My latest overdue phone upgrade was to LG Motion’s 4G LTE phone offering from MetroPCS. While I don’t work or have any affiliation to MetroPCS, nor intend to endorse it over any company that could meet your individual needs, it continues to be the best offering regarding my individual needs (especially regarding data usage allotment and international needs).
First, basic specs (transcribed from box):
Operating System: Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich”
Data Connectivity: 4G LTE
Hotspot Capable? Yes
Processor: 1.2 GHZ dual-core
Camera 5 MP flash/video camera. Dual front/back facing.
5 GB internal Memory, 32 GB (external capacity)
3.5″ HVGA touchscreen Stereo Bluetooth
Initial Impressions
The first thing I noticed about this phone was its speed starting up and in overall operation. It has a MetroPCS splash screen but no longer starts up with the signature (and back-then unsilenceable) “hello hello hello” chime, which is a welcome removal for those unwanted “butt power ons” in class and/or at work.
The screen size may be a let-down for some, but I feel that what it lacks for in screen it makes up in processing power. Everything from scrolling through menu items, extensive picture galleries, swiping unlock patterns, browsing, and multi-tasking in general feels smooth and lag-less. Transferring my contacts from my older phone to this one was done by the MetroPCS associate and my other data was mainly a matter of adding the old SD card to the new phone.
4G LTE and Mobile-Hotspot
This is probably the phone’s best-selling feature, especially as I was able to secure a plan with unlimited data at 4G LTE speeds throughout the month. Some providers will lower your speed after you reach a certain data point without charging (So technically their data limit is “unlimited”, but your speed won’t remain at 4G the entire billing cycle), and others may continue offering the same speed but charge you for extra data over your allotment.
I recently tried the mobile-hotspot feature which allows you to “tether” your phone to your laptop or netbook and use your phone as a mobile broadband modem via USB. I tried it on my Windows 7/Ubuntu netbook and it worked automatically without additional software set-up (at least on the Ubuntu side, I have yet to test it on the Windows 7 side).
While the phone includes a rebranded MetroWEB browser, I like using Chrome better as it allows you to synch your desktop bookmarks with your phone bookmarks and has more flexible tab management features.
The Android OS has many major improvements, including the ability to set GPS/Wi-Fi/Sound/Bluetooth settings from the status bar instead of having to go through the settings menus. Also, the built-in screenshot feature (“Quick Memo”) allows you to take a quick screenshot and scribble on the screen like a dry erase board.
There are many GUI-improvements especially as far as menu short-cuts go. For example, a short-cut within the texting app allows you to go to the camera and attach the picture you just took automatically instead of having to go to the camera first, take a picture, find your contact, and sift through the gallery to attach it. Also, there’s a better task manager to view and/or stop currently running apps.
Limitations
While the back and front-facing cameras are strengths, the picture quality at night, even with adjusted flash settings, wasn’t very high (granted, Park Slope is pitch black at night, but the picture quality was still lacking). The smaller screen size may also be frustrating for anyone with bigger hands. Battery life will vary on usage, but as with many smartphones, GPS usage, display, and heavy data use will be your main energy vampires.
Overall, I find it to be a very good mid-range phone; and with the unbridled data plan and processing power compared to MetroPCS’ other offerings, a good deal for the modern multi-processing (Facebook/texting/Spotify/Instagram) person.
