LG Optimus L9 P769, 4G (T-Mobile)

Mostly good things to say. Two complaints at the end of this review.This is in some ways the best computer I've ever owned. It's my first smart phone, so I have nothing to compare it with, except my other computers. I do more with this around the house than I anticipated, using it for quick web searches on my wifi connection, reading articles on the web, etc.In rare cases I've run into some little quirk that I think would qualify as a bug, but this happens less often than when I'm using a brand new laptop or desktop computer.As an OS, I'd say Android (ice cream sandwich) is well thought out and intuitive.It seems to have plenty of processing power. Rarely any noticeable latency in anything I do.It's also the best music player I've owned -- better than my old iPod, for sure, and also better than my Sansa Fuze (which I like). I don't know if the ear buds are better, or what the determining factor is, but the sound is somehow better than in the dedicated music players I've used, and the interface is certainly better.When reading reviews, there are some complaints about the camera. I'm not that discerning, but it seems fine to me. Picture quality is indistinguishable from my 6MP camera, but I haven't taken pictures in a lot of different situations. Just a few pictures around the house.The display is outstanding. Better than expected. Though, like I say, I've never had another smart phone so I have no basis of comparison.I was worried I'd be bothered by the weight of a smart phone, but it's plenty light enough.I'll offer two complaints: (1) No tagging in the stock gallery app. I ended up downloading the F-stop app so I could have tagging, but that should not have been necessary. I'd love to see an update that adds tagging to the gallery app, so I can delete F-stop. (2) The volume doesn't go down low enough. I sometimes want to turn the volume down lower than the lowest level. There is probably an app that will help with this, but the first couple apps I tried didn't work. It's not a major issue, but for some music tracks I'd like to go even quieter than the minimum volume provided by this phone.

As a software engineer, I consider myself to be fairly tech-savvy, but I've been behind the times on the smart phone trend. I've always been on the fence about buying a smart phone, constantly reading about what will be available in the next generation of phones, and deciding to wait.Finally, after some research and comparing of mid-range devices, I decided to pull the trigger on this phone. So far, it has exceeded my expectations in every way. By no means am I a smart phone expert, but I can compare it to some of my coworkers' smartphones that I've used.-Feel of the phone:This phone feels very sturdy and nice in my hands. It's got a robust feeling without being too heavy.-Screen:Really nice. If I play with the settings, I can use it on a bright day without issues. I watched a bunch of movies and TV shows on a trans-Pacific flight on this thing, and for a small device, it's great.-Speed:Perfect for casual use and basic apps. For playing movies, browsing the internet, and your run-of-the-mill games, this phone is wonderful. Does it have the hardware of a Nexus or other high end device? No, but if you're a casual user, you probably won't really need it.-Camera:Pretty good. I used it to take a bunch of pictures on a trip, and most of them turned out well. If you don't have a steady hand, it can blur photos pretty easily. Still, it takes good pictures overall.-Expandability:It can take a 32GB memory card, which is more than enough for normal use.-Battery Life:This is one category where the phone really shines, in my opinion. If you've never owned a smart phone before, the relative shortness of your new phone's battery life will come as a shock. I used to go 4 or 5 days without charging my old phone, but that just doesn't fly for newer phones. Still, this thing is solid compared to my friends' smartphones. If I forget to charge it overnight, I'll usually be fine the next day. The same can't be said of all smart phones.Overall, I think this is a really good phone for the price. If you don't want to spend the extra money for a high end device, and you're a fairly casual user, this will probably be a great choice for you.