Getting into the LG Spirit 4G (pictures)

With only a few Android 4.0 ICS handsets under its belt, MetroPCS' LG Spirit 4G is a pleasant change of pace. Sporting a bright screen, a dual-core processor, and a respectable 5-megapixel camera, the Spirit is a reasonably priced $199 prepaid smartphone.

Compared to other midrange LG devices, the Spirit 4G's look is more deliberate and thought out. Its frosty silver construction gives the handset a more luxurious feel, and its matte plastic back plate keeps fingerprints off.

The 4.5-inch Gorilla Glass IPS display has a 960x540-pixel resolution. Above the display is a 1.3-megapixel camera and below it are three hot keys (back, home, and menu) that light up when in use.

The phone measures 5.08 inches tall, 2.61 inches wide, and is 0.37 inch thick. It feels dense to hold, but at 4.3 ounces, it retains a relatively light weight. On the right edge sits a sleep/power button.

The 5-megapixel camera offers a variety of options, some of which include touch focus, a flash, a 15x digital zoom, face tracking, geotagging, a timer, and continuous, HDR, and panoramic shooting.

The device runs on a zippy 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and a 2,150mAh battery, which has a reported talk time of up to 7 hours. You'll also get 4.3GB of internal memory and 32GB of expandable external memory via a microSD card.

The handset comes preloaded with Rhapsody's music subscription service. For an extra $5 a month, you can search through and download thousands of albums and artists on major U.S. record labels.

The Spirit 4G is also equipped with LG's user interface, the Optimus UI 3.0. Though the interface isn't as stylishly simplistic as the vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich skin, the default icons are customizable under four different style themes.