Find the phone of your dream through this LG Tribute Monarch review. It’s a device for users who demand reliability and affordability in one phone.
LG Tribute Monarch smartphone was released in July 2020. There are no short options for a budget phone, and this product is one of them. As a consumer, spoiled by choice is not always a good thing. It can be more confusing than helpful.
Hence we present this LG Tribute Monarch review. Let’s tap into the specs of the phone to find out whether it’s worth your bucks. As an overview, LG Tribute Monarch boasts a 5.7-inch display.
Further, you’ll also enjoy the flexibility of having a dual-camera smartphone. It has a 13MP camera and a 5MP secondary camera. LG Tribute Monarch also comes with a fingerprint reader.
Its battery is pretty low, though. LG Tribute Monarch also comes with some other not-so-desirable specs, including low storage space and RAM. For more detail, read the analysis below.
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Key Specs
LG Tribute Monarch specifications:
- Weight: 146g
- Dimensions: 147.8 x 71.1 x 8.6mm
- OS: Android 10
- Screen size: 5.7-inch
- Resolution: 1520 x 720
- CPU: 2GHz Quad-core, MediaTek Helio P22
- RAM: 2GB
- Storage: 32GB
- Battery: 2,890mAh, Non-removable
- Rear camera: 13MP + 5MP
- Front camera: 5MP
Design
LG Tribute Monarch features a design that’s not much different than other phones from the same brand. In fact, its dimension is exactly the same as other LG budget models, such as LG Risio 4. This phone measures 147.8 x 71.1 x 8.6mm. It’s also not so heavy at 146g.
The design adopts the FullVision concept which includes an almost full-screen display with little bezels. The front camera is encased within a teardrop notch at the top. On one side, you’ll see the Google Assistant button, which is also another LG’s trademark.
The back cover comes in gray. It reminds us of phones from the early 2010’s era. With many phones trying to introduce more adventurous colors nowadays, LG Tribute Monarch comes out rather plain.
The aesthetic aside, we find the build quality to be reliable on this phone. It does lack the heaviness that could give the illusion of a sturdy build. Nonetheless, this phone doesn’t feel frail at all. It doesn’t come with features like waterproof, so keep water at bay when using it.
Overall, it’s a typical budget phone design. The size is perfect and not too big. It makes LG Tribute Monarch a practical phone for everyday use.
Read also: LG Tribute Monarch User Manual
Display
The display on LG Tribute Monarch is a 5.7-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1520 x 720. This spec categorizes the display as an HD+ screen. The aspect ratio is 19:9 which allows for a movie to be displayed full screen without those distracting blank spaces.
First, let’s talk about the size. Phone consumers nowadays must get accustomed to giant screens. Therefore, a 5.7-inch screen can feel too small. Although each to their own, in our opinion this is not a bad resolution for a budget phone. For some people thinking about buying LG Tribute Monarch for their children as their first gadget, the screen won’t be too big for their smaller hands.
As we have mentioned before, with this phone you’d get an HD+ quality. This quality hovers around the lower average among most 2020 phones. However, it’s a decent quality for cheap entry-levels. You won’t be able to tune YouTube videos to 1080p, though. But having 720p is not the end of the world either. The screen still displays graphical outputs beautifully.
On icons and other user interface tidbits, we hardly found any rough pixels like in lesser quality displays. Zooming texts on browsers may still show some pixelations. But if you don’t try hard to find imperfections, most of the time the screen won’t show you any. It’s quite subtle and not easily noticeable unless you are a pro user who often uses expensive displays.
Camera
Two cameras on the back have become common even on budget names. In this case, we got a 13MP main lens with 5MP wide-angle lens. The camera is one of the fun parts of LG Tribute Monarch. On the other side, a 5MP front-facing lens occupies the notch above the screen.
LG Tribute Monarch promises you’d get a reliable tool when faced with landscape picture opportunities. That’s what the wide-angle camera is for. The 120° field of view makes sure you can capture everything in one shot. Alternatively, the wide-angle lens is also useful for taking large group photos.
The quality of the picture is not the best, but at least it’s social-media presentable. Quality varies depending on light situations. Night photos are not immune from noises.
For recording video, you can get Full HD results (1080p) with LG Tribute Monarch. We don’t see any image stabilization feature on the camera. Therefore, expect the results to be shaky if you’re recording a video while moving around. Meanwhile, the front camera is just okay. At 5MP, it can also produce a Full HD video like the back camera.
Read also:
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- Wiko Ride 2 Review: Entry Level Phone with Good Base Specs
Storage
LG Tribute Monarch provides users with 32GB to store their photos and install apps. We considered it as an average capacity and at this price, it seems too much to ask for more. This capacity allows you to install a handful of apps and store several gigabytes of multimedia files.
Once the internal storage runs out, you can consider an SD card to add more storage space. LG Tribute Monarch comes with an expandable option. The downside is, it means you’ll need to pay a bit more to buy an SD card.
Performance
LG Tribute Monarch presents a budget CPU configuration with a Quad-core MediaTek Helio P22 processor. Carrying tasks with a maximum clock speed of 2GHz, Helio P22 offers decent performance for casual users. The CPU comes with an integrated GPU PowerVR GE8320. It is also assisted by 2GB RAM.
A humble specification, one should not expect a lot from LG Tribute Monarch’s performance. This phone manages to carry basic instructions flawlessly. Launching apps and switching the screen seems to be easy tasks for the device.
The performance sometimes can be a hit or a miss. When opening many apps, then going back to the Home screen, often the phone shows blank wallpaper. The icons would take some time to appear. Usually, this situation happens because the RAM is too small.
The small RAM also contributes to other limitations on this phone. One of the examples is gaming, which is clearly LG Tribute Monarch’s weakness. You would need to refrain from playing games because many heavy ones aren’t even supported.
However, don’t worry about getting stuck with basic tasks (i.e: calling, texting). This phone is capable of many fun activities. We found streaming is a task LG Tribute Monarch does well. On top of that, you can use the phone for the internet and social media with little to no lags.
On the software side, LG Tribute Monarch runs on Android 10 with custom LG UX. LG phones always come with their own Android skin along with several pre-installed apps. On this particular phone, we found the custom app not as burdensome in other, more expensive models.
A fingerprint reader is present on LG Tribute Monarch, which adds more value to this budget phone. It’s nice to have one because some LG models, like LG Risio 4 don’t include a fingerprint reader. Today, fingerprint readers are probably the most secure and convenient way to lock your phone.
There are not many other sensors aside from the fingerprint reader. You will find an Accelerometer here, but not a gyroscope or compass.
Connectivity
Like most phones nowadays, LG Tribute Monarch supports various network bands from 2G to 4G. For Wi-Fi, the phone uses 802.11 Wi-Fi technology which also supports Wi-Fi Direct and Hotspot. This phone is well-equipped when it comes to network tools and speed. Although it’s a budget phone, you don’t have to worry about lacking anything in this area.
Our LG Tribute Monarch review on call quality came out as satisfactory. As long as the phone is within the coverage area of your network provider, it doesn’t randomly drop the call. Additionally, the sound output is quite clear.
The GPS finds locations through three types of GPS technologies: A-GPS, from cell towers, and using Wi-Fi positioning. LG Tribute Monarch would be reliable to help with navigation. In the car, you can put it on the dashboard to guide you while driving.
LG Tribute Monarch also provides Bluetooth 5.0 to connect with other devices. It’s the latest version of Bluetooth with plenty of benefits such as a wider pairing range. Unfortunately, The USB technology on this phone is outdated, as LG Tribute Monarch still uses MicroUSB.
Battery
This device relies on a 2,890mAh battery to get users through the day. The capacity alone is low, even for a budget phone standard, which usually hovers around 3,000mAh. Although it seems small, LG Tribute Monarch claims 17 hours of talk time on this phone.
For general use, one day is the best you can bet with the battery life. It gets you to the end of the day with a normal amount of screen time. Obviously, if you use the phone more often, the battery drains quicker. Recharging time is quick due to the small battery size, so that’s a plus. It’s also the reason why LG doesn’t include any fast charging feature on this phone.
Is the LG Tribute Monarch a good phone?
LG Tribute Monarch is clearly a phone for beginners. If you want a decent smartphone coming from a respectable brand like LG, this can be your go-to choice. Especially if you also prioritize affordability.
By paying only $69.99, you’d get a phone with a decent display size, great everyday performance, and two cameras on the back. The extra features are also worth the dollars. We’re talking about the fingerprint reader and Google Assistant button. It makes the phone an all-around budget device that is capable and reliable.
LG Tribute Monarch Pros
- Great day-to-day performance
- Dual-camera
- Fingerprint reader
- Affordable
LG Tribute Monarch Cons
- Small battery
- Not a phone for heavy tasks
- Low display quality