T-Mobile G2x Review: Gingerbread-Infused
by Vivek Gowri on August 3, 2011 2:09 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Tegra 2
- Android 2.3
- LG Optimus 2X
- Android
- G2x
- Mobile
I’ve been a loyal T-Mobile user for the last five years, so the logjam of sorts at the top of The Big Magenta’s smartphone linuep is particularly interesting to me. On one side, there’s the excellent Sensation 4G that Brian reviewed recently. On the other, there’s the dual-core MyTouch 4G Slide, which is set to launch in the coming weeks. And then there’s the G2x. The G2x is T-Mobile’s version of the LG Optimus 2X, better known as one of the first shipping Tegra 2 phones on the market. The best way to describe the G2x is that it’s an Optimus 2X with a different baseband and the stock Android UI, so Brian’s excellent Optimus 2X review offers a solid background for what I’ll cover in this article. It’s been on the market for some time now, but the long-awaited Gingerbread update has finally started being pushed to devices earlier this week, so let’s take a look to see how it stacks up.
Physical Comparison | ||||||
Apple iPhone 4 | HTC Thunderbolt | T-Mobile G2x (LG Optimus 2X) | HTC Sensation | |||
Height | 115.2 mm (4.5") | 122 mm (4.8") | 123.9 mm (4.87") | 126.3 mm (4.97") | ||
Width | 58.6 mm (2.31") | 67 mm (2.63") | 63.2 mm (2.48") | 65.5 mm (2.58") | ||
Depth | 9.3 mm ( 0.37") | 13.2 mm (0.52") | 10.9 mm (0.43") | 11.6 mm (0.46") | ||
Weight | 137 g (4.8 oz) | 183.3 g (6.46 oz) | 139.0 g (4.90 oz) | 148 g (5.22 oz) | ||
CPU | Apple A4 @ ~800MHz | 1 GHz MSM8655 45nm Snapdragon | 1 GHz Dual Core Cortex-A9 Tegra 2 AP20H | 1.2 GHz Dual Core Snapdragon MSM8260 | ||
GPU | PowerVR SGX 535 | Adreno 205 | ULP GeForce | Adreno 220 | ||
RAM | 512MB LPDDR1 (?) | 768 MB LPDDR2 | 512 MB LPDDR2 | 768 MB LPDDR2 | ||
NAND | 16GB or 32GB integrated | 4 GB NAND with 32 GB microSD Class 4 preinstalled | 8 GB NAND with up to 32 GB microSD | 4 GB NAND with 8 GB microSD Class 4 preinstalled | ||
Camera | 5MP with LED Flash + Front Facing Camera | 8 MP with autofocus and dual LED flash, 720p30 video recording, 1.3 MP front facing | 8 MP with AF/LED Flash, 1080p24 video recording, 1.3 MP front facing | 8 MP AF/Dual LED flash, VGA front facing | ||
Screen | 3.5" 640 x 960 LED backlit LCD | 4.3” 800 x 480 LCD-TFT | 4.0" 800 x 480 LCD-TFT | 4.3" 960 x 540 S-LCD | ||
Battery | Integrated 5.254Whr | Removable 5.18 Whr | Removable 5.6 Whr | Removable 5.62 Whr |
T-Mobile G2x - The Hardware, Part I
The device hardware is nearly identical to the international version that we reviewed earlier in the year. It’s a fairly conservative design, with mildly curved edges and corners softening an otherwise rectangular body. The front side is a continuous glass surface, with a slight curve on the right and left sides. The bezel is thin on the two sides and larger on the top and bottom. The upper bezel contains the front facing camera, proximity and ambient light sensors, earpiece, and a silkscreened T-Mobile logo. The bezel underneath the screen is significantly larger and contains the four capacitive touch buttons, but there doesn’t seem to be a readily apparent reason for why there is so much wasted space on the surface.
The battery cover takes up the entire backside of the phone. It’s matte soft touch plastic in a colour that T-Mobile refers to as “Mocha Brown,” and has an aluminum strip down the middle. The camera resides under a slightly recessed window in the battery cover, and there’s a cutout next to it for the single LED flash. Unfortunately, this results in dust getting all over the inside of the battery cover, and especially between the camera module and the lens window. Common sense and good design decision, this was most definitely not.
The matte metallic silver ring around the four sides of the device bridges the glass front and the battery cover. As with the aluminum strip on the back, it gives the device a touch of brightwork to keep things visually interesting. LG devices in recent times have used variations of this design language, with a lot of rectangles, radiused edges, and a metal or mirrored chrome strip down the backside of the device. You can see in the Revolution, Optimus 3D, and even the Optimus Pad/G-Slate tablets. It’s a no-nonsense aesthetic with a bit of subtle visual flair. It seems a bit staid at first, but the more you use it, the more you’re drawn in. Count me a fan.
36 Comments
View All Comments
halcyon - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
...but, when will you review GS2?I know you like to review operator models, but the original non-operator version of GS2 has been out for over three months already and it's the best thing since sliced bread, everybody says.
I'm sure you could get one directly from Samsung or afford to source one from an online retailer at RRP.
Really looking forward to that review.
quiksilvr - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
If there is a newer version of Sunspider out why wouldn't the phones be tested on that instead of the old version?bplewis24 - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
Because if you run all of the new phones on the newer version only, there will be no way to compare them to the old phones run on the older version of the test (unless you re-run every single phone on the new version).Brian Klug - Thursday, August 4, 2011 - link
We'll eventually move over to the new version as it runs similar tests with a few improvements, but also has a much shorter runtime.-Brian
MobileMenace - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
The table lists the screen size as 4.3in, but is actually 4.0.Is the Bluetooth streaming fixed for CM7 on G2x? That has kept me from using it, since I use that frequently. I haven't tried it recently, but it seemed to run stable several weeks ago.
beepboy - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
Is that a Honda Dizzy (Distributor), from a Civic engine perhaps?Sansnombre - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
I see the phone, no big woop -- standard issue -- but what the h is it resting against? Good Lord, is that a distributor, circa 1978?! Or perhaps a mint example of the original electromechanical RAID distributing concept being used as a paperweight/photo accessory . . .VivekGowri - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
Sixth-gen Accord, actually.Chaser - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
I love my Sensation :) And T-Mobile gave me an upgrade price for the Sensation that replaced my G2x.aegisofrime - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - link
Nope, it's 0.9. I made sure to run the same version as you guys do. Here's the results. Apologies for the URL shortener but as you know the link for the results is fiendishly long.http://bit.ly/nh0crN