What can I say about the LG Intuition. It definitely has the Wow or What factor. That’s the same reaction that Samsung’s first “phablet” received. Everyone was skeptical as to how this device would catch on.
Phone manufacturers are trying their best to stay unique and innovative. With all phones running the same OS with a slightly different skin over it; making a decision on which one to buy goes down to the deal breakers. Many phones that look different from our comfortable standard are usually met with skepticism and negative critique. The LG Intuition is no different. Read on to find out what makes this phone different from the others.
Size is no longer a deal breaker when purchasing a phone. If consumers are willing to carry ten inch tablets and think 13 inch ultrabooks; they are willing to carry a 4 – 5 inch smartphone. Comfort and mobility go a long way when it comes to these “phablets”. There aren’t many competitors in this category, as many phone manufacturers aren’t willing to take the risk. Besides the Samsung Galaxy Note II (and the original); a big screen was limited to 4.5 inches.
The LG Intuition which is now available on Verizon Wireless is LG’s attempt to enter the phablet category. This phone will definitely get you looks. The problem is you don’t know if people are shocked, confused or both. Trying to reach the market where features are worth a lot more than size to consumers; the Intuition pushes the limits of size and power. Is this phone good or bad intuition?
Hardware and Build
While some may not agree with me; I personally like the build of the phone. It’s sleek and shiny (always a plus in my book). It looks like a high quality tablet. . The front and back are flat, and it has nicely curved sides. The Intuition has four capacitive touch buttons on the bottom (back, home, recent apps, menu button). The top left (next to the Verizon logo) is the 1.3 megapixel front facing camera. The right border has the volume up and volume down button. The left border has the sim card slot. The top border has the 3.5mm headset jack, microphone, screenshot button, microUSB charging port (with a slide on cover), and the power/standby button. The images look nice and crisp on the 5 inch IPS display with 1024 x 768 resolution. The textured back cover of the phone eases the grip. That’s where you’ll find the 8 megapixel camera with flash, and speaker. The back cover doesn’t come off easily. It is screwed in at the bottom to keep it in place. It ships with Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.
The display is huge; but it looks great. The colors are vivid. The Intuition has great viewing angles. I had no problem using it outside in very bright sunlight. The 4:3 aspect ratio is one distinctive feature of this phone (others have 16:9). I read a lot of sites; so that came in useful. I am all for bigger screens. Nothing like content of full sites looking great on your phone. I hate mobile versions of websites. Games are vivid and more interactive as well. Sometimes the screen won’t work for all apps. The Intuition will resize the apps for you. You will get black letterboxes on the side. You can tweak the app by holding down the home button. It stretches the images to fit. Sometimes it fits awkwardly. I must admit that it was a little weird holding the phone to my ear. But I barely talk on the phone, so it didn’t matter much to me. The speaker sounds like every other phone speaker. I prefer not to use speakers anyway.
Experience
For the most part you will have to use the phone with two hands to get the best of it. Texting is great on this device (two handed of course). I use SwiftKey for texting so it’s not a problem for me. I liked using the Notebook app to doodle. I actually found myself using it more than I thought. There was one problem though. Sometimes I couldn’t find the stylus or as LG likes to call it; the Rubberdium pen. Why; because you can’t store it internally. That’s just not cool. Luckily, the stylus was always in reach for me. But what about those people who lose everything? Their stylus won’t last long.
Call quality was decent. I could hear the other party clearly. I used a Bluetooth headset or stereo headphones (with a mic) most to the time as this phone isn’t ideal for lengthy voice conversations.
Connectivity was great. Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network works really well in Queens and Manhattan (the places I frequent the most). I didn’t have any dropped calls. Surfing and downloading apps was always a breeze. I have nothing bad to say about Verizon’s LTE network. It has never failed me in New York.
One of my favorite features was calendar. It has an enormous amount of space to view the information. It’s a time saver for me. Some won’t be amused by this.
The Notebook app is the phone’s fun stylus app. You have many choices of colors, pens markers etc. You can take a screen shot on whatever screen you’re on (using the screen shot button) and the options come up quickly. The Quick Memo app is intuitive.
The 8 megapixel camera is a good smartphone camera. The pictures come out bright, and they’re great to look at on the big screen. It’s similar to most smartphones in the low light category; it doesn’t do well.
After a long day of texting, tweeting, talking and picture taking on the Intuition, my battery died at 6 hours and 30 minutes. I have to say that it’s not bad considering the ginormous screen size. But now you know you will need an extra battery pack with you.
Is the LG Intuition For You?
If you’re not comfortable with the width of the phone; you’re not going to enjoy using it. The phone is definitely not for everyone. To me it’s like Samsung Galaxy Note meets Sony Xperia. The phone has a very good quality build. The sturdy body makes for rigorous and long-time use. Since the phone is so big; you might want to use a Bluetooth headset to make calls. It can and will get very tiring holding up the phone up to your ear. If you’re into text heavy sites and e-book reading; you might benefit from the 4:3 display.
Remember that the phone doesn’t have expandable memory; so it’s mainly for those that rely on the cloud. For a texter like me; the keyboard was wonderful. Its comfortable to text (when held with two hands), and you don’t have to put the phone in landscape mode. If you’re not ready to take on the Intuition’s awkward shape and size; LG has another option known as the LG Optimus.
LG needs work on this phone as its competition is ahead of them with more intuitive phones and phablets. It was a great first try. I am actually excited to see what the next Intuition will include.
