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Battery Life
Considering its budget status, we weren't sure whether to expect long-lasting performance from the battery. Luckily, we were pleasantly surprised by the results from 2150 mAh removable, rechargeable battery, which is found beneath the easily removed back cover of the device.
It's rated for eight hours of talk time, and in our testing – using the device for a mix of web browsing, email reading, use of apps and games, and light media streaming, we had little trouble getting a full day out of the device. And if you're a less-fervent handset user, it'll hold up well over multiple days. For a phone of this size and its power needs, the battery size seems just right, especially for the handset's price.
Maps and Apps
The LG Escape expectedly comes preloaded with Google Maps, which is the gold standard for mobile mapping and works admirably here throughout. It offers GPS-aided maps, directions for driving, walking, and public transportation, and can kick you to either Google's own Navigation app or the AT&T Navigator app for turn-by-turn navigation.
AT&T has preloaded the device with a few too many unnecessary apps, sadly, like AT&T FamilyMap, AT&T Code Scanner, and Mobile TV – all of which would have been better off as optional downloads. While these apps (and other AT&T ones) can't be deleted outright, they can be disabled and hidden from your apps listing.
Facebook and Twitter are already included on the Escape from the moment you pull it out of the box, but we suspect most users won't be too heartbroken about having those at the ready.
Otherwise, your destination for loading the device up with apps and games is Google Play, the stock Android marketplace, which also serves up access to movies, music, books, and more. While still not as robust a storefront as the iOS App Store, Google Play's app offerings are steadily improving, and there are plenty of free and paid options in both the apps and games realms. Most headline apps – like Netflix, Flipboard, and Instagram – are available, though the games selection is much more hit-or-miss compared to what's found on iOS devices.
Still, there are plenty of great games to be had, and thankfully performance is not an issue with the LG Escape. We tried an array of top games, including the likes of Angry Birds Star Wars, Jetpack Joyride, and Shadowgun DeadZone, and all ran very well without noticeable slowdown or visual degradation.
As noted earlier, however, there's no built-in way to install or move apps to the microSD card, leaving you just about 1.8GB of internal storage for both downloading and installing apps and games. Many top games weigh in at more than 1GB apiece, but you won't have enough space to both download the app and then support the install process. The LG Escape can run slick games, but can't actually store many of them. What a shame.
