LG Tribute Empire LM-X220PM Archives

The nomenclature of the recent tribute series smartphones gives a feeling that they are the flagship devices. What comes to your mind after hearing Dynasty, Empire, and Royal? However, in reality, they fall at the bottom of the ladder. LG Tribute series offers budget smartphones with the bare basic features.

In this post, we are going to find whether the latest entrant in the series, Tribute royal is a true successor of Empire or not. Whether you should upgrade from Empire or stick with it for some more time.

First of all, we are going to find out the differences and later one we are going to cover the similarities between the 3.

So, Let’s start with the differences –

Difference Between LG Tribute Empire, Tribute Royal & Tribute Dynasty

LG Tribute Empire vs Royal vs Dynasty — LG Tribute Empire, Royal & Dynasty – Front

LG LM-X220PM vs LM-X320PM vs SP200 — LG Tribute Empire, Royal & Dynasty – Back

1. Release Date & Price – Difference between Tribute Empire, Royal & Destiny

RELEASE DATE & PRICE	LG Tribute Empire	LG Tribute Royal	LG Tribute Dynasty
Model Number	LM-X220PM	LM-X320PM	SP200
Release Date	January 2019	November 2019	January 2018
Current Price	Around $50	Around $70	Around $50

Every year there comes a new Tribute device from Sprint. LG Tribute Royal is the latest entrant in this series. It was launched in the month of November 2019. This is the 7th Tribute device after LG Tribute, Tribute 2, Tribute 5, Tribute HD, Tribute Dynasty & Tribute Empire.

In 2019, two Tribute devices were launched at once. First Tribute Empire came in January 2019, then Tribute Royal arrived in November 2019. Check out their current prices with the help of the below screenshots. You can click on the screenshot to buy the phone.

2. Body – Tribute Empire vs Royal vs Dynasty

BODY DESIGN	LG Tribute Empire	LG Tribute Royal	LG Tribute Dynasty
Colors	White	Platinum Grey	Champagne Gold
Dimensions	144.8 x 71.9 x 8.1 mm (5.7” x 2.83” x 0.32”)	146.8 x 71.6 x 8.4 mm (5.78” x 2.82” x 0.33”)	144.8 x 71.9 x 8.1 mm (5.7” x 2.83” x 0.32”)
Weight	4.94 oz (140 g)	5.22 oz (148 g)	4.9 oz (139 g)
Removable Battery	✔	✖	✔

LG Dynasty & Empire have almost identical form-factor, shape & size. They also have a removable battery.

Tribute Royal is the first tribute phone with a non-removable battery. It’s also the first Tribute phone with an 18:9 aspect ratio. As evident in the above picture, it has a taller body & a bigger display.

They all come in different colors. Tribute Dynasty comes is Gold, Empire is White & the LG Royal is Platinum Grey in color.

3. Phone Layout – lmx220pm vs lmx320pm vs sp200

LG Tribute Empire vs Royal - Power Button — LG Tribute Empire & Royal – Power Button

LAYOUT	LG Tribute Empire	LG Tribute Royal	LG Tribute Dynasty
Power Button Location	Back	Right	Back
Speaker Grill Location	Back	Back	Back
Headphone Jack Location	Bottom	Bottom	Bottom
Sim Card/Memory Card Location	Under the Battery Door	Left	Under the Battery Door
Additional Button	✖	Google Assistant Key on the Left	✖

Similar to Tribute HD, Tribute Royal has the Power button on the right. LG Empire & Dynasty have their power key on the back of the phone.

Tribute Royal also comes with a dedicated Google Assistant key on it’s left below the volume rocker.

As Tribute Royal has a unibody design with a non-removable battery, the SIM tray is located outside on the Left.

4. Display – LG Tribute Dynasty vs Royal vs Empire

SCREEN / DISPLAY	LG Tribute Empire	LG Tribute Royal	LG Tribute Dynasty
Screen Size	5 inches	5.45 inches	5 inches
Aspect Ratio	16:9 ratio	18:9 ratio	16:9 ratio
Screen Resolution/Wallpaper Size	1280 x 720 pixels	1440 x 720 pixels	1280 x 720 pixels
Pixel Density	294 ppi	282 ppi	294 ppi

The biggest improvement in Tribute Royal can be seen in the Display. The Screen size is increased from 5 to 5.45 inches. Thanks to the 18:9 aspect ratio. Even with the bigger screen, the body dimensions remain almost the same.

In the above picture, you can notice the increased screen estate in LG Royal. It has got thinner bezels as compared to Dynasty & Empire.

5. Hardware – Royal vs Empire vs Dynasty

HARDWARE	LG Tribute Empire	LG Tribute Royal	LG Tribute Dynasty
Processor/CPU	1.5 GHz Octa-Core	2.0 GHz Octa-Core	1.5 GHz Octa-Core
Chipset	Mediatek MT6750	Mediatek MT6762	Mediatek MT6750
GPU	ARM Mali T-860 MP2	PowerVR GE8320	ARM Mali T-860 MP2

In the hardware department, we can see some improvement in Tribute Royal. While Empire & Dynasty share the same 1.5 GHz Octa-Core MT6750 Mediatek Processor, Tribute Royal comes with an improved Mediatek MT6762 CPU with a clock speed of 2.0 GHz.

6. Software – sp200 vs lm-x220pm vs lm-x320pm

LG Tribute Empire vs Royal - Android Version — LG Tribute Empire & Royal – Android Version

SOFTWARE	LG Tribute Empire	LG Tribute Royal	LG Tribute Dynasty
Android Version	Android 8.1 Oreo	Android 9.0 Pie	Android 7.1.2 Nougat
User Interface	LG UX 7.0	LG UX 7.0	LG UX 6.0
Camera Manual Mode / Controls	✔	✔	✖

Android 10 is hardly seen in budget smartphones as of now. Tribute Royal comes with Android Pie 9.0 which can be seen as an improvement over the Oreo 8.1.0 on Tribute Empire. Tribute dynasty is still on Android Nougat 7.1.2

All the 3 phones come with a rear 8 MP camera and front 5 MP camera. There is a significant improvement in the picture quality in the LG Tribute Royal. Its Selfie camera also offers Portrait mode with blurred background.

Tribute Empire and Royal offer Manual Mode. We can manually adjust the focus and light intensity.

7. Battery – LG Tribute Empire vs Royal vs Dynasty

BATTERY	LG Tribute Empire	LG Tribute Royal	LG Tribute Dynasty
Capacity	2500 mAh	3000 mAh	2500 mAh
Battery Life / Talk Time	Up to 15 hrs	Up to 20 hrs	Up to 15 hrs

While Tribute Dynasty and Empire share the same 2500 mAh battery. Tribute Royal comes with a bigger 3000 mAh battery.

You can expect up to 15 hours of Talktime from LG Tribute Empire & 20 hours talk time from Tribute Royal.

The only drawback is that it’s a non-removable battery so you cannot keep a spare battery as an emergency backup.

Similarities between LG Tribute Royal, Empire & Dynasty

Similarities between the 3	LG Tribute Empire, Royal & Dynasty
BUILD & DESIGN
Body Material	Plastic
Memory Card Slot/Expandable Memory	Up to 32 GB Micro SD
Waterproof	✖
DISPLAY
Display Type/Technology	IPS LCD
Gorilla Glass/Glass Screen Protection	✖
Contoured/Curved Edge / Arc Glass	✖
NETWORK
Sim Size/Type	Nano
GSM/CDMA	CDMA + GSM
GSM Unlock Status	Locked
Carrier	Sprint, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile
Wifi Calling	✔
VoLTE	✔
SENSORS
Accelerometer	✔
Gyroscope/VR Compatibility	✔
Magnetometer/Digital Compass	✔
Fingerprint Sensor	✖
Ambient Light Sensor	✔
Proximity Sensor	✔
CONNECTIVITY
USB	Micro USB 2.0
USB OTG	✔
Bluetooth	✔
Wifi Hotspot / Tethering	✔
GPS	✔
Screen Mirroring / Miracast	✔
MHL / Slimport / HDMI Compatible	✖
NFC / Android Pay / Android Beam	✖
IR Blaster / TV Remote	✖
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
FM Radio	✖
Notification LED Light	✖
Handwriting / Stylus Support	✖
Quick Charge / Fast Charging	✖
Wireless Charging / Qi-enabled	✖
MEMORY/STORAGE
Internal Storage/Memory/ROM	16 GB
Expandable Memory	✔
Maximum SD card capacity/sd card size	Up to 2 TB
RAM	2 GB
SOFTWARE
Face Unlock / Facial Recognition	✔
Flashlight	✔
Google Assistant	✔
Multi-Window /Split Screen	✔
CAMERA SPECS & FEATURES
*REAR*
Megapixels	8 MP
Autofocus	✔
Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF)	✖
Flash	Single LED Flash
Zoom	Up to 4x, Digital
Video Resolution	1080p @ 30 fps
Slow Motion	✖
Time Lapse	✖
Video Stabilization	✖
HDR	✔
Face Detection	✔
*FRONT*
Megapixels	5 MP
Flash	✖
Video	1080p @ 30 fps
Root & Custom ROM Status
ROOT Compatible	✖
Bootloader Unlock Compatible	✖
Custom Rom Available	✖

The above table shows the similarities between the 3 phones. It covers even those features which are missing from all 3 phones.

Conclusion

The above comparison shows that Tribute Royal is headed in the right direction. We can see improvement in most of the areas. It feels an all-new device when compared to Tribute Empire.

The same cannot be said about the Empire as a successor to the Dynasty. Empire & Dynasty are almost the same with hardly any differences.

We can conclude that Tribute Royal is leading in these areas –

Better Looks
Feels more compact in hand
Dedicated Google Assistant Key
Bigger display
More Powerful Hardware
Newer Android Firmware – Pie 9.0 vs Oreo 8.1.0
Higher Capacity Battery

Areas where Tribute Empire beats Royal –

Removable Battery

It's only fair to share...

LG Tribute Series is a budget series from Sprint. It’s synonymous with the Aristo series from the MetroPCS. LG Tribute Empire and Aristo 3 are the same phones with different model numbers.

Being a budget phone wireless charging feature is missing from the Tribute Empire. In the true sense, wireless charging just saves you from the hassle of inserting the USB cable into the charging port. It’s not that you can charge your phone remotely over the air. If offered in budget phones it would unnecessarily raise the phone cost.

Only the high-end LG phones are Qi-enabled such as LG G7 & V40. The good thing is that it’s not that difficult to enable this feature in the LG Tribute Empire.

In this post, we’re going to enable wireless charging on the Tribute Empire & will also find out how well it performs as compared to the wired charging. So, let’s proceed further –

How to Enable Wireless Charging on the LG Tribute Empire LMX220PM

The whole process can be divided into 3 steps –

STEP 1: Getting a Qi Wireless Charger Receiver

lg tribute empire wireless charging

While shipping for a Qi receiver for Tribute Empire, make sure its a Micro USB Type-A receiver. You can refer to the above screenshot.

Nillkin Qi Wireless Charger Receiver – Micro USB Type-A

For efficient charging, the Qi wireless receiver should be of good quality. Wireless charger already offers an efficiency of up to 70% as compared to wired charging. That would reduce further if the receiver is of substandard quality.

The highest-rated Qi receiver is from Nillkin. It offers a very thin flap in the form of a sticker that can be pasted at the back of the Tribute Empire.

This is how it looks after attaching to the phone.

Qi Wireless Charger Receiver – Micro USB Type-A

There is one more Qi receiver that offers the same performance and can be chosen over a Nillkin receiver. Just make sure to choose the Type-A receiver while buying.

This is how it looks after the placement.

STEP 2: Getting a Wireless Charging Pad

The next thing we need is the Wireless Charging Pad. I have chosen the highest-rated charging Pads for LG Tribute Empire. The range starts from $8.99

Letscom Wireless Charging Pad

The Letscom wireless charging pad is an ideal choice if you wish to get more for less. It offers Anti-Slip protection. It has got a 4.5 stars rating on Amazon. It is the lowest priced charging pad with the highest rating. It costs around $8.99.

It doesn’t come with an AC adapter. Only the USB cable is included.

Anker Wireless Charging Pad

After Letscom, by spending $2 more you can get the Anker Wireless Charging Pad. It comes for around $10.99.

It also comes with a USB cable but without an AC adapter. Its a case-friendly charging pad. Phone covers up to 5 mm thickness can be used without affecting the charging speed.

Yootech Wireless Charging Pad

For $11.95 you can get the Yootech Wireless Charging Pad which is the No 1 Best Seller as of now. It has got more than 29000 ratings averaging at 4.3 stars.

Its high rating is attributed to the compatibility with Apple Airpods. It comes with a USB C cable. That won’t matter, as the USB C goes into the charging pad, not the phone.

Anker Wireless Charging Stand without Adapter

The next remarkable Wireless Charging PAD is again from Anker. It doubles as a Phone stand. It will let you use your phone while charging. It comes for around $13.99 without and AC adapter.

Belkin Wireless Charging Pad with AC Adapter

Belkin is a renowned brand in the field of Mobile accessories. The Belkin Wireless charging pad comes with a 3 Year warranty. It also includes a 5-foot cord with a 5W AC adapter. It on sale as of now and is being offered at $14.99.

Youstoo Leather Wireless Charging Pad without Adapter

The last Charging pad in our list of best charging pads for the Tribute Empire is the Youstoo Leather charging pad. It the costliest among the lot. It offers a premium look and a better grip with its leather surface. It comes for around $15.99 with a 4.8 stars Amazon rating.

STEP 3: LG Tribute Empire Wireless Charging Setup

After getting the Qi receiver and charging pad for Tribute Empire, let’s do the setup.

I’ve used a cheap wireless charger that does the job but offers extremely slow wireless charging. I would suggest, you should spend a little more for efficient wireless charging.

You cannot go wrong with any of the above listed wireless receivers and charging pads that offer the maximum value for money.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Hassle-Free Charging. No need to plug-in the USB cable into the charging port.
Can use the phone while charging (Anker Wireless Charging Stand)

Cons

Slow charging when compared to a wired charger. (offers up to 70% efficiency as compared to a wired charger)
As its induction-based charging, the phone gets hot after a prolonged charging period.
Makes hissing noise while charging.

Have you enabled wireless charging on your Tribute Empire? What is the outcome? Please share your valuable thoughts via the comment section below.