LG Spectrum review

As expected from the bright, excellent display, the LG Spectrum is an ideal personal media player, especially when it comes to local or streaming video clips.

The LG Spectrum supports MPEG-4, WMV, H.263, and H.264 video formats, and locally stored high-resolution clips look outstanding on the screen, sporting crisp details and vibrant colors throughout.

Even Netflix streaming movies and TV episodes over the 4G LTE network looked great and ran at a steady clip, though they'll drain your battery in a hurry. Be sure to update the phone, though, as Netflix playback is broken out of the box but quickly addressed with an OTA update.

Located on the lower back next to Verizon's 4G LTE logo, the speaker grate delivers clear sound quality for video, but doesn't reach very high volumes during playback, making it an unlikely option to prop up to entertain multiple people without an external speaker.

The speaker gets a bit louder for music, but sounds slightly distorted on the highest setting. Luckily, the sound quality of music via headphones is stellar, with the built-in music player somewhat resembling that of the iPhone and iPod touch, thanks to a large cover image flanked by playback buttons.

The Spectrum's Gallery app offers easy access to your Camera photos and video clips, as well as images stored on the MicroSD card and images and profile picks pulled from any Blogger account associated with your Google profile. From the main Gallery screen, you can expand two fingers to view a few photos in each category stack, then tap to access the full set and view individual photos.