If you think about the major Android phones that have dominated tech news recently it's usually about Motorola, HTC and Samsung. Poor LG has often been an afterthought in consumers' minds when considering what Android smartphone to get. The introduction of the LG Nitro HD could change all that.

The LG Nitro is undoubtedly LG's flagship Android phone. And it has the specs to prove that it can join other Android super phones like Samsung's Galaxy Nexus and Motorola's Droid Razr. It doesn't look as good as the Galaxy Nexus or Droid Razr but it still has a sleek design that fits right in your hand. It has a soft touch battery cover with zigzag ridges to keep it smudge-free and easier to grip. The Nitro HD is a large phone. It is 5.27 inches tall, 2.67 inches wide and 0.41 inch thick.

The Nitro has a powerful dual core 1.5 Ghz Qualcomm processor under its hood. It also has 1 Gb of RAM and 4 Gb of internal storage with an additional 16 Gb microSD card for expanded storage which can be swapped for a 32 Gb card if you want more space. The Nitro also has a sharp 1280x720p 4.5 inch display with true HD AH-IPS panel. LG boasts that the Nitro has 500 nits of luminance, which means it's really bright while still keeping colors looking sharp and defined. The screen does look good even in direct sunlight but Samsung's AMOLED display is still a mite better.

Other features include an 8-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash and a 1.3 megapixel front camera. The Nitro has the usual supports like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and DLNA and Wi-Fi Direct. There is also access to Google services like Maps, navigation, search, chat, YouTube and others. Nitro runs on Android 4.3 Gingerbread OS. LG has added some motion controls for moving icons but there really is no discernible difference from the pure software.

The Nitro's biggest attraction is its 4G LTE network. Being only the third phone behind Samsung GS II Skyrocket and HTC Vivid that has AT&T LTE network capability, the Nitro is expectedly very fast. Nitro has an average speed of around 15 megabits per second. Surfing the web is a breeze on the 4G network. Google Maps follows you within a few feet in seconds.

LG's Nitro does suffer from one major setback and that's its batter life. On the average the Nitro only lasts five hours before it conks out. With more judicious use of apps and power management you can stretch this to seven hours.

So how does the LG Nitro fare against its Android brethren? Users who really want to experience the faster 4G network should give it a chance but only if they can handle re-charging this phone every seven hours. The price is also a bit steep. The Nitro is available for $250 for two-years on a contract price. The Nitro has decent specs but price and battery life could prevent it from being a best-seller.