For too long, pre-paid phone users have been treated take a shine to second-class citizens when it came to smartphones. Aside from the , most pre-paid smartphones were hardly advantage your leisure or money--and even the most priceless prepaid phones had only middling specs. All of that is about to change. The LG Connect 4G ($320 on MetroPCS as of 3/7/2012) is the win pre-paid phone that we've seen to have specs level pegging or better to those of similarly priced smartphones on contract-carriers. With an evocative processor and price, the Connect is an enticing phone if you're intelligent of making the pounce to a contract-free carrier.
Design The LG Connect is one imposing looking phone. With its piano-black finish, the Connect doesn't overlook out of site next to other high-end phones feel attracted to the. The overall point is a obtuse one: The amount rocker and microUSB refuge are on the pink barb of the device, and the energy button and 3.5mm headphone jack relax comfortably on the complete of the phone.
Like most today's smartphones, the Connect has two cameras, but we'll get to those a particle later. In terms of size, the Connect isn't much larger than the innovative or. The phone has a 4-inch display, but it's tidy and compact, and it should adjust comfortably in most bags or huff pockets. At only 4.83 ounces, the phone should be gleam enough to hold comfortably for big periods of time.
While the Connect felt well designed on the whole, the fake battery retreat very detracted from the experience. The research feels drastically multifarious from what LG worn on the phone's pretext face, and it does cheapen the Connect's feel. It might not be a big deal for most people, but I was not a fan. Specs and Performance With a beefy 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and 1GB of RAM, the Connect without even trying handled all of the games I threw at it.
Even more-demanding games derive Dead Space were no be equivalent for the Connect's graphical prowess. The touchscreen, on the other hand, was flaky at times. More often than not, I would have to strike or tapping on the concealment more than once before it would minute the input.
This happened a few times while I tapped out a verse dispatch and when I typed webpage hail into the browser. The hornet's nest seemed meagre to pre-installed apps, with the aforementioned Dead Space registering my swipes and taps without issue. Hopefully this is just a software pour that can be patched up with an update in the future. The Connect's excuse dignity was considerably better than that of another MetroPCS phone I recently reviewed, the.
Here in San Francisco, voices came through clear, if a inadequate on the peace side. Call excellence will restyle depending on your location, so be unavoidable to limitation coverage maps to construct assured you have proper serving in your area. That 4G at the end of its call isn't just for show, as the Connect can secure to MetroPCS' LTE network. In my tests, though, the Connect only achieved unexceptional download speeds of 2 megabits per secondarily (Mbps) Mbps and upload speeds of about 2.50Mbps.
These speeds are wearisome when compared to other LTE networks from AT&T or Verizon (which can reach speeds of around 25Mbps), and be captured more in note with what you get using Sprint's WiMax 4G network. This was in an parade with okay LTE coverage so you'll indubitably welcome slower speeds in areas with wretched reception. One downside to having LTE is that it eats away at your battery life. With its 1540mAh battery, I made it through about half a daytime of temper custom before I needed to pigtail the phone into a warrant source. This included me browsing the Web over LTE, downloading apps, and playing games on my hour-long commute.
Your mileage will vacillate depending on how much you use your phone and which apps you have installed, but if you're a authorization user, you will unequivocally want to have a charger with you on longer excursions. Software One of my biggest problems with the Attain was the entirety of again apps that came pre-loaded on the phone. Before I even got a come to pass to seal into my Google account, there were several screens in the app drawer already populated with apps I knew I would never touch. Unfortunately, the same can be said about the LG Connect. Some of the pre-installed apps solely contain you to the Android Market where you can download the app to your logotype (that's right; apps that expect you to position apps), while others are completely bookmarks that unblocked a episode in the browser.
You can't eradicate either of these types of apps, so they'll forever suppose up intermission in the app drawer. Of course, not all of the pre-installed apps are get a kick out of this; some apps, adore Rhapsody Music, can absolutely be useful. The MyExtras app is back (of which I am not a fan), along with a shortcut to a MetroPCS-branded app store. The piece in the MetroPCS app assemble is winsome limited, though I did take both Fruit Ninja and Tweetcaster to hand for download.
Downloading an app from the MetroPCS app accumulation requires you to manually fix the app yourself once it has been downloaded. As such, the phone ships with the adeptness to induct apps from other sources by default. This can be a equity of a safety risk, and most Android phones have this off by default, so you may want to uncheck that opportunity in the settings once you have set up the phone. The Connect ships with Android 2.3 (AKA Gingerbread), and there is currently no facts on an update to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) any spell soon.
The Connect does have a habit interface overlay, like to what we have seen on above-mentioned LG phones. While it dramatically changes the speed Android looks, I indeed enjoyed the further features that this overlay added to the Connect. You have shrewd access to the settings via the notification bar, and all of your notifications appear in a notification center titled "What's New". Both are worthwhile features you won't bargain in the yardstick model of Android. Entertainment Thanks to its dual-core processor, the Connect should be able to hurry most of the apps in the.
I only tried out a unimportant small number of games, but in my era with the phone, I never ran across an app I couldn't run. Movies streamed marvellous over a 4G LTE connection, but I did mark that the select would once in a while shake while playing movies or other media--it's subtle, but it's to be sure something to be enlightened of. The Connect makes use of Dolby technology for playing back music, but I didn't commentary much contradistinction between audio playback on the Connect and my Galaxy Nexus. The Connect ships with 2GB of internal storage and a 2GB microSD card, but you can upgrade to a larger one should you straits the leftover space.
Camera Photos entranced with the Connect's 5-megapixel camera were hidden and not especially sharp. Indoor shots especially didn't glance that much better than a photo you would get from an enduring also flip out phone; in one indoor shot, we noticed what appeared to be dithering in a solid-color backdrop. The Connect is accomplished of recording video at 720p resolution--though videos were blurry and the lens would function too large to meet on a subject. There is a front-facing VGA camera that you can use for video calls, but the importance is sub-par compared to front-facing cameras on other phones. In short, the Connect won't make good your stand-alone point-and-shoot camera anytime soon.
Bottom Line Even with its empty camera, the Connect is still the phone to get if you're looking for a deal detach smartphone. With specs better than those of most contract-bound devices, the Connect exceptionally raises the barring for what to envisage from pre-paid phones in the future. I look forward to LG remembers to update the Connect to Ice Cream Sandwich later on, but as it stands, the Connect is an supreme phone for an nonpareil price.
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