LG Marquee vs Motorola Admiral on Sprint SERO

zhecht

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Oct 6, 2010
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TL;DR VERSION:
Should I go with the flashier LG Marquee (better screen, thinner, lighter) or the more powerful Motorola Admiral (durable, faster, longer lasting battery)? Will apps and games have problems with the non-standard 640x460 resolution of the Admiral?

LONG VERSION:
I am on a SERO plan, and since I don't live in a 4G area I want my next phone to be 3G only (SERO customers, unlike regular Sprint customers, only pay the $10 premium data fee on 4G phones and iPhones). I am currently on a Hero, which is on its last legs, but previous to that I had a Centro, which was a portrait keyboard device.

The two phones I am looking at are the LG Marquee and Motorola Admiral. Although they have different form factors, both phones have Gingerbread, 5MP cameras with LED flash and 720p video, and are almost the exact same size (12cm x 6cm x 1cm). The pros and cons as I see them are:

LG Marquee:
Pros:
* Bigger, brighter, higher resolution screen
* Standard screen resolution (800x480)
* Slightly thinner and lighter (4oz)
* Front Camera (my girlfriend would love me to be able to video chat with her on the go)
Cons:
* Slower 1Ghz processor
* Slower graphics performance (SGX530 + 384k pixels)
* Shorter battery life (1500mah battery + larger screen = 5.5 hour talk time)
* No physical keyboard (not really a huge con, as I can live just fine with Swiftkey on my Hero)
* Not as durable and a plastic housing

Motorola Admiral:
Pros:
* Faster 1.2Ghz processor
* Better graphics performance (Adreno 205 + 307k pixels)
* Better battery life (1860 mah battery + smaller screen = 9 hour talk time)
* Physical keyboard (see above)
* Dust/Shock/Rain/scratch proof and metal housing
Cons:
* Smaller, dimmer, lower resolution screen
* Non-standard screen resolution (640x480)
* Slightly fatter and heavier (4.7 oz)
* No Front Camera

I know the Admiral has slightly more pros than the Marquee, but the better screen on the Marquee is pretty important, especially if apps have trouble with the non-standard VGA resolution of the Admiral (are there any other VGA phones, and do apps and games have trouble on them?). I'm perfectly willing to compromise on a 3.1" screen (virtually the same size as my Hero) in exchange for a physical keyboard (which means that the on-screen keyboard will be covering less of my screen while I'm typing).

In the end, I guess it comes down to looks (better screen, thinner, lighter) vs. power (durable, faster, longer lasting battery). Anyone want to chime in here with their opinions?
 

militaryman

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Oct 9, 2009
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Really would like to hear more about Admiral but there is VERY little info. out there on its performance etc.... I would wait to hear some user reviews before you jump... Should be some info. hiting sites within the week I would think. Good Luck !
 

HummerMan3

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Aug 9, 2011
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Hey, saw this thread and figured I could help. I just got my Admiral yesterday (10/25), and I love it!

A little background: I'm upgrading from an aging TouchPro 2. I too have the SERO plan and wanted to keep my monthly bill as cheap as possible, so I excluded the 4G phones from my search. I was tempted to go with the Marquee as it came out the day after my contract was able to be renewed, but I'm glad I held out. This is my first Android phone, but I became familiar with the OS 2 months ago when my wife updated her phone to the Optimus S.

First impressions:
1. Very fast. Swiping between home screens is instantaneous. I have had no noticeable lags, especially when compared to the Optimus S. The ROM seems pretty clean too - basically stock Android with a handful of Motorola and Sprint add-ons that aren't intrusive.
2. Call quality & speaker quality are phenomenal. Much better than today's smartphones. On par with the old Blackberries and rugged flip phones.
3. Build quality is somewhat of a let down. The front casing is metal, but the battery cover is flimsy plastic. I hate taking off the battery cover because it feels as if it is going to snap in half before it comes off. Compared with the TouchPro 2, I feel this device is less rugged. If I didn't know the Admiral was mil-spec, I wouldn't have guessed it from holding it.
4. Battery life - haven't had the device long enough to report. I flew through the battery today, but I was playing with the phone a lot.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I hope someone puts out some custom ROMs and a bootloader for this phone soon! :)