considering LG Revolution for first smartphone

[rawr33]

Hi all,

It's time for me to retire my dinosaur of a phone and upgrade to an Android device. Now that I'm ready to make the jump, I can't wait to get my hands on the right device. I'm with Verizon, and trying to make sense of the current phones and upcoming options.

The LG Revolution seems like it could be a great choice. I'm also considering the Droid X2 (though it seems a limited improvement on the X), Droid Incredible II (the one I tested had speakerphone problems, but maybe it was a fluke?), and find the pics of the Droid supposedly coming out later this summer as the 3, Bionic, or Targa. (so pretty... Motorola Droid 3 Screen Assembly Arrives at Reseller, Reps Front Facing Camera)

So, thoughts on the LG Revolution? Why do you think it would rock? ...or not?

Thanks!

dancedroid

 

[Raptor007]

Based on what I have read LG seems to be more dev friendly, bootloader wise. Bing is a drawback but you can build custom ROM's perhaps CM7 (potentially) and of course just load Google search and tell the search button to use it instead of Bing. I am not anti-Bing I just prefer to have a full Google experience on my Android phone.

That said I am also weighing the Droid3, however a locked bootloader is VERY likely, but a nice slider keyboard and 2.3.x could be on board out of the box (but again????)

Droid 2 seems to have issues with its speakerphone, 1GB of free internal memory is a joke but the bump in size and processor is nice. I know you can put apps on the SD card, but, 1GB is hardly an improvement over the original Droid Incredible that shipped with 768MB of internal memory.

The DX2 was also a contender for me, but if I am seriously looking at Moto I would rather get the D3 with a slightly smaller screen, real kb, possible 2.3.x and possibly more memory (but it could be hampered by webtop).

I had the TB but the screen was impossible to read outdoors, the battery life was terrible and BT would not pair with my 2010 Subaru which is a joke.

I will see what LG has to offer and go from there, it can't hurt to look it over.

 

[elucid]

Hi all,

The LG Revolution seems like it could be a great choice. I'm also considering the Droid X2 (though it seems a limited improvement on the X), Droid Incredible II (the one I tested had speakerphone problems, but maybe it was a fluke?), and find the pics of the Droid supposedly coming out later this summer as the 3, Bionic, or Targa. (so pretty... Motorola Droid 3 Screen Assembly Arrives at Reseller, Reps Front Facing Camera)

So, thoughts on the LG Revolution? Why do you think it would rock? ...or not?

Thanks!

dancedroid

If you have 4G in your area, I would highly recommend a 4G phone (Thunderbold, Droid Charge or LG Revolution).

All three phones are pretty similar, no one phone wins in every catagory. I would wait for a week or so on the LG to see what the reviews look like (battery life, real world issues, etc).

 

[Networkgamer]

I just got my revolution today, thought Id jump back into forums about now haha.

Personally, after being in the store, take that for what you want, but there was hardly a difference in the screens between the 3 4g phones, even with the charge, although that is pretty subjective, but the charge stuttered a lot all around.

Each one did the same between speed tests, I mention that because some places Ive seen it vary. I havnt heard good about the battery life on the thunderbolt, but Im weighing personal stories/what Ive seen more than sites or comments by a tad. The performance of the revolution I really cant complain about, its been utterly stutter free, which is big from me coming from an OG droid with gingerbread, and tuned as much as I could as far as low memory settings + heap size.

I took the revolution both because its somewhat a mix of the charge and thunderbolt to a degree. Lower price than charge, and although the charge has hummingbird with sgx540, I cant say much from how it stuttered when I tried it. It has hdmi over the thunderbolt, and although Im not (yet?) swearing by LG's android ui overlay, Im not leaning towards sense either, it just never did much for me.

Also of note, the charge keyboard was questionable, although that may have just been the stuttering, and the revolution keyboard is remarkable, although I miss the number row at the top like in the gingerbread keyboard. Kind of a nuisance to switch to the symbols/numbers panel for a single digit lol. Anything else, go ahead and ask.

 

[Raptor007]

I had the TB, sold mine off due to a dull screen that is impossible to read outdoors, BT wouldn't pair with my car (NY is a handsfree state) and battery life was terrible. That said the Revo and TB are equal processor, speed and overall performance, TB has a bit more RAM, Revo has A LOT more Internal Memory, say Revo 14GB vs TB 2.3GB.

 

[pedromartinez]

LG revolution i think is better than the TB and Charge. I just tried it out today. The fASTEST in CPU speed. Looks better than both in terms of physical design. Nice camera. I think its the best of both worlds. If it can beat the TB in battery life its a no brainer.

 

[rawr33]

Cool! I'm eager to try one out. I'm not sure; I may be able to make it to the store to try them on Saturday. (If I'd had time tonight, I would have gone! But, alas, I just got home and the stores are closed for the night.)

 

[AstroBoy]

I had a chance to stop by and look at the Revolution on my way home from work tonight.

A few quick off the cuff thoughts and comments.

It is a very nice looking phone. A bit longer than the TB and a hair narrower. It seemed to be about the same thickness. It felt pretty good in my hand and I preferred it over the Charge.

The screen looked better than the TB, but not as nice as the Charge's super AMOLED Plus.

The screen seemed a bit laggy in some cases, and there were a couple of times where I had to press an icon a couple of times to get it recognized. The TB and Charge did not seem to have the same issue.

I liked the interface, but would have to get used to it. It has categories that pull down and contract light window blinds. I'm not sure how customizable these are.

The camera is is a bit of disappointment to me. I can agree that more mega pixels are not necessarily better images, but I was not happy with the color renditions when comparing it to the TB or the Charge. To me the Charge has the best camera and the TB next. Of course it is possible I did not have the settings optimized.

When I checked the memory it had a whopping 14gb internal memory. The TB has 2. Granted it comes with a 16gb SD card rather than the 32 of the TB and Charge, but that can be replaced easily enough.

Overall, I'd have say the Revolution is a solid contender and has a better screen than the TB. It definitely seems a better deal than the Charge, but it depends on the how important image quality is to you.

 

[dfuser312553]

If I had to pick a new phone on Verizon today I'd probably get the LG.

 

[rawr33]

Overall, I'd have say the Revolution is a solid contender and has a better screen than the TB. It definitely seems a better deal than the Charge, but it depends on the how important image quality is to you.

If I had to pick a new phone on Verizon today I'd probably get the LG.

I looked at the Inc2 and X next to the Charge when it came out, and I wasn't a fan of the Charge's display and I really dislike the Charge's form factor (Inc2 didn't work for me, speakerphone issue). It's a matter of preference.

Regarding the Revolution, I'm a little concerned about the unresponsiveness indicated, and the camera quality. Can you elaborate?

 

[AstroBoy]

I looked at the Inc2 and X next to the Charge when it came out, and I wasn't a fan of the Charge's display and I really dislike the Charge's form factor (Inc2 didn't work for me, speakerphone issue). It's a matter of preference.

Regarding the Revolution, I'm a little concerned about the unresponsiveness indicated, and the camera quality. Can you elaborate?

I didn't like the form factor of the Charge either. I did love teh screen however.

In regards to the lagginess I came across, the screen was generally responsive, but on occasion, pressing an icon to launch a program was sometimes a bit of hit and miss. Sometimes it launched immediately, and some times it took more than one press, or a long press. This is something I have not seen on other phones (TB, and Charge). Could've been the unit in the store so I'm going to check out another store's to see if it is endemic to the phone or not.

As for the pictures, the Charge to me had the best images. Best color, definitely least JPG compression, largest file size, best grain, Less aliasing, etc...

Thunderbolt had most compression and ailiasing, but the colors were nice.

The Revolution has about the same level of detail as the Charge, but colors did not seem as spot on as the other two. Also has way less compression artifacts than the TB. Again kind of a cross of the other two.

The images from all three are attached. the Charge is 100% crop since the whole file is too large for the forum. The other images are full size and no processing has been done to them. They are as they came out of the phone's camera.

 

[rawr33]

The images from all three are attached. the Charge is 100% crop since the whole file is too large for the forum. The other images are full size and no processing has been done to them. They are as they came out of the phone's camera.

Thanks. Which pic is from the Revolution and which is from the Thunderbolt?

 

[AstroBoy]

The images from all three are attached. the Charge is 100% crop since the whole file is too large for the forum. The other images are full size and no processing has been done to them. They are as they came out of the phone's camera.

Thanks. Which pic is from the Revolution and which is from the Thunderbolt?

the 1st pic is from the Revolution the 2nd pic the TB and the 3rd (crop sideways) from the Charge.

 

[GunnerJim]

LG Revolution
Very Snappy phone, transitions are quick
Great Benchmarks (1900-2100 Average on Quadrant), I compared all three 4G LTE phones side by side in VZW, the LG blew away the HTC TB
Touch Display is very responsive, reminds me of Iphone, I think LG makes the TFT display for them as well.
Replaced Optimus UI with Launcher Pro, preference more than anything
768 RAM, no lag
3g so far is really fast
Have not gone over to Seattle to try the 4G yet.
Battery life not as good as Charge, but better than HTC TB. I get 1 to 1-1/2 day on 3G in Western Washington.
Open Bootloader is nice, considering the root to remove Bing and Bloatware.
Camera is good indoors and out, front facing camera, really sharp.
LED notification is present, even though you see nothing online or in manual for it.
VoLTE, this is the only phone with simultaneous Voice and data capability on 4G network. Don't really know if this would be a show stopper, but it is worth mentioning.
Square Form Factor, easy to get back off of phone
Supports Wireless Charging (Buy $30 back, $70 Charger)
Fast reboot time
Netflix works great!!!!
Video Playback works great
Speaker is clearer than Charge, not as loud.

Cons
4G/CDMA toggle requires reboot
Battery life better than TB, not as good as Charge
TONS of BLOATWARE!!! Bing is imbedded in Browser along with VZW crap, but I use SkyFire and Dolphin, so it is a non-issue. Same with Google maps, Google Voice, etc... Just dumpster Bing off your homescreens or root the phone, freeze the VZW Bloatware/Bing Bloatware/etc.
Take Away: I like LG, they have been putting out good products since they left the old GoldStar monicker behind years ago. I had great success with LG dumbphones in past, figured to give this phone a try. The phone does not lag on most applications, the lag worth mentioning is when adding applications to the home screen. I will stutter an extra 5 seconds... It could be the fact I am using Launcher Pro. I am probably going to stick with this phone if 4G works as advertised. Charge runs a close second, I wish they had Gingerbread out of the box... If Charge had Ext4 and more RAM, then it would win hands down. The file system piece is fixable but I do not believe we can re-partition the RAM... Maybe a developer can weigh in here and set me straight.

If I had not given my Droid Incredible to my son, then I may have waited to see if the Samsung Galaxy S II came to VZW with the same specs and 4G LTE radio. Somehow I believe it may not happen because of the size of the 4G radio fitting in the GSII Form Factor.

I ran benchmarks in a 3G Area VZW store, I installed quadrant on LG Revo, Samsung Charge, and HTC TB. I cleared as much running bloat, stopping un-needed processes to make it fair across the spectrum.
Results:
LG Revo- 1950
HTC TB- 1805
Charge- 950 (I think it is not fair, the Charge has slow RFS file System)

I returned my Charge to VZW and walked out with LG Revo, it seemed more snappier, screen transitions were perfect, the up and down on web pages had some jitter but hardly noticeable to most. I do not care for stock UI on LG or the stock keyboard, Swype installed is more responsive. I went with Launcher Pro, I bought it for Charge because the Touch Wiz 3.0 was lag-central. The HTC TB is a good device, seems a little heavy and so far high battery usage is at a point where VZW is offering the extended battery and cover at half price when you purchase device... That is what my salesman said here in Western Washington.

I am longing for the BLADE RUNNER Phone, that hunts down all the other Androids and is the definitive Champion... Dudes would line up for miles to rock the BLADE RUNNER, Some Specs we need VZW if you are listening:
BLADE RUNNER Specs for old Jimbo...
Dual Core Snap Dragons.. (I can wish right???)
1GB RAM
1GB ROM
512MB Video RAM
16 GB Internal Memory
32 GB External Memory
2000 MAH Battery
Wireless Qi Charging built in, only need to buy wireless docking pad
Stereo Bluetooth
Super AMOLED Plus 4.3" screen
Capacitive Buttons that rotate like the Incredible 2
HDMI Out
12MP Camera Back, dual LED Flash/5MP Camera Front w/ Front Flash
Ice Cream Sandwich pure VANILLA
Top/Bottom LED for notification
Gorilla Glass All the way or the new Asahi Glass... Even Better
Accessible SD Card port
3G SVDO/4G VoLTE/ (Throw in UMTS/GSM too, what the heck)
Am I missing something?

 

[rawr33]

Update: (I did just update a similar post elsewhere, but wanted to update this topic. Your input was appreciated!)

Today was going to be the day. I've been researching for weeks and I was torn between the LG Revolution and the HTC Thunderbolt. I went to Best Buy for their price-matching, 30-day phone exchange period, and great customer service.

I realized I'd counted the Thunderbolt out too early on account of rebooting and battery issues, but further research put it back on the table. (There are actually a lot of thrilled Thunderbolt owners on this site who've never had any significant issues.) I was torn when walking into the store and after some discussion decided to give the Thunderbolt a try. I'm very excited! I hope that it's my perfect phone and I love it, but if not I have 30 days to swap it for another phone or different model.

Bonus: got an amazing deal on it! Waaaaay less than retail!

I hope y'all are loving whatever you ended up getting (or already had). And as I get to know my new Thunderbolt, I'll probably keep monitoring what's going on in Revolution-land.