LG Spectrum hands-on

Not too long ago, LG aided Verizon in ushering in the era of 4G LTE with its Android powered LG Revolution, but now they’re back with their second offering – the LG Spectrum (previously known as the LG Revolution 2). Considering that AT&T was recently blessed with the arrival of the LG Nitro HD, it’s only fitting that Verizon customers are going to be treated to something very similar.

In fact, that’s essentially our first thought after holding the Spectrum with its similar design traits, overall size, and choice of materials. First of all, we do like that the Spectrum is not as chunky in size versus the Revolution, but it doesn’t quite flaunt a look that’s fresh or new. Besides the chromed out homescreen button below the display, everything else about the handset looks exactly the same to what we saw with the Nitro HD. From its plastic shell, overall size, and patterned rear cover, there’s nothing totally new with its looks – so yeah, we’re not a compelled by it much.




Continuing its close resemblance to AT&T’s 4G LTE beauty, the LG Spectrum features the same 4.5” True HD IPS display, which flaunts the all too lovable resolution of 720 x 1280. Indeed, it’s sharp looking with its respectable 329 ppi pixel density, but our eyes adore the rich colors it’s able to produce – and its wide-viewing angles help to maintain its clarity in almost any lighting condition.




Armed with a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor, coupled with 1GB of RAM, it’s able to present us with a mostly responsive performance – then again, that’s what we’d expect out of a beastly phone like this. Other highlights include an 8-megapixel rear auto-focus camera with LED flash, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, aGPS, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi, and an 1,830 mAh battery. With the latter, we’re hoping to see some decent battery life, but knowing that it’s packing 4G LTE connectivity, it might still prove to be insufficient for an all-day run.



Right now, the handset is expected for arrival on January 19th for the 2-year contract price of $199.99, which is nice considering other high-end 4G LTE devices are smacked with a $300 price tag. So far, it’s powered by LG’s Optimus skin running on top of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, which is hardly going to catch the attention of people nowadays with Ice Cream Sandwich in full force, but we surely hope it gets updated wickedly fast.