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LG X Power review: Plans | Pricing | Specs

Name: LG X Power
Brand: LG

Alex Kidman

Last updated: 7 September 2019

The X Power lives and dies on that remarkable battery performance, and that makes it a decent choice for anyone who’s forgetful about charging their phone, because you simply won’t need to do so quite as often.

5.3 inches

Display size

16GB

Internal storage

13 MP

Rear camera

4,100 mAh

Battery size

Finder rated as Excellent vs similar phones

Details

Device features

Rear camera megapixels	13MP
Rear camera aperture size	f/2.2
Video recording	1080p
Front camera megapixels	5MP
Front camera aperture size	f/2.4

Processor	MT6735
RAM	2GB
Operating system	Android 6
Internal storage	16GB
External storage support	Up to 2TB
Battery capacity	4,100mAh

Launch price (RRP)	$349
Launch date	2016-08

Alex Kidman is the tech and telco editor at Finder. He's been a technology writer with experience spanning more than 20 years, writing and editing at Gizmodo, CNET, PC Magazine, Kotaku and many more. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England and a serious passion for retro gaming.

The good

Battery is a monster
Looks decent (from a distance)
Simple integrated launcher
The price is right

The bad

Terribly ordinary performance
Feels cheap
Sealed battery, but not water resistant
Outright sales only

LG’s budget X Power phone has an exceptional battery, but it’s otherwise a rather plain phone.

When you buy a cheap phone, you accept all sorts of compromises compared to devices that play in the mid-range or over $1,000 premium space. Cheaper processors, cheaper design and, all too often, smaller battery capacities are the norm in this space.

That clearly wasn’t the case with the LG X Power phone. While it retails for an affordable $349, its key selling point is the inclusion of a 4,100mAh battery, way above what you would usually expect from a phone at this price point. But does the LG X Power deliver beyond its huge battery?

Design

Slim and sleek design is more attractive than your average mid-range smartphone
Plastic construction feels a little cheaper than we'd like

Most budget to mid-range phones tend to look plain, and while we’d never call the LG X Power a real looker, it does manage to look a little better than you’d expect at this price point, with a rear dimpled case that reminds us a lot of the Samsung Galaxy S5, and nicely rounded edges.
But while the X Power looks acceptable from a distance, as soon as you pick it up it’s clear where corners have been cut. We will give it the accolade of being surprisingly light, so much so that when we first picked it up we figured the battery hadn’t been installed. That light feeling does mean that you can feel just how plasticky the sealed body shell is. This isn’t helped by very thin and indistinct power and volume buttons either.
If you’re shifting from iOS and you don’t like the app drawer approach of Android, LG’s inbuilt launcher will appeal. It's a simple affair, with a straight flowing set of app icon pages that stack to the right. Nothing too fancy, but it makes navigating your phone that much easier.
LG’s been notable in sticking to removable batteries for the LG G5 and LG V20 phones, so it's a little disappointing that the X Power’s battery is sealed in place. This means that when it goes, you won’t be able to easily pop in another battery pack. For all that, it's also not rated for any type of water resistance. Boo!

Camera

A capable pairing of front and rear cameras suitable for regular photography
Hands-free shooting modes make selfies even easier

LG delivers a solid but relatively standard camera set-up with the X Power. There's a 13MP sensor at the rear for regular photography and a 5MP sensor on the front for your selfie shots. This is a common pairing among phones at this price point, and while it might not be the X Power's greatest strength, both cameras are still perfectly capable of capturing decent photos under the right conditions.
You'll also find the LG X Power loaded with the standard retinue of camera modes and features. There's a panorama mode for wide-angle photography, a burst-shot mode to help with capturing fleeting moments and support for hands-free camera activation both through gestures and by simply looking and smiling at the camera.

Performance

Can be frustratingly slow at times, even for a low-cost phone
A steep price to pay for that long-legged battery

The X Power’s battery has impressive life, but that’s only partially down to the size of the supplied battery. The other factor in its battery life is the Mediatek MT6735 processor that runs the whole show. It’s not a processing powerhouse by any definition, and you’ll soon find that out when using the X Power, as it can be downright slow.

Predictably, this led to some very ordinary benchmark scores. Here’s how the X Power compared using Geekbench 4’s CPU test:

Handset	Geekbench 4 CPU Single Core (higher is better)	Geekbench 4 CPU Multi Core (higher is better)
Apple iPhone 7 Plus	3374	5649
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	1359	5333
Samsung Galaxy S7	1378	4718
Apple iPhone SE	2449	4171
Apple iPhone 6s	2465	4052
Google Pixel XL	1629	4051
Motorola Moto Z	1477	3853
Sony Xperia XZ	1636	3604
Google Nexus 6P	1293	3594
Motorola Moto X Force	1352	3581
Motorola Moto Z Play	799	2648
Sony Xperia X	1122	2626
LG X Power	554	1482
Motorola Moto G Play	522	1334

Here’s how it stacks up with 3DMark’s Ice Storm Unlimited test:

Handset	3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Result
Alcatel IDOL 4S	18186
HTC One X9	16877
Motorola Moto Z Play	13958
Oppo R9	11053
Motorola Moto G4 Plus	9757
Oppo R7s	8390
LG X Power	4953
Motorola Moto G Play	4475
LG Stylus DAB+	4321
Alcatel Pop 4	3863
Samsung Galaxy J2	3469

Battery life

Phenomenal battery that outlasts all its contemporaries
Multi-day battery life is easily attainable

The LG X Power is well named, because that 4,100mAh battery is easily the best reason to pick one up. Single-day battery life is ridiculously easy to attain, and multi-day use should be quite feasible. Running Geekbench 3’s battery life test over the LG X Power saw it utterly destroy every other phone we’ve run that test over in terms of battery life, including models that cost triple its asking price.

Handset	Geekbench 3 Battery Test Duration	Geekbench 3 Battery Score
LG X Power	14:50:30	5714
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	11:55:00	7150
Huawei Mate 8	11:14:40	6659
Apple iPhone 7 Plus	11:11:20	6713
Samsung Galaxy J2	10:05:20	2689
Samsung Galaxy S7	10:01:20	6013
Motorola Moto X Force	9:46:50	3914
Motorola Moto 4G Plus	9:44:10	3977
Motorola Moto G Play	9:36:00	3840
Alcatel Pop 4	9:20:30	2490
Google Pixel XL	9:14:20	5543
Sony Xperia XZ	8:24:20	5042
Samsung Galaxy Note 5	9:18:00	5580
Alcatel Idol 4S	8:14:20	4943
LG Stylus DAB+	8:11:40	3278
LG G5	7:36:10	4561

To put it in perspective, the LG X Power managed more than double the battery life of LG’s own G5 premium smartphone, and while it did so with a much lower power processor, it also beat out the next nearest budget competitor, Samsung’s otherwise entirely unremarkable Galaxy J2.

Verdict

If it's exceptional battery life you want, the LG X Power has it in spades

The X Power lives and dies on that remarkable battery performance, and that makes it a decent choice for anyone who’s forgetful about charging their phone on a regular basis, because you simply won’t need to do it quite as often. That being said, it’s otherwise a plain and unremarkable phone, and you’re not spoiled for choice at this kind of price bracket for phones that offer a little more in either performance or features, and sometimes both.
Consider perhaps any of Oppo’s mid-range smartphone offerings, or for that matter Huawei’s selection of capable handsets. If you’re seriously cash-strapped and still want long battery life, consider the Galaxy J2, which is even cheaper, but at the cost of being considerably worse in the performance department compared to the X Power.

Pricing and availability

LG X Power

Whatcha going to do with all that power?

Stay on the go for longer with the LG X Power and its massive 4,100mAh battery.

The LG X Power retails for $349 but is currently available from online retailers like Buy Mobile for around $260.