LG Nitro HD review

LG hasn't released a flagship phone in a while — does the Nitro HD make up for lost time?

By David Pierce on December 7, 2011 09:15 am 64Comments

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.

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LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.
LG Nitro HD review

LG’s not exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of smartphones. Nor is it the second or third, I’d wager. But the company wants to change that with the Nitro HD, its first attempt at a flagship cell phone in a long time — the $249.99 (with contract) handset is AT&T’s first phone with a 720p display, and one of only three that connects to the carrier’s nascent LTE network.

The Android 2.3 phone has other impressive specs to match too: a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and 4GB of internal storage (with a card slot for up to 32GB more). Is all that enough to bring LG back into the smartphone game? Read on for the full review.

The Galaxy S II may get a lot of flak for looking like an iPhone, but that’s nothing compared to the resemblance between the Nitro HD and Samsung’s big-screened handsets. Of course, there’s only so different a phone this large can be, but LG makes no effort to look at all unique — the roughly textured back even makes the phone feel like a dead ringer for the GSII. The Nitro’s different-sized bezels on the top and bottom of the Nitro’s screen set it apart, and not in a good way — most phones have identical or nearly identical space above and below, and the way the Nitro is built feels slightly unbalanced.

If you've seen the Galaxy S II, you know what the Nitro looks like

Aping the Galaxy S II isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though: the Nitro is definitely a good-looking phone, one of the best I’ve seen from LG and certainly easier on the eyes than the LG Revolution. It’s 10.4mm thick, imperceptibly thicker (but lighter) than the iPhone 4S, but notably thinner than the HTC Rezound, another recently-launched 720p phone. It feels thinner than it is, though, which I suspect is due to its sheer size as well as its nice taper, which makes it easy to hold. Its 5.27-inch height, on the other hand, is huge any way you slice it, and I actually had trouble finding a position that let me comfortably touch the whole screen. The Galaxy Nexus has an even bigger screen, though, so I’m sure this is the right size for some.

All the requisite buttons and ports are here, but most of them are for some reason crowded on the top of the phone, which is weird because there’s plenty of other space for them — the top’s also the wrong place for a power cord anyway, since it makes it much harder to use comfortably when plugged in. The power button, Micro USB port, and headphone jack are all up top; the volume controls are on the left side, and the rest of the edges are barren. (The Micro USB port, by the way, is covered by the most breakable piece of plastic I’ve ever seen — just snap it off when you get it, and save yourself the hassle of trying to keep it on.) There’s a slot at the bottom that pries off the phone’s entire back so you can swap batteries, SIM cards, or microSD cards — it catches a bit on the top of the phone, and I thought I was going to break the cover every time I yanked it off, but I never did. You don’t have to remove the battery to access the microSD card, which I liked, but you will have to pull it to get at the SIM card. There’s nothing on the front other than a camera lens, AT&T logo, and three capacitive Android buttons (Menu and Search are combined into one button), which don’t look like any I’ve seen before. Customization, as we’ll see, is a significant and damaging trend for the Nitro.

Display

A 720p display should be a must-have

The Nitro has a 4.5-inch, 1280 x 720 IPS display, and it’s certainly something to brag about: it’s beautiful, crystal clear, and has super-accurate colors. The Galaxy S II’s Super AMOLED display has a tendency to oversaturate colors, giving them a too-warm temperature, but the Nitro never does that — what you see is really what you get. The glass is also slightly curved, so it moves cleanly and nicely into the bezel without any sharp edges or obvious seams; it also makes it friendlier to sideways swipes. Its viewing angles are excellent, with very little discoloration as you get off-center (Samsung’s AMOLED displays start to glow blue as soon as you move to the side).

Since its screen is larger, the Nitro’s 326ppi pixel density is slightly below the HTC Rezound, but it’s still really high, and I had absolutely no issues with the Nitro’s display when I was using it. It still has large icons and large text, not quite making use of how much real estate it actually has, but everything is readable and clear, and video in particular looks fantastic. I could occasionally make out individual pixels in the RGB stripes layout, but only in particular situations (blue-heavy images, for instance) and with a lot of effort; it's a much better display than on phones like the Droid RAZR, which uses a PenTile layout. Reds are very slightly overexposed on a macro level, but it’s not apparent to the naked eye. At this point in the smartphone market, when most high-end phones run the same apps on similar processors with similar memory and build quality, display quality is a make-or-break feature, and a screen like the Nitro’s should be a must-have for everyone’s next handset.

Cameras

You'll get good pictures, and great video

The 8-megapixel shooter on the back of the Nitro isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s as good as the cameras on most other high-end smartphones. It takes fairly clean and crisp photos, though it’s effectively useless in low light, and has a really slow shutter speed that makes it tough to use for any kind of motion. It takes a page out of Motorola’s book and offers really simple autofocus — just pause over your subject, and the picture bounces to let you know it’s focused — but it doesn’t work all that well, particularly when trying to focus on smaller subjects. Fortunately the tap-to-focus feature works a little better. You get lots of manual control over things like white balance, ISO, and exposure, which is somewhat rare for a smartphone camera, and you can zoom with the volume buttons, which is cool even though I don’t ever recommend using digital zoom. The camera’s biggest upside is how good the big, sharp screen is as a viewfinder. The front-facing, 1-megapixel camera is — you guessed it — bad but fine for video chat.

On the video side, the story is more impressive: the Nitro HD takes really excellent video. It shoots at 1920 x 1088, which is a little off from the standard 1080p video but not a noticeable difference, and shoots it at 30 frames per second. Fast-moving subjects stutter at 30fps, but that’s the case with any camera. Recorded audio was excellent, too, with the secondary mic doing a good job of noise cancellation.

Software

Thank goodness for LauncherPro

LG made a beautiful phone, and then nearly ruined it by adding its UI skin, which is one of the ugliest I’ve ever seen on an Android phone. It takes the worst of TouchWiz — the ugly borders around ugly icons — and makes it even worse. The power manager in the notification window is useful, but the colors don't look good, and the icons aren’t obvious to figure out. Two of the app drawer’s three views make no sense in their organization, and the other takes too long to scroll through. Even the menu for adding widgets to the home screen has been arbitrarily redesigned to make it harder to navigate and worse-looking. I did actually like a couple of the changes, like the calendar display on the lock screen, but the vast majority of the Nitro’s interface "enhancements" fall flat on their face. Suffice to say the Nitro HD has made me eternally more grateful for LauncherPro’s interface overhaul.

An app like LauncherPro would also help in hiding the bloatware, which comes aplenty on the Nitro HD. It’s not the worst example I’ve seen, but there are plenty of apps like AT&T FamilyMap, Navigator, and Code Scanner on the phone, as well as preinstalled third-party apps like Mog, Polaris Office, and Zynga Poker HD. Some of them are just a link to download the app, too, which is the worst kind of bloatware. The one non-standard app that I really liked is SmartShare, a super-simple Wi-Fi file sharing app that makes sending a file from your phone to your computer, or streaming a movie in the opposite direction, really easy. It’s not as seamless as, say, AirPlay, but I got it to work on a number of devices without much effort.

Ice Cream Sandwich

The 800-pound gorilla in the room when you use the Nitro is its lack of Android 4.0. LG has announced that four of its phones will be getting an upgrade to the brand-new OS, and for now the Nitro HD isn’t one of them (though its international equivalent, the Optimus LTE, is on the list). After using a Galaxy Nexus it’s hard to recommend what now feels like an old operating system, and I think it’s worth deciding how long you can wait to get an Ice Cream Sandwich phone — waiting for a promised Android upgrade is a dangerous game.

Performance

Performance, call quality, and battery life

The 1.5GHz dual-core processor inside the Nitro HD is about as good as you’ll find in a smartphone these days, so it’s no surprise that it’s a pretty zippy phone. Apps ran quickly and smoothly, taps always registered, and things generally moved along as snappily as I expected them to.

The only problems I ran into seemed to be software-based, and largely related to this skin — like how the icons in the app drawer randomly disappeared every once in a while, and I had to go out of the drawer and back in to see them again. There’s some sluggishness on any Android phone, but the Nitro was no worse (and often better) than other top-of-the-line phones, even with the massive number of pixels it’s pushing all the time. Benchmark tests showed the Nitro’s fast, too: though it didn’t score quite as well as the Samsung Galaxy S II, its 2,400-2,500 Quadrant score range puts it right in line with the HTC Rezound or the Droid RAZR, about which no one would have speed complaints. The browser stumbled a bit on heavy websites (like this one), but in general performed fine. (I hated the real-estate-hogging bar at the bottom of the browser, but that’s again a skin problem.)

It performs well, but not exceptionally so

Call quality was solid. For the most part people on the other end of the phone were clear, and loud enough — though I did find myself trying to push the phone harder onto my ear a few times so I could hear better. You don’t hear your own voice through the earphone when you’re talking, which is unfortunately increasingly common; that tactic keeps you from screaming into the phone because you’re not sure how loudly you’re coming through. But calls were clear and reception was good, even in places I’ve gotten bad coverage with other handsets.

Phone Quality

Speakerphone performance wasn’t very good, mostly because the Nitro’s speaker is so bad: it’s not very loud, a problem made worse by the fact that it’s placed on the back of the phone, in a spot where my hand naturally covers it. Headphones will definitely be your friend with the Nitro, whether you’re watching a movie or making phone calls.

I was lucky enough to start using the Nitro HD right after AT&T’s LTE network went live in New York City (though it’s still not officially out), and it makes an absolute world of difference. I had the good fortune of testing LTE on a basically traffic-free network, so my experience is probably a unique one, but I was able to consistently get scores above 30Mbps download speed and 10Mbps up. I even got 60Mbps down at one point! If you’re not in one of AT&T’s few LTE test areas, you’ll get on AT&T’s 21Mbps HSPA+ network. Though LTE’s not yet everywhere, as it gets more prevalent you’re going to want an LTE phone, which makes the Nitro one of the more future-proof AT&T phones out there.

There’s one big, huge, giant tradeoff to using an LTE handset, and that’s battery life — if you’re using LTE with any kind of regularity, the battery meter can barely go down fast enough. I’ve never gotten a full day’s battery life out of the Nitro HD, even when not using it regularly; the phone seems to lose its battery even while in standby, which means leaving it unplugged overnight is going to make for a rude awakening (or a missed one, if your phone dies) in the morning. Using Wi-Fi whenever possible largely solves this problem, but it also defeats the point of LTE. When you do use it regularly, beware: streaming a 20-minute episode of Arrested Development lopped 12 percent off my phone’s battery. There’s no way to toggle LTE on the device itself, but third-party developers have made apps that do so for other phones, so keep your fingers crossed that one comes for the Nitro too.

Wrap-up

If you can, you should wait for Ice Cream Sandwich

The bleeding edge of Android specs currently boils down to three things: a 720p display, LTE support, and Ice Cream Sandwich. The LG Nitro HD has two of them, and thanks to Google’s new 18-month-update policy it should nail the third — but 18 months is a long time and I’m always wary of assuming timely and easy updates. Even if and when the Nitro HD does get updated to Android 4.0, it won’t be worth much if LG’s skin makes the transition too. If you live in one of AT&T’s LTE test markets, you’ll want a phone that can support the super-fast network, and right now this is AT&T’s best LTE phone. But if you can wait a few weeks or months, you’ll be much better served by a phone with better battery life and without the Nitro’s software problems.

Want more? See how the Nitro HD measures up to the Samsung Galaxy S II, Galaxy Nexus, HTC Rezound, and more in our comparison chart!

Compare It

LG Nitro HD

7.2 Verge Score Write Review

Good Stuff

Gorgeous display
LTE connectivity
Solid performance
Good build quality

Bad Stuff

Awful UI skin
No Android 4.0 yet
Poor battery life

The Breakdown

More times than not, the Verge score is based on the average of the subscores below. However, since this is a non-weighted average, we reserve the right to tweak the overall score if we feel it doesn't reflect our overall assessment and price of the product. Read more about how we test and rate products.

Design 8
Display 9
Camera(s) 8
Reception / call quality 6
Performance 8
Software 6
Battery life 4
Ecosystem 8

There are 64 Comments. Add yours.

H.L says:

LG’s attempt at a flagship phone, and it looks just like every other Android phone out there? Nice job LG.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 9:29 AM EST via mobile reply Recommend (12) Flag actions

apeironer says:

I don’t think this was supposed to be a flagship. Don’t they have an announcement with Prada in London coming up soon? If anythings going to be their flagship its going to be that.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 9:36 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Stacker's reply:

Their previous Prada/fashion phones have been overpriced feature phones with unique styling. It pretty obvious that that won’t be enough, so I’m guessing that LG and Prada are realeasing their first Android Fashoin phone. Fashion phone buyers do to care about LTE, and 720P so we are not going to see them.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:16 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Savitt says:

hmmmmm

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 9:50 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions

Cloudgazer says:

I wonder if Google have messed things up somewhat by releasing their OS revision so close to christmas. They would be much better off with a release cycle delivering in May or June, so ensuring that the christmas period has a big population of high end devices with the latest version on.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 9:58 AM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions

David Pierce's reply:

I’ve been thinking this too, and I think you’re exactly right. Come January and February, there’ll be dozens of high-end Android phones with LTE, 720p displays and 4.0. Why wouldn’t Google want those to be out now?

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:33 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

jaggedspike's reply:

Maybe it matters more to the OEM. As long as people keep buying Android phones, Google is happy.

Posted on Dec 08, 2011 | 8:20 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

nothingreal's reply:

I don’t really think Google cares.

They’re sort of in a different mindset all together. As long as the phone is running some variant of android they reap the rewards – actually as long as the phone isn’t running winmo they reap the rewards.

They aren’t a mobile software or hardware company – they are an advertising company using these avenues as a method of drumming up ad revenue.

Newer, better phones and software don’t yield more ad dollars by themselves, they just keep the steady momentum of android (and google’s ad revenue) rolling forward.

For Google , missing a holiday cycle doesn’t really exist. As long as consumers are still generating search result pages and overall advertising revenue climbs it doesn’t matter whether or not you’re using android 1.5 on a toaster over, big g gets paid.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 11:29 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Boghog's reply:

Well, it has to have Google services for them to score (which is why the Fire is so damaging to them) but, yes, I agree.

Posted on Dec 09, 2011 | 7:39 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

LolyPopBrigade says:

more fragmentation

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:07 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Good_ole_Pinocchio says:

Come on Pierce . . . I like the review But until the NExus S gets ICE cream Sandwish the fact that this didn’t launch with 4..0 is Completely irrelevant….

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:08 AM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions

David Pierce's reply:

But it’s out there! As far as I’m concerned the day 4.0 was released any new phone that came out without it was making a huge mistake. And at least with the Nexus S, there’s precedent saying it’ll get 4.0 in a timely fashion — I have no such evidence for pretty much any other phone.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:35 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

mattkicksass's reply:

Agreed! I would never buy such a phone, for exactly this reason. Add to that “it’s just really heavily modified for kinda pointless reasons”, and it’s a no sell.

How has it been so many years, and these OEMs can’t understand this?

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 11:02 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Good_ole_Pinocchio's reply:

Come on now. When the source was only released a couple weeks ago. We now OEMS have to figure out how to tie their skin in… then test… then carrier test . . . you know that’s the process whether we like it or not…. It’s just not fair to expect a skinned device to have the Lastest Version only a couple weeks after the release of the source when that device has already been made and tested… It’s impossible to expect ICS on new phones anytime before 2 – 3 months after. Our expectations don’t matter when it comes to the facts…

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 1:25 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Paperclips's reply:

That’s completely a problem of Android. The fact that this doesn’t have ICS sucks. Not shipping with the latest software is a con no matter how you look at it.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 3:39 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions

Cloudgazer's reply:

There will always be 2-3 months of the year when new handsets ship with the old version. That’s Google’s decision.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 7:19 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

MRCUR's reply:

But our wants and expectations are what Google, the OEMs, and the carries need to start giving a crap about. I can’t imagine using a phone as a daily driver that didn’t receive OS updates in a very timely fashion (thinking iOS and WP7 here).

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 6:03 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

JimRamK's reply:

If only Google would release Android beta builds to OEMs earlier to allow for phones to ship with the newest versions almost as soon as Google releases it. It works for Microsoft. Why can’t Google have a closed source beta?

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 4:10 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

sonelone says:

So basically, according to your review, this plus CM9 would be a perfect device.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:14 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

David Pierce's reply:

Pretty much :)

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:34 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

ChatNoir's reply:

That’s what I thought too, but there is still the battery life problem.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:37 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

David Pierce's reply:

Does CM7 have a toggle for 3G/4G/LTE? I feel like it should, and it can’t be too hard to implement from that level.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 11:02 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

mattkicksass's reply:

Was the 3G battery life noticeably better? On par with the 4S?

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 11:03 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

scottkellum's reply:

It is probably going to be a while before LTE gets integrated into CM. The drivers are usually proprietary and it took forever for Sprint WiMax to be reverse engineered for the Evo4G (not for lack of hard work, just difficult and time consuming).

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 12:30 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

sonelone's reply:

CyanogenMod greatly improves battery life, especially when the phone is originally running a custom UI, like motoblur, sense, touchwiz, etc. My Samsung Vibrant went from 0.9 day battery life to about 1.5 day battery life, with moderate use(web browsing, games, music, a few calls and texting)

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 1:04 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

gcelano says:

I see plain squared icons going four across. Apple’s legal team is warming up already.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:16 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

JRX16's reply:

Stop trolling

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 11:12 AM EST reply Recommend (7) Flag actions

amasse's reply:

Telling someone to stop trolling is annoying when it’s not relevant.

Posted on Dec 08, 2011 | 1:04 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

LolyPopBrigade says:

You guys should change the color coding on that graph. I mean , red is supposed to be bad, green is supposed to be good, but this graph does the opposite..weird.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:16 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions

westonp's reply:

Red hot and that green just looks like crap ;)

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:35 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

mattkicksass's reply:

Agreed. Other than the colors, though, I dig it.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 11:03 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Qays says:

An 8 for design? That seems overly generous, to say the least.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:20 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions

rjcassara's reply:

I think the 6 for software is more generous based on the review. It sounds like the phone is complete garbage until you run launcherpro or root it.

Or maybe I’m just more sensitive to my phone’s software than others are.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:44 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions

Qays's reply:

Yeah, that too. LG’s skin is an abomination.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:54 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions

H.L's reply:

I agree, software needs some major points docked. The customization is ridiculous.

I also love the part when he is zooming on The Verge, and the browser is lagging out like a piece of shit, and he says that the browser “for the most part works fine”. Why is that okay? Why is it acceptable for Android phones to have a laggy user interface? The iPhone 3G had a better browser, and that was over three years ago.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:56 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

David Pierce's reply:

In fairness, our full site crushes just about any phone’s browser. But it does work fine, generally speaking, on mobile sites and light stuff.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 11:03 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

JRX16's reply:

Really? I have no problem whatsoever with the full Verge site on my iPhone 4. Scrolling and zooming is buttery smooth like any other site pretty much.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 11:20 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

atomicsolar's reply:

Stock Samsung Android browser doesn’t do too bad with the full site, and IE in Mango is reasonable. 8gb iPhone 4 looked great, but took an age, but as that was on a different network to what I am used to, that is most likely down to the network.
On the battery front, every phone manufacturer and OS builder needs to understand the importance of being able to switch off the 3g and above – the bottom line is that not everyone wants to carry around spare batteries or cables, and the switching between the signals is as much a battery killer as any application, if not more so (I work in a building that can go from 3g to edge to gprs to nothing within a handful of footsteps – 4 hours of that alone can pretty much do for most of your charge).

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 12:13 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

iCello's reply:

Full Verge works great with the stock browser on my Droid X

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 6:22 PM EST via mobile reply Recommend Flag actions

amasse's reply:

Full verge barely works on any browser on my Droid X… Or is ridiculously choppy and slow, much like the LG Nitro HD apparently.

Posted on Dec 08, 2011 | 1:06 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Allegrotechie says:

Are you kidding me. No phone has ICS and the Nexus gets it first. Of course this won’t get it. Please, don’t turn into Engadget Verge…Because you’re starting too

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:39 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions

Paperclips's reply:

Source has been out though. It’s a con.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 3:42 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

MRCUR's reply:

Just because “no phone” (except for the GN) has ICS doesn’t mean it can’t be a con.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 6:05 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

CtrlAltDel121 says:

What is up with AT&T lately? They have very few flagships that are any good this holiday. I get the impression Verizon is blowing them out of the water. They need to get some good LTE phones. Verizon has the Nexus and the Rezound (and the RAZR if thats what you like).

I feel like Verizon is missing an opportunity to drive AT&T’s market share down this holiday. They should be screaming from the rooftops “WE HAVE MORE LTE COVERAGE. WE HAVE THREE FLAGSHIP PHONES, HERE IS WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT THEM ALL!” Instead, they are pushing the RAZR, the worst of their three flagships.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 10:45 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions

ant1pathy's reply:

Because the middle 90% still wants iPhones. They still can’t keep them in stock.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 12:50 PM EST reply Recommend (5) Flag actions

junkmailng says:

Not bad for LG. Disappointing they seemed to mess up the UI with their skin. I actually would deduct points for AT&T as a carrier in my part of the US, but that’s just my opinion.

I am thinking that part way into 2012 there will be a flood of 720p LTE capable devices with even quad-core processors. 4" + displays and Ice Cream Sandwich. Now just develop some better apps (esp. in gaming) and the domination of Android will continue.

Okay, hate to go there, but what about the other OS’s. Apple will come with supposedly a 4" LTE capable device. It will sell in the millions without even needing to change the OS version or features.
Windows Phone 7 still is stagnant with sales. Will the Nokia devices spice things up? I personally doubt it. The devices out now are plenty nice, but somehow the OS or UI doesn’t inspire anyone. Bad marketing? Dunno…

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 11:55 AM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions

PB&JP says:

I could have ignored every negative for that display because I always root and install custom roms but battery life is just something that can’t be ignored. You can’t last a day you worth shit.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 12:41 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

trongable says:

You said that this was the best LTE phone on AT&T. Is there a particular reason you would consider this over the Samsung SGSII Skyrocket?

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 12:43 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

David Pierce's reply:

The display. It’s so, so, so much better.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 1:37 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

ax13 says:

While I didn’t read the written review, by watching the video review I’d like to say that the points you make throughout the review do not lead to the final conclusion that you make.

In the sense that you end up comparing the Nitro to the S2 and the iPhone, former being a LTE phone and the latter two being HSPA+ . Also, you say “best phone that can connect to the LTE networks”, but don’t mean it’s just a phone that can connect to AT&T’s LTE network? Surely a good display can’t outweigh the cons of the software experience?

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 1:35 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Joe Dombrowski says:

If anyone is wondering: Yes, it has Carrier IQ

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 2:03 PM EST reply Recommend (3) Flag actions

miggzone says:

Damn, I really think these video reviews by the Verge are the most fun to watch! So much better than anything else out there, go Verge!

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 2:47 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Fernandez21 says:

60 mps down?!?!?! Holy crap, I thought my verizon fios was fast at 25 mps down. I’m going to have to get an LTE mifi when it comes out here.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 5:04 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Formul says:

Why would anyone buy a 2.x phone right now is beyond me, the OS looks like ass. Nice display though … which brings me to the next question – why the hell has the Nexus Prime that pentile piece of crap?! That 720p was a big deal for like a day now that almost every new phone has it and better.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 6:05 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions

coletrain says:

how can you see the pixels if it is over 300ppi? Isn’t the naked eye only able to see around 3oo and the most

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 6:54 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

sighclops's reply:

call me crazy, but i can most definitely see the pixels on my iphone 4 screen! :O

Posted on Dec 08, 2011 | 1:05 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

bootareen says:

Arrested Development. Very nice :) I still think LTE phones aren’t worth paying extra for since battery tech clearly hasn’t caught up yet. Also, LG phones aren’t known for their UI.

Posted on Dec 07, 2011 | 8:55 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

sighclops's reply:

… or build quality ;)

Posted on Dec 08, 2011 | 1:07 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

termiNader says:

The first photo has the phone sitting on what seems to be nasty, dirty, hard, concrete and leaning up against a wired fence…wtf.

Posted on Dec 08, 2011 | 12:19 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

sighclops says:

couldn’t be less interested. it’s like the cheap version of a galaxy nexus w/o ics

Posted on Dec 08, 2011 | 1:06 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Hirshologist says:

Did you guys do a review of the Skyrocket?

Posted on Dec 08, 2011 | 2:24 AM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

jeff.edsell says:

Apropos of nothing, I have the exact boxed set of the Narnia books that’s on your desk.

Posted on Dec 08, 2011 | 12:53 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions

Boghog says:

Most interesting thing about thsi device is the screen beacsue we will see a varinat of it on iPhone 4GS/% or whatever it’s called.
Looks nice.
Rest is meh.

Video Review

Hardware / design

Display

Cameras

Software

Ice Cream Sandwich

Performance, call quality, and battery life

Phone Quality

Wrap-up

Good Stuff

Bad Stuff

The Breakdown

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