Review: LG eXpo

LG turned heads with the declaration of its latest Windows phone, the eXpo. The slide-out keyboard phone is the starting time Windows telephone designed with an optional pico projector.

Our first impression of the eXpo are adept. The phone feels well-congenital, comfy in the manus and has some interesting features, such every bit an optical scanner that pulls double duty as a directional pad and fingerprint scanner.

We shared our initial impressions on the Expo and now we share our thoughts after taking the phone out for a examination bulldoze. Ease on by the suspension to meet how long our initial impressions of the Expo lasted afterward a few days of utilise.

Design

Out of the box, the LG eXpo has a solid feel to it. It'south noticeably narrower than the Bear upon Pro two feels more like the HTC Bear on Diamond 2 or Pure. Information technology does accept a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, so the eXpo, obviously, is thicker than the TD2 or Pure. The eXpo could be considered a scaled downwardly Tilt 2.

The tale of the tape has the eXpo measuring 4.45 inches long, ii.16 inches wide and 0.63 inches thick. Information technology weighs in at 5.two ounces. The phone has a little heft to information technology, but it's nothing that would weigh you downward.  The metallic greyness cease looks proficient with the black accents. The finish is a little on the slick side only doesn't attract fingerprints the mode the glossy black finished phones practise.

The eXpo comes packaged with a lipstick stylus (similar to the LG Incite's Stylus), charger, sync cable and Quick First Guide.

On meridian of the phone you will notice the power push button and microUSB charge/sync/headphone port. You too have a lanyard loop if y'all prefer to accept your stylus tethered. LG actually needs to have an internally stored stylus. The free-standing stylus is easy to misplace or go out on the table as y'all walk out the door.

On the left side of the eXpo is the volume controls that are positioned one-half-mode down the phone. I'k more accustomed to having the book fundamental higher on the side of the telephone, and then it felt a piddling odd having this key halfway down the side.

On the correct side of the eXpo you will find the expansion slot, a multitasking and photographic camera control button. I starting time thought these two buttons were associated with the pico projector. The buttons take pocket-sized icons that aren't very distinguishable (either that or my eyesight is getting worse).

The multitasking push button is the first I've seen. Pressing information technology launches the LG multitasking application, which basically is a graphically enhanced task manager. The Multitasking app shows all your open up applications, and from there y'all can go directly into the app by tapping the thumbnail. Y'all also have the ability to go directly to the stock Windows Mobile task managing director. There is no shortcut to the task manager on the Expo'south top banner, which makes the Multitasking push button very handy.

Just below the Multitasking button is the camera button, which opens the photographic camera app and besides snaps the shot. You too have the microSD expansion slot on the correct side of the eXpo, toward the meridian of the telephone. It'southward dainty to see an expansion slot accessible without removing the battery cover.

Both the camera, Multitasking and keyboard shortcut keys are mappable in your Windows Mobile>Settings>Personal menu.

The eXpo has a proximity sensor (should be standard on all phones these days) that will turn the screen off and on as you move the telephone to and from your ear. There also is a low-cal sensor on the phone that will automatically adjust your backlight depending on how bright the ambient light is.

The bottom of the eXpo is blank, save for the microphone pigsty, and just below the screen is the button panel, which includes the reply, back and end buttons. Just above these buttons is the optical/fingerprint sensor. LG refers to this every bit Fingerprint Navigational Command.

It'south easier to demonstrate this feature than to endeavor and explicate. I will say that this feature does make the LG eXpo very attractive, but it performs beneath expectations.

In looking at the design of the sensor, the scanner is recessed only enough where you have to press down on the sensor to go a proper scan. The Fingerprint Navigational Command also acts as a confirmation button and, every bit mentioned, if y'all're not careful yous will press too difficult and launch an awarding or menu. If LG would raise the sensor slightly, I think it would perform noticeably better.

Keyboard

The LG eXpo is fitted with a 4-row, slide-out, QWERTY keyboard. The keys are a little odd to the touch and accept a footling crinkle audio to them (insulation between the keys and circuit board?). Typing is manageable, but the four-row layout is a picayune on the narrow side.

You do take a handful of shortcut keys that will launch the Start Carte, render the telephone Abode, and launch your calendar, messaging, electronic mail and browser applications. The bottom line is that the keyboard is good, but non great.

Screen

The eXpo sports a 3.2-inch 480x800 WVGA resistive touchscreen that is really nice. No complaints whatever with regards to image quality. Colors, sharpness and effulgence are spot-on. There is some concern with regards to the touchscreen sensitivity, though. The screen was noticeably sluggish in responding to taps, touches, and swipes. There as well were calibration issues.

Right out of the box, I could tap on the Start Carte in the upper left corner and become no response. Similar targets that are positioned around the edges of the screen were besides difficult to activate. I also had several instances where swipes were misinterpreted equally taps, accidentally launching apps or menus.

So, I needed to go into the settings and calibrate the screen. Calibration helped, but the screen's responsiveness was well beneath other Windows phones. The performance is improve when y'all utilise the stylus, just having a free-standing stylus (that'south easily misplaced) isn't ideal for a screen that is stylus-dependent.  Plus I've never felt comfortable swiping a screen with a stylus and think you're just request for a scratch the width of the screen to announced.

Underneath the hood

The LG eXpo is powered by a Qualcomm 1000MHz processor with 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM. The processor moves things along nicely with no hang-ups, hiccups or stalls experienced. Multitasking isn't an event with the eXpo. And with the Multitask button, managing running applications is a picayune easier.

The Expo is powered by a 1500mAh battery and is fitted with the customary Wifi, Bluetooth and GPS features. The battery has a scrap of staying power, lasting merely over a day and a half with moderate use (pushed e-mail, calls, web surfing, etc.).

You will miss it at first glance but there is a reset push that sits but above the battery. The button is in an odd location, resting in the recess yous use to pry out the battery.

Software

The LG eXpo is loaded with Windows Mobile half-dozen.5 along with your typical AT&T bloatware including several trial applications, AT&T WiFi locator, AT&T App Center, AT&T Music, likewise as Microsoft's Marketplace and Office Mobile Suite.

LG has a few branded applications including an LG Carte that shifts your Start Menu into a four-row, horizontal sliding menu. The LG Menu eliminates the folders present in the traditional Start Carte and sorts the applications into iv categories (Communications, Multimedia, Applications, and Settings). It took some getting used to but I constitute the LG Bill of fare a nice culling to the traditional Start Bill of fare, giving you more direct access to private applications.

The eXpo has the standard WM6.5 Titanium Today Screen as well as an culling layout chosen LGIdles. LGIdles has an information bar at the superlative that includes the date and fourth dimension, besides every bit WiFi and Bluetooth status. At the bottom is a horizontally scrolling list of applications and settings. Just above this list you'll observe a collapsible settings bill of fare (the pointer just above the LG Menu Icon in the screen shot) that will give you admission to the wireless manager, flight modes, ringtones/alerts, Themes, and LG S-Class UI Tutorial (a six-minute video walking yous through the LG UI). If you're going to give LGIdle a try, the video is worth watching.

The heart field is a swipeable, rotating screen that includes a contact and multimedia screen. Hither yous tin can add together your favorite contacts, applications, photos, videos and music files. Information technology's a overnice interface just I can't help but feel the main screen has a lot of wasted space. It would have been squeamish to be able to add a few widgets to the main page equally well every bit the side pages.

Fingerprint Scanner

One of the key features of the LG eXpo is the fingerprint scanner. You lot can use the scanner to lock your phone where but your fingerprint tin unlock information technology. The setting is rather subconscious and you'll need to go into the LG's phone settings (via LG Menu) and cull the lock setting.

Here you can gear up the lock to unlock with the fingerprint sensor and register which finger you'll be printing. In lodge to register, y'all'll have to successfully scan the chosen finger iv times. If the scan isn't a match or doesn't take enough detail, you will take to swipe it once again.

I like this feature. But, every bit with the navigational aspect of the scanner, you have to press firmly to get the sensor to scan with any success. Press likewise difficult and you activate the button function of the scanner.  Press too lite and the scanner won't annals your print correctly.

One time activated, each fourth dimension you lot turn off the screen the lock sets and only your fingerprint scan volition unlock it. If someone stumbles upon your phone, the just activeness they can take is to make an emergency call.

GPS

Not much to say with regards to the eXpo's GPS functioning other than it performs well.

It took just less than a infinitesimal to get a satellite fix working from a cold beginning. Positioning was fairly authentic placing my location about 10 yards from my actual location. The phone is equipped with aGPS but doesn't have the QuickGPS feature other Windows phones take. The eXpo does have AT&T Navigator (Telenav) installed simply you simply take a 30-day trial membership before a monthly fee kicks in. Google Maps and Bing both piece of work well with the eXpo, simply you'll have to load them yourself.

Photographic camera

The eXpo is fitted with a variable focus, five.0-megapixel camera. It does have a modest light to the side of the photographic camera that helps a little with depression-light exposures. But for the virtually part information technology is better suited for finding your keys you lot dropped in the driveway than for photography.

The camera software has a sure graphical flair with simulated dials and sliders that you use to modify your settings. Everything from resolution to scene mode to white residue settings are available.

The camera software parcel also has an in-camera picture viewer that is accessible from the camera screen every bit well as the native, Windows Mobile viewer and LG'due south photo album that is attainable from the Start Menu and LG Menu. Three photo viewers is a little heavy and I would have liked to have seen LG chosen one viewer that could be accessed via the camera and/or from the Outset Menu.

Bated from the typical settings one would detect on a Windows phone camera, the eXpo also has a "macro" setting that will allow you to focus at closer distances (approximately 6 inches). The odd matter virtually this setting is that you tin can set the camera to "macro" or set the camera to choose "macro" automatically. Either setting volition allow for close-up shots or photos at other distances. While I like the shut-up power, I'thou left wondering why the setting is necessary.

While I like the set-up of the software, information technology does rely on finger swipes for navigating effectually the settings punch. With the screen responsiveness existence inconsistent, this makes changing the settings a bit of a challenge at times.

The shutter button is located on the right side of the phone and if y'all slightly printing the push button, the photographic camera volition focus. Pressing information technology completely will take the photo. This may audio like a elementary feature but information technology really helps if you want to focus on one surface area, and so middle your photo on another. Information technology adds a tool that you tin use in framing your photos.

Picture quality is good, but there was a brume present on the photos. At first I idea the lens had a smudge on it, just that was non the example. The camera'due south focus was also a picayune on the soft side merely easily corrected with mail-processing software.

In addition to beingness able to capture still images, the camera also has video capture capability. The video quality is dainty, mayhap a little beneath par compared to similar cameras. One affair to remember is that if you accept the eXpo on silent or vibrate, y'all volition non have audio available for your video (equally demonstrated in our sample footage).  I don't call up having the same be true of other Windows phones' cameras I've tested.

Phone call operation

Call quality and signal reception were on par (if not a touch better) with other Windows phones. The eXpo does have a tiny speaker on the back, up virtually the camera, that is a little on the muted side. The microphone filters out groundwork racket good and the ear piece has plenty of volume to information technology. All in all, no major complaints about the Expo every bit it performs every bit a cell phone.

One more than observation with regards to overall operation is that the eXpo seems to move along at a nice clip. Applications loaded smoothly and 3G downloads had a trivial more pep to them. I'grand not a fan of Cyberspace Explorer and always found information technology to be a slow moving mobile browser. My opinion changed slightly in using Explorer on the Expo. Pages loaded smoothly and quickly. I didn't feel whatsoever stalls in page loads or the dreaded red "10" for images that had trouble downloading. Google Maps loaded apace and map redraws had actress nothing as well.

Overall Impressions

Out of the box and on newspaper, the LG eXpo looks, reads, and feels similar a heavyweight contender in the Windows phone arena. Even so, once you get the eXpo up and running, the glitter tends to fade a footling. LG has a well-synthetic, feature-riddled phone, but there are enough shortfalls in eXpo'southward performance that actually concord this phone dorsum.

The pre-loaded software is on par with any other Windows Phone and the native LG apps are a nice alternative to the Microsoft equivalents. Telephone quality was expert and the eXpo handled downloads with gusto and applications loaded and ran smoothly. The photographic camera could exist better but you can say that about a lot of Windows phones.

The frustration kept coming back to the telephone'due south ii principal input systems; the screen and fingerprint navigation system.  If LG could ameliorate the screen and fingerprint navigation'due south responsiveness, the eXpo would exist a serious contender.

As is, information technology's a "centre-of-the-road" Windows phone. The eXpo has a lot of potential and I call up LG is headed in the right direction. The eXpo is a major comeback over it's predecessor, the Incite. As is, though, it volition be difficult for the eXpo to compete with the AT&T Pure, Tilt2 or even the HP Glisten. Especially when you consider the pricing points are equal (less if you're looking at the Pure and Glisten).

The LG eXpo is currently available through AT&T for $199 subsequently rebates and contractual discounts.

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/review-lg-expo

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