Help Questions from a potential Optimus 2X buyer

[Beplexor]

Hi guys, I'm definitely thinking about buying an LG Optimus 2X, because over here in NZ it is by far the cheapest dual core phone, yet is similar/on par with many of the latest phones.

Before I decide to buy it however, I'd just like to ask a few questions to clear things up.

- Based on many reviews, the UI seems occasionally choppy, and I've also heard that many users aren't happy with a large number of bugs and crashes. Is this fixed when the phone is updated from froyo to gingerbread? Ice cream sandwich is also officially coming for the 2X which sounds promising.

- Is the battery life acceptable? Spec sheets say it runs on a 1500 mAh battery which is the same as my galaxy 3 :/

- Design-wise, the camera protrudes slightly on the back. I'm worried that this might make the lens more susceptible to damage and cracks. Has this affected anyone?

I'd really appreciate answers for these questions. Thanks a lot.

 

[Colonelk]

Hey there, I'm from NZ too, and bought the same phone
The basic UI is quite choppy, which is a reason I quickly installed a launcher, or two, which sped it up a lot, and gave it a surprising fluidity over the pre-installed UI. I'd highly suggest this as not only does it speed up the phone, it gives you customization options too, which is very handy. My phone has crashed about 3 times since I bought it, but this has been significantly lessened with the download of Adv. Task Killer, so it's not as overwhelmed with functions as it would be otherwise.
Frankly, on my usage the battery life isn't great. It could definitely be better, but depending on your usage it should last at least the majority of a day.
The camera protrusion is very slight, less than I thought from the video reviews. I haven't had any instances of the lens cracking or anything like that, but I bought a case at the same time I bought my phone, which significantly increases protection for not only the phone in general but the camera particularly as the edges rise over the sides of the camera. You shouldn't worry about it, unless you're planning to drop frequently you wont run into any problems about the lens.

 

[Beplexor]

Hey there, I'm from NZ too, and bought the same phone
The basic UI is quite choppy, which is a reason I quickly installed a launcher, or two, which sped it up a lot, and gave it a surprising fluidity over the pre-installed UI. I'd highly suggest this as not only does it speed up the phone, it gives you customization options too, which is very handy. My phone has crashed about 3 times since I bought it, but this has been significantly lessened with the download of Adv. Task Killer, so it's not as overwhelmed with functions as it would be otherwise.
Frankly, on my usage the battery life isn't great. It could definitely be better, but depending on your usage it should last at least the majority of a day.
The camera protrusion is very slight, less than I thought from the video reviews. I haven't had any instances of the lens cracking or anything like that, but I bought a case at the same time I bought my phone, which significantly increases protection for not only the phone in general but the camera particularly as the edges rise over the sides of the camera. You shouldn't worry about it, unless you're planning to drop frequently you wont run into any problems about the lens.

Thanks a lot for the answer. When you say you installed a couple of launchers, do you mean custom ROMs, like cyanogenmod? If by any chance it IS cyanogenmod, could you please tell me about the camera and video recording when using CM? I've heard that they're slightly screwed up in CM :/

 

[Colonelk]

No, I don't mean Cyanogenmod, my phone's not rooted at this point. Simply launchers from the Market, or 'Play Shop' as it's called now. Such as ADW.Launcher, Go Launcher EX and LauncherPro. They're all quite popular, and they help a lot. The LG preinstalled interface is just incredibly clunky, and it's unpleasant to use and look at. I'd highly suggest any of them.

 

[Beplexor]

No, I don't mean Cyanogenmod, my phone's not rooted at this point. Simply launchers from the Market, or 'Play Shop' as it's called now. Such as ADW.Launcher, Go Launcher EX and LauncherPro. They're all quite popular, and they help a lot. The LG preinstalled interface is just incredibly clunky, and it's unpleasant to use and look at. I'd highly suggest any of them.

Oh ok. I'm just wondering, since you've said that you haven't rooted your phone, have you at least upgraded to stock gingerbread? And also when using launchers, due to the lack of lag, i'm assuming you don't crash or freeze when gaming, web browsing, watching videos etc?

Thanks.