The LG X venture from AT&T is not an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S8 competitor. But it is a decent phone for a price that doesn’t break the bank.
The good stuff | The X venture is an inexpensive handset that gets excellent battery life.
The bad stuff | The phone has a noticeable lag in applications and sports a microUSB rather than the emerging industry-standard USB-C.
The mid-range LG X venture (which runs Android 7.0) may not be the shiniest new toy on the block, but it will likely appeal to users just looking for a phone that works as — you know — a phone. Don’t worry though, it’s not completely void of bells and whistles.
Note: The LG X venture used for this review was loaned to me by AT&T.
Design
The X venture has a 5.2-inch full 1080p display. The screen is pretty good considering it’s an LCD panel and not AMOLED. It’s a larger phone that was made to be kicked around. Thanks to stainless steel rails on its sides and a rubbery back casing, the X venture feels pretty substantial. Though, it’s not the prettiest handset I’ve ever seen.
Not only is this phone more rugged than your average smartphone, it also has an IP68 rating. LG says the device should be water resistant in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes.
At the bottom of the X venture’s screen are three buttons for maneuvering through the operating system. The middle button also serves as the fingerprint reader. The X venture also has a 5MP front-facing camera.
The bottom of the phone houses the X venture’s headphone jack, a microUSB port and a microphone. The power button is on the handset’s right side. Along the left side are the volume buttons and an orange button quick button that opens the phone’s Outdoor Essentials app by default. The phone’s microSD and SIM card tray are also on the left side.
The X venture’s back is covered in a texturized rubber-like material. The upper middle of the back is where the 16MP main camera lives.
The X venture has 32GB of storage, but that’s expandable up to 256GB via microSD. It also sports a 4,100 mAh battery, which is more than enough power on an average day.
Performance
The X venture isn’t a very quick phone. But if all you’re doing is basic tasks — which means no gaming — you probably won’t mind too much. The phone’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 with 2 GB of RAM.
For the sake of comparison, I’ve benchmarked the X venture against other popular handsets I’ve reviewed. But please note that I did not (at all) expect this mid-range LG to overtake any of its competitors’ flagship phones — and it did not.
No, it’s not very impressive matched against the likes of the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S8. But the X venture is not meant to compete in that arena.
It’s also worth noting here that price-wise, you’re getting what you pay for. The LG X venture costs only $330.
Camera
The X venture’s camera, though it did lag on action shots, was actually a pretty decent shooter with good lighting. I took the handset to Chicago for a weekend and never really felt like I wasn’t getting a get good shot.
See for yourself.
Macro
Panorama
Low-light
Selfie
Problems
The biggest issue I had with the X venture was just general slowness. I’m not a very patient person when it comes to electronics and I’m more used to a zippy iPhone. In the hands of someone not looking for processing speed, this issue might not seem so bad.
Additionally, the phone’s quick button is too easy to hit — meaning I opened the Outdoor Essentials app more often than I truly needed it.
Recommend to a friend?
It depends. Someone looking for a phone to “wow” them would likely hate this handset. But for a more accident prone individual or a parent looking to get their child a sturdy starter phone, the LG X venture could be a good option.
