T-Mobile G2x Review: Gingerbread-Infused
by Vivek Gowri on August 3, 2011 2:09 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Tegra 2
- Android 2.3
- LG Optimus 2X
- Android
- G2x
- Mobile
T-Mobile G2x - The Hardware, Part II
The top of the device contains the lock/power button, the headphone jack, and a covered micro-HDMI port for HDTV output.
The right and left sides are completely plain, other than the volume up/down buttons on the right side.
The four capacitive buttons underneath the screen are backlit and work well, with haptic feedback provided in lieu of physical buttons. The button layout itself is menu, home, back, and search (from left to right), similar to Samsung and Motorola. I’m used to the Google/HTC layout, with home and menu switched, so the LG’s I’ve had come through the labs recently have tripped me up a bit at first. The downside of switching between phones on a week to week basis is that you end up having to adjust to various button and keyboard layouts on the fly pretty often.
The bottom of the device has the mic, speaker, and micro-USB port. As with the Revolution, the port itself is flipped from most other devices (wider side of the connector facing down, away from the screen.) It feels upside down, I’m pretty sure I tried to put the connector in the wrong way every single time I charged the phone. As on the Optimus 2X, the speakerphone is very good. The speaker provides loud, clear audio, far better than the Sensation's oddly poor speaker.
It’s a solid feeling piece of kit. It’s not overwhelmingly well built, a la iPhone 4 or HTC Sensation, but it’s getting there. Based on my past experiences with LG devices, including the Revolution, I wasn’t expecting anything great. The battery cover feels a little bit cheap when you take it off (plastic clips and really flexible plastic backings are always like this), and the dust-prone nature of the camera window is pretty annoying, but overall the G2x surprised me with how well built it was. The weightiness gives it a better in-hand feel than any of the Galaxy S devices and most of the other LG devices. I wouldn’t say it’s up to the level of HTC, but it’s getting there and definitely competitive with the rest of the smartphone class.
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B3an - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
I also get about exactly the same on my Galaxy S2.Almost feel sorry for the yanks not yet having the best phone on the planet months after release. Almost :)
Brian Klug - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
That's surreal, I get 4614.8 ms on SunSpider 0.9 on my SGS2 running the latest official firmware. Very very odd and unsettling, are you running a custom ROM?-Brian
Stuka87 - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
Interesting use for the Honda Distributer.D3CIM8 - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
I have been running a CM based Gingerbread (2.3.4) ROM with a custom kernel for some time now. I get a freeze or random reboot maybe once a week at most and I use my phone a lot. Unmounting the USB drive can result in instability occasionally. The camera isn't as nice as the LG one in 2.2 and AD2P just doesn't work. On the bright side there is a hack to get true 1080p/30fps video recording working on the camera. Netflix streaming also works which is a huge plus for me. With the custom kernel I get a minimum of a day under medium to heavy use.For reference I am using Faux123's ROM with his OC/UV EXT4 kernal. For you benchmark junkies, OCed to 1.5Ghz it scores 5000+ on Quadrant and is completely stable (my phone at least, YMMV).
On a side note, in the specs comparison chart you have the screen on the G2x listed as 4.3" instead of 4.0".
VivekGowri - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
Fixed - that table got copied almost directly out of Brian's Sensation review, I wasn't looking too closely for issues. Thanks for catching it!fearsjohn - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
i had the same issues random reboots and stuff going wrong and the 2.3.3 update helped some. the funny thing about it is the kernal is still based on froyo not gingerbread. i got tired of the issues and flashed eaglesblood on it which is based on cm7 and fauxs kernal and it is so much better than the half baked crap lg and tmobile sent out. and these guys do not even get paid for it.yourwhiteshadow - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
passion for things cannot be replaced. that's the reason the modding community is so amazing, its the passion that drives things forward, not the money.Mr Benelli - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
I must have lucked out. After the Gingerbread update I have zero random reboots and zero reception issues. I have nothing but good things to say about my particular device's performance since the update. Although, I am waiting for a root option for GB...sabrewulf - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
I just got 3460 on sunspider 0.9 and 3333 on 0.9.1 with my Verizon Fascinate running the latest CM7 nightly, but even the the latest stock Verizon (2.2) ROM is in the 5-6000 range. You guys should really consider removing the 2.1 results from these reviews, or at least adding 2.2 results. The GS is still an extremely capable phone and to portray it in such a poor and inaccurate light is really doing a disservice to prospective phone buyers.lowlymarine - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
Agreed. The iPhone has a different entry for every point release yet the Galaxy S devices languish on 2.1 months after the last one got it's official FroYo update - and after the international GT-I9000 got an official Gingerbread update, to boot.