I was recently impressed by LG’s Optimus G handset and was equally looking forward to the LG Mach. Currently one of the only two 4G phones on Sprint with a keyboard, the Mach has the potential to make a real dent in the physical input-only market. But do expectations match up with reality?
First Impressions
The LG Mach is physically nothing special. The phone sort of looks like someone took an iPhone 3GS and snapped a keyboard to it. In fact, my toddler often thought that it was the old iPhone 3GS that we use on car trips, and kept asking for his “Elmo” back.
The sliding mechanism for the keyboard is solid, and the removable battery is a nice touch. Like all sliders, the keyboard adds a significant heft. It’s a credit to LG’s designers that the Mach feels comfortable in the pocket or hand.
Not a chore to type on, nor to hold.
The Software
The software experience on the Mach is identical to the Optimus G. This is actually a good thing. It’s critical that LG build not just a hardware, but a software brand. As much as I personally loath TouchWiz, it is a big part of using a Samsung device, and keeps the UI standard across devices.
The downside is that I can literally cut and paste from my other review.
It’s frustrating to review Android phones and see an older version of the operating system. While the Optimus G has cutting edge hardware, it’s saddled with the previous edition of Android with Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) instead of Jelly Bean (JB). While ICS is a fine OS, JB is superior, so why not jump right to it? The most likely reason is skinning.
While previous LG Android devices were gloriously unskinned, someone decided that there was a need to heavily skin the Optimus G. It’s hard to decide if the LG skin is worse or better than my least favorite, TouchWiz, but it’s absolutely neck and neck. You can’t control music from the lock screen, the app drawer is quirky (I constantly had to reset it to list alphabetically), and the behavior of a long screen hold on the homescreen is cosmetically different from any other Android device. Actually, I like the long hold behavior, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s unintuitive. I will say that the notification shade’s quick-menu on the top is full featured, lets the user toggle a lot of tools, and is very configurable.
All of the above stands.
One feature I neglected to mention the last time is in place on the Mach as well, and that’s the Quick Memo. One can pull down a shade and “draw” over the screen. Useful for quick notes or annotations in theory, but in reality, I found myself entering it accidentally far more often on the Mach than I would have liked.
Someone, somewhere may have a desire for this, but not I.
Performance
After using the quad-core G, the dual-core Mach feels much slower. However, that slower speed may just be my own perception, because there’s a 1.2 Ghz Snapdragon chip under the hood. Everything moves smoothly, with no real lag to speak of.
The Mach’s 4″ screen is very disappointing. It’s supposed to be an IPS display, but I found viewing angles to not be as good as on other IPS screens, and outdoor use felt hampered.
The keyboard has good travel and satisfying feedback, but the layout felt off to me somewhat. Photon Q‘s layout is much more preferable. However, one can chalk that up to personal taste. The keyboard is certainly usable and better than others that I have tried.
Call quality continues to be fine, but Sprint 4G data in Houston continues to disappoint when compared to Verizon and AT&T. That’s a pity, as LG built some great hotspot functionality and the Mach would make a great tethering device were it not for the slower network.
I was expecting to hate the battery life as the Mach sports a mere 1700 mAh battery. However, while you might not make it through the day without hitting an outlet, the estimated nine hours of talk time seems right.
While I preferred the Photon Q’s keyboard, the Mach’s camera beat the pants off of it. Colors are more accurate and it’s more responsive. The camera is a low 5 MP, but it’s an impressive for what it is.
The Mach also has NFC, GPS, Bluetooth, and all the other goodies one expects a modern smartphone to have.
Hackability
I’m not seeing any info on custom ROMs for the Mach, and that saddens me. Skinned devices are usually the last to be updated, so there’S a real need for the modding crowd on devices like this. I wouldn’t consider the Mach a future proof phone, so if that’s you’re main concern, look elsewhere.
The Strengths
Right now, there are only two LTE phones with keyboards on Sprint, which means the Mach doesn’t have much in the way of competition. Unfortunately for the Mach, when you compare the two phones, the only standout feature on the Mach is the camera.
The Weaknesses
Compared to the Photon Q, the Mach has a clunkier design, more annoying skin, not as useable a keyboard, and not as good a screen. None of these features are terrible or a deal breaker, but with another phone beating it on so many features, that has to hurt.
Pricing & Availability
The Mach is $399 off contract, and it’s already free or under $50 at most outlets. This would be a plus if not for the fact that the Photon Q is usually free too.
Wrap Up
The Mach is not a bad phone at all. The trouble is, it’s just a good phone, and there are better phones out there. Directly competing with the Photon Q for Sprint users, all the Mach really has going for it in comparison is a better camera. If you must have a keyboard smartphone on Sprint, you could basically flip a coin on this decision and still be satisfied. That’s not really bad for the consumer or for Sprint, but it kind of stinks for LG, especially coming on the tail of a stand-out product like the LG Optimus G.
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