The LG X Power Review
by Brandon Chester on August 31, 2016 9:03 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- LG
- LG X Power
Camera Quality
The camera is another aspect of the LG X Power that differs between the international and North American models. The international model sports a 13MP camera with a f/2.2 aperture and 1.12µm pixels, while the North American model drops down to an 8MP sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. The North American model also gives up 1080p video support and can only record at 720p, which is honestly sad for a smartphone launching in late 2016. The reason for this is simply a limitation of the SoC's image signal processor, and so it's just another situation where the North American model is crippled as a result of its SoC.
I'm really not a fan of LG selling two different phones under the exact same name just because they look the same, but I can really only work with what I have. I've done two photo comparisons with the LG X Power just to get an idea of what one can expect from the 8MP rear-facing camera on the North American model.
I actually haven't reviewed many phones in the $100-150 price bracket lately, so it's difficult to find direct comparisons to the LG X Power as far as camera quality goes. The 2015 Moto G is now available for around $150, so it's a decent point of comparison even if it has been replaced by a newer but not really better model. In this situation, the LG X Power's image quality leaves much to be desired. The overall sharpness isn't really any better than the 5MP Moto E from early 2015, and it's not near as good as the 2015 Moto G with its 13MP IMX 214 sensor from Sony. LG is likely running into ISP limitations as well, but that's what happens when you put an SoC for $50 phones in a $150 phone.
Low light photos on the LG X Power actually aren't that bad considering the phone's price. In this scene it's able to hit focus, which is something other phones actually struggle with. There's clearly chroma noise throughout the frame, but detail isn't being washed away by heavy noise reduction like it is in the Moto G4's photo. I think the quality and overall exposure is actually very similar to that of the 2015 Moto G despite the difference in resolution between the two. As far as low-end smartphones go, the LG X Power actually isn't half bad shooting in the dark, although it's not going to be at the level of a $250 smartphone like the Moto G4 Plus.
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velanapontinha - Wednesday, August 31, 2016 - link
Why oh why do they release two phones with same brand and model and so many different specs?DanNeely - Wednesday, August 31, 2016 - link
MediaTek offers more bang for the buck; but doesn't have the CDMA support needed for the VZW/Sprint networks. At the low price this thing is selling for they can't afford a few extra dollars on the BOM without wiping out their entire margin on the device.Samus - Wednesday, August 31, 2016 - link
Yeah, it's annoying, but because of our carrier saturation in the USA we generally get unique versions (or two versions) of phones. This is one reason why Apple arranged with only one carrier for so many years, and many phones are carrier exclusives.There is nothing preventing you from importing the international version for T-mobile but the LTE bands don't line up so you will only get HSPA+ (which isn't a bad thing on T-mob) however, I'd be surprised if the performance difference between these two models is even relevant, both SoC's are bottom barrel and will be outperformed by SoC's from years ago. The .5GB difference is probably more relevant, and both camera sensors suck so the pixel difference is a wash.
psyside1 - Wednesday, August 31, 2016 - link
Opens article.See MT6753
Close article.
WPX00 - Friday, September 2, 2016 - link
It's not even MT6753. The 53 is an octa-core chip. This is the MT6735 with a quad-core chip.okp11 - Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - link
Based off of the LG and Sprint site it looks like this is a completely different phone then what is listed for sale by them.The Sprint site lists the X Power as an LS755, which has a MediaTek 1.8 GHz Octa-Core MT6755M and 2GB of RAM.
The LG site also has a spec sheet for the Cricket and U.S. Cellular versions of the phones under the names K450 and US610. These both use quad core Snapdragon processors and 1.5GB of RAM...So it appears that almost everything negative about this phone is only applicable to those carriers, not Sprint or Boost's versions.
Very disappointed that none of this was mentioned anywhere in the review, as I'm sure the largest market for this phone will be people on Sprint, which is offering a vastly different set of specs under the same moniker.
jgarcows - Wednesday, August 31, 2016 - link
Thank you for reviewing a sub-$200 phone. They aren't as flashy, but this is the price point a lot of us want to shop at. Please do more reviews like this. I would be especially interested in some handsets with smaller screens.Teknobug - Wednesday, August 31, 2016 - link
Wow all the hardware skimped out but has a huge 4100mAh battery? Most top end phones barely has a 2800mAh.zeeBomb - Wednesday, August 31, 2016 - link
The NA version is a slap in the face tho. You're getting smartwatch power/Cortex A7 on a device like this where a 410 would be just as good as the mediatek version...okay display for a budget phone but sluggish performance. If it wasn't for the battery, this phone would easily be forgotten. Also the call quality is pretty abysmal too.DanNeely - Wednesday, August 31, 2016 - link
"Unfortunately, I think LG's strategy has really missed the mark. Consumers definitely do value some things more than others in smartphones, but just by looking at LG's smartphones you can see that they sacrifice the quality of other aspects to focus on a single feature. No consumer wants a phone that only does one thing well, they just have priorities about what a phone should do best. In that situation, a phone that tries to provide a good all-around experience is going to win every time,"Potentially I see this as a valid strategy; but at a slightly higher pricepoint. Instead of adding a single halo feature to a phone that does everything badly to hit an ultralow pricepoint, use something like the Moto G - which does everything adequately - and add the halo feature to that instead.