Retail LG Optimus 2X comes with improved video capture, we test

We published our pre-release LG Optimus 2X review a month ago and now we finally got a retail unit for testing so we're back to see what's changed since then. And there are noticeable improvements - the camera does a much better job at recording FullHD 1080p video than before.

Back in February, the LG Optimus 2X was the first phone we tested that can record 1080p (FullHD) video and we were cautiously optimistic. But unimpressive resolution improvement over 720p and choppy framerate cooled our enthusiasm.

Note: Back then we tested the Optimus 2X with software version V09C, but the retail version we now have has a proper V10A software. When it comes to LG smartphones, the number 10 (or higher) in the SW version is an indication of the finalized status.

The still camera on the retail LG Optimus 2X performs the same - and since it was a very good 8MP snapper, we're not complaining. We were hoping that the shot-to-shot time had improved, but no luck on that one.

Here are some new still shots from the LG Optimus 2X camera:

Camera samples from a retail LG Optimus 2X

The Optimus 2X can record 1080p and 720p videos. 720p clips are captured at 30fps and the phone stays very close to that mark.

FullHD videos are another story though - they are consistently below the 24fps threshold that is the bare minimum the human brain perceives as smooth. At least the duplicated frames problem has been fixed in the retail LG Optimus 2X - they may not be 24 frames per second but at least they are all unique.

The FullHD videos are still recorded in .3GP and while the bitrate has been increased to 10Mbps (used to be 8Mbps), we still don't see much more detail in the 1080p videos versus the 720p ones.

Here are two untouched new camera samples: a 720p@30fps video and a 1080p@(almost)24fps video.

We also uploaded a couple of longer videos to YouTube (don't forget to pick 1080p mode for the FullHD sample and open it fullscreen to truly appreciate it):

Unfortunately, our performance benchmarks don't show any performance improvements with the finalized software, but that's ok. We found the Optimus 2X to be pretty fast anyway.

We're in the process of digging out more changes and when we're done, we'll update the review. We'll also be including additional tests such as a proper battery test, screen contrast measurement and more.

Stay tuned for the review update.