• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Nitro HD first impressions

Bmxant

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2011
168
52
Hey guys, I finally decided to order the Nitro HD a couple days ago, and just received it along with my SPG case (Good timing :D) I'll probably do a full review soon, but I'm just going to give my first impressions for now.

After removing the phone from the box, I decided to charge it first. That didn't last very long since I was eager to power up the device and check it out. My first thought before powering it up was "WOW, This phone is incredibly solid!" Seriously, this phone may be plastic, but it feels much better than the Skyrocket.

After powering it on I was greeted by the most gorgeous screen to ever exist. No joke, this IPS 720p screen is brilliant. In my opinion it's even better than the 720p Amoled screens on the Nexus and Note. Grays are perfect, and so are whites. No worrying about blobs or lines here.

I won't be able to comment on the battery life since I just got the phone, so that's why I'm not doing a review yet, but I will comment on performance.

Game performance is fantastic, and videos play without a hitch as well, the stock UI is sort of laggy, but I noticed that the CPU is running around 40-50% constantly with 400mb available. This is most likely due to all the bloat and the fact that LG's UI is garbage. (Not the looks, it's just very unoptimized.)

I decided to start to start off by rooting the phone with SuperOneClick. Although it didn't work right away, it did go through after 10 or so tries. Very easy to do, and I'm glad it worked.

Just to add, the speaker on the back is pretty darn loud. I'd say comparable to the Skyrocket, but much cleaner at max volume. (Maybe a tad tad lower volume, but it's sounds more rich and bold coming out of this device) I'm not sure what was up with those display devices at the AT&T store, but they definitely had some issues.

Another thing people were worried about was the USB cover on the top. I haven't had a problem with it, and my nails are SHORT. It opens very easily, and doesn't feel like it's going to break. It may be slightly annoying, but it keeps dust and dirt out of the USB port which is a nice plus.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The SPG case that I received was a tad expensive, but has good feel to it. It's just like the Diztronic / TPU cases that we're used to, except it's more expensive. Sadly Diztronic had to discontinue the Nitro case due to a defect in their design (WOOPS!)

It does have the Optimus / Korean Antenna cutout, but this is really not a big deal, I'm not one to drop my phone, so it doesn't bother me. If you drop your phone a lot, I'd recommend something like the otterbox anyways.

Please feel free to ask any questions

So far I give this phone an 8.5 out of 10
 
About the loud speaker, does it get muffled when you set the phone on a flat surface? I think I see a slight bump on the speaker grill that may raise the phone up a little to prevent muffling when the phone is placed on desk or something. Also, can you compare the Nitro's speaker to an iPhone 4 in terms of clarity and loudness? Thanks.
 
Upvote 0
About the loud speaker, does it get muffled when you set the phone on a flat surface? I think I see a slight bump on the speaker grill that may raise the phone up a little to prevent muffling when the phone is placed on desk or something. Also, can you compare the Nitro's speaker to an iPhone 4 in terms of clarity and loudness? Thanks.

Going to check that out right now, give me a sec to load a high quality song on the phone :)


Edit: Volume does get slightly lowered, but it's still clear. There's also no distortion at max volume. As for comparing the phone to the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4 still wins on the Volume level, but I can't complain. I think I'd most likely use some ear buds or headphones if I wanted to listen to something that loud anyways.
 
Upvote 0
Hey how's the battery life so far?

Medium use on the first charge was 9 hours, screen time was 3 hours or so.

Second charge was about 19 hours with low usage.

Third charge was about 5 hours with extreme usage, benchmark after benchmark, installing new launchers, backing up apps and restoring, etc.

I still can't get the phone as smooth as I'd like it, but it's slowly getting there :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: RingKing
Upvote 0
Any improvements on battery life since your last post on this thread? How much battery do you think would a 2-hour movie eat up?

And did you actually "get there" in making the phone as smooth as you like it?

Hey RingKing, so far everything is good. I haven't played a movie yet, but I'd say the battery should be good for 6-7 hours of movie playback.

As for making the phone as smooth as I'd like, yes and no... It's really smooth, but it could still use a few tweaks here and there. (Browser speed is one of them, it's not slow, but not perfectly smooth)

Check out my new post.


Average usage with occasional gaming throughout the day is about 15 hours now.

Occasional usage consisting of texts and a few emails is over a day.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RingKing
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones