Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE Review

Introduction:

Casio has been making various rugged phones for Verizon Wireless for nearly 7 years now, with the last version coming in 2011 in the form of the Casio G’zOne Commando – an Android powered smartphone. But that has been 2 years ago, and in the ever-changing smartphone world, that is nearly an eternity. So to freshen things up a bit, Verizon has now introduced the new Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE. As you can gather from the name, the main difference between the two G’zOne Commando units is that the newest model runs on Verizon’s 4G LTE data network – but there is also a larger screen, faster processor, more memory, and a higher resolution camera on board. All of which comes in a form-factor that can take abuse, but with a reasonable $99.99 contract price.

Included in the retail package is the Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE C811 smartphone, 1800mAh battery, wall charger with detachable microUSB cable, and user guides.

Design:

Like its predecessor, the Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE shares a similar look and feel, though it is more refined and less “in your face” with fewer orange accents. Its hardened rubberized exterior feels sturdy and provides a nice firm grip that is easy to appreciate.


Located above the display is a 1.3MP front facing camera, while on the left side is the volume rocker and programmable tactile key, which comes assigned to toggle the Glove Mode, but can be used for other software functions. Up on top is the power/lock key, which we felt was a bit too small and hard to find, as well as the protected 3.5mm headset jack, while on the right side is the protected microUSB port and charging-dock connections, and around back is an 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash. There is a movable lock-release to open up the battery cover, which has the same type of rubber O-Ring that is on the USB port and headphone port, to help protect it from the elements. With the 1800mAh battery removed, you can then gain access to the SIM slot and microSD memory card slot.

Since the device meets MIL–STD–810G certification, it is clearly designed for a person that leads an active lifestyle, or wants a smartphone that can stand-up to some abuse, since it can withstand a 4-foot drop, water immersion at 1 meter for 30 minutes, rain, dust, temperature extremes, salt water spray, humidity at 95%, vibrations, and even solar radiation. The phone is also equipped with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 to prevent breakage and damage to the screen.

Display:

We are glad to see that the display size has increased from 3.6” to 4.0” on the Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE, which does make it a modest size, but unfortunately the resolution still remains 480x800 pixels (WVGA), meaning that small text and images can appear jagged at times. Also the TFT display that is used doesn’t have the widest viewing angles, which means it only looks best view viewed straight-on. Furthermore, we noticed that the display’s backlight doesn’t really get as bright as we would like, so when using it outside, the screen appears dim and hard to view, even though the backlight is set to the brightness level. Overall, we’re feeling somewhat disappointed by the display, as it should be a bit larger (4.3”) and with a higher resolution (720p) to compete with other smartphones in this price range.






Interface:

Even though most other smartphones come equipped with Android 4.2 or 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE is limited to Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. Once again Casio is using their own custom G’zOne skin. It may not be as customizable as HTC Sense or Samsung Touch Wiz, but it still comes with 7 homes screens and has 5 icons at the bottom for accessing the phone, contacts list, app drawer, web browser, and messaging.


Naturally, the device does well with Android core apps, such as E-Mail and Gmail, contacts, and calendar. Also included are the Amazon app store, Amazon Kindle and MP3, Amex Serve, Audible, IMDb, NFL Mobile, Slacker radio, Verizon Tones, Viewdini, VZ Navigator, and Zappos.



Software:

We’re glad to see the return of the G’zGear app and desktop widgets, which provide useful information such as an earth compass, thermometer, tides, sun/moon chart, star gazer, walking counter and barometer. The Earth Compass shows your current heading in degrees, as well as an arrow to North, and the Layer Compass shows where you are in relation to world cities, US Parks, world mountains, and world nature. The Walking Counter has a virtual trek for different trails, and a pedometer for how many steps you’ve taken for each day of the week, which is shown in a handy graph. The Thermometer shows what the current temperature is, and the temps of 3 cities you can select from, or view a global map of temps around the world. Tides show what the current high and low tide times are for your location as well as their height. The sun/moon will show how many hours until the sun rise/set and moon rise/set for your location. Lastly, the Star Gazer will show what stars and constellations are in the sky, through it isn’t as good as Google Sky Map.


One new app is called G’zWorld. It starts off by showing a map of your current location with a small compass and current elevation on the bottom. By clicking on the Route tab at the top (and then start), it will automatically track your GPS location every few minutes and plot it on the map. This can be very handy while hiking or camping, or even if you are in an unfamiliar area. You can also manually Pin your current location to the map, even with a picture.


Both the G’zGear and G’zWorld apps are unique, and really help market the phone to active individuals that would use it while being outdoors.

Processor and Memory:

Running the show on the Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE is a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB of RAM. Even though this is a vast improvement over the 800MHz single-core processor that was on the original model two years ago, it still falls behind devices on the market that feature quad-core processors. Regardless, we found that the Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE was fast enough for the tasks that we threw at it, running various apps, and using the included G’zGear and G’zWorld apps. The benchmark tests below show that is stacks up just fine with other dual-core processor phones.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	GLBenchmark 2.5 (Egypt HD)	Vellamo (HTML5 / Metal)
Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE	5128	10391	3441	1793 / 633
Pantech Perception	5552	9694	2579	1649 / 611
LG Lucid 2	5774	11800	2794	1636 / 602
Motorola DROID RAZR M	4864	11471

One nice surprise is that the devices comes with 16GB of internal storage, but only half of that is available to the user. Though you can install a microSD memory card up to 32GB for additional space.

Internet and Connectivity:

The Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE comes equipped with a standard web browser, though you can install Chrome or Dolphin if you desire. It renders pages just fine, with kinetic scrolling and pinch-to-zoom working without a hitch.


Like we mentioned earlier, this new model does support Verizon’s 4G LTE data network, since the original model was limited to only EVDO. So we fired up the Speedtest.net app and was able to get 28 Mbps downloads and 8 Mbps uploads, with a signal reception of -95 dBm. Naturally, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 are supported, but since the device is also global roaming capable, it also can use GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz and UMTS/HSPA 900/2100 MHz networks while overseas.

Camera:

Despite the G’zOne Commando 4G LTE coming equipped with an 8MP camera, the picture quality has not improved much from the 5MP shooter on the previous model. Images that we took outside look generally soft, instead of sharp and crisp, and color reproduction is poor, as the auto white balance gives a blue hue most of the time. Indoor images aren’t much to speak of either, and the LED flash is quite dim.



For video recording, the device is capable of Full HD 1920x1080p, but since it is limited to only 16 frames-per-second, watching the recorded videos is a nail-biting experience – since it is very jumpy.

Casio Gz'One Commando 4G LTE Sample Video:



Multimedia:

The music player is easy to use and laid out well with tabs across the top for Artists, Albums, Songs, and Playlists. There is also a nice selection of pre-set equalizer settings, and it even allows for manual adjustment of different frequency ranges, bass boost, and 3D effect. Listening to music on the device is quite enjoyable, due to the dual stereo speakers located on the front of the phone. Not only is it loud and clear, but provides a nice range of tones. If you plug in a set of earbuds, you can then use the FM Radio (since it uses the earbud wires as the antenna), though the reception isn’t great and static is quite common.


Video playback works without a hitch, as we were able to play MP4, H.264/263, DivX, and Xvid files up to 720p resolution.

Call Quality:

We were quite please with the call quality while using the Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE as voices sounded clear and natural on both ends. The added benefit of the front stereo speakers means you can even use the speakerphone in noisy environments and still hear the caller.

Battery:

When it comes to battery capacity, bigger is better, so we’re a bit disappointed to only see an 1800mAh battery on board. The specs say it is capable of 9 hours of talk time or 16 days of standby time, but during our tests we were able to get 8 hours of talk time, or about 2 days of mixed usage before requiring a charge. If that is not enough for you, or you’re planning a weekend hiking trip while using the G’zGear apps, you may want to consider the larger 2920mAh extended battery.

Conclusion:

If you are looking for a rugged and outdoor durable Android smartphone for Verizon Wireless, your best and only choice is the Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE, as it meets MIL 810G certification for being able to withstand the elements, and it comes with an attractive $99 contract price. Even though we like the overall design of the phone, it is lacking in some features found on other devices at this price-point, such as a larger and higher resolution display, faster processor, and better quality camera. Despite this, the Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE should work well for its target audience.

Software version on the reviewed unit:
Android 4.0.4
Kernel version 3.0.8
Build number C811M020

Casio G’zOne Commando 4G LTE Video Review: