T-Mobile myTouch Review

Introduction:

Over the past two years, T-Mobile has introduced a variety of Android based smartphones under their “myTouch” label. Now it’s LG’s turn with the newest version simply being called the T-Mobile myTouch, which is basically a US variant of the LG Optimus Sol. This new myTouch smartphone has a contract price of $80 (though it can be purchased for less during holiday sales), and includes a modest band of features, including a 1GHz processor, 3.8” AMOLED display, and a 5MP camera, while the device is running Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread.

Included in the retail box is the T-Mobile myTouch by LG smartphone, 2GB microSD memory card, 1540mAh battery, wall charger with microUSB cable, and user guides.

Design:

Unlike other inexpensive smartphones that may have a cheap and flimsy feel to them, the T-Mobile myTouch actually feels well-made and sturdy for the price, though plastic is used throughout.



You can compare the T-Mobile myTouch with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Its all-black monolithic design won’t win any fashion awards, but we welcome the soft-touch coating on the back, which provides a nice grip, and its overall thinness at 0.39” thick.

As we mentioned earlier, the front of the T-Mobile myTouch is predominantly occupied by the 3.8” WVGA  480x800 resolution AMOLED display. It is able to provide saturated colors and pure blacks so that images are eye-pleasing, and text is also crisp looking. We were also pleased with its outdoor visibility in sunny conditions.

Located above the display is a front-facing VGA camera, and at the bottom are three capacitive buttons for accessing the menu options, home, and back. Our only complaint here is that the buttons only light up for 5 seconds when pressed and then go dark, which means if you using the phone in a dark environment, you have to fumble around until you press one of them so they will light up. The top side of the smartphone is populated by a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microUSB port protected by a removable cover, and a power/lock button. There is also a secondary microphone for noise cancellation, which often isn’t included on lower-priced smartphones. However, the volume rocker on the phone's left side could have been exposed better, as it feels flush with the surrounding plastic.

Removing the rear battery cover will allow you to gain access to the SIM card slot and the pre-installed 2GB microSD memory card.

Interface:

Included on the T-Mobile myTouch is the LG Optimus user interface, which is running above Android Gingerbread. There are a total of 7 homescreens that you can customize with a nice selection of widgets, including specific ones from T-Mobile called MobileLife that will show a calendar with appointments or even a shopping list.

At the bottom of the homescreens are icons for accessing the phone, messaging, browser, and applications list. There is also T-Mobile’s Genius Button that uses voice recognition for completing tasks, such as calling people, sending messages and emails, searching for local businesses, etc.


The only thing we found missing was any type of skin or themes for the desktop, such as what is included with smartphones using the HTC Sense UI.

Running the whole show is a 1GHz MSM8255 chipset by Qualcomm, which features the Adreno 205 GPU. You also get 512 MB of RAM, which is a fair amount for a mid-range device. The experience is pretty smooth for the most part, with only an occasional hiccup every once in a while.

Typing on the on-screen virtual QWERTY keyboard does take some getting used to, as the display seems somewhat narrow when used in portrait mode, but it doesn't take long before you get the hang of it. When it is in landscape mode, typing on the virtual keyboard is much easier as it is well-spaced and sufficiently responsive.



Internet and Connectivity:

Using the included WebKit based browser works well with most web site, but ones that rely heavily on Flash content feel sluggish and unresponsive. We don’t believe this to be a fault of the browser, but has more to do with the lower-end hardware that is used on the T-Mobile myTouch, as higher-end Android smartphones can run Flash sites with little to no lag.


One feature that we’re glad to see on the device is the inclusion of 4G, which allowed the PhoneArena.com site to fully load in 25 seconds. When using the SpeedTest.net app, we were able to achieve download speeds up to 8 Mbps, though we did see this drop to 3-4 Mbps during peak times, and uploads were generally between 1-2 Mbps. Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n is also on board, as is Bluetooth 3.0 that can save up to 100 parings.

Camera:

Located on the back of the T-Mobile myTouch we find an average 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus. Its interface offers a handful of shooting scenes, face detection, and the ability to take panorama photos, which is enough to satisfy the needs of the casual photographer. Unfortunately, there is no LED flash, so forget about taking any pictures in dark environments.


When looking at the pictures that we took outside on a sunny Florida day, we noticed that most of them had a bit of a cool-bluish hue. This causes colors to look unnatural and even washed-out at times. We also noticed there is a tendency for bright areas to be over exposed, which causes a loss in fine detail. Indoor pictures were problematic as well, as the Auto White Balance showed issue under artificial light. Detail was also poor and there was a lot of grain in low-light images. Overall, we’re not impressed with the camera, but for the price of the smartphone, it’s OK to use on occasion.

Videos can be recorded at 1280x720p resolution, but the quality is below par. Details are missing, and videos look shaky even when holding the phone still with both hands. Even though videos are recorded at 30 frames-per-second, we did notice some trail-effects while cars moved across the screen.

T-Mobile MyTouch Sample Video:



Multimedia:

It may be rather basic, but the audio player that the T-Mobile myTouch comes with will get the job done. It can list your tunes by artist, album or by song name, and a set of media controls are always easily accessible through the Android drop-down notification bar. When it comes to playing back flicks, the built-in video player handles MPEG4 and DivX/Xvid videos of resolutions up to 720p HD. Thanks to the AMOLED display, watching videos on the LG myTouch is a fun experience.


Also included is the T-Mobile TV HD app, which you can use to play pre-recorded videos or stream live TV channels – though the live TV list is limited to only 26 videos channels (some of which are dedicated to only music videos). When clicking on a video, it buffers for about 5 seconds before starting playback. Image quality is good for the most part, but we did notice that occasionally the video would slow down for a few seconds and the speed back up to normal.



Software:

Additional apps that come installed on the myTouch are Slacker radio, SmartShare (for DLNA media streaming over home Wi-Fi), TeleNav GPS Navigation, Twitter, QIC Video Chat, Tetris, Yelp and Zino Reader. There is also Polaris Office that can be used to open Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, and Adobe Acrobat PDF files. Naturally, you can download a wide variety of apps from the Android Market.

Performance:

Call quality on the T-Mobile myTouch was pretty good, as there wasn’t any background noise and voices sounded clear and natural on both ends. Reception was also good in our area, as we had 3-4 bars showing and we didn’t drop any data connections or calls.

The included 1540mAh battery is rated to provide 9 hours of talk time or 19 days of standby time. During our testing, we were able to get up to 6 hours of continuous talk time on a full charge, or about 8-9 hours of mixed usage, which means you might want to plug it in to charge while you’re at work.

When running the Quadrant Benchmark app, we got a score of 930, which ranks it between the Samsung Galaxy S and the original Motorola DROID X. Meanwhile the AnTuTu benchmark produced a mark of 2785, which 3000 is average for mid-level smartphones.

Conclusion:

When it comes right down to it, there’s a lot to like about the T-Mobile myTouch. It has an overall pleasing and simplified design, runs Android Gingerbread, and has the LG Optimus UI for some extra usability and eye-candy. The 3.8” AMOLED display is noticeably smaller than the more common 4.3” displays, yet does provide nice looking colors and clear text. 4G connectivity is also on-board, which allows for quick downloads, though Flash-heavy web sites can become slow and unresponsive. For under $80 with contract, it is clear that the T-Mobile myTouch will be a big seller for the budget conscious.

T-Mobile myTouch Video Review: