There’s always a gimmick with the top-end smart phones. The last one that springs to mind was water resistance. Every phone had to be water resistant. Samsung even made an ad with Lil’ Wayne to highlight that fact:
Every event had this little Zen fountain pouring water over an array of smart phones. It looked rad, but none of us were going to risk it with our over priced phones – let’s be honest.
The latest offering by Apple includes this feature – the first iPhone that is water resistant. Gimmicks aren’t all bad, I’ve made this point numerous times, some work (water resistant) some don’t (modules, in their current iteration at least). The latest “gimmick” though? Dual cameras. Didn’t see that one coming.
LG X Cam enters stage right
The dual camera is pretty insane and allows for some amazing photos to be taken in situations where a phone camera generally doesn’t perform at all. A main 13MP lens is placed alongside a 5MP wide-angle lens, allowing you to take amazing wide angle photos but at the expense of photo quality – so be warned.
Otherwise LG has kept the LG X Cam decidedly mid-range in its other specifications. 2GB of RAM allows plenty oomph for your daily Smartphone activities while the 1080p IPS LCD display allows you to view any photos you take in as much detail as a smart phone could offer. Although powered by a 2500mAh non-removable battery, my testing was getting around a day and a half off a single charge. Not amazing but really not to bad either. However, expect that to drop if you’re a heavy smartphone user or, like me, check to see if he has read your What’s App message a million times.
LG has taken another chance with their X Cam by removing the app tray.
What is the app tray?
Well, it’s the place you selected on your main buttons when an app wasn’t on your home screen or lock screen. While initially I was thrown by not having one, I soon got used to it and by the end of my review I didn’t mind not having one at all.
The dual-camera is the major selling point on the LG X Cam with everything else being very mediocre. It is definitely a mid-range phone from LG so don’t let the lack of bells and whistles deter you from getting one. Cameras on mid-range smart phones tend to be the first to get cut in the quest to save money, so if you’re a photo junkie on a budget and looking to get a great camera smart phone the LG X Cam is for you. You’ll also be able to say you had the latest in Smartphone innovation before all the usual suspects clamour to buy the new iPhone. That definitely gets a bonus point from me!
Disclosure: I was sent a review model of the LG X Cam – it goes back now!
Pictures courtesy of the amazingly talented Megan Perks.
