LG's Optimus 7 & Samsung's Focus Reviewed: A Tale of Two Windows Phones
by Anand Lal Shimpi on December 3, 2010 10:14 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Windows Phone 7
- LG Optimus
- LG
- Samsung Focus
- Mobile
LG's Software Bundle
This is the way smartphone competition is supposed to work. You get a single, well done UI, and the manufacturers compete based on design choices, form factor, build quality and bundled value.
LG delivers build quality, screen size and attempts to offer additional value with its software bundle. Optimus 7 owners get access to three LG specific apps on their Windows Phone 7 device: Panorama Shot, Play To and Scansearch.
The Play To app allows the Optimus 7 to act as a digital media server capable of streaming content to any DLNA digital media renderer. This can be anything from an audio receiver to a HDTV, as long as they are DLNA compliant DMRs.
Launching the Play To app gives you a list of content types. You can choose from music, photos or videos although you can't stream content from your Zune Pass.
Pick the content you want to play, then pick the device you want to play it on. The device list is enumerated according to any DLNA compliant renderers that exist on the same network as the Optimus 7. For me the Optimus 7 discovered by Sonos Zone Players as well as my Samsung HDTV.
To push photos or videos to the TV I just choose the content I want to play, I get a message on my TV telling me what's going on and I'm good to go.
Data has to go over your WiFi network so there are obvious bandwidth and range limitations, but the Play To app is a great way to get content on your phone onto DLNA renderers in your house.
Photos stream well. The default view is a slideshow mode, although you can pause the slideshow and push individual photos over the network. It takes a couple of seconds for each photo to get pushed out to the TV. Don't expect anything instantaneous. There's no support for rotating photos either, so if you take any photos in portrait mode using the phones camera expect to be looking at them sideways on your DLNA compliant TV.
Videos stream via Play To just as easily as photos. Once more this is a great way of getting videos you've made with your phone onto a larger screen without any copying/syncing. There is a few second delay before you get started.
Music streaming works for content you have stored on the device as long as it's DRM free. Unfortunately that means you can't turn your Zune Pass equipped Optimus 7 into a jukebox of unlimited proportions.
Panorama Shot is exactly what it sounds like. It's LG's own camera app that lets you stitch together five photos for a single ultra wide aspect ratio shot. Once you take the first shot in a panorama you get a red outline on the screen telling you where to position the phone for the next shot. The process continues until you have taken all five shots required, you can't stop short.
Panorama Shot - first image
Panorama Shot - second image, note the guide to help line up shot #2
Then there's a lengthy stitching process on the camera. Remember we're still dealing with first generation Snapdragon silicon here.
The final product is workable but honestly doesn't look very good:
Panorama Shot produces 2.55MP images at 3656 x 698, but the resulting file size is only 1MB - there's a lot of compression at work here (although technically less than the camera's 5MP images).
Like many 3rd party apps on Windows Phone 7, the Panorama Shot app isn't very fast. The live viewfinder runs at what looks like 15 - 20 fps.
Scan Search is the final member of LG's app bundle for the Optimus 7. You get an augmented reality interface that uses your GPS location and data connection to find and mark points of interest on your screen (e.g. nearby restaurants).
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inighthawki - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
Any news on the Omnia 7's US release date? I'd love to get my hands on one, as it's the only WP7 phone I'm really very interested in.Hrel - Friday, December 3, 2010 - link
I think 4" is the minimum size I'd buy. When I use the Galaxy S I always feel like justa little extra room would make using it perfect. But hey, maybe you're right and that's
not true for WP7; I've never used it. I still think 4" is the minimum size though. I'm 6'4"
and an athletic 240lbs and I have very large hands.
I think EVERY phone should have an SD slot, prefferably not micro, but if they must.
I mean, is it really that hard to fit a full size SD card slot in there? THey're not
very big.
I like the brushed metal design of the LG over plastic any day on any electronic anything.
A good screen can never be understated, good on ya Samsung. AMOLED FTW!
I like the 3 main buttons to be physical, personal preference here.
I really like the apps LG includes.
I want all the camera option of LG and Samsung Standard on all WP7 phones.
You dogs like to eat plants:) Hahaha, that one runs off with the stick so the other just keeps on
eating grass.
Have you guys ever looked into reviewing anything from Archos. They make a bunch of handheld
smart phone like devices that would be great for people who don't wanna be locked into
paying 100+ per month to use it. I've never used any of their stuff so I'd like a
good thourough review, who else could I ask really? They also have Windows 7 Tablet
that if it's done well could combat the ipad and galaxy tab.
strikeback03 - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
There are reviews of Archos units around, just have to look a little more. General opinion (which I agree with based on my Archos 5 IMT) is great hardware paired up with flaky software. They also have a bad habit of promising things in software and then never delivering.And yes, a full-size SD slot would be huge on something smartphone sized, I would much rather have the microSD slot and have she space saved over SD used for a thinner device or a larger battery or something.
I like the ability handset makers currently have in Android to customize the OS, IMO allows it to be much better tailored toward individual markets. For example, on Windows phone I would have no interest in the Zune anything or Xbox anything, so it would suck to have a significant portion of the UI devoted to that. What I would love is if Android phones were able to (without rooting) dual-boot whatever the current vanilla flavor of Android is as well as whatever the customized version their phone maker came up with, have the choice of which experience they want. I do like that carrier programs can be easily removed in Windows phone though.
Voldenuit - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
The lack of mountable storage on WP7 is a deal killer for me.Anyone who's used a phone has probably experienced times when the on board (micro or otherwise) SD card simply refused to read. On a normal phone, you can usually fix this by removing and reinserting the card, or cleaning the contacts.
If a WP7 phone ever loses touch with its SD card storage (dust, dirt, loose contact, etc), it will corrupt your whole filesystem. This is a major failure in robust design.
Right now, I'd go so far as to avoid any WP7 phones that have an SD slot.
MGSsancho - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
You can remove and reinsert the same SD card no problem, the issue you are referring to is booting the phone with out the original SD card.I will agree with you sometimes you need to force reboot the phone but usually a simple removal works and others you need to remove/reinsert the memory card.
Voldenuit - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Cool, that's good to know.I'm still waiting for the Nokia N8 review on Anandtech. We're on AT&T, and their phone selection is rubbish, so I'm thinking of buying my own unlocked phone and adding it to the plan.
strikeback03 - Monday, December 6, 2010 - link
Well, wasn't the internal card on the HTC Surround under a cover?bobjones32 - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Thanks, Anand, as usual. Great reviews on WP7.I've owned a Samsung Focus for about two weeks now and in general agree with everything said here and elsewhere.
I've been an iPhone user for more than 2 years, and loved it. I know iOS inside and out, and thoroughly enjoy the application ecosystem. But my contract was up, I was going to spend ~$200 either way, so I figured I'd give WP7 a shot and keep my iPhone to use as an iPod Touch so I could continue using all my games and applications.
For all the bitching and moaning about the obvious things lacking, or how the back button behavior is "confusing", it's been nearly perfect for me. The back button always does exactly what I want it to do at a certain time, and even after using iOS for 2+ years, I don't really miss copy+past, fast app switching, or certain background processes at all.
Here's hoping that the updates are fast and significant next year!
ryedizzel - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
Another excellent review and the video was really helpful in understanding the navigation/ visual effects you talked about. Keep up the good work and hopefully MS adds the ability to do WiFi tethering- that's the only reason I would choose Android right now over Win7 and iOS.popej_ - Saturday, December 4, 2010 - link
"AMOLED displays are truly off when displaying black, so you technically get infinite contrast ratio."Well, no. You simply don't include reflected light into measurement. That way you can't measure AMOLED, transflective LCD, e-ink or compare matte with glossy screen. So what does remain? Maybe it is time to change your measurement to something more usable, that will correlate with real life?