Optimus LTE II is LG’s latest smartphone.
Its specs are competitive, which proves that LG is able to rival other big
opponents such as Samsung (with Galaxy S III) and HTC (with One X).
Experience
the powerful and classic LG Optimus LTE II
Overview
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Name
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LG Optimus LTE II
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Color
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Black or white
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OS
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Android 4.0.3
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Display
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4.7inch TrueHD IPS
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Processor
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Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Dual Core 1.5GHz
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RAM
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2GB Dual Channel
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Storage
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16GB (extendable via card)
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Size
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134.4x69.5x8.9mm
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Weight
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145g
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Camera
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8MP resolution plus voice-control support
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Video recording
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Full HD 1920x1080
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Battery
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2150mAh (removable)
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Talk time
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600 minutes
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Standby time
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250 hours
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Design
Design
Optimus LTE II owns square-shaped and
classic look. Its package is carefully treated and I have never seen any smartphone’s
box that was more beautiful than this. The phone is covered by a rough plastic
finish which is well waterproof and anti-dust. Metal fringe and front-facing
camera is adorned to enhance to model’s beauty. Due to this fringe, the phone
apparently looks like Dell Venue. Despite plastic case, it feels quite sturdy
in 145g weight and heavier than Galaxy S III (133g) and HTC One X (130g).
Power
button is placed on top right, of which I am extremely fond of. It seems nice
and easily pressed.
Optimus
LTE II is equipped with physical Home button appearing similar to Galaxy S II’s
Home button.
I prefer using physical button as it
delivers high reliability and good rebound as well as functions unlocking the
screen. I should add that this button responses quite fast and assists operation
better than Galaxy S III’s Home button.
Two
volume keys are placed in the left side, giving no difficulty doing regular actions.
I am also interested in that back lid is
removable for alternative battery and, moreover, integrated with wireless
charging technology. However, further review about this will be given because the
wireless charger is not enclosed in box and separately sold.
Specs
LG Optimus LTE II is equipped with dual-core
Snapdragon S4 processor (1.5GHz) plus Adreno 225 GPU. This is the first chipset
manufactured in 28nm structure. S4 processor will show better and longer
performance than other ones due to its power-saving ability. Less power leaked
means longer runtime. Qualcomm’s view point is that new core’s quality, not
quantity, is the determining factor so the brand has currently produced no quad-core
chipset.
Optimus LTE II uses 4G technology thus it’s
logical that LG decided to get along with Snapdragon S4. Qualcomm chip is
integrated with both processor and LTE chip in a single body so it is really
useful and efficient. Meanwhile, quad-core smartphones requires discrete LTE
chip, which leads to increase in price and short runtime. Though, but for that did
Qualcomm consider quad-core processors important. According to some reports, Snapdragon
S4’s quad-core series will have been on sale by the end of this year plus retained
the design including both LTE chip and CPU.
LG Optimus LTE II’s most remarkable point
is 2GB of RAM, which surpasses that of not only Galaxy S 3 but also present
smartphones (except for Galaxy S 3 Korean version). With Dual Channel
technology, operations get much smoothly and I felt this model was no less than
either Galaxy S III or One X. Besides, thanks to 2GB of RAM, user won’t be
afraid that RAM will be overloaded when performing multi tasks.
In practical operation, system’s apps
occupied about 800MB of RAM and there were still 1.2GB free. I did open and
switch continuously between basic apps: Facebook, yahoo, browser, instagram,
camera… The amount of free RAM was still over 800MB. Manipulating or switching
apps found no difficulty as well as no tiny delay. I tried playing a HD movie
(5.1GB), the phone could view it fluently without lagging. Dual-channel RAM
worked perfectly.
Display
Optimus LTE II is equipped with 4.7inch
screen plus 1280x720pixel resolution with True HD IPS panel. With such
equipment, Optimus LTE’s pixel density reaches 326ppi, higher than 316ppi of Galaxy
S II HD LTE and equal to pixel density of iPhone 4’s Retina Display. According
to GSM Arena, Optimus LTE 2’s screen can compete with Galaxy S III’s one. In
addition, the phone’s case has parts made of metal and glass, giving the model a
classic look while Galaxy S III features plastic case. During practical
experience, Optimus’s displaying contrast is not as high as Galaxy S III’s one
yet it views clearer and more relaxing. As a result, I prefer Optimus.
Entertainment
Entertainment
There’s no doubt that watching movies on
Optimus LTE II is really good. Though, music playing is mediocre. Earphone gives
medium quality and bass less good than Galaxy S III’s one. Despite all, experiencing
Dolby technology on Optimus is also exciting.
Camera
LG equips Optimus LTE II with 8MP camera producing
medium image quality, which isn’t surprising. In low lighting, images may lose
sharpness. ISO’s maximum level is 400 (while common smartphone’s camera owns
800). Face-fronting camera can features smoothening skins, really suits some
girls’ favorite. Besides, it can be controlled by voice thus in case you want
to capture videos or photos, just say “Kimchi”. How interesting!
Shot
done by the phone
Runtime
With 2150mAh battery, Optimus is completely
able to stand one-day operation. There’s also an extra battery enclosed and external
charger, freeing user from the worry that battery will be run out. Here are
some test resulted done by me.
After fully charged at 5.30am, with only 2G
connections, I set 50% brightness, sent 10 messages, shot 20 photos and viewed
the gallery. 3 hours and 45 minutes later, there was 99% battery left.
Next, I made phone call via loudspeaker and
internal speaker for 5 minutes and 6 minutes respectively, sent 50 messages,
shot 20 photos, recorded for 3 minutes, browsed Facebook and web (through Wi-Fi
connection) plus viewed gallery for 1 hour then listened to online music by
loudspeaker for 5 minutes. After all, there was 40% battery left.
Meanwhile, after fully charged, the phone
was used to play a HD movie (Thor) within 2 hours and 12 minutes with headphone
equipped. When the movie finished, there was 72% battery left.
Price
RRP is around $525, quite pricey for users
to buy and experience.
