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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halcyon - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
...but, when will you review GS2?I know you like to review operator models, but the original non-operator version of GS2 has been out for over three months already and it's the best thing since sliced bread, everybody says.
I'm sure you could get one directly from Samsung or afford to source one from an online retailer at RRP.
Really looking forward to that review.
quiksilvr - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
If there is a newer version of Sunspider out why wouldn't the phones be tested on that instead of the old version?bplewis24 - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
Because if you run all of the new phones on the newer version only, there will be no way to compare them to the old phones run on the older version of the test (unless you re-run every single phone on the new version).Brian Klug - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
We'll eventually move over to the new version as it runs similar tests with a few improvements, but also has a much shorter runtime.-Brian
MobileMenace - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
The table lists the screen size as 4.3in, but is actually 4.0.Is the Bluetooth streaming fixed for CM7 on G2x? That has kept me from using it, since I use that frequently. I haven't tried it recently, but it seemed to run stable several weeks ago.
beepboy - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
Is that a Honda Dizzy (Distributor), from a Civic engine perhaps?Sansnombre - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
I see the phone, no big woop -- standard issue -- but what the h is it resting against? Good Lord, is that a distributor, circa 1978?! Or perhaps a mint example of the original electromechanical RAID distributing concept being used as a paperweight/photo accessory . . .VivekGowri - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
Sixth-gen Accord, actually.Chaser - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
I love my Sensation :) And T-Mobile gave me an upgrade price for the Sensation that replaced my G2x.aegisofrime - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
Nope, it's 0.9. I made sure to run the same version as you guys do. Here's the results. Apologies for the URL shortener but as you know the link for the results is fiendishly long.http://bit.ly/nh0crN