by Mike Leader
It immediately catches the eye; the textured matte black rear panel has a soft touch feel and contrasts well with the chrome trim around the edges, which splits into two separate lines at the top and bottom. This offsets well against the full Corning Gorilla Glass covered front and immediately gives you the impression of a quality premium product.
Easy on the eye and in the hand
LG have also thought about the size of the casing. The 4.7 inch screen makes some handsets, such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 a real handful, but here the screen has been effectively stretched right to the edges by keeping the width of the phone down.
It's a smart trick which makes the phone much easier to hold. It looks good and feels good then which is a great start.
Superb 4.7 inch multitouch screen
That 4.7 inch multitouch screen is a True HD IPS LCD type which has a density of 720 x 1280 pixels, offering a resolution 312 pixels per inch. In plain English, it's just brilliant, offering you sharp and clear text and pictures with wide viewing angles and excellent clarity even in bright daylight outdoors.
The screen is obviously the main feature of any smartphone and on the Optimus 4X HD it is the standout feature.
8 megapixel camera with Full HD recording
We have often been impressed with LG's larger resolution cameras and the 8 megapixel unit here is no exception, offering you a host of features including autofocus, LED flash, geotagging, face and smile detection, touch to focus, pinch to zoom and image stabilisation.
If that's not enough for you there is also Full HD 1080p video recording, which means that you can record movies and video clips at the same resolution as you watch HD programmes on your television set. There's also a secondary front facing video camera for your Skype video calls and selfies.
Very fast and responsive
The handset runs on Android v4.1 JellyBean running a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor which is also a headline feature here and ensures that the phone responds to every command instantly.
Everything from surfing the internet to opening applications happens without any waiting around at all, meaning you will be able to complete all your tasks so much faster. It is an absolute pleasure to use.
Generous memory space and low power consumption
This is complimented with 1 GB of RAM memory, and 16 GB of flash memory to store all your apps, photos and music. That will be sufficient for most people but if not then you can add a memory card as this handset accepts cards right up to 64 GB capacity. It is a welcome touch when many top end smartphones are not offering memory card sots or swappable batteries.
Yes, you can remove the battery too, while there is plenty of power to see most owners through the day thanks to what LG call their "Low power companion core".
Comprehensive wireless capabilities
Wi-Fi includes Wi-Fi direct and Wi-Fi Hotspot, while assisted GPS gives you access to satellite navigation and geotagging. Stereo Bluetooth allows you to listen to your music or the built in FM radio via a cordless headset or speakers, or you can use any corded set via the universal 3.5mm headphone jack.
DLNA allows you to stream your music, photos and videos to a similarly enabled device such as a smart TV set while NFC is also included, typically used in contactless payments.
Our summary
LG have introduced a handset which competes well with every other flagship smartphone out there, and it looks as good as it performs. The LG Optimus 4X HD might sound like something from a Transformers movie but is an extremely likeable mobile phone that we could not find fault with.
The ability to add a memory card and spare battery is a big bonus, while a full charge will last most of you right through the day with power to spare. This is one of the best phones we have seen in quite some time.
