LG Spectrum II 4G VS930

LG SPECTRUM II 4G VS930 REVIEW

The LG Spectrum 2 has NFC and wireless charging capabilities, fast 4G LTE speeds, and a camera packed with features. Attractive price, 4.7” True HD IPS display, Good call quality. Display LG Spectrum II 4G VS930 increasingly enhanced with a screen 4.7”. Looking for the type of display used is True HD-IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors that give the sharpness of an image because it also supported primary camera 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, Autofocus, LED flash. Underneath that beautiful display, LG has chosen to slap on four (yes, four) capacitive buttons, aglow with a blue hue that comes oh-so-close to ruining the display all together. Some may find this touch endearing, yet others, including myself, will find it to be an absolutely dreadful addition. Under the hood, the Spectrum 2 has gathered the internals from the Optimus G’s cutting room floor, and matches the Droid RAZR M, its closest competitor, nearly punch for punch. It’s got a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8960 processor, paired with a gig of DDR2 RAM, 16 GBs of internal storage, and a microSD slot capable of holding up to 32 GBs. Around back, you’ve got an 8MP shooter, while up front boasts a more modest 1.3 MP camera. As you'll read in a bit, the Spectrum 2 manages to produce impressive performance even without top-of-the-line specs. The Spectrum 2 ships with Ice Cream Sandwich buried under LG’s bulky and obtrusive UI-- The experience here is nearly identical to both the Optimus G and the Intuition, complete with overwrought screen transitions, cartoon-like icons, and LG’s Quick Memo, Tag+, and SmartShare apps. I’ve never been a huge fan of LG’s UI, and when faced with the choice between it, HTC’s Sense, and Samsung’s TouchWiz, it will never come out on top. Thankfully, the Spectrum 2’s performance doesn’t suffer from it. In fact, this is one of the better-performing devices I’ve used lately, ranking right up there with the RAZR M and RAZR HD. The extra gig of RAM in the Droid DNA, the S3, and the Note 2 do bring those devices into a higher tier, but for at least $100 less than those devices, the Spectrum 2 impresses. The UI, as obtrusive as it may be, is absolutely lag and stutter free, with zippy transitions and speedy here-to-there action. I did find a bit of hesitation while browing the web, though switching to Chrome remedied the problem. To be earnest, you won’t find much to complain about here, as I’ve yet to find a processor-heavy task to slow the Spectrum 2 down. In news called surprising by no one, Verizon has managed to stuff its usual list of misfit apps on the Spectrum 2, including Amazon’s shopping, Kindle, and MP3 apps, Amex Serve, Audible, Let’s Golf 3, NFL Mobile, Real Racing 2, V Cast Tones, Verizon Video, VZ Navigator, and Zappos. If you’re still shocked by this, I suggest opting for LG’s bloat-free Nexus 4 and moving on. Right off the bat, I had low expectations for the Spectrum 2's camera simply put, LG's optics just aren't up to the standards of Samsung's and HTC's. And with the bar set low, I wasn't terribly put off by what the Spectrum 2 produced, though I was far from impressed. Photo quality here is similar to other LG devices, though falls just short of what the Optimus G is able to produce. I'd liken photos from the Spectrum 2 to what we've recently seen from Motorola's RAZRs-- decent white balance and color reproduction, but an overall lack of sharpness and, at times, a "washed out" feel. There's a certain vibrancy missing here, and photos are recognizable for being from a smartphone camera. In a few words or less, photos are missing a "wow" we've become used to. Performance wise, the Spectrum 2's eight megapixel camera is admirable: after a minor delay in launching, the camera focuses with speed and snaps with little to no shutter lag. LG has included some goodies to add to the camera's functionality, including a "Time Catch" shot mode which takes the best out of a group of rapid-shot photos, and the surprisingly useful "Cheese Shutter", which snaps your shot at the sound of the "cheese". The front-facer has a few added bonuses as well, including a "Cheese Shutter" of its own, as well as "Beauty Shot", which LG says will even skin tone and add an overall improvement in self-portraits. I didn't notice too much of an improvement, but I also don't take many self portraits. Regardless, it's a nice added touch. Dual band WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, NFC and Qi wireless charging round out this capable phone's features. LG adds extra video playback support and the smartphone can handle WMV and DivX playback out of the box. Call quality and reception are above average and the phone pulled in very impressive upload and download speeds on Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network in our area. There's an SDHC microSD card slot under the back cover and the 2150 mAh Lithium Ion battery is removable. The LG Spectrum 2 has NFC and wireless charging capabilities, fast 4G LTE speeds, and a camera packed with features.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES