Review of LG Spirit (H422): inexpensive curved Android smartphone. Smartphone LG Spirit H422: review, technical specifications and reviews Lg spirit
Specifications LG Magna
- Case materials: plastic
- Network: two SIM cards, 2G/3G
- RAM: 1 GB
- Screen: capacitive, IPS 5"" with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels
- Navigation: GPS
- Battery: removable, capacity 2540 mAh
- Dimensions: 139x69x10.1 mm
- Weight: 137 g
Specifications LG Spirit
- Case materials: plastic
- Operating system: Google Android 5.0
- Network: two SIM cards, 2G/3G
- Processor: 4 cores, 1300 MHz, MediaTek MT6582
- RAM: 1 GB
- Data storage memory: 8 GB
- Interfaces: Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB connector (USB 2.0) for charging/synchronization, 3.5 mm for headset
- Screen: capacitive, IPS 4.7"" with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels
- Camera: 8 MP with autofocus + 5 MP, flash
- Navigation: GPS
- Additionally: accelerometer, proximity sensors, FM radio
- Battery: removable, capacity 2100 mAh
- Dimensions: 133x66x9.9 mm
- Weight: 118 g
Contents of delivery
- Smartphone
- Network adapter
- USB cable
- Warranty card
Introduction
In March of this year, at the annual international exhibition WMC, the South Korean company LG Electronics presented three inexpensive smartphones on the Android operating system. The devices were named Magna, Spirit and Leon. A month later, the devices appeared on store shelves.
Today the review will be devoted to two of the above devices: Magna and Spirit. The Leon smartphone has not yet arrived at our office, so we’re waiting. The Magna device is quite justifiably called “big”, and Spirit is also an interesting name.
Both gadgets are practically no different from each other, so I decided to fit all the necessary information into one review.
In order not to search the text for prices for “androids,” I list them here: LG Magna – 13,000 rubles, and Spirit – 11,000 rubles.
Design, dimensions, control elements
It’s interesting that Magna and Spirit are practically no different from each other in appearance, which may well confuse a potential buyer, so let’s start with the differences:
Dimensions and weight. The older model is 139x69x10.1 mm, the youngest is 133x66x9.9 mm; Magna's weight is 137 g, Spirit's weight is 118 g. Both models fit equally well in the palm of your hand, and the difference in size is invisible to the eye until you pick up both devices.
Elements. LG Magna has a missed events indicator and a light sensor. The LG Spirit doesn't have that luxury. Moreover, I note that this is not the first time LG has saved on sensors.
Both devices have a slight curvature of the front panel, the back side is curved. The general design direction of this year's smartphone line can be traced, as the Flex 2 and G4 models were released with the same shapes.
The corners of the devices are quite sharp, the back cover is sloping and is made to look like polished metal with vertical grooves, but the surface is smooth to the touch. In general, from the point of view of appearance and ergonomic design, everything is good, but it is impossible to say that the devices are unique in this regard.
The front panel is protected by glass. The manufacturer does not indicate which one specifically, Gorilla, Dragontrail or some simpler one. During use, there was not a single scratch left on the screens. Another issue is the oleophobic coating. It is not available on either the Magna or Spirit models. The surface becomes dirty in a matter of seconds, leaving a white coating that is difficult to erase. After using the gadgets for a short time, the displays look terribly dirty with characteristic greasy stains.
There is a plastic semi-gloss frame running along the edge, and the back cover is also plastic. Both smartphones will be available in three colors: white, gold and titanium.
On the top of the front side there are speech speakers. Covered with light metal mesh. The quality is approximately the same: the volume is high, the intelligibility is slightly above average, the interlocutor can be heard clearly. There is no echo, there are no other extraneous sounds.
To the right of the speaker are front cameras, proximity and light sensors (the latter is absent in the LG Spirit). On the left is an indicator of missed events (LG Spirit does not have it). The company logo appears under the display.
At the bottom there is a micro-USB and a microphone, at the top there is a second microphone and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Traditionally for LG there are no elements on the right and left.
On the reverse side there are buttons for volume control (perforated, recessed into the body) and power (the button is slightly convex, with radial relief stripes). A little higher is the camera and LED flash. I won’t talk about the ease of use of these elements - to each his own, but for me personally they are uncomfortable during operation.
The cover is removable. Below it at the top left is the microSIM1 connector, on the right is microSIM2, and above it is a slot for a microSD memory card. The battery is also removable.
Displays
The screen diagonal of the younger LG Spirit model is 4.7", the older LG Magna is 5". The physical size of the first display is 59x104 mm, the second – 62x111 mm. Anti-glare properties are average.
LG display resolutions are HD, that is, 1280x720 pixels, density is 293 pixels per inch for Magna and 312 PPI for Spirit. IPS OGS matrices.
The maximum brightness of white color for Magna is 400 cd/m2 (for Spirit - 329), the maximum brightness for black color is 0.63 cd/m2 (for Spirit - 0.53). Contrast ratio Magna – 633:1, Spirit – 619:1.
The white line is the goal we are trying to achieve. The yellow line is the actual screen data. You can see that we are directly below the target curve at values from 0 to 100%, which means that at each value the image is not bright enough.
The same as on Magna, but the picture will be a little brighter.
Gamma ranges from 2.19 to 3.19, which does not have a very good effect on the image, that is, details will be lost at low and high brightness.
Gamma ranges from 2.09 to 2.5. Better than Magna.
Magna and Spirit
Judging by the level graph, red is not enough, and blue is in excess.
The temperature remains virtually unchanged and remains around 8300 K.
The temperature remains virtually unchanged and remains around 7600 K. The shades are slightly warmer.
Magna and Spirit
Judging by the diagram, the data obtained does not correspond to the sRGB triangle at all. The resulting triangle is much smaller. This means that the colors will be faded.
Magna and Spirit
Almost all gray points are located outside the DeltaE=10 radius, which indicates that other shades of colors will be present in gray colors.
Total. The screens are practically the same. Magna has slightly higher brightness, but less black depth; The Spirit has better black depth, but lower brightness, so the contrasts are similar. Gamma is better on Spirit - the image does not lose detail in the shadows or highlights. The color is faded on both screens. In general, extremely low-cost matrices.
Screen comparison (Magna – left, Spirit – right)
Settings
Batteries
Smartphones have removable lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries. The battery capacity of the older model is 2540 mAh (9.7 Wh, model BL-54SH), the younger one is 2100 mAh (7.8 Wh, model BL-52UHB).
Oddly enough, both gadgets passed almost all test modes the same way. Plus or minus 10-15%. Actually, these figures are confirmed by the official ones.
In video playback mode (MP4, 720p) at maximum brightness and volume in the headphones, the batteries ran out after about 3.5-4 hours. If you use 3G, make about 10-15 calls lasting 1-2 minutes, “take pictures” for 20 minutes, then the battery will run out in 7-8 hours. The toys will drain the LG Spirit battery in about 1.5 hours, and the LG Magna in 2.5 hours.
The Spirit battery takes about 5 hours to charge via USB, the Magna battery takes longer - about 6 hours. It is better to use standard network adapters.
I collected the official data in a table:
Communication capabilities
Everything in this section is typical for any Android smartphone. The devices operate in 2G (GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and 3G (900/2100 MHz) cellular networks.
If one slot works in 3G, the other will automatically switch to 2G in both models. That is, both slots can function in 3G, but not simultaneously.
Available Bluetooth version 4.1 for file and voice transfer. There is a wireless connection Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n. The device, of course, can be used as an access point (Wi-Fi Hotspot) or modem.
USB Host (OTG) does not work for both gadgets.
There is GPS. Their sensitivity is quite good: in “cold” mode, Magna and Spirit find up to 3 satellites in 20 seconds, in a room near a window in 10 seconds - up to 5 satellites, in open space in the same time - up to 8.
Memory and memory card
Both the younger and older models have one gigabyte of RAM installed. At the moment I would like 2 GB.
Built-in memory 8 GB. There is a slot for a microSD memory card. The maximum volume is 32 GB.
Cameras
The devices have two cameras: the main ones are 8 MP (F2.4), the front ones are 5 MP (F2.4) for Magna and 1 MP (F2.8) for Spirit. Both have single-section LED flashes.
The quality of the cameras differs. The older model takes more detailed shots and the white balance is more accurate. Otherwise (operating speed and focusing) everything is the same. The photos come out excellent, at the limit of 8 MP module.
“Front cameras” are very different, after all, 5 MP versus 1 MP. Naturally, better pictures are taken from the LG Magna.
Video devices record in FullHD resolution at 30 frames per second. The quality is equally good. The focus is manual, quite fast and accurate. The Magna face camera records FullHD videos, while the Spirit camera records HD videos.
Below is an example of crops from photographs. On the left is Magna, on the right is Spirit.
Performance and Software Platform
The new LG Magna and Spirit are equipped with a chipset from the Taiwanese company MediaTek, model MT6582. Frankly speaking, the chip is ancient, manufactured in 2013, and was and is installed in extremely low-cost device models. It’s somewhat strange to see it in devices costing 11,000 – 14,000 rubles.
The LG Spirit smartphone, introduced in March this year, went on sale in several versions. This is explained by the fact that the device is aimed at the global market, and the frequency ranges of cellular networks and the level of development of mobile communications in different countries differ.
LG Spirit Y70 H422 is a version of the smartphone that does not support LTE, one of the most affordable modifications. At the time of writing the review, its price was about $165. Unlike the 4G revisions, the device is based on a budget chipset from the Taiwanese company Mediatek. This model is aimed at markets in countries with GSM 900/1800, where fourth generation networks are absent or are just beginning to develop. Most often, it is the LG Spirit H422 that is found in store windows in the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Belarus, which is why our review is dedicated to it.
A distinctive feature of the smartphone is its curved body, which fits comfortably in the hand. The LG Spirit Y70 H422 screen also has a slight curve. The “trick” of this South Korean manufacturer is the location of the volume and power keys. They are not on the side, but at the back, near the camera. The case material is plastic, imitating a metal surface.
Although the LG Spirit Y70 H422 chipset is budget, it is only slightly behind the Snapdragon 410. And the screen of the smartphone is not bad, so the device does not look downright cheap.
CPU
Mediatek MT6582 is one of the most popular products from this Taiwanese company. The reason for this was the low price and acceptable speed of operation. LG Spirit Y70 H422 is capable of handling web surfing, watching videos, and simple 3D games. In general, the Mali 400 graphics processor is one of the most popular today, so there should be no problems with optimization. But since new games require powerful computing resources, you won’t be able to play the same tanks at maximum settings.
Memory
The amount of RAM in the LG Spirit Y70 H422 is decent for a budget device - it is 1 GB. This may not seem enough for demanding software, but the simultaneous operation of several programs is quite possible.
Of the 8 GB of internal memory, the user has about 6 GB at his disposal. Considering that MicroSD cards are supported, and there is no point in installing a large number of heavy games, there should not be a shortage of free space.
Battery
A 2100 mAh battery for an inexpensive smartphone is quite adequate capacity, but the battery life will not suit everyone. If 8 hours of web surfing looks decent, then 5 hours of online HD video playback is not enough. In standby mode, the LG Spirit Y70 H422 will last about two days.
Camera
The LG Spirit Y70 H422 camera is based on an 8-megapixel matrix with very modest capabilities. Outdoor shots turn out well, the flash sometimes helps indoors, but overall the picture is noisy in low light conditions above average.
The megapixel front module also does not have high shooting quality, but it is quite suitable for video conferencing. Taking a detailed selfie is quite difficult.
Display
The curved screen of the LG Spirit Y70 H422 has HD resolution (1280x720 pixels). With a diagonal of 4.7" the picture looks decent, individual pixels are not visible. The display of the device should clearly be considered an advantage. The matrix here is IPS, OGS technology has made it possible to achieve good clarity and large viewing angles.
According to the manufacturer, the design of the display allows the touchscreen to remain operational even if there are cracks. We were unable to verify this: there were no people willing to crash test the new device, and no reviews from Spirit owners who broke the sensor were found online. Our other reviews of smartphones with good screens can be found in this section.
Connection
LG Spirit Y70 H422 supports simultaneous operation with two SIM cards. The slots for them are located under the rear panel of the device. The smartphone is capable of working in second and third generation networks, but only one SIM card supports 3G data transfer. The second is intended for voice communication in GSM networks and Internet access via EDGE.
There are also Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and GPS modules on board the smartphone.
Multimedia
The smartphone plays video well, and the HD movie runs without delays. The speaker of the LG Spirit Y70 H422 is quite loud and the sound is clear. There is virtually no interference with headphones. Although the frequency range does not allow for ideal reproduction, there is no obvious lack of bass. Thus, we can say that the sound of the LG Spirit is somewhere around the 4 out of 5 mark.
operating system
Android 5.0 installed in the LG Spirit Y70 H422 is complemented by a proprietary shell, similar to that in flagship models. The operating speed of the OS is not satisfactory; the interface is drawn quickly and smoothly. With the speed of unloading minimized programs, delays are observed only after exiting a heavy game or application.
Pros and cons of LG Spirit Y70 H422
Advantages of LG Spirit Y70 H422:
- attractive design;
- high-quality screen;
- fresh Android;
Disadvantages of a smartphone:
- the camera is far from ideal;
- The battery drains quickly when watching HD videos online.
Our review of LG Spirit Y70 H422
As the review showed, for its $165, the LG Spirit Y70 H422 is a good option. The smartphone has an original design, supports 2 SIM cards, and is equipped with a good display. The lack of LTE support for many residents of the Russian outback, as well as citizens of Ukraine, is not yet a pressing problem, and the MT6582 chipset is not so weak.
The selection parameters are set:
Model: LG Spirit H422
No offers found in online stores LG Spirit H422
or go to similar LG models available for sale:
And similar models other brands:
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4.7-inch model of the budget line
This spring, as part of the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) exhibition, LG presented a line of inexpensive smartphones that used the same style as the latest flagship creations of the Koreans. We are talking about the so-called curved design, although unlike top-end devices, where both the body and even the screen were actually curved, in cheaper models such curvature was mostly achieved only by visual effects. The screen itself, and even the back of the case, are not as curved as they seem thanks to the side rim, which has a peculiar arched shape.
The line of these inexpensive smartphones includes models such as LG Magna, Spirit and Leon. Today's hero of the review is the middle representative of this trinity - a smartphone that has small physical dimensions and rather modest functionality, but at the same time enjoys considerable consumer demand due to its favorable price.
Key Features of LG Spirit (LG H422)
| LG Spirit | Xiaomi Redmi 2 | Lenovo A6000 | Alcatel OT Idol 3 (4.7) | Samsung Galaxy A5 | |
| Screen | 4.7″, IPS | 4.7″, IPS | 5″, IPS | 4.7″, IPS | 5″, Super AMOLED |
| Permission | 1280×720, 312 ppi | 1280×720, 312 ppi | 1280×720, 294 ppi | 1280×720, 312 ppi | 1280×720, 294 ppi |
| SoC | MediaTek MT6582 (4 cores ARM Cortex-A7 @1.3 GHz) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (4 cores ARM Cortex-A53 @1.2 GHz) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (4 cores ARM Cortex-A53 @1.2 GHz) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (4 cores Cortex-A53 @1.2 GHz) | |
| GPU | Mali 400MP | Adreno 306 | Adreno 306 | Adreno 306 | Adreno 306 |
| RAM | 1 GB | 1/2 GB | 1 GB | 1.5 GB | 2 GB |
| Flash memory | 8 GB | 8/16 GB | 8 GB | 8/16 GB | 16 GB |
| Memory card support | microSD | microSD | microSD | microSD | microSD |
| operating system | Google Android 5.0 | Google Android 4.4 | Google Android 4.4 | Google Android 5.0 | Google Android 4.4 |
| Battery | removable, 2100 mAh | removable, 2200 mAh | removable, 2300 mAh | non-removable, 2000 mAh | non-removable, 2300 mAh |
| Cameras | rear (8 MP; video 1080p), front (1 MP) | rear (8 MP; video 1080p), front (2 MP) | rear (8 MP; video 720p), front (2 MP) | rear (13 MP; video 1080p), front (5 MP) | |
| Dimensions and weight | 133×66×10 mm, 118 g | 134×67×9.4 mm, 132 g | 141×70×8.2 mm, 128 g | 135×66×7.5 mm, 110 g | 139×70×6.7 mm, 123 g |
| average price | T-12413668 | T-12086724 | T-11892571 | T-12645041 | T-12323116 |
| LG Spirit Offers | L-12413668-10 | ||||
- SoC MediaTek MT6582, 1.3 GHz, 4 cores ARM Cortex-A7
- GPU Mali 400MP
- Operating system Android 5.0.1
- Touch display IPS, 4.7″, 1280×720, 312 ppi
- Random access memory (RAM) 1 GB, internal memory 8 GB
- Supports microSD memory cards up to 32 GB
- Micro-SIM support (2 pcs)
- 2G communication: GSM 900/1800 MHz
- 3G communication: WCDMA 900/2100 MHz
- Data transmission 2G, 3G (HSDPA+, up to 21 Mbit/s)
- Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz), Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
- Bluetooth 4.1
- GPS (A-GPS)
- Camera 8 MP, autofocus, LED flash
- Camera 1 MP (front), fixed. focus
- Proximity, lighting, direction sensors, magnetic compass
- Battery 2100 mAh
- Dimensions 133×66×10 mm
- Weight 118 g
Appearance and ease of use
The LG Spirit is as small a smartphone as it gets with a 4.7-inch display. The device fits comfortably in a hand of any size; it is comfortable to hold due to the significantly curved rear back. The rough matte surface of the plastic prevents the smartphone from slipping out of your fingers; there are practically no fingerprints left on it.
The assembly does not cause any complaints: despite its low positioning, this inexpensive mobile device has a quite attractive design and is assembled of very high quality. At least here, unlike most budget analogues (for example, the same Xiaomi Redmi 2), the appearance has a more complex structure, unusual shapes, smooth curves, there is even a side bezel and a nice metal insert on the front panel covering the speaker grille. The device really looks more than attractive for its level.
As for the mentioned bezel, it is precisely due to its uneven shape, tapering towards the upper and lower ends of the body, that it seems as if the smartphone has the same curved shape as the flagships of the Korean company. In fact, the body has virtually no bending, although the developers mention the figure of 3000 mm, supposedly making up the radius of its curvature. On a white case this effect is stronger, since the dark rim is more noticeable against the background of a white lid rather than a plain gray one.
By the way, in addition to white and gray options, the LG Spirit case is also available in golden color. The gray and gold versions have a textured look that resembles roughly sanded metal, while the white version is simply light plastic with a fine mesh texture that doesn’t leave fingerprints at all. In principle, the cases differ only in this removable back cover; the front part always remains the same.
The lid is quite easy to remove, has a thick profile and, due to its shape in the form of a solid trough, is completely inflexible. Under the cover there are three card slots, placed so well that they can be easily used even with adapters, which is quite a relevant point at a time when there are three different SIM card form factors on the market at once. Most connectors are such that it is very inconvenient (and sometimes even dangerous) to insert SIM cards with adapters into them, since the thin metal contacts can be damaged. Everything here is extremely convenient. Both connectors, located on both sides of the case, are designed for Micro-SIM cards, and there is also one additional slot for a microSD memory card.
On the outside, on the back of the smartphone, there is traditionally a camera with a flash and a speaker grille, which have a square shape (even the grille holes are square). This uniformity adds to the attractive design of this attractive device.
The buttons located here, on the back side, have a standard purpose: the central key turns on and locks the smartphone, and the other two, top and bottom, are responsible for adjusting the volume. Expanded capabilities of the block of hardware buttons provide additional functionality in control: holding the top button for a long time launches the Qmemo application, and the bottom button activates the camera.
The front part of the smartphone is completely covered with a flat protective glass with a weak grease-repellent coating, traditional for cheap LG smartphones, which is why the screen of the device always looks sloppy, because it is very difficult to clean off grease and dirt. This is one of the most noticeable disadvantages in the Korean budget series, which has been passing from model to model for many years.
There are no touch buttons below the screen, but the block with virtual buttons can be customized at your discretion: rearrange the buttons and even change their number.
The connectors are traditionally located at the ends: on top is an audio output for headphones, on the bottom is Micro-USB, which does not support connecting external devices in USB OTG mode.
Screen
The LG Spirit smartphone is equipped with an IPS touch matrix made using In-Cell Touch technology. Dimensions are 58x103 mm, diagonal - 4.7 inches, resolution - 1280x720 pixels. Accordingly, the dot density is 312 ppi. The thickness of the frame from the edge of the screen to the edge of the body is about 3 mm on the sides, 11 mm on the top, and 17 mm on the bottom. Without taking into account the bottom edge, the frame as a whole is quite narrow.
The display brightness can be adjusted manually, but automatic adjustment cannot be used, since the developers did not provide a light sensor in the device. Multi-touch technology here allows you to process 10 simultaneous touches. When you bring the smartphone to your ear, the screen is locked using a proximity sensor. The screen can be activated by double tapping the glass.
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A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.
The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are slightly better than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - LG Spirit, then they can be distinguished by size):
The LG Spirit's screen is a little darker (brightness according to photographs is 105 versus 112 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the LG Spirit screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. LG indicates that in this case the technology is used In Cell Touch, that is, the touch sensor is integrated into the LCD matrix, this reduces the number of layers in the screen. In theory, such a screen device can improve anti-glare properties and increase efficiency (brightness) due to fewer reflections between layers. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (less effective than the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed more easily and appear at a slower rate than with regular glass.
When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 350 cd/m², the minimum was 28 cd/m². The maximum brightness is not very high, but given the excellent anti-glare properties of the screen, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at a fairly good level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is no automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flicker.
This smartphone uses an IPS matrix. The microphotographs (if you look closely) show a typical IPS subpixel structure:
For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.
The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the LG Spirit and Nexus 7 screens, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K. There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:
Note the significant unevenness of brightness and the fact that the color tone is clearly different from true white. And a test picture:
In the case of LG Spirit, the picture is dark and the saturation is clearly too high. As additional tests have shown, this overestimation is achieved due to a strong increase in color contrast. As proof, here is a test image with saturation gradients:
It can be seen that as saturation increases (from bottom to top) in the main field, horizontal stripes with saturated shades in the case of LG Spirit quickly become indistinguishable, and the boundaries between shades are very pronounced. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:
It can be seen that the colors did not change much on both screens, but the contrast on the LG Spirit screen was noticeably reduced due to a significant increase in black levels. And a white field:
The brightness at an angle for the screens decreased (at least five times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but in the case of the LG Spirit, the brightness decreased slightly less. When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly, but remains conditionally neutral gray in hue. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same for the screens!):
And from another angle:
When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is not ideal, since the brightness of the black increases noticeably in places:
The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is normal - about 800:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 14 ms (7 ms on + 7 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 23 ms. The matrix is relatively fast. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.34, which is higher than the standard value of 2.2, which is why the image is darkened. In this case, the real gamma curve deviates little from the power-law dependence:
We did not find any dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image in this smartphone, which is very good.
Color gamut narrower than sRGB:
Apparently, the matrix’s light filters mix the components with each other. The spectra confirm this:
The manufacturer compensates for the reduced coverage by increasing color contrast, but this does not go unnoticed, since the discernibility of gradations in the area of saturated colors decreases. The balance of shades on the gray scale is average, since the color temperature is above 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is more than 10, which is considered a bad indicator even for a consumer device. The balance is distorted, of course, due to an excess of blue and green components, which, other things being equal, leads to a slight increase in brightness. It’s good at least that the color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)
To summarize: the screen does not have a very high maximum brightness, but has excellent anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day without any problems. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. There is no automatic brightness adjustment function. The advantages of the screen include the presence of an oleophobic coating, the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and flicker. Among the significant disadvantages we consider low black stability due to deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane, darkening of the image due to a non-standard gamma curve, inflated color contrast, reduced color gamut, and distorted color balance. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the quality of the screen can be considered relatively high.
Sound
LG Spirit produces a very modest, quiet and squeaky sound from the speaker. The situation is better with headphones, but the sound is still muffled, dim, and the volume is not enough. There are no special complaints about the auditory speaker; the timbre and intonation of a familiar interlocutor remain recognizable.
To control sound quality, traditionally for LG smartphones, you can choose from several preset equalizer values, and you can also play with speed and tone. The smartphone comes standard with an FM radio; it only works with connected headphones and can record broadcasts.
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Camera
LG Spirit is equipped with two digital camera modules with a resolution of 8 and 1 megapixel. The front camera is equipped with only a 1-megapixel module with an f/2.8 aperture lens and does not have autofocus or its own flash. Instead of a flash, the so-called “virtual flash” is used here, when the part of the screen around the viewfinder remains brightly backlit in order to “softly illuminate” your own face while shooting with the front camera. In practice, it doesn’t help much, but developers still persistently transfer this function from smartphone to smartphone, considering it useful.
You can initiate taking a selfie by touching the screen, pressing the hardware volume down key on the back of the smartphone, as well as using a hand gesture and even voice commands. For a 1-megapixel module, the front camera of the LG Spirit produces fairly bright images, although the detail, of course, leaves much to be desired.
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However, the camera can shoot video at Full HD resolution (1920x1080) and does a good job. An example of a test video is presented below.
- Video No. 1 (26 MB, 1920×1080, 30 fps)
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The camera copes well with indoor shooting, but color noise is noticeable. |
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Good sharpness in distant shots. |
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Even in light shadows the noise reduction work is clearly visible. |
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The field and plane sharpness is quite good. |
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Long-range plans are somewhat blurred. |
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The text is well done. |
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With the removal of the plan, the foliage does not merge for a long time. |
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The camera does macro photography well. |
Despite the strong noise, which the noise reduction can barely cope with, the camera has fairly good field and plane sharpness. Often she even manages to work out the details, but often they still get blurred. In low light conditions, colored noise appears, although not very strong. However, any degradation in lighting results in loss of detail. As a result, the camera is quite suitable for documentary shooting in good light, although it will probably cope in low light.
Telephone and communications
The smartphone operates in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks; the device does not support LTE (4G). The maximum wireless data transmission speed for reception here is limited by the HSDPA+ standard to 21 Mbit/s. You can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels, there are Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi Display modes, the Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n module supports only one band (2.4 GHz). NFC is not supported, and a flash drive cannot be connected to a USB port using an OTG adapter.
The navigation module works only with GPS/A-GPS satellites, without support for the domestic Glonass. The smartphone has a magnetic field sensor necessary for the successful functioning of the electronic compass of navigation programs.
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The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing a phone number, a search for contacts is immediately carried out, and the continuous writing method such as Swype is supported. The virtual keyboard can be customized by changing its height, and even changing the purpose of the buttons. Surprisingly, even in such a small smartphone it is possible to make the keyboard smaller for ease of operation with the fingers of one hand; obviously, this was left in the interface from other, larger models.
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The smartphone supports two SIM cards using the Dual SIM Dual Standby standard. Apart from a special button for quickly changing the priority SIM card, the implementation of working with two SIM cards is generally standard for this platform. There is only one radio module, so there can only be one active conversation. A SIM card in any slot can work with 3G networks, but only one of the cards can work in this mode at the same time (the second will only work in 2G). When dialing a number, there is no choice between two SIM cards - for this purpose there is a separate button for quickly switching the priority card, located in the bottom row of icons.
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OS and software
LG Spirit initially runs on the latest fifth version of Android OS with support for subsequent over-the-air (OTA) updates. LG's own shell is installed on top of the standard interface, exactly the same as that used in all modern mobile devices of this company. If you get used to this interface, it can become quite convenient, especially considering the high-quality localization of devices officially supplied to the Russian market. Most of the main features that distinguish LG's proprietary interface are present here, with the exception of the absence of some flagship features, such as QSlide multi-window. However, even here there are the rudiments of working with gestures, the Glance View date and time function, as well as the notorious KnockOn security system, which not all owners of LG mobile devices use.
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According to the testing results, the platform showed expectedly modest results, below the average value (around 20K in AnTuTu), even when compared with other modern entry-level platforms. In terms of performance, the MT6582 SoC turns out to be even slightly weaker than the popular modern entry-level platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 410. As a result, in terms of the performance level of the hardware platform, the LG Spirit smartphone is more likely to be at the entry level.
Testing in the latest versions of comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:
For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.
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Testing the graphics subsystem in 3DMark game tests,GFXBenchmark, and Bonsai Benchmark:
When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).
| LG Spirit (MediaTek MT6582) |
Xiaomi Redmi 2 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 410) |
Lenovo A6000 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 410) |
Alcatel OT Idol 3 (4.7) (Qualcomm Snapdragon 410) |
Samsung Galaxy A5 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 410) |
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| 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme (more is better) |
1902 | 2667 | 2642 | 2572 | 2624 |
| 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited (more is better) |
2869 | 4362 | 4354 | 4403 | 4386 |
| GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Onscreen) | 7 fps | 10 fps | 9 fps | 9 fps | 9.6 fps |
| GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Offscreen) | 4 fps | 5 fps | 5 fps | 5 fps | 5.4 fps |
| Bonsai Benchmark | 1259 (18 fps) | 1594 (23 fps) | 1634 (23 fps) | 1559 (22 fps) | 1726 (25 fps) |
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Browser cross-platform tests:
As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.
Thermal photographs
Below is a thermal image of the back surface taken after 10 minutes of running Epic Citadel (in High Quality mode):
It can be seen that the heating is clearly localized in the upper part of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was 41 degrees, which is average heating.
Playing video
To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it.
According to the testing results, the subject was not equipped with all the necessary decoders that are needed to fully play most of the most common multimedia files on the network. To successfully play them, you will have to resort to the help of a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, it is also necessary to change the settings and install additional custom codecs, because now this player does not officially support the AC3 sound format.
| Format | Container, video, sound | MX Video Player | Standard video player |
| DVDRip | AVI, XviD 720×400 2200 Kbps, MP3+AC3 | plays normally | plays normally |
| Web-DL SD | AVI, XviD 720×400 1400 Kbps, MP3+AC3 | plays normally | plays normally |
| Web-DL HD | MKV, H.264 1280×720 3000 Kbps, AC3 | The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹ | |
| BDRip 720p | MKV, H.264 1280×720 4000 Kbps, AC3 | The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹ | The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹ |
| BDRip 1080p | MKV, H.264 1920×1080 8000 Kbps, AC3 | The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹ | The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹ |
¹ sound in MX Video Player was played only after installing an alternative custom audio codec; The standard player does not have this setting
Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.
We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) Red marks indicate possible problems associated with the playback of the corresponding files.
According to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. With the exception of files with 50 and 60 fps, but films with such a frame rate can be considered as non-existent. When playing video files with a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels (720p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - all gradations of shades are displayed in shadows and highlights.
Battery life
The removable battery installed in the LG Spirit has a small capacity by modern standards of only 2100 mAh. The display resolution, as the most energy-intensive element of a smartphone, is low here, the platform is also undemanding, so the battery life of the smartphone is at a satisfactory level, but far from record-breaking. Testing was carried out without using any energy-saving functions, although the smartphone has them.
| Battery capacity | Reading mode | Video mode | 3D Game Mode | |
| LG Spirit | 2100 mAh | 12:00 pm | 8:30 a.m. | 3 hours 20 minutes |
| Xiaomi Redmi 2 | 2200 mAh | 14:20 | 10:00 am | 4 hours 40 minutes |
| Lenovo A6000 | 2300 mAh | 15:00 | 9:00 a.m. | 4 hours 50 minutes |
| Alcatel OT Idol 3 (4.7) | 2000 mAh | 15:00 | 6:00 am | 4 hours 10 minutes |
| LG Magna | 2540 mAh | 13:30 | 10:00 am | 4:00 am |
| Philips S398 | 2040 mAh | 12:00 pm | 7:00 am | 3 hours 30 minutes |
| Sony Xperia E4 | 2300 mAh | 13:00 | 9:00 a.m. | 5:00 a.m. |
| Samsung Galaxy A5 | 2300 mAh | 14:00 | 11:00 am | 4 hours 20 minutes |
| Lenovo S90 | 2300 mAh | 11:00 am | 9:30 a.m. | 3 hours 50 minutes |
| ZTE Blade S6 | 2400 mAh | 11:40 am | 8:30 a.m. | 3 hours 40 minutes |
Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasted until the battery was completely discharged for about 12 hours, and when continuously watching videos in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network, the device lasted no more than 8.5 hours. In gaming mode, the smartphone worked for just over 3 hours. It takes approximately 3 hours to fully charge the battery from the mains.
Bottom line
Currently, the price for certified LG Spirit devices in Russian retail is about 10 thousand rubles. For this money, the user will receive a medium-sized smartphone that easily fits in any pocket, with a pleasant design inherited from its more expensive flagship family neighbors. The smartphone does not shine in any way, does not particularly stand out in any of the parameters, but there are no outright failures either, everything is at an average level. LG Spirit is an entry-level smartphone, an inexpensive, functional mobile assistant that does not pretend to be a multimedia center.
Now it's time for us to meet LG Spirit. The hero of the review is in many ways reminiscent of its older brother, the LG Magma, but at the same time it has a slightly smaller display, a more modest front camera and a less capacious battery. Moreover, it also has a curved screen.
Appearance and ease of use
LG Spirit is made in the same style as the more expensive LG Magma. Both smartphones have a curved screen, the radius of its curvature is 3 m. At first glance, the curvature of the body is immediately noticeable, but not like on the LG G Flex 2. Although the body of the new product itself looks fresh and sophisticated. The dimensions of the smartphone are 133.3 × 66.1 × 9.9 mm. With a screen diagonal of 4.7 inches, these are not the smallest figures, but this does not affect the appearance of the model.
The front surface of the LG Spirit is covered with protective glass, the side edges and the back are covered with plastic. Traditionally, the volume and power keys are located on the back side under the main camera.
At the same time, they are clearly distinguishable to the touch and getting used to this arrangement occurs quite quickly. In addition, you can unlock and lock the device with a double tap.
The back cover of LG Spirit is removable. It is made of plastic, but imitates a metal coating. Removing the cover, we get access to compartments for two SIM cards in microSIM format and a slot for microSD memory cards, as well as a removable battery with a capacity of 2100 mAh.
During testing, LG Spirit showed itself to be better in terms of ease of use. Its body is neither large nor small. Even despite the traditional LG ergonomics, it is very easy to get used to. The build quality didn't disappoint either. Everything is held securely, and there are no creaks of the case as such.
Operating system and interface
LG Spirit is one of the most affordable smartphones that comes with Android version 5.0 Lollipop. At the same time, it also uses LG’s proprietary shell, which is well known from other models of the company, so we will not describe its capabilities in detail. Let's just say that it is quite simple and concise, and at the same time made in the style of Android Lollipop.
The smartphone interface works generally well, but it is not always smooth enough, although there are no serious freezes either. In simple words, the interface works typical for a budget device.
Hardware platform
The LG Spirit uses a quad-core MediaTek MT6582 with a maximum frequency of 1.3 GHz for each core. As a video accelerator – Mali 400MP. The amount of RAM is 1 GB, of which about 300 MB is available after switching on. Built-in memory - 8 GB.
As a result, the smartphone cannot boast of good performance either in benchmarks or in productive games. Games like Dead Trigger 2 and Real Racing 3 run on low to medium graphics settings. Therefore, a smartphone cannot be called suitable for games.
Wireless networks are represented by Bluetooth 4.1 module, Wi-Fi b/g/n and GPS (A-GPS). The operation of all these modules did not cause any complaints. The phone finds satellites quickly even without using a mobile network.
Working with two SIM cards is implemented as standard since only one radio module is installed in the phone. The SIM card settings are standard and do not offer anything new.
The volume of the voice speaker is sufficient, even if talking on a noisy street. But the microphone is not the best quality. It's not bad, but nothing more. But the multimedia speaker, although there is only one, plays very loudly and with high quality. Missing a call won't be easy.
As a standard, we used the AnTuTu Video Tester 3.0 benchmark to test the playback of video files. As a result, we see that in general the device is suitable for playing popular video codecs without using a third-party player, but to be more sure, it’s worth installing a third-party application.
Autonomy
The capacity of the built-in battery is only 2100 mAh. Today this is a very modest figure, but it’s worth considering that the screen resolution is only HD, and the processor is far from the most productive solution.
In medium load mode, the LG Spirit lasted two days. At the same time, the screen time was a little more than 3 hours, and the total time of voice calls was almost two and a half hours, and this is taking into account the always-on data transmission over the Wi-Fi network.
| Operating time indicators | |||
| Mode\Device | LG Spirit | Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime | Asus Zenfone 5 |
| Music | 40:00 | 28:34 | — |
| Reading | 9:05 | 10:00 | 7:24 |
| Navigation | 7:24 | 6:53 | 3:02 |
| Watch HD video | 6:40 | 8:20 | 5:53 |
| Watching HD videos from YouTube | 5:15 | 8:41 | 5:33 |
| AntutuTester (points) | 5572 | 6178 | 2856 |
| GFXBench (minutes) | 250 | 430,4 | 163 |
| GFXBench (scores) | 386.5 frame | 720.4 Frame | 673 (12.0 fps) |
| PCMark for Android Benchmark (clock) | — | — | 3:16 |
In modereading All wireless communications are turned off, including data transmission on the mobile network, and the display brightness is set to 200 cd/m2. When listeningmusic automatic data synchronization and data transfer worked. The sound volume in the headphones is at 12 out of 15 possible levels. All music files are in MP3 format, bitrate 320 Kbps.Navigation includes route planning in the Google Navigation application. The brightness is set to 200 cd/m2, all data communication modules are disabled. During playback video Data transmission on the mobile network is active, the display brightness is set to 200 cd/m2, the sound volume in the headphones is at level 12 out of a possible 15. Video file format is MKV, resolution 1024x432 pixels, frame rate 24. Video playback from Youtube was accompanied not only by working on a Wi-Fi network, but also by active data transfer. The display brightness is set to 200 cd/m2, the sound volume in the headphones is at 12 out of 15 possible levels.* - data obtained under similar conditions, but with the brightness set to 50% and possible You can familiarize yourself with the testing methodology in material.
Screen
LG Spirit has a 4.7-inch IPS display made using OGS technology, its resolution is 1280x720 pixels. As mentioned earlier, the screen is slightly curved, but this is not very noticeable. The oleophobic coating on our sample is not the best. And there is no automatic brightness adjustment sensor at all.
Screen brightness adjustment is adjustable from 24 cd/m2 to 293 cd/m2. The contrast is 1:615. The color gamut is slightly narrower than the standard sRGB triangle, and the color temperature is slightly higher than the reference value, which means the screen looks cooler than necessary.
The screen performance in sunny weather is not bad. Under direct rays, the colors fade greatly, but the information remains readable. Overall the display is good for an affordable device.
Cameras
The smartphone is equipped with two cameras – the main one is 8 MP and the front one is 1 MP. Both of them have a very modest list of settings. There is no way to take photos in HDR mode, and in general, there is nothing else besides the standard shooting mode.
In cloudy weather and in poor lighting conditions, photos are too noisy, but in good lighting conditions everything is much better. Although you shouldn't expect anything supernatural from this model.
Example of photos taken with the main camera in automatic mode:
Example of photos taken with the front camera:
Video recording example:
conclusions
What we remember most about the LG Spirit is its quirky curved screen. But this design technique will definitely not be the deciding factor when choosing a device. LG Spirit is a typical representative of LG's budget line; it has low performance, but other characteristics are at a good level for its class.
Liked:
Curved screen
Thin, light body
Current operating system version
Good build
Did not like:
