LG Optimus 2X review

Another day, another dual-core smartphone, this time from LG. Julian Prokaza puts it through its Android paces.

IT Pro Verdict

Although not quite as slick or stylish as the dual-core competition, the Optimus 2X is still an extremely capable Android smartphone. So, as long as LG updates the OS as promised, it’s a budget, if less desirable, alternative to the mighty Samsung Galaxy S II.

LG has aped HTC in making use of the Optimus 2X's sensors for various operating system controls.

LG has aped HTC in making use of the Optimus 2X's sensors for various operating system controls, though. Most useful of these is the option to mute a call, set an alarm to snooze and pause video playback by putting the phone face-down, but being able to move the text cursor around by tapping the sides of the smartphone and skip playing music tracks with a double-tap is handy, too.

Much like dual-core processors, eight-megapixel cameras are fast becoming standard for the latest generation of smartphones, but as ever, the resolution of the image sensor is far from the only influencing factor when it comes to capturing quality images through a tiny lens.

Images taken with the Optimus 2X are merely adequate.

Sadly, LG hasn't quite taken them into account here and images taken with the Optimus 2X are merely adequate. There's sufficient detail for the sensor resolution (though there's still some noise when images are viewed full size), but daylight shots are rather pale. The flash is pretty brutal too, which means subjects of portrait shots tend to end up with a squint and temporarily dazzled. There's also a little too much shutter lag for our liking and we'd prefer the autofocus to work when framing an image, rather than just when taking one (when it does lock-on perfectly, admittedly).