Talk about affordable smartphones and LG Lucid 4G comes to mind immediately. Not only is it just $79.99 on a 2-year contract, it also comes with similar hardware that was seen on its counterpart the LG Spectrum which sold for $200 on-contract. LG Lucid 4G surely sounds like a bargain.
Design
LG has taken a refreshing concept with the design of this phone as it finally moves away from making a phone that’s similar to those from the Optimus line. One look at it and it still seems like it’s got the same design features as its Optimus counterparts but on closer inspection the sides of the LG Lucid 4G show that it’s truly something different. Although it’s made up of glossy plastic which tends to get smudged easily, but there’s nothing the shiny red pattern on the back can’t help you forget. Picking it up revealed that even though the LG Lucid 4G was constructed out of plastic, it feels really solid in the hands. The angular cutout the phone has received for its sides gives it very contemporary looks as well.
The dimensions of this phone are 4.69 x 2.45 x 0.45 inches and these numbers does make it feel rather big. However, even with the 4 inch screen on the front, thanks to its thickness, the smartphone still feels very compact. Tipping the scales at only 142g also means that this phone is not going to be a burden to carry around. Android’s trademark capacitive buttons are to be found underneath the screen and they are placed too close to the screen and one another attracting accidental presses. On the front as well, there is a VGA camera for video calls. On the top right corner sits the circular power button while on the tops is the standard audio jack. The volume rocker on the other hand sits on the left side of the phone. Another circular button is on the left side of the phone exactly where the power button was on the right side, but it’s just there for aesthetic purposes. A 5MP camera with LED flash sits on the back side of this phone.
Display
As mentioned earlier, the LG Lucid 4G sports many similarities in terms of hardware with the LG Spectrum, but the line has to be drawn somewhere as this phone is much more affordable. The screen is where this line is drawn for one as this phone has a 4 inch WVGA IPS LCD screen rather than a 720p screen like on the LG Spectrum. With a pixel density of 223 ppi, the screen has plenty of details and it also produces natural colors with pretty good viewing angles as well.
Performance
LG Lucid 4G impresses us with what is has in store under the hood. The 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 CPU definitely does the job for this phone. Add the 1GB of RAM LG has thrown in to this phone and the performance is just the way it should be. It will breeze through the basic tasks with relative ease although some lag will be evident when live wallpaper is used. However, this lag will not hamper the overall performance as it’s barely noticeable.
Features
Although LG does promise an update for LG Lucid 4G’s OS sometime in the future, for now we have to settle for the Android v2.3.6 Gingerbread. Atop the OS is LG’s latest version of the Optimus user interface. However there is no reason to fret as the customization Android is known for is still there. To make things better, there are some new things that give the smartphone a fresh feel. The glass jar animation while charging the phone for instance or the cool feature that allows you to move from one photo to the other just by tapping the sides of the phone with your palm.
A four inch screen means there is plenty of real estate for the on-screen keyboards. The keyboards have keys that are well spaced but maybe a tad bit smaller than usual, so it might take some getting used to. LG Lucid 4G’s Swype keyboard seems to do a better job than LG’s keyboard, so that’s something to try out. As we have seen with every other Android phone, the email experience is once again great. Since it’s a Verizon phone, there are some apps that come out of the box with the LG Lucid 4G like My Verizon Mobile, V Cast Apps, V Cast Tones and VZ Navigator to name a few.
LG Lucid 4G has a 5MP shooter that comes with LED flash as well as auto-focus on its rear and it does a pretty solid job given the price it’s being offered for. The camera takes better than average photos for various shooting conditions like outdoors as well as indoors. Over time, some of the shots did seem to be underexposed but considering the fact that everything else like colors and contrast were great, that’s something that can be looked over. LG Lucid 4G offers video recording at 1080p but the results were not as good as expected as artifacting was found in almost every recording.
Thanks to the 4G LTE connectivity onboard, LG Lucid 4G does great in the internet browsing department. Pages load in a matter of seconds and it can also handle Adobe Flash content without any issues. Although navigating through a page with a lot of Flash content does seem to show some signs of lag. It’s not a GSM phone so Verizon’s pretty much the only option. In terms of connectivity options, as mentioned earlier it’s got 4G LTE connectivity and it has got the usual stuff like aGPS, Bluetooth 3.0 as well as Wi-Fi together with mobile hotspot functionality.
When it came to call quality on the LG Lucid 4G, it was bitterly disappointing as we could barely make out what our friends were saying as their voice was muffled. Nevertheless, things on the other end weren’t so bad. There is a 1700mAh battery under the hood to give this phone all the juice it needs. It’s pretty much what the phone needs as it made through a full day even with its 4G LTE connectivity in use.
Pros and Cons
LG Lucid 4G is sold at a very attractive price and it’s also very good looking. Even for the price, the specs are still top notch.
Call quality was a turn off and the video recording on the LG Lucid 4G could have been so much better.
Conclusion
LG Lucid 4G is truly a pleasant surprise as it has got the specs of a more expensive phone but it’s going for only $79.99 on-contract. If you are out there for an affordable and good looking phone with decent specs, look no further than the LG Lucid 4G.