Packaging & Delivery
The device is the smartphone usual unspectacular packed in a cardboard box. The scope of supply is due to the low product price rather spartan: Smartphone, battery, USB data cable with plug adapter and a Quick Start Guide with 35 pages. A headset or other accessories does not exist and must be purchased separately if required.
Housing
The housing of the smartphone consists exclusively of plastic, but feels nonetheless wertig on. The corrugated surface of the battery lid provides extra grip when using the smartphones. The workmanship is good. The one negative I only home button on the front panel. He feels a little bit shaky and you have to push it as centrally as possible in order to have a clear pressure point. But this is rather a bite and falls in everyday operation hardly.
The design is minimalistic and is based on the current standards. It reminds me to the frontal something to the Iphone. Otherwise, stands on the device actually only something going in the width design out.
Initial Setup
The usual setup procedure as with all Android smartphones. Select your language, log in with their Google account, create one or continue without an account. The latter option makes for an Android smartphone, however, makes little sense. Without an appropriate account many services and functions are not usable.
Service
The touch operation is absolutely flawlessly thanks to the 3.2 inch capacitive display with multi-touch function. Even typing text with the onscreen QWERTY keyboard works very well especially in landscape mode. The controls of the user interface of Android LG just for my taste in a pretty comfortable size. Incorrect entries happen to me in this unit almost never. But one thing bothers me: In the upper status bar has built an increasingly visible when unfolded user interface for the music player. Although I regularly use the mobile phone for listening to music, I find this rather disturbing and unnecessary surface. Disturbing, because you already have to scroll more than 2 status messages and unnecessary because there is something for widgets.
Outside the display There are 5 buttons: The aforementioned Home button at the bottom center of the front flanked by 2 illuminated touch keys with the functions Menu and Back. On the left side is the volume rocker. On the top there is the on-off switch that lets you with a short press and the display turns off and therefore the device into standby mode.
Hardware & Performance
The 800 MHz single core processor and 384 MB RAM are suitably dimensioned and allow for mostly liquid operation. In many parallel processes and connections the smartphone sometimes falters, that's for a device in this price range but normal. Android classic games like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja series run flawlessly. Games with 3D graphics as Temple Run, Raging Thunder or the Minecraft Pocket Edition can start and play well, you can tell by occasional stuttering and lag in game events and when entering but that's the smartphone here in terms of performance to the limit.
The biggest weakness of the E400 is the display. The low resolution of 240 * 320 pixels results in conjunction with the size of 3.2 inches to a PPI (pixels per inch) value of 125. The result is a total of a little blurry and pixelated display. I'm used to from my Galaxy 5 Although the same resolution, the pixels are distributed at a screen size of 2.8 inches but in a smaller area and the picture looks sharper. So how greatly disturbs a resolution when E400 is also depending on which device you have used before. An iPhone user who is accustomed to a PPI value of 326 (4th generation) will certainly respond not particularly impressed.
A bit misleading is the multiple (not only here at Amazon.com) to read indication, the smartphone possess 1 GB internal memory. Although these 1GB are actually there and available, but they function as a kind of additional SD card. Thus, only the real internal memory with 157 MB capacity available for apps that you can not move further (eg Facebook). It comes with this memory quite out when, where, it is possible that apps shifts to the external memory and clears the accumulated cache data of various applications with a corresponding app. The 1GB of memory is certainly a nice thing for the current Micro-SD card prices but a tiny advantage. I use a 16 GB card with the phone and did not rely on that memory.
Wi-Fi and 3G / mobile function smoothly. The procedure of connecting takes a few seconds. The same can be said about Bluetooth and GPS. As with low-end smartphones usual, the built-in camera is rather a nice gimmick for a full-fledged digital camera replacement. The battery, however, is with a capacity of 1500 mAh very persistent and in conjunction with an energy-saving app can be very long draw on a charge. I will do without consciously on information on the use and percentage values, because such details are usually very inaccurate and beyond too many variables exist to be really comparable.
Software
Android Gingerbread version 2.3.6 is preinstalled as the operating system on your smartphone. The latest version, Ice Cream Sandwich or 4.0 would have been nice, of course. However, rather questionable whether ICS would operate on the E400 really pleasant (in the sense of liquid). Apart from offering ICS no special exclusive feature that I would miss on this specific smartphone. I sent a request to the support, if a corresponding software update is planned. The answer came very quickly, but fell out rather unsatisfactory: Currently this is no information.
Upon delivery, 4 other apps from LG are pre-installed in addition to the obligatory Google Apps. This would on the one hand a file browser and a Appmanager, on the other hand LG Apps service for a software update and a remote diagnostic app that you will be connected as needed with an LG employee is to a help with any problems. An update I could download and install directly. On the Android version number as elsewhere in the Apps and the surface I could make no changes, which is why I was of the hang-outs here problembehebender hotfix downloaded. The remote diagnostics app came with me for lack of opportunity is not used.
There is also the option to own LG Smart World Store to install. For this you have to set up your own account. I have briefly browsed it and downloaded me a free game that it is at least not for free in Google own store in this form. Overall, the LG Store is pretty well filled with apps, but the download speed is very low (estimated ~ 50 KB / s with a line the 2.5 MB / s creates) and to publish users reviews on the apps are mostly useless (well, it can not LG). I have uninstalled it quite quickly because I do not see any advantages over the Google Store.
Conclusion
As I mentioned in my introduction, the market for entry-level smartphones is only supposedly neglected. New devices like the E400 stand here now in competition with the cheaper become middle class smartphones of yesteryear. So you get here on Amazon.com for example, the HTC Explorer for a price of 129 and the Samsung Galaxy Gio on 139th Both devices have a display with a resolution of 320 * 480 pixels, but in terms of hardware performance inferior to the E400. In this respect you get with the LG E400 for his money an adequate return and also a per se good, though not outstanding product that you would expect with all the features of an Android smartphone. The end result, therefore, I forgive 4 of 5 stars.