Hasta La Gadget!

HTC has gone all out with the DROID DNA, and it pays dividends: the new Verizon exclusive breaks records with its 1080p display, putting HTC back into the limelight with a legitimate flagship. A Full HD screen, 4G LTE, and a quadcore S4 Pro chipset tick the spec boxes more comprehensively than we’ve ever seen before, though big displays and fast processors do make us worry when the battery is non-removable. Has HTC redeemed itself with the best Android phone on the market, or are the DROID DNA’s ambitions simply ahead of their time? Read on for the full SlashGear review.

Hardware

HTC hasn’t strayed too far from its recent design language with the DROID DNA, and unlike its brightly-colored Windows Phones, the new Android flagship sticks with sober black for its chassis, lightened only with some splashes of red and fine detailing. That’s not to say it’s an ugly phone, nor a badly constructed one. It’s plastic, but HTC’s polycarbonate feels far more impressive than Samsung’s comparatively flimsy materials.

The 141 x 70.5 x 9.73 mm casing is surprisingly compact, given the size of the screen, a perception helped by the taper to the rubberized-finish rear panel and the bevel of the edges. The micro-perforated red grilles running down those edges are, HTC tells us, meant to be reminiscent of a Lamborghini, though they work more as a simple visual cue pulling together the slice of red at the earpiece and the matching camera lens trim on the back.

Less successful are the physical buttons, the centered, recessed power key being tricky to find with your finger on the top edge, and the volume rocker being on the right side rather than the left, as is more usual. We’re close to forgiving HTC for that, though, since it included not one but two notification LEDs, the first hidden behind the earpiece grille on the front, and then a second on the back of the phone, so that there’s more chance of you spotting when an alert comes in.

Obviously the DROID DNA’s pride and joy is its display, which we’ll cover specifically in the next section. The rest of the phone is no slouch, however. At its heart is Qualcomm’s quadcore 1.5GHz APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, paired with 2GB of RAM; it’s the same chip as in the LG Nexus 4, but we’re told that HTC and Qualcomm worked together on refining the firmware so as to eke out even greater performance.

Elsewhere, just about every shiny and appealing part from the other devices in HTC’s line-up has been squeezed into the DROID DNA. The 8-megapixel main camera has the f/2.0 aperture, 28mm lens and 1080p Full HD video recording we’ve seen on the HTC One X+, along with HTC’s dedicated ImageChip processing that optimizes photos in their RAW state rather than after they’ve been converted to JPEGs. HTC says that’s better for final quality, and the front-facing 2.1-megapixel camera – which gets the 88-degree wide angle lens, for fitting more people into group shots even when the DNA is held at arm’s length, as on the Windows Phone 8X by HTC – also routes its shots through the standalone processing.

Beats Audio makes an appearance, as per most mid- to high-end HTC phones of late, but the DROID DNA also gets the twin amplifiers of the One X+, one each dedicated to the headphone socket and the internal speaker. According to HTC, it makes for a device that can comfortably drive more powerful headphones, and without distortion. We had no problems turning the volume up to painful levels when listening to music via headphones, and the DROID DNA’s speaker is similarly capable of loud playback, with admirably little hiss or grumble until you reach the very top end of the scale.

Wireless connectivity ticks all of the expected boxes. You get LTE for Verizon’s 4G network, as well as CDMA EVDO Rev.A for when you’re outside of 4G range; the DROID DNA is also a global phone, with quadband (850/900/1900/2100) UMTS/HSPA and quadband GSM/EDGE for use when you’re outside of the US. Verizon preloads a microSIM for when you’re roaming.

You also get WiFi a/b/g/n (2.4/5GHz) and Bluetooth 4.0, along with NFC and wireless charging. All of the standard sensors are including, such as GPS, a digital compass, accelerometer, and an ambient light sensor, and you can turn the DROID DNA into a mobile hotspot, sharing its 4G/3G connection with up to ten WiFi-tethered devices (though Verizon may charge you for the privilege, depending on which plan you’re on). A microUSB port – hidden under an unnecessary flap – does duty for traditional charging, swapping data with your computer, and as an MHL HDMI output with the appropriate adapter, though there’s also DLNA streaming support.

In fact, the only real blip on the spec sheet is storage. HTC has outfitted the DROID DNA with 16GB of internal storage, roughly 11GB of which is available to the user; beyond that, there’s no way to augment the memory since the phone has no microSD slot. There’s also no sign of a 32GB or 64GB version.

Unsurprisingly, that fact hasn’t gone down well with potential users. Neither HTC nor Verizon will say on the record why the decision around a 16GB maximum was made, though since the HTC J Butterfly – Japan’s DROID DNA counterpart – makes room for a microSD slot, it seems obvious that it’s something other than physical constraints forcing HTC’s hand. Were we conspiracists, we might wonder whether it was carrier-led, so as to maximize LTE traffic by users regularly accessing data stored in the cloud.

Display

HTC breaks new ground in the US market with the DROID DNA’s display, a 5-inch 1080p Super LCD 3 panel delivering twice the resolution of big-screen rivals such as Samsung’s Galaxy S III or LG’s Nexus 4. It’s not physically the biggest smartphone screen on the market – the Galaxy Note II, for instance, measures in at 5.5-inches – but by delivering 1920 x 1080 it simply blows rivals away.

Pixel density has become the obsession of smartphone and tablet manufacturers in recent years, after Apple made pixels per inch (ppi) a selling point of the iPhone 4. Today, the iPhone 5 has a pixel density of 326ppi, still competitive despite larger Android handsets with greater screen sizes, but the DROID DNA’s 440ppi count puts it in another league entirely. Even when you get up close – far closer than the distance from which you’d normally view a smartphone display – text and graphics are silky smooth, and it’s enough to make 720p panels look crunchy and unrefined in comparison.

It’s not only how many pixels the HTC is packing, though, it’s their quality. LCD displays tend to avoid the over-saturation of colors that AMOLED can sometimes deliver, and indeed the DROID DNA has a cooler image than, say, the Galaxy Note II. Not lacking in brightness, though, and highly accurate, while viewing angles are sufficiently broad so as to look at the phone entirely askew and still not suffer any distortion.

HTC has sensibly protected its flagship feature with a slice of toughened Gorilla Glass 2, but has also made sure the bezels around the display are as narrow as possible. That pays dividends in the hand and in the pocket, with the DROID DNA feeling less comically oversized than the Note II. In fact, despite offering a larger screen, the HTC is less than 5mm longer than the Galaxy S III and even a fraction narrower, though Samsung’s phone is still thinner.

Of course, just as a bigger display demands more power, so does driving a higher resolution panel, and the Full HD of the DROID DNA will inevitably make demands on the smartphone’s battery and GPU. Still, 1080p videos look incredible, with accurate colors and good brightness, while ebook text was particularly easy to read thanks to the smoothness of the fonts and the excellent contrast.

Software

HTC missed getting the DROID DNA out of the door with the latest version of Android, Google’s relentless release schedule meaning the new Verizon flagship ships with 4.1 Jelly Bean rather than the very newest 4.2. That means you miss out on the lockscreen widgets and Photo Sphere camera functionality, though updating to the latest version of Google Search on the DROID DNA brings the more advanced Google Now functionality as well as offline voice typing.

Of course, HTC hides the regular Android interface under its own, with the DROID DNA packing HTC Sense 4+ as is the “house style.” Custom reskins generally meet with mixed reactions, some users appreciating manufacturer efforts to simplify or refine the core UI, while others would far prefer the raw Android dialogs, not least on the assumption that subsequent OS updates will come through in a more timely fashion.

DROID DNA vs Others

For manufacturers like HTC, though, skins such as Sense are an opportunity to further brand the user-experience, and they don’t look to be going anywhere soon. In its latest iteration, Sense 4+ supports Evernote synchronization with the onboard Notes app (for text, photos, and audio) and Audible for ebooks, while the new Gallery pulls in content from the DROID DNA’s own storage, as well as your Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, and Dropbox accounts.

HTC also persists with dedicated touch-sensitive buttons on its phones, despite Google’s attempts to lead by example on the Nexus range and switch to on-screen keys. The back, home, and app-switcher buttons are, by virtue of the pared-down bezel, quite close to the bottom of the handset, which can make one-handed use tricky at times. Long-pressing the home button triggers Google Now, while HTC has reskinned the app-switcher, showing larger thumbnails than Google’s default, in an animated carousel.

Unfortunately, Verizon has its way with the DROID DNA, and the phone comes preloaded with numerous apps from the carrier. There’s My Verizon Mobile for checking your account, along with VZ Navigator if for some reason Google’s excellent Maps app isn’t satisfying your navigation needs. NFL Mobile, Viewdini, American Express Serve, and Verizon Tunes all seem of comparatively little use, and while the IMDb, Slacker Radio, Kindle, and Facebook apps are probably more to the tastes of everyday owners, we’d still prefer to have their presence optional rather than see them forced on us by default. Given the limited onboard storage, not being able to uninstall the preloaded apps makes their presence even more infuriating.

Overall, Sense 4+ does the job, but we can’t escape the feeling that, in its more recent versions, Android is already sufficiently approachable to make skinning it less valuable to the end-user. We’re a long way from the rough and ready early days of Android, and the compromises in update timeliness are simply less acceptable than they perhaps once were. The third-party modding community will undoubtedly flock to the DROID DNA, but regular users may find themselves forced to wait longer for newer versions of the core OS, with not a huge amount to show for it in return.

Performance

With Qualcomm’s current flagship processor inside, we had high expectations from the DROID DNA, and the reality didn’t disappoint. In day to day use there was little we could throw at the phone to slow it down: apps load instantly, and Full HD video plays back jerk, judder, and lag free, whether you’re watching it on the HTC’s own display or pushing it out to your big-screen TV.

That experience is weighed out by some of the most impressive benchmarking scores we’ve seen. In Quadrant, the DROID DNA scored a whopping 7,879 – comfortably besting the LG Optimus G (7,306) and Nexus 4 (4,961) which each use the same CPU – while its 14,486 score in AnTuTu was more than 3,000 points higher than the Optimus G.

Qualcomm’s own Vellamo test perhaps unsurprisingly saw the DROID DNA at the top of the chart, scoring 1,778 in HTML5 tests and 616 in Metal tests. Smartbench 2012 saw a particularly strong showing in the Productivity category, at 4,764, though slightly less impressive in Gaming, at 2,478. Finally, the SunSpider 0.9.1 test of browser JavaScript performance came in at 1,210.7 ms (lower is better), nearly half the time it took the Nexus 4 to complete the same test.

As for LTE performance, we saw stronger download performance than upload, on average. Side by side with an iPhone 5, the DROID DNA pulled in on average 7.97 Mbps, versus 6.84 Mbps on Apple handset for downloads, and 2.05 Mbps versus 1.51 Mbps for uploads. That pays dividends when you’re using the DROID DNA as a mobile hotspot, though we did encounter a frustrating intermittent issue whereby our connection to the hotspot would periodically drop. Obviously, LTE performance is very much network and location dependent, and your experience of speeds will vary.

Camera

The DROID DNA’s cameras aren’t unfamiliar to us: HTC used the same 8-megapixel/2.1-megapixel combination on the One X+. The phone is capable of Full HD video recording front and back, and Sense 4+ has various tweaks to improve usability. Self-portrait shots using the front-facing camera now support an optional timer countdown, helping reduce phone-shake when you tap the button, while if you leave the camera app active when you lock the phone, it bypasses the lock screen when you next hit the power button so that you don’t miss your shot.

Those shots turn out to be very good, with plenty of detail albeit with colors slightly more subdued than on other phones we’ve tested of late. Low light performance can’t hold up to the PureView technology on Nokia’s Lumia 920 – you do get an LED flash, though it’s as mediocre as all of its ilk – but daylight shots are solid, and the extra detail we spotted in frames in comparison to what Samsung’s Galaxy S III produced is welcome, especially if you’re subsequently cropping.

The front-facing camera, meanwhile, suffers some from its lower resolution, and pictures can tend toward the grainy. HTC’s vaunted wide-angle lens does what it promises, however, and there’s comfortably room for three people to fit in-frame with the DROID DNA at arm’s length; four people if you’re closely packed in.

As for video, it has the same balance of extra detail though slightly less saturated colors as we’ve seen in the HTC’s stills, but is watchably smooth and the twin microphones are sensitive. Both video and still capture buttons are on-screen throughout, meaning you can grab a still shot without interrupting video recording.

Phone

Tenacious with a signal, the DROID DNA gave us no problems with making and receiving voice calls, though the earpiece has a hollowness to it – particularly at high volumes – that means it’s not the very best for phone duties. Still, the twin microphones do well at noise cancellation, and callers found it easy to hear and understand us, even when background noise levels were higher.

Battery

With a 2,020 mAh battery and no option to swap it out for a second pack, we were concerned that the DROID DNA wouldn’t hold up to daily use. In practice, the huge screen resolution and the LTE connectivity do mean there are decisions – and compromises – to be made that significantly impact how long you can be away from the charger, and they have a lot to do with how HTC and Verizon expect you to use the phone.

The cloud plays a huge role in the ownership experience of modern smartphones, and for the DROID DNA it’s even more central. Photos and video that are automatically uploaded to Google+, or Facebook, or Dropbox, or other gallery services; streamed music and video from online stores; the usual gamut of push services like email, messaging, Twitter, Facebook chat, and the rest. Use the DROID DNA as it’s arguably “meant” to be used, and we saw it go from charged to flat in under seven hours.

That’s not to say it’s impossible to stretch the runtime out. Be more sensible with auto-uploads, temper the brightness of the display, and resist the urge to spend all day watching 1080p video, and you can get a day’s use from it. Power management tweaking is basically a default chore for Android devices, at least those which push the envelope on the spec sheet, and there are plenty of people willing to go the extra mile in setting up their phone to achieve the best balance for them.

Wireless charging does help that – as we’ve found with other devices that support it, you generally drop your phone on the charging mat when it’s idle, thus giving it a minor top-up that helps extend its runtime – but HTC and Verizon opt not to include the mat in the box. Though you could argue that, since the DROID DNA is compatible with any Qi-standard charging mats, that doesn’t penalize those existing owners, wireless charging is in itself such a fledgling market that it’s far more likely to just frustrate new owners who have to stump up $59.99 extra for the accessory.

Price and Value

At $199.99 with a new, two year agreement, you’re getting a lot of specifications for your money. The DROID DNA is priced on a par with the Galaxy S III and iPhone 5 (all in 16GB form, though only the Samsung allows you to expand on that), a minor surprise given we would not have been too shocked to see Verizon opt for $249.99 or even $299.99 for the new handset.

Verizon requires a Share Everything plan, priced from $40 per month for unlimited calls and messaging, with the DROID DNA, though that only gets you 300MB of data. Stepping up to 1GB is $50 per month, doubling that allowance costs ten bucks more. If you’d prefer to go month-to-month, Verizon will charge you a not-inconsiderable $599.99 (and offer you the same monthly plan pricing).

The big comparison at this level is LG’s Nexus 4. Although T-Mobile USA is offering it subsidized, Google is plainly expecting most people to buy it unlocked, starting from an impressive $299. You need to step up to the 16GB version to more closely match the DROID DNA’s specifications, and you don’t get LTE, but even then the $349 off-contract price is very impressive.

Both phones have the same processor, but the HTC offers the better display while the LG promises more timely Android updates. In short, if budget is the primary concern, then there are better deals to be had with the Nexus 4, but power users or multimedia addicts will miss the Full HD of the DROID DNA.

Wrap-Up

We’ve criticized HTC in the past for taking what has felt like the safer route through the mobile landscape, and its decisions have seen it struggle to stand out while rivals like Samsung dominate Android device sales. The DROID DNA, though, is a return to the trail-blazing form of HTC’s earlier days in Android: those times when the company had the best screens, and the fastest processors, and were legitimately “the phone to have” if you were a power user.

Chasing the cutting edge demands some compromises, however, and the DROID DNA has two significant ones. The first is storage, with the 11GB of usable capacity being simply too little for a modern flagship when there’s no microSD support; we’re tempted to blame Verizon rather than HTC for that decision, but whoever is at fault, it’s the user that loses out in the end. Expect to go through your monthly data allowance more quickly if you rely on the cloud to make up the difference.

More worrying, though, is battery life. Superlative display and processor performance needs a power source to match, and the DROID DNA’s 2,020 mAh, non-removable battery is a compromise that’s likely to cause owners headaches. Yes, you can tweak better runtime out of it, but it’s frustrating to have a powerhouse of a phone that can’t be run at its best all the time unless you’re willing to charge it up twice a day.

And yet, it’s hard not to fall for the DROID DNA’s charms. It’s better put together than Samsung’s high-end devices, and the screen is the best around; we can’t wait to see what mobile game developers do to take advantage of the S4 Pro’s potency. It’s a win for Verizon, then, but a crying shame that it’s not available on other carriers in the US: HTC needs to follow Samsung’s lead in that respect, and make sure everyone who finds the DNA appealing has the chance to pick one up, no matter their carrier of preference.

Big, bold, and beautiful. The DROID DNA is a return to what we’ve loved about HTC before, and while it’s not perfect, it’s a significant improvement in the manufacturer’s range and a compelling option in Verizon’s line-up. The Galaxy S III and iPhone 5 just got some real competition.

DROID DNA Review is written by Vincent Nguyen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The artist responsible for some of the most iconic album covers in rock and roll history, the man known as Roger Dean, has taken part in the creation of a game by the name of Dragon’s Dream. This game takes some fabulous ethereal environmental elements from Dean’s artworks and creates a multi-level set of worlds for you, a tiny dragon, to fly around in. The game exists as a sort of classic-feeling side-scrolling flying adventure and has you seeking full-sized versions of the artworks at hand by beating each level with just a set of taps and holds.

This game works perfectly well on each of the different iDevice screen sizes – iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch alike. It takes a simple game mechanic – holding your finger down on your display to make the sprite flap his wings – and makes an above-and-beyond beautiful bit of brilliance to make it a must-own app for your high-definition devices. Everything from the game environments to the loading screen back out to the title logo has been designed by Dean.

For those of you unaware, Roger Dean is the man behind your favorite progressive rock album covers – Yes and Asia being some of the more famous. Having also created one of the most well-known logos for a video game in the history of the universe – Tetris – allows Dean the clout to create the game we’re seeing here, top to bottom.

“We have taken many elements from the Dragons Dream paintings; landscapes from Arches Morning, 1st April, Birdsong, Morning Dragon, Elbow Rock and Sea of Light all come together to create two new worlds, making this application an essential element of my artwork portfolio.” – Roger Dean

You’ll be able to pick this game up from the iTunes App Store starting on the 18th of November starting at £2.99. The release may be international by that time – for now we’re sure it’ll be out in the UK at least. Here’s crossing your fingers and toes!

Roger Dean’s Dragons Dream for iOS Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s time for a camera that will blow you kawaii Japanese culture-loving brain apart, ready for iOS on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch right this minute: Otaku Camera! This app uses your device’s camera to create fabulously wild photographs that look like their right out of a manga, complete with paperization filters that make sure your subjects look more like they were drawn than they were swiped from real life. This app is able to not just take photos from your gallery and edit them, but take photos with your main camera, showing you a preview of what you’re capturing in real time!

We had a brief chat with the folks that developed this app, Tokyo Otaku Mode Inc., and have been given a full list of the sayings that appear on the photo covers as well. Just so you’re not worried that they’re blowing up your best friends with swear words, we’ve made sure you’re safe. Of course if you understand Japanese, you already know what’s going on – but just in case you don’t, know this: they’re all essentially representations of sounds, rather than words. No worries!

This app works perfectly well on the legacy generations as well as the current generation of Apple mobile devices. It works particularly well with the iPhone 5, that being where the sample images you see above and below are coming from. Also note – and fun fact – the Kanye West image you see rocking out with a power wave comes from the Kanye West concert that Samsung put on near the end of this October – fun stuff!

You can download the official Otaku Camera app from the iTunes App Store right this minute for your Apple iDevice for free! The way these developers make their cash is with a few advertisements – and they don’t get in the way of the action, so no worries there either! Let us know how you like the app and be sure to send in your examples!

Also be sure to check out our ever-expanding archive of iOS App Reviews to see what’s awesome for your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch – all night long.

Otaku Camera for iOS Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Most of us know that when it comes to smartphones, it’s a constant struggle to find the right balance between power, looks, and affordability, with affordability normally losing out in the end. The problem most of the time is that the affordable phones don’t always look the best and typically don’t have the best hardware under the hood. If you want a phone that looks sleek and performs great, you’re going to have to shell out the big bucks, right? LG is attempting to challenge that idea with the Optimus L9, a new handset at T-Mobile that comes with the very manageable price tag of $79.99. The question is: can this phone deliver the goods at a budget price, or do the savings mean that the phone ultimately disappoints in other areas?

Hardware

It’s strange, the mentality one quickly falls into when it comes to budget handsets. The expectation with inexpensive phones is that they aren’t going to be anything to write home about from both a cosmetic and a hardware perspective. It would be shady of me not to mention that I wasn’t expecting much when I learned I was getting the Optimus L9 in to review – I expected another cheap handset that didn’t perform very well and left me wanting when it came to looks.

Image my surprise, then, when I opened up the box and was greeted by a phone that’s actually pretty sexy. The Optimus L9 certainly has a lot going for it in the looks department – not only is it a sleek device with its black chassis and silver trim, but it’s thin and lightweight to boot. At just 0.36-inches thick, it definitely isn’t the slimmest smartphone we’ve seen, but it’s thin enough. The phone also weighs in a just a hair over 4.4 ounces, and it feels very light in the hand. I was surprised when I was picked it up for the first time, and immediately grabbed my girlfriend’s iPhone 4S and my Atrix HD to compare. The Atrix HD and the iPhone 4S both come in right around 4.8 ounces, and though that isn’t much more than the Optimus L9, the difference in weight in certainly noticeable.

Typically a lightweight and thin design would lend to a fragile feeling, but not with the Optimus L9. It feels like a well-constructed device, and though I’m not willing to begin hurling it across the room, it does feel like it can take a bump or two. There’s also Gorilla Glass 2 covering the display, so it should stand up pretty well against scratches.

Speaking of the display, you’ll be working with a 4.5-inch IPS LCD display that’s running at qHD resolution. That means 960×540, so no, you don’t have an HD display to boast about. That’s okay though, because the display on the Optimus L9 is still colorful, sharp, and surprisingly bright. Before I began my battery test (more on that later), I went to turn the display down to 50% brightness, only to discover it was already there. Cranking it up to 100% results in a display that’s very bright, so 50% should be sufficient for most and serves to conserve battery life at the same time.

Underneath the screen are a set of soft buttons – a back button and a menu button – with a physical home button placed in between them. I’m a sucker for physical buttons, and I think that the home button helps make the Optimus L9 look even better. On the top of the device, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, with the power button on the right side and the volume button on the left. On the bottom is where you’ll find the micro USB port. On the back is where the speaker and camera have taken up residence, while the microSD slot has been tucked away behind the removable backing. It isn’t the most convenient place for it, but hey, at least LG included one.

On the inside, we’ve got a dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor clocked a 1GHz. That’s working alongside 1GB of RAM, and while that may not sound like much power, it’s actually enough to keep the Optimus L9 running smooth. Swiping through home screens and the apps menu is fluid and lag-free, so you probably won’t notice the fact that your Optimus L9 is using aging hardware all that often. Sadly, there’s only a rather pitiful 4GB of storage, which in reality is about 1.6GB after the pre-installed apps and operating system are accounted for. In other words, you might want to buy a microSD card alongside your Optimus L9, as it won’t be long before you run out storage.

Software

Starting right off with the operating system, the Optimus L9 is running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, so I suppose it was a bit too much to hope for an Android 4.1 install. In any case, Ice Cream Sandwich functions well enough, though it’s covered up by LG’s own interface. Thankfully, that custom interface doesn’t seem to slow anything down, and I actually like the look of it, so I see no need to complain.

T-Mobile, naturally, has included plenty of pre-installed software, and you’re probably not going to use most of what comes pre-installed. You’ve got things like WildTangent Games, Lookout Security, More for Me, Slacker Radio, and T-Mobile TV alongside Google’s typical suite of apps, and T-Mobile has packed the home screens full of widgets and shortcuts, so you’ll definitely want to do some rearranging once you get your Optimus L9 out of the box. Sadly, you can’t delete most of the apps that come pre-installed, so allow me to take this moment to stress once again that you’ll want a microSD card.

Keyboards on mobile phones are typically a crapshoot, but I’m pleased to say that the one on the Optimus L9 works pretty well when you’re using it in landscape mode. Portrait mode will likely be another issue, and the smaller amount of space will probably lead to more typos. T-Mobile and LG have also included their own version of gesture typing, and while it works, I think I’d rather stick with just punching in each letter individually. That’s because the word that was selected for me usually wasn’t the word I had just attempted to type, but it’s worth pointing out that the word I was shooting for was in the list of words that the system suggested for me most of the time.

The Optimus L9 also features gesture zooming, which is pulled off by sliding the browser menu up while you’re looking at a webpage, holding down to the zoom button, and then tilting the phone to zoom in and zoom out. Like gesture typing, it works, but I feel like you’ll have more accuracy if you’re just doing pinch-to-zoom instead. They’re neat little features, don’t get me wrong, but I think regular typing and pinch-to-zoom will suffice for most folks.

Battery

The Optimus L9 comes packing a relatively beefy 2,150mAh battery, and the phone seems to do a good job rationing out its power. It took quite a bit of game playing and video watching to get the battery to dip down below 50%, and even with the screen brightness at 50% (remember, I said earlier that 50% brightness is still quite bright) and Wi-Fi connected all the time, the battery still didn’t drain as quickly as I was expecting it to.

Leaving it connected to the Internet – be it T-Mobile’s mobile data network or my own Wi-Fi connection – while the phone was asleep didn’t do much to drain the battery either. You won’t have a problem getting a full day of use out of a full charge, and if you’re not the type who’s on their phone constantly, you might even have enough juice left over to make it through a second day.

It’s also worth pointing out that the battery is indeed removable, which should be a big win for some folks. As far as I’m concerned, the battery that comes packed in the Optimus L9 is good enough, but if, like all batteries, it begins to have issues holding a charge as time goes on, you’ll be able to swap it out for a new one.

Camera

The Optimus L9 features a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel shooter. The 1.3-megapixel camera will obviously only do for video chatting, but the 5MP rear camera is decent for taking pictures. As with most 5-megapixel cameras, the images aren’t the best, and I’d suggest using an actual camera for taking photos as opposed to the camera on the L9.

The L9’s camera also features a panoramic mode, and while that’s pretty cool, again the quality of the images isn’t any to write home about. Have a look at the sample shots I took to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

Benchmarks

In our benchmark tests, the Optimus L9 performed okay, but as you can imagine, there are plenty of other devices that rank higher. In Quadrant, it was given a score of 3035, which is enough to put it ahead of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the Galaxy Nexus, and the Nexus S. In AnTuTu it’s more of the same, coming in just below the Samsung Galaxy S II but above the LG Optimus 2X and the original Kindle Fire with a score of 5648.

As far as speed tests are concerned, T-Mobile’s network did decent. It obviously isn’t the fastest around, and your results will vary, but for where I’m at in the world (mid-Michigan), T-Mobile’s network posted some good speeds.

Of course, we knew from the start that the Optimus L9 wasn’t going to be the best handset on the block and that T-Mobile’s network wasn’t going to be fastest around. The Optimus L9 performed within expectations though, so don’t let these seemingly low benchmark scores dissuade you if you’re in the market for a budget handset – the Optimus L9 runs smooth enough, and that’s all that should really matter.

Wrap-Up

What can I say? For a budget handset, the LG Optimus L9 impresses. In no way is the phone the best, but its sleek design, nice screen, and the fact that it runs so smooth with have you thinking otherwise. Be sure that you consider the options before you pick one up, however, because while the Optimus L9 is good enough to be worthy of a recommendation here in 2012, its aging hardware means that probably won’t be the case when you enter the final part of your two-year contract in 2014.

Still, for $80 on contract, the Optimus L9 certainly isn’t a bad phone. It’s perfect for budget-minded consumers who don’t need the very best, but instead just want a phone that runs well and looks good. It’s not likely to win awards in either category, but it gets the job done, and that’s all you can really want in a phone that only costs $80.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that the Optimus L9 is one of the best budget handsets on the market at this moment. If you’ve been thinking of picking up a new phone but don’t have hundreds to drop on the latest and greatest, be sure you take a look at the Optimus L9, as you really are getting a lot of bang for your buck.

LG Optimus L9 Review (T-Mobile) is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s time again for the hardcore excellence of Spigen SGP with their newest in all-glass screen protectors for mobile devices – here with the GLAS.tR for the iPhone 5. This screen protector takes the protection of your iPhone 5′s front-facing display more than just a little seriously – making sure that not only to do you get the most hardcore glass protection with a super 8H hardness rating, but round edges as well. The R in the title of this product stands for “rounded”, a noted improvement on the edges of this protector compared to previous releases from Spigen.

Here you’ve got a protector that works with cases on the back if you want, but is now completely ready to be a fabulous addition to your iPhone 5 on its own as well – if that’s what you want, of course. When we used the previous version for the iPhone 4S, things got a little bit sharp – not dangerous, but ever so slightly odd feeling. Here with rounded edges the whole protector through, we’ve got a solid-feeling experience, and ever so smooth.

This unit is 0.4mm thick and made with chemically treated glass that makes is oleophobic – this is supposed to prevent fingerprints, but mostly makes for a slight less fingerprint-y experience on the whole. Application was absolutely easy and the package brings cleaning wipes if you need them as well as a sqee-gee – though you CAN apply it all without them, no worries. This unit also comes already adhesive coated, so no need for odd sprays of any kind.

Without GLAS.tR

With GLAS.tR

You have a hole in the glass for your speaker up top and a hole at the bottom for your home button. The home button will be a bit lower in your iPhone experience, which actually makes for a unique and oddly enticing situation, but you also get some home button pillow stickers you can use to raise it back up if you like. Two blacks, two whites, a terrifying lime/yellow and a cute pink, too. Match with your case!

If you do come in contact with a force that’s strong enough to break the glass, you’ll find that the unit’s Anti-Shatter Film has your back. The Glas.tR will turn into a bit of a folded-up monster of death, but you wont be hurt, and your iPhone 5 will still be fresh and undamaged as ever. This unit will cost you a cool $34.99 in the Spigen SGP store and is available right this minute.

Spigen SGP GLAS.tR for iPhone 5 Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.