[LG Optimus 2x] jpbl1976:
O2X Folks,

I noticed something disturbing and more than a little annoying.

It seems that because of the timing of the release of these devices, quite a number of forum posters are comparing the O2X to the SE Arc. Yes, the same SE Arc that runs on a later generation single-core snapdragon and runs 2.3.

Other than the relative timing of their releases to market, is there even an comparison between the two? It's apples-and-oranges all over.

I have BOTH devices and I can tell you now that the Arc is inferior to the O2X in many respects:

1. Dual core really means more. Whereas the stock O2X handily gets about 2,450 on Quadrant, the stock Arc barely gets to 1,300 under the same benchmark. Once you've got Paul O'Brien's ROM on the O2X, you can clock 3,100 -- even the SGSII couldn't clock that score.

2. Reality Display??!The so-called Reality Display on the Arc produces washed-out colors in daily use -- and this is true not just for my unit but the others I've seen. I never realized that reality could look that washed-out

3. Disk Space This never gets enough press and I'm starting to think SE bribed the so-called "professional" reviewers to ignore this: 512MB of disk space is never going to cut it these days. Two years ago, that would have been a monster deal. Today, it's just **meh**. The fact is, market app files are getting bigger and bigger and even with Apps to SD, it's just too limiting when you're really just playing with the 270MB that the Arc has out of the box.

4. Design and Build Quality Sure, the Arc features an attractive and unique design but it's just too... SHINY. After a while, it starts to look tacky with the chrome bezel, whereas the O2X has a statelier, more refined and restrained design with its matte accents and Wenger-toned back. What's more, the materials used on the O2X are obviously of a higher quality -- the Arc's bezel is obviously some cheap plastic that will wear away after a while -- I've had SE Phones dating back to the P900 days and their bezels/sides wore out after a while. I am willing to bet the Arc will be no different. SE is just not very good when it comes to these things -- or it does this on purpose to get you to buy a new one form them. It's also occurred to me that the decision to implement the arc design probably contributed to the lack of storage; a "fatter" chassis would have allowed for more storage modules to be compressed into the body.

Now, the main complaints against the O2X are lags and the quality control that led to some units having bleeding back-lighting. Legitimate ones, to be sure but luckily, I didn't experience the latter and Paul's ROM fixed the former for the most part.

I bring up the custom ROMs because it's annoying that people are posting on XDA complaining about STOCK ROMs when everyone bloody well knows that XDA is the go-to place for custom ROMs. The level of inanity is just seriously grating. Why even bother to come here if you're just going to rant about Stock ROM issues? Do it on the Android forums!

If any Arc/SE Fanboys are reading this: please just stop comparing the two devices. It doesn't work. As a fellow Arc owner, I know you want to justify your purchase but just because it got released right around the same time as the O2X does not mean that they're meant to be compared. I use my Arc mainly as a spare.

If you want to rightly compare the O2X to some phones, this is a much better template: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/15/htc-sensation-versus-the-rest-of-the-dual-core-world-smartphone/