Testing the LG Optimus Fuel - Rooted

Well guys, it's that time again! Recently I ended up getting an StraightTalk LG 34C (known as the Optimus Fuel) as a hopeful replacement for my Huwaei Glory. However, my plans changed when I discovered some rather interesting things about the phone. I would like to share those things with you here. However, there is a little twist. If you use Towelroot, you can root this phone, meaning that my review will be taking root privileges into account.

First, all the things I hate about this phone:

1) False Advertising - The sellers claim the phone has 512 MB RAM. In all honesty, you get 424MB, which is still very low for a phone running Android KitKat (4.4). Another thing they fail to mention is that the internal storage is only 1.85GB (though the ROM space adds another 1.7GB to that).

2) The System Settings Menu/APK - The manufacturer of the phone (LG Electronics) decided that they would load the phone with as much bloatware as possible (more on that in a second. This included a custom launcher, a custom keyboard, and a custom lock screen. All of these have dedicated strings in the settings menu. If you remove the default launcher, keyboard or lock screen, you will have references which no longer work and crash the settings app when you click on them. If you want to fix this, you have to edit the Settings APK directly using ADB, which is a LOT of work. It would have been so much better for those strings to have not been in there in the first place.

3) The Bloatware Itself - This phone came with over 130 APKs built in, making it rather sluggish before root. (To give you some perspective, CyanogenMod comes with maybe 70 APKs). You'll find yourself deleting a LOT of stuff, (Be careful though, as deleting certain APKs will break the phone completely).

4) Terrible Camera App - The default camera app has a lot of cool settings, but the problem is that when you send your pictures to your computer, they will not autorotate. As this is LG's version of the Camera, this is very much something they are at fault for.

5) THE TOUCH SCREEN - On one hand, the touch screen registers input flawlessly (something the Huawei Glory failed miserably at). On the other, the screen is so prone to blemishes it hurts. I got two scratches on my phone in two days. The Glory lasted two months before the touch screen started to show wear and tear.

6) THE MUSIC PLAYER - Why the hell doesn't the music player come with lock screen controls? I don't fucking know. So I pulled the APK from the phone as soon as I rooted.

X) Guys... It's KitKat... - This is a personal thing, but I absolutely despise the aesthetics of KitKat. I hate the font defaults, and I hate that the icons are white. I feel that Jelly Bean was the most aesthetically pleasing interface and Android L looks even worse to me.

Alright, with that out of the way, let's talk about all the things I LOVE about this phone:

1) 1.2 Ghz Dual Core - That added core really does make all the difference. This phone is so much faster than the Glory, and under normal circumstances, apps should almost never crash.

2) Better Clock - LG's version of the Clock is wonderful. So many alarm settings, a built in Timer, a built in Stop Watch, and a built in World Time feature.

3) An actual compass! - LG included a gyroscope in this phone like they did with the 38c. The one thing I hated most about the Glory is no longer a problem.

So where do I stand with this phone? It has its fair share of problems, but those can be fixed thanks to rooting. I would say it's as good as the Glory is - better in some aspects, worse in others.

What I Did With It

First thing I did once rooted was I uninstalled the Google Play apps I was never going to use (Newsstand, Music, Books, TV, etc.). The stock Email app went bye-bye but I opted to keep Gmail. Youtube was pointless since you can use the Browser, so I uninstalled that too. The office software which came with the phone is something I pulled without hesitation.

I uninstalled the LG Home Launcher and wrote NOVA Launcher + NOVA Prime into the ROM using Titanium Backup PRO. I pulled LG's keyboard and wrote Google Keyboard into the ROM. I installed Xposed Framework, and installed the "Disable Fullscreen Keyboard" module. I overwrote the ROM versions of Maps and Calendar with their most recent updates. I froze/disabled Unified EULA since it was being annoying.

As a precaution, I wrote the Pro Key of Titanium Backup into the ROM. I recommend this if you ever do something stupid like get rid of Google Play Store. Titanium Backup can be installed with a direct link, but the Pro key can only be redownloaded from the Play Store once purchased and you ABSOLUTELY NEED IT to make changes to the ROM.