The LG Motion 4G is a tremendous value for the money. While it isn't MetroPCS's best phone, and it certainly has its quirks, it's hard to argue for what you're getting at $99-149 without a contract here: Android 4.0 running with a dual-core processor on a fast network. At the very least, the Motion 4G puts competing budget smartphones to shame.

Physical Features and Call Quality

The LG Motion 4G is a small, dense piece of plastic at 2.4 by 4.4 by .45 inches (HWD) and 4.7 ounces. The plastic back is textured; there's a 5-megapixel camera on the back, and a microSD memory card slot under the back cover. Like most smartphones nowadays, it's dominated by a screen, and in this case a not terribly impressive one. The 3.5-inch touch screen is a bit dim, shows fingerprints, and is just 480-by-320-pixel resolution. Below the screen there are three capacitive buttons. 

Reception on MetroPCS's network is rock solid, and calls are loud enough and clear enough. The microphone has excellent noise cancellation, at the cost of clipping the edges of your voice in noisy situations. The speakerphone is of average volume, usable in quieter outdoor situations, and speakerphone transmit quality is very good. Battery life was solid at 7 hours, 35 minutes of talk time, and I had no problem triggering the Bluetooth voice dialing with a Jawbone Era Bluetooth headset.

MetroPCS currently has a $55 unlimited plan for its 4G LTE network; the down side is that it only covers 14 metro areas, and speeds aren't quite up to Verizon's levels. For MetroPCS, I got excellent speeds using the LG Motion 4G: 8-9Mbps down and 4-5Mbps up in New York City using the Ookla Speedtest.net app. While this isn't an industry-leading 4G experience, it's true broadband and it'll blow away 3G phones like lower-end Virgin and Boost models. The phone supports hotspot mode, although not on the $55 plan; hotspot plans start at $60 for 2.5GB.

Like most MetroPCS phones, the Motion also has Devicescape's EasyWiFi client on board, which automatically logs into public Wi-Fi hotspots. This is a cool feature which definitely improves coverage; unfortunately, unlike on T-Mobile phones, you can't make phone calls in a Wi-Fi-only area. The usual GPS and Bluetooth are here as well, of course. 

Android Apps and Performance

The Motion 4G feels extremely fast, and benchmarks accordingly. Part of that is an optical illusion. The phone has the same 1.2Ghz dual-core Qualcomm S3 processor as the Editors' Choice LG Connect 4G does, but this one is pushing fewer pixels: there are 153.6k pixels on the screen here as opposed to 384k pixels on the Connect 4G. That means higher frame rates and faster response on the Motion 4G.

This is also MetroPCS's first phone with Android 4.0, which has a considerably faster Web browser (in Chrome) than earlier versions did. (For more, see our review of Android Ice Cream Sandwich.) The interface has been pretty heavily skinned, with LG offering its own launcher and its own app drawer, and MetroPCS adding a ton of bloatware (including several apps that don't work properly out of the box.) But it's still the only place you'll get Ice Cream Sandwich on MetroPCS at the moment, especially considering MetroPCS phones never seem to get upgraded.

Many of Metro's apps seem well-meaning but poorly implemented. IntoNow and Sportacular are Yahoo! apps which should be able to live or die on their own. Asurion Total Protection offers remote wipe and locate, but only for an extra monthly fee, and you can't delete it if you don't want to pay the fee. MetroXtras pops up horrible ads over whatever you're doing until you disable it.