LG Lucid 2 Review

Introduction:

Around this time last year, we reviewed at the original LG Lucid, which was designed to be an inexpensive basic smartphone. Now with the introduction of the new Lucid 2, we’re seeing a bump in specs, such as a larger qHD display, more advanced Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, and even a higher capacity battery. The LG Lucid 2 is currently free with a 2-year Verizon contract.

Included in the retail package is the LG Lucid 2 VS870 smartphone, 2460mAh battery, wall charger with detachable microUSB cable, and user guides.

Optional accessories that are available purchase separate include a wireless charging pad, wireless inductive battery cover, desktop media charging dock, and a vehicle mount.


Design:

The LG Lucid 2 fits comfortably in the hand, thanks to its compact size, similar to the Motorola DROID RAZR M, and is fairly lightweight at only 4.55 oz.


The overall design of the LG Lucid 2 is a bit more stylish than the original, combining both curved and straight edges, with only a small amount of silver on the sides. Also gone is the slipper plastic, and instead the battery cover is textured, which provides an improved grip.




Display:

With high-res displays going from 720p to 1080p over the past year, some might feel that the one on the LG Lucid 2 is a bit outdated. While this may be true when it comes to high end phones, the 4.3” qHD AH-IPS display on the Lucid 2 with 540x960 pixel resolution does a fine job. There is plenty of fine detail with text and images looking sharp, good color reproduction, as well as being bright enough to view outside. Our only complaint is that the viewing angles are limited, meaning any off-axis viewing will see a drop in saturation and contrast.






Interface and Functionality:

Running on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, the LG lucid 2 comes with a similar Optimus UI layer over it, as what we’ve seen on the LG Spectrum 2. It does a good job of making the interface attractive and easy to use, along with 7 home screens, app drawer, and a nice selection of widgets.


For those new to Android, there is also a Starter Mode, which provides larger text and icons, as well as helping tips to guide you through using the interface.

Also on board are four Themes to choose from (Optimus, Adventure, Fancy, and Monsterland). Not only do these change the desktop wallpaper, but the icons as well. And for even more customization, there is also an option to change the wallpaper that is used in the apps drawer.

Naturally, the Lucid 2 does well with the included Android core apps, such as E-Mail and Gmail, contacts, and calendar. Also on board is Richnote allowing you to notate any image, and SmartShare which lets you stream content to a DLNA device.

Other included apps are Amazon Store, Amazon Kindle and MP3, Audible, IMDb, Polaris Office, Verizon Tones and Video, VZ Navigator, and Zappos.

Processor and Memory:

Since the original LG Lucid came with a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor, we’re glad to see that the Lucid 2 comes with a dual-core Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor. Though we find it interesting that even though the specs say it is 1.2GHz, both AnTuTu and Quadrant identify it as being 1.5GHz. Regardless, the Lucid 2 is plenty fast, and the 1GB of RAM also help speed things along.

As you can see from the test below, the LG Lucid 2 does quite well with benchmarking apps when stacked next to other dual-core phones, such as the Motorola DROID RAZR M and the Samsung Galaxy S III.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	GLBenchmark 2.5 (Egypt HD)	Vellamo (HTML5 / Metal)
LG Lucid 2	5774	11800	2794	1636 / 602
Google Nexus 4	4757	16749	4917	1375 / 600
Motorola DROID RAZR M	4864	11471
Samsung Galaxy S III Verizon	4520	10915

Even though the LG Lucid 2 comes with 8GB of internal memory, only 3GB is available to the user. Though you can install a microSDHC memory card up to 64GB in size for added storage space.

Internet and Connectivity:

As with several other phones these days, the LG Lucid 2 relies on Google Chrome for its web browser. It works well on the device, as scrolling & zooming are smooth and effortless, and web pages are properly rendered. Yeah, we know that Adobe Flash is not supported, but with most sites making the change to HTML5, we didn’t have too much of an issue. Naturally, you can install other browsers if you wish, such as Dolphin.


When we used the SpeedTest.net app on Verizon’s 4G LTE network in our area, we were able to get up to 25 Mbps downloads and 11 Mbps uploads, and had a signal strength of -100dBm. Also supported is Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz, 5GHz), and Bluetooth 4.0.

Camera:

We found that the included 5MP camera on the LG Lucid 2 does slightly better than the original LG Lucid. Images that we took outside have a bit more detail to them, as well as natural looking colors, but still appear relatively soft, instead of sharp and crisp. This trend continues for indoor shots, as with lower light levels produce even softer looking images. The LED Flash does illuminate a room well, but it causes the image to have a yellowish hue.



For recording videos, the Lucid 2 is capable of Full HD 1920x1080p resolution at 30 frames-per-second. Colors were pleasing, and the exposure was accurate, but again the detail was not as sharp as we would like.

LG Lucid 2 Sample Video:




Multimedia:

The music player is pleasing is easy to use, with tabs across the top for songs, albums, artists, genres, playlists, and folders. Though it does lack some eye candy that we’ve seen on LG’s higher-end Optimus line. When playing music through the rear speaker, there is plenty of volume, but we noticed that low and mid tones are missing, which causes music to should shrill and lacking in fullness. Using a pair of earbuds will solve this, but we still wish there were equalizer settings to bring lower tones out.

Even though the Lucid 2 has a 4.3” qHD display, videos played just fine, and were nice and smooth, supporting MP4, H.263/264, DivX and XviD with resolutions up to 1080p. DLNA is also supported, as well as SmartShare, to allow for easy streaming and viewing between multiple devices.



Call Quality:

The LG Lucid 2 provides good quality, much better than the “muffled” sound we experienced with the original Lucid. This time around, calls sound clear and full, with plenty of volume on our end. People that we called also said that we sounded clear and natural of their end. Though 1X signal strength was a bit low, showing 2 bars with a signal of -94 dBm.

Battery:

One nice surprise is that the LG Lucid 2 comes with a standard battery of 2460mAh, which is larger than most other smartphones in this category. This was able to provide us to 12 hours of continuous talk time on a full charge, or about 3 days of mixed usage. While this is not as much as the 17 hours of talk time the Motorola DROID RAZR HD MAXX can get with its massive 3300mAh battery, it is still a noticeable improvement over the original LG Lucid that came with a measly 1700mAh battery and 8 hours of talk time.

Conclusion:

Since the LG Lucid 2 is currently available for free with a 2-year Verizon contract, there is a lot to like about the device. It is small and lightweight, making it easy to carry around, the 4.3” qHD display is a nice size with clear text and images, the user interface is well laid-out and easy to use, not to mention the device has good call quality and a larger capacity battery. We do wish that the camera/video recording was a bit better, as well as the music player, but for this price, it’s hard to complain.

Software version on the reviewed unit:
Android: 4.1.2
Kernel: 3.4.0-gabdc9b6
Build: JZO54K
Software: VS87010B

LG Lucid 2 Video Review: