06
Apr
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Last Updated: April 30th, 2012

Budget smartphones are a lot like those miniature cans of Coca-Cola you'll find on supermarket shelves - cheaper by the half-dozen than their higher-volume counterparts, but with the obvious catch that you're getting less sweet, delicious corn-juice for your dollar. It doesn't take more than 30 seconds to stop, think about this, and realize that even if you won't finish the big 12oz can during your lunch (or don't want to drink that much soda), you're still basically paying more for choosing to buy less.

This is how budget Android smartphones often work, except they're more like buying a six-pack of those Coke minis with one can missing, and a couple more that have pretty obviously been dropped at some point.

04
Apr
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While the LG Lucid may have hit Verizon stores with an incredibly low price-to-hardware ratio, the good folks over at AmazonWireless took that to a whole new level: free. Okay, well, one cent (close enough). Normally, we tell users to avoid budget devices like the plague, but the Lucid is the exception to the rule. Why? Because while its price (or lack thereof in this case) may be budget, its hardware is anything but:

  • 4-inch IPS display with Gorilla Glass
  • 1.2GHz dual-core processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • 8GB built-in storage, microSD card slot
  • 5MP rear shooter, VGA front facing camera
  • Android 2.3 (will get Ice Cream Sandwich)

2012-04-04 16h10_29

See?

27
Mar
233166

We've been hearing about an upcoming LG device for Verizon's LTE network called the Cayman for a few weeks now; that device is now officially official, and it's bearing the moniker Lucid.

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At $80 with a two-year agreement, the Lucid will hit a sweet spot in many users' wallets; just because it's affordable, however, doesn't mean it's lacking in the feature department:

  • 4-inch display with Gorilla Glass
  • 1.2GHz dual-core processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • 5MP rear shooter
  • Front facing camera
  • Android 2.3, upgradable to Android 4.0

As you can see, it's packing specs comparable to top-of-the-line phones from just a couple of months ago, but at less than half the introductory price.