantial considering that the specifications are similar.
After a quick comparison, there’s no doubting that the Galaxy S II has better performance (courtesy the 1.2Ghz dual core processor and 1GB RAM vs the LG’s 1Ghz dual core and 512MB RAM) and a larger, higher quality screen (4.3-inch Super AMOLED vs LG’s 4-inch IPS panel), but the Optimus 2x pulls off a very decent package at the price.
It will probably remain the most affordable dual-core smartphone for quite some time, and hints at what dual core smartphones are really capable of.
[source : The Times of India]