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

my hands on 1st impressions on the spectrum

rankman

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2010
166
30
PA
Have been playing with the spectrum for a couple days now and have been testing side by side with my razr. Here are my thoughts on what I've noticed. The display naturally is beautiful and the colors are slightly better than the razr with the real strip sub pixel arrangement and you get to view alot more content on web pages due to bigger display and higher pixel count. I noticed a decent difference when viewing the same page. Took some pics and it looks better than my razr pics. Quadrant was around 2200 to 2300 compared to 2600 on razr and vellamo was 1199 compared to 1034 on my razr. Device has some cool gesture features where you can flip your device to mute your alarm or mute and incoming call. Device has a gyro scope aswell. In the hand it looks and feels like a bigger fascinate which is good imo. Not sure what else jumps out at me since the rest is gingerbread and we've seen it before. Also there is no Bing! Google maps and Google search pre loaded.
 
I wonder how you got to play with spectrum before it's released.

Anyway it's released today, so I headed to my local VZW store and had chance to play with it. The size is very close to my G Nex but slightly thicker. Overall it feels nice in hand. The HD/IPS screen is very bright and clear. The Rezound next to Spectrum was relatively pretty dim even at max brightness. The touch response and speed of screen UI felt slightly sluggish than Rezound. Maybe it's just demo unit. But considering Rezound has Sense and demo video running, I expected better screen response. The LG skin looks similar to old version of Samsung TW, but app drawer moves vertically. I guess launcher app like LPP, Go is probably better for Spectrum. 4G signal strength and speed seemed just as good as Rezound. Google map with GPS worked pretty fast too. Overall I got positive impression, especially the screen quality.
 
Upvote 0
interesting review. thanks.

seemed like a nice phone (played with one at the store). nice screen. very laggy, but not sure if that was the demo software...

only thing i didn't like was the app drawer putting widgets in ataegories that you have to memorize instead of intuitive alphabetical order like every other android phone on earth lol
 
Upvote 0
i ahve the razr also, just picked up a spectrum today. the look, feel, screen and conectivity are outstanding! The rest sucks bad! I hate the UI, utterly hate and everywhere you go on the device is extremely laggy. most devices i put laincherpro in for the UI, even launcherpro is laggy as shit.. i dont get it, this piece of crap will be heading back to verizon tomorrow...
 
Upvote 0
i ahve the razr also, just picked up a spectrum today. the look, feel, screen and conectivity are outstanding! The rest sucks bad! I hate the UI, utterly hate and everywhere you go on the device is extremely laggy. most devices i put laincherpro in for the UI, even launcherpro is laggy as shit.. i dont get it, this piece of crap will be heading back to verizon tomorrow...


i guess this is why lg doesn't have the brand recognition for cell phones that samsung/moto/htc have....
 
Upvote 0
i guess this is why lg doesn't have the brand recognition for cell phones that samsung/moto/htc have....
i think you're right. it suck too because the hardware on the device is superb! and it feels great! but the UI overlay has completely ruined this phone, completely...
i think if you could put raw android on it it would be amazing... but im not willing to wait that long since i have a RAZR in my other pocket...
 
Upvote 0
i think you're right. it suck too because the hardware on the device is superb! and it feels great! but the UI overlay has completely ruined this phone, completely...
i think if you could put raw android on it it would be amazing... but im not willing to wait that long since i have a RAZR in my other pocket...

Lag aside, how do you like it compard to the Razr screen, outdoor vieweing, application load time, call quality, handset and handsfree speaker volume?

I liked the screen and the size but hearing a lot of lag problems and not sure how well the device will receive attention from rom developers and particularly Miui.
 
Upvote 0
Lag aside, how do you like it compard to the Razr screen, outdoor vieweing, application load time, call quality, handset and handsfree speaker volume?

I liked the screen and the size but hearing a lot of lag problems and not sure how well the device will receive attention from rom developers and particularly Miui.
i like the razr better because usability, seriously, the lag and jitter on the LG is THAT bad. not to mention moto blur has come a long way and i welcome it now. if you dont like lag and jitter DO NOT buy this phone... there is also something worng with the browser. the way it lags and scrolls is unatural to say the least...

viewing the screens outdoors therazr wins hands down, it also wins in the color department. lg has kind of a blue tint, and the razr is more transparent. but the lg wins in clarity and size, its truely a beautiful screen.

app load time depends on lag, sometimes an app loads quickly, sometimes not, its a total crap shoot and very aggrevating.

excellent call quallity, that would be a tie with razr, same with speakers. i havent had it long enough to compare battery life, and i wont have the phone long enough either...

razr max comes out thursday, i will be getting that bad boy for sure! im not moto fan boy, but they have the best android devices on verizon by a long shot. and yes, i have had them ALL.....
 
Upvote 0
i think you're right. it suck too because the hardware on the device is superb! and it feels great! but the UI overlay has completely ruined this phone, completely...
i think if you could put raw android on it it would be amazing... but im not willing to wait that long since i have a RAZR in my other pocket...

kinda strange they'd release such a nicely stocked phone with such a major flaw....:eek:


lol
 
Upvote 0
i like the razr better because usability, seriously, the lag and jitter on the LG is THAT bad. not to mention moto blur has come a long way and i welcome it now. if you dont like lag and jitter DO NOT buy this phone... there is also something worng with the browser. the way it lags and scrolls is unatural to say the least...

viewing the screens outdoors therazr wins hands down, it also wins in the color department. lg has kind of a blue tint, and the razr is more transparent. but the lg wins in clarity and size, its truely a beautiful screen.

app load time depends on lag, sometimes an app loads quickly, sometimes not, its a total crap shoot and very aggrevating.

excellent call quallity, that would be a tie with razr, same with speakers. i havent had it long enough to compare battery life, and i wont have the phone long enough either...

razr max comes out thursday, i will be getting that bad boy for sure! im not moto fan boy, but they have the best android devices on verizon by a long shot. and yes, i have had them ALL.....

Thanks bud, very helpful.
 
Upvote 0
Lets go ahead and add that they have replaced the stock email app with one that has some huge limitations:

No email signature (you can choose between none and "This email is from my LG spectrum" - no custom option).

Can only sync 1 month of emails (not all).

If we can put cyanogen on this thing it might be worth it, but right now, we aren't very happy.
 
Upvote 0
i think if you could put raw android on it it would be amazing...

If we can put cyanogen on this thing it might be worth it...

You guys are probably right, but judging by the ice-cold reception of this phone it will be an eternity, if ever. I was moderately amped based on the specs and form factor of this phone, but I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole based on actual user feedback. Would imagine enterprising ROM devs feel the same way...smallish community = not worth the time. *shrug*
 
Upvote 0
You guys are probably right, but judging by the ice-cold reception of this phone it will be an eternity, if ever. I was moderately amped based on the specs and form factor of this phone, but I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole based on actual user feedback. Would imagine enterprising ROM devs feel the same way...smallish community = not worth the time. *shrug*

That's very unfortunate. I think this phone deserves more attention. Hardware spec wise, it seems a little better than Rezound.
 
Upvote 0
Bought the spectrum on release day but returned it yesterday for the following reasons.

The speakers on both the ear piece and back of device distort terribly at max volume. If I lower it even one notch it still distorts but volume is cut considerably making it hard to hear.

I have been told by almost anyone that I have spoken with on this phone that I sound either like I have my hand over the mouth piece or I'm under water.

Even though I changed my launcher to make the phone look like a Nexus the launcher never stays and the phone automatically changes it back to LG's launcher and skin.

Battery life is not the greatest but it also takes twice the time to charge then my Dinc.

Bought a MHL adapter and when playing games phone lags incredibly bad. As for movies using the MHL adapter, the quality was worse then my old standard tube TV. The home screens looked sharp and bright but everything else was unusable.

I will wait to see what MWC brings this next month or if there is a firmware fix and ICS available for spectrum, might consider picking it up again.
 
Upvote 0
I have a different view...I've been using the Spectrum for a week now and although I don't like the UI, my particular Spectrum is NOT laggy at all and is VERY smooth.. Scrolling is awesome, browser blazes and the screen is superb. I do sort of like Moto Blur, but I will say I own a few Motorola phones and this LG spanks them all speed wise even with the ugly UI. HD video is amazing on the screen, and the colors and depth is better than any other phone I've seen. I don't know, maybe I just got lucky. I tried the Nexus and Spectrum, LG's phone in my opinion is faster, better screen, lighter...Anyway, I am sure you have your own opinions, but for me the new LG Spectrum is a step in the right direction for LG.
 
Upvote 0
Lets go ahead and add that they have replaced the stock email app with one that has some huge limitations:

No email signature (you can choose between none and "This email is from my LG spectrum" - no custom option).

Can only sync 1 month of emails (not all).

If we can put cyanogen on this thing it might be worth it, but right now, we aren't very happy.

If you go to the email signature settings and hit your menu button you Will have an option to add your custom signature.
 
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