OK, first let me start by saying, "I am a hypocrite."
I said I would not buy this phone because of the way it "looks." I said it was too conservative looking. Well, after going and looking at it in a store, I decided I was wrong and bought it.
For my review, I will compare it to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as that was the last phone I owned (returned it) that is comparable to this device.
Build Quality:
Not bad... not bad at all. The build quality is actually very good. It is not as plasticy feeling as other phones such as the SG Nexus. The back cover is a high-gloss silicone battery cover that is not flimsy at all. It is horrid as far as finger prints and grease are concerned but it actually allows for a better grip. It certainly is not as slick or slippery feeling as the SGN. However, the first thing I always buy is a High-Gloss Silicone cover for my phones anyway so this concern is nonexistent for me.
Screen:
The screen is beautiful. I have very bad eyes due to diabetes. A large screen as sharp and readable as this screen is a MUST for me. It is as brilliant and clear as you'd expect an IPS screen to be. The saturation of the colors is certainly not as vibrant as the SGN but the colors are very natural and hold enough saturation to be very enjoyable. The actual face of the screen (Gorilla Glass) is great. It is not as bad with fingerprints as the SGN or my old Droid X. I constantly carry a wipe cloth for my device's screens and I find myself cleaning this screen far less. The silverish HOME button is actually a good thing. I find myself searching for buttons in the middle of the night and the silver makes it easier to see. That being said, most hate the idea of capacitive buttons. I prefer them over on-screen buttons such as on the SGN. I get to use ALL 4.5" of IPS HD screen, not a portion of it due to some of the screen real-estate missing due to on-screen buttons.
Speaker:
The speaker is crisp and about 50% louder than the SGN. Probably about 20% louder than a Droid X. With Volume + loaded on it, it is the loudest phone I have owned besides my OG Droid. The High-Gloss Silicone case blocks the speaker when resting on its back so that is a drawback. However, I like to set my phones face-down. The case has a bumper to protect the glass and I can hear the speaker fully. The earpiece is just as clear and loud as the rear speaker. Along with the speaker, the vibration on the phone is stronger than the SGN and Droid X... even with the case on it!
Camera:
The front facing camera is unremarkable. Pretty standard stuff there. The rear camera is an 8 MP shooter. I guess I will give it a scaled score: On a scale of 1-10 (where the SGN would score a 4 and a Droid X a 6), it would score a 7. It is very good but not mind-blowing. For additional comparison, I used the Rezounds camera and I would give it a 9. White balance is better than a Droid X. Noise in darker environments is very noticeable but seems less than the SGN and Droid X. Is the camera a disappointment? Well, kinda. I would expect a phone about two years after the development of the Droid X to have better improvements. Maybe I am just too picky.
Battery:
I do not live in a 4G area so my comparison is strictly on 3G. The 1830mAh battery is so much better than the SGN. The SGN lasted me 10 hours on a charge at my house connected to a Network Extender with Wi-Fi and GPS off. The Spectrum lasted me 19 hours with equivalent usage. From 6:30 AM to 5 PM, the battery easily gets me through a workday. I usually have around 30% left when I get home. It charges relatively quickly, so within an hour, I am back up to around 90%. I foresee no reason to have an extra battery or an extended one. Nonetheless, if it was on 4G, I would estimate the phone would last 5-7 hours.
LG Skin and Bloatware (A.K.A. Achilles Heel):
Well, here is the Spectrum's "Achilles heel." The LG skin is almost an afterthought in development. It is like they tried so very hard to incorporate so many "cool" and unique features into Gingerbread, they ruined it. Think of Leonardo's Mona Lisa and if Leonardo decided his painting lacked style or something to set it apart from other works. So, Leonardo decided to add robots in the background of the Mona Lisa, then clowns in the foreground, water floating in the sky, and finally painted Mona up like a whore in heat. Now, you have the LG Skin on the Spectrum. It isn't as bad as if Leonardo took a dump on the Mona Lisa but still it is... well... not right. Don't get me wrong, some things work really well. LG choose to use the same color blue as ICS uses in menus and fonts. Actually a nice touch and very noticeable where it counts. I installed ADW EX on it and really don't notice the LG skin anymore.
There are roughly 20 installations of bloat on this phone. In addition to the bloat, there are a few standard Verizon ads for VVM and VZN thrown in here and there. The phone only has 4GB of internal memory (which leaves around 1.8'ish GB for apps). Although most of these apps are relatively small in size, they need to be uninstalled.
Verdict:
I will be returning the phone.
As much as I like it, I MUST HAVE ROOT! There is virtually no interest or support out there for this phone. Due to this, I will be unable to handicap Verizon's onslaught of bloat. Since I cannot debloat this phone, It will go back at the end of my 14-day return period (unless a rooting exploit that works is discovered). I tried three of the latest Gingerbread exploits that work on the LG Nitro and nothing works on the Spectrum. I am sure it will eventually gain root but I am not taking a chance on the lack of dedication from developers and LG updating the OS to ICS. LG makes promises they conveniently "forget." If the phone had root access right now, I would keep the device. But where there is bloat, you must root.
Hope this review helps a few of you out there.
I said I would not buy this phone because of the way it "looks." I said it was too conservative looking. Well, after going and looking at it in a store, I decided I was wrong and bought it.
For my review, I will compare it to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as that was the last phone I owned (returned it) that is comparable to this device.
Build Quality:
Not bad... not bad at all. The build quality is actually very good. It is not as plasticy feeling as other phones such as the SG Nexus. The back cover is a high-gloss silicone battery cover that is not flimsy at all. It is horrid as far as finger prints and grease are concerned but it actually allows for a better grip. It certainly is not as slick or slippery feeling as the SGN. However, the first thing I always buy is a High-Gloss Silicone cover for my phones anyway so this concern is nonexistent for me.
Screen:
The screen is beautiful. I have very bad eyes due to diabetes. A large screen as sharp and readable as this screen is a MUST for me. It is as brilliant and clear as you'd expect an IPS screen to be. The saturation of the colors is certainly not as vibrant as the SGN but the colors are very natural and hold enough saturation to be very enjoyable. The actual face of the screen (Gorilla Glass) is great. It is not as bad with fingerprints as the SGN or my old Droid X. I constantly carry a wipe cloth for my device's screens and I find myself cleaning this screen far less. The silverish HOME button is actually a good thing. I find myself searching for buttons in the middle of the night and the silver makes it easier to see. That being said, most hate the idea of capacitive buttons. I prefer them over on-screen buttons such as on the SGN. I get to use ALL 4.5" of IPS HD screen, not a portion of it due to some of the screen real-estate missing due to on-screen buttons.
Speaker:
The speaker is crisp and about 50% louder than the SGN. Probably about 20% louder than a Droid X. With Volume + loaded on it, it is the loudest phone I have owned besides my OG Droid. The High-Gloss Silicone case blocks the speaker when resting on its back so that is a drawback. However, I like to set my phones face-down. The case has a bumper to protect the glass and I can hear the speaker fully. The earpiece is just as clear and loud as the rear speaker. Along with the speaker, the vibration on the phone is stronger than the SGN and Droid X... even with the case on it!
Camera:
The front facing camera is unremarkable. Pretty standard stuff there. The rear camera is an 8 MP shooter. I guess I will give it a scaled score: On a scale of 1-10 (where the SGN would score a 4 and a Droid X a 6), it would score a 7. It is very good but not mind-blowing. For additional comparison, I used the Rezounds camera and I would give it a 9. White balance is better than a Droid X. Noise in darker environments is very noticeable but seems less than the SGN and Droid X. Is the camera a disappointment? Well, kinda. I would expect a phone about two years after the development of the Droid X to have better improvements. Maybe I am just too picky.
Battery:
I do not live in a 4G area so my comparison is strictly on 3G. The 1830mAh battery is so much better than the SGN. The SGN lasted me 10 hours on a charge at my house connected to a Network Extender with Wi-Fi and GPS off. The Spectrum lasted me 19 hours with equivalent usage. From 6:30 AM to 5 PM, the battery easily gets me through a workday. I usually have around 30% left when I get home. It charges relatively quickly, so within an hour, I am back up to around 90%. I foresee no reason to have an extra battery or an extended one. Nonetheless, if it was on 4G, I would estimate the phone would last 5-7 hours.
LG Skin and Bloatware (A.K.A. Achilles Heel):
Well, here is the Spectrum's "Achilles heel." The LG skin is almost an afterthought in development. It is like they tried so very hard to incorporate so many "cool" and unique features into Gingerbread, they ruined it. Think of Leonardo's Mona Lisa and if Leonardo decided his painting lacked style or something to set it apart from other works. So, Leonardo decided to add robots in the background of the Mona Lisa, then clowns in the foreground, water floating in the sky, and finally painted Mona up like a whore in heat. Now, you have the LG Skin on the Spectrum. It isn't as bad as if Leonardo took a dump on the Mona Lisa but still it is... well... not right. Don't get me wrong, some things work really well. LG choose to use the same color blue as ICS uses in menus and fonts. Actually a nice touch and very noticeable where it counts. I installed ADW EX on it and really don't notice the LG skin anymore.
There are roughly 20 installations of bloat on this phone. In addition to the bloat, there are a few standard Verizon ads for VVM and VZN thrown in here and there. The phone only has 4GB of internal memory (which leaves around 1.8'ish GB for apps). Although most of these apps are relatively small in size, they need to be uninstalled.
Verdict:
I will be returning the phone.
As much as I like it, I MUST HAVE ROOT! There is virtually no interest or support out there for this phone. Due to this, I will be unable to handicap Verizon's onslaught of bloat. Since I cannot debloat this phone, It will go back at the end of my 14-day return period (unless a rooting exploit that works is discovered). I tried three of the latest Gingerbread exploits that work on the LG Nitro and nothing works on the Spectrum. I am sure it will eventually gain root but I am not taking a chance on the lack of dedication from developers and LG updating the OS to ICS. LG makes promises they conveniently "forget." If the phone had root access right now, I would keep the device. But where there is bloat, you must root.
Hope this review helps a few of you out there.