LG X Screen review: Seeing double

Battery Life

The one thing the X Screen does have on its side is battery life. Its 2,300mAh battery lasted an impressive 12hrs 32mins in our continuous video playback test with the screen brightness set to our standard measurement of 170cd/m2. This is just under an hour shy of the Motorola Moto G4’s result in this test, but still pretty respectable as far as sub-£200 handsets go.

Camera

The rear 13-megapixel camera is also reasonably good. There’s no optical image stabilisation, but with an aperture of f/2.2, an LED flash and a maximum video resolution of 1080p at 30fps, it’s got plenty of tools to keep you entertained. However, it does have one key weakness, as shadow areas tended to look extremely dark, even in bright sunshine. This is a shame, as it otherwise spoils what are pretty decent shots.

In our outdoor photos, for instance, colours were rich and vibrant, and detail levels were good throughout. There was a little fine detail missing here and there, particularly in complicated patches of brickwork, but low noise levels helped images look smooth and natural.

It did a good job in low light conditions as well. Our indoor still-life arrangement looked great regardless of whether we had our studio lights turned on or off. Again, finer details were a little smudged and smoothed over in places, but shadows were largely noise-free and there was a very pleasing sense of contrast and colour vibrancy.

Verdict

There’s a lot to like about the LG X Screen, not least its handy extra screen and decent battery life. However, when the Moto G4 has a better camera, faster performance and a superior main display, the LG X Screen becomes a tough smartphone to recommend, unless you really fancy the idea of having an additional shortcut bar at the top of your screen. The LG X Screen might fill a small niche, then, but in terms of pure value for money, the Moto G4 still wins by a country mile.