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So, as many of you may already know, my Samsung Vibrant met it’s end in an unfortunate “dropping” incident last early one morning last month. The word “dropping” is in quotes because the pre-meditated nature of the event is still in question by my wife, Candy, because she knew that I was not overly thrilled with my old phone. That being said, if you look at my old review for the Samsung phone, I was happy with it, but unfortunately, a lot can change in six months or so when it comes to technology. This time around I wanted to be sure to buy the best phone that T-Mobile offered, and I was going to have a choice because there have been a ton of Android devices released this year. I considered the Galaxy S 4G, the Nexus S, the G2, and the G2x. All of these phones fit the form factor I was looking for (read, no moving parts like slider/flip keyboards) and they were Android phones running at least OS 2.2 or Froyo. After considering all of the aformentioned devices, I finally decided on getting the G2x based on it’s dual core processor, and the overall glowing reviews claiming that this was the new flagship device for T-Mobile.
Once I picked up the device from my local T-Mobile store I was ready to go. I hadn’t had a cell phone in a week or so, so I was really excited to start using it. Right out of the box, I noticed that this phone feels weightier, and the rubberized backing is really nice for helping you grip the phone. This device has an mini HDMI out port for playing HD video on a larger monitor or television. Also, unlike the Vibrant, this device had the power button the top right side of it, rather than on the side, and the charge port was on the bottom of it, not top, like the Vibrant. My only gripe at this point is that that power button could have been made slightly bigger, because it’s a little difficult to find and depress with my current casing selection. Yes, I slapped a body glove case over this phone so that I may be able to avoid the shattering that happened to my last phone.
After inspecting the outer casing of the phone, and getting it started, I was able to see what the differences were between this device, and my Vibrant. I noticed immediately that this device boots up android fast! Really fast. This is most likely for two reasons: one, the device has two processors, and two, the device runs a version of Android that is very similar to stock. This means that there are no flashy user interface add ons that tend to bload the file image, and slow down performance. All of my apps seemed to work very much the same as before, but anything that required graphics like games and video streaming apps seemed to run much more smoothly. I was afraid that the image quality would take a real hit because the G2x lacked the Super AMOLED screen that the Vibrant had, but really I was so pleased with the performance, that I hardly noticed any lack in image quality. Kudos to NVIDIA for the Tegra 2 processor! Another thing that seemed to suddenly start working when I used this phone was my Words with Friends notifications. They never worked on the Vibrant, so I just assumed it was the app. I have noticed that the video player on the G2x is more robust out of the box, and supports multiple video formats. The music player has a DTS option that will boost your audio quality and give you surround sound.
The T-Mobile G2x
The cameras on the G2x are really nice. Yes, I said cameras, as in more than one. The Vibrant has one camera. It shoots 720p video, and takes really nice pictures with it’s 5 Mega-pixel camera. The G2x has an 8 Mega-pixel camera on the backside of it that is capable of shooting 1080p video, and a 1 Mega-pixel camera on the front of it that can be used to take pictures of yourself easily, and can be used for making video messages or calls. It’s not something that I personally will use much, but it’s a nice option to have. If you have ever tried to take a picture of yourself with a phone that only has a camera on the backside, it is nearly impossible. Also, the iPad has dual cameras and but they do not take pictures that are nearly as nice. This phone really seems to have it all.
The data quality of my network when using this device is much improved. Before, when using my Vibrant at work, I often was stuck with 2G (edge) connections especially when at work where we have a lot of radio interference. The G2x’s 4G data service has really made things better. That doesn’t mean that I don’t end up in the occasional 2G pocket, but I am usually able to get 4G within range of most buildings. I cannot say that the call quality has changed at all, but with the stock Android dialer, I accidentally hang up on people much less frequently. I only miss the way that the Vibrant would allow me to swipe left or right on a person’s name and it would either call or text them.
After a couple of weeks using the G2x, I have been able to see that although this is the best cell phone I have ever owned, it has a few setbacks. I have noticed that the device will just be sitting there sometime and then mysteriously restart. Not a huge problem, and definitely not going to make me want to return it, but an issue nonetheless. Also, I have had the phone just lock up on me for no reason, but I think that’s an issue that’s common to all Android phones. The one thing about this phone that I’d head from others and thought it was just nit picky, but is really starting to bug me as well is that sometimes it doesn’t quite register your screen touches like it should. You might tap the screen and see nothing happen, and then when you start tapping it more, it may work when you don’t want it to, or it may just be taking it’s sweet time handling the tap event. In any case, it can get annoying, but I don’t expect this to be a major problem base on the fact that there has already been a leaked version of Gingerbread made available for the G2x, and the weak touch issue seems to have been fixed, so when the official version gets released later this month, there should be no problem here.
Overall the G2x takes all the things that I love about Android, and makes them just a bit better. I am really happy with my new phone, and I highly recommend it. I love T-Mobile’s service, and even with the looming At&t buy out, I don’t see any changes happening for the next couple of years that would make this phone a bad purchase. I only wish that I could have bought this phone under contract and save a few hundred dollars, but as we say, “You’ve gotta pay to play.”
Related articles
- T-Mobile G2x review (engadget.com)
- T-Mobile: Fix Coming On LG G2x, (getcell.wordpress.com)
- T-Mobile G2x Reviewed (brighthub.com)
- The Samsung Droid Charges Goes One on One with the LG Optimus 2X (brighthub.com)
