United States
Price : $ 209
See other product :
* Samsung Galaxy S6 * Amazon Fire Phone
* Sony Xperia Z3 Compact D5803 * Motorola Moto G (2nd Generation)
* Samsung Galaxy A5 * Samsung Galaxy Young 2
* Samsung Galaxy S3 mini * Samsung Galaxy J1
* LG Realm * Nokia Lumia 635
* Nokia Lumia 520 * BLU Advance 4.0 A270A
* HTC Desire 510 (A11) white * HTC one M9
- 5.2”, 1920 x 1080 True-HD IPS+ LCD display (424 ppi)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC
- 2.3 GHz quad-core CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB RAM
- 32 GB internal storage
- 13 MP camera, BSI sensor, f/2.X lens with OIS, 1080p 60fps video
- 3,000 mAh, 11.4 Wh battery
- LTE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
- Android 4.2.2 ‘Jelly Bean’
- 143 grams, 9.1mm thick
It’s hard to create a flagship smartphone that stands out from the crowd. When you get into a store and see the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, Sony Xperia Z, iPhone 5s, Nokia Lumia 1020, Moto X and others staring back at you, specifications and features blur together, making a decision to buy one more difficult than ever before.
What has LG done to make that purchasing decision easier? They've
jam-packed nearly every feature you can imagine into the G2, from a
powerful Qualcomm Snadpdragon 800 SoC and a 1080p display, to an
optically stabilized camera and finely tuned software. LG has clearly
thrown everything they can into this device, and on paper it looks close
to a complete handset package.
Even though the G2 may come with a solid list of specifications, a list
doesn’t reveal how well the features work together, or how fluid the
experience is going to be. Is the LG G2 going to be that ideal
competitor to the feature-rich Galaxy S4? Or has LG spent too much time
packing in specs and not enough time on refinement?
Design
Let’s start with the most interesting aspect of the LG G2’s design:
the strangely-positioned rear buttons. Rather than having the power and
volume buttons in their usual positions around the edge of the handset,
LG has placed them below the camera on the back panel. The idea is that
by removing the buttons from the edge, the display can stretch as far as
possible to either side of the device, delivering minimal bezel.
The thinness of the bezel to the left and the right of the display is
impressive, and allows the 5.2-inch display to fit into a body that’s
effectively the same size of 5-inch devices such as the Samsung Galaxy
S4. However by moving the buttons to the rear of the device, it takes a
couple of weeks after you first use the G2 to adjust to the odd
positioning; without fail you’ll go to press the side or top of the
device to turn it on, and not be able to find a button to do so.
After you’ve adjusted to the unusual positioning, it actually becomes
really comfortable to use. LG has placed the button in exactly the
right spot on the rear panel so that it doesn’t require an awkward hand
position to access, and I had no issues trying to find the button
without having to see it. For those people who find it annoying to
access, LG has packed a software feature that allows you to double-tap
the display to turn it on.
The front of the LG G2 appears classy, with a single piece of
toughened glass protecting a dominating display. Next to the speaker
grill on the top panel there’s a front-facing camera, sensor array, and
the ever-useful notification light. Combined with a smooth glass panel,
the edge-to-edge display and the lack of a rim around the front panel,
the display is an absolute pleasure to use.
The back of the G2 is made of smooth plastic with diagonal
highlights, which is disappointing in two ways: the plastic panel is a
major fingerprint magnet, while it also looks and feels a little cheap.
It doesn’t appear as cheap as the Galaxy S4’s design, but when you have a
well-crafted front panel, it’s a little bit of a letdown when the back
hasn’t received the same polish.
The handset is comfortable to hold thanks to the curved design. LG
wasn’t all that interested in breaking slimness records, with the device
measuring 9.1mm thick, but it’s unlikely you’ll feel the size in your
hands, or care. Through keeping the device this size, LG has managed to
pack in an 11.4 Wh battery, and in most cases it’s preferable to have a
large battery rather than a 6mm thin phone.
All the ports on the G2 are found on the bottom edge, with the
microUSB port in the middle and the 3.5mm headphone jack to the left.
Interestingly there are two speaker grills on this panel as well,
although there’s only a speaker behind one of them; the other one is
fake, included only for design reasons. The top edge has a small IR LED
to facilitate the TV control functionality, along with a microphone.
It’s not the nicest design I’ve seen for a flagship smartphone, but
the LG G2 is ergonomic and functional, with the large display fitting
snugly into the front panel with minimal bezel. Surprisingly, the rear
buttons are easy to use, and it makes an interesting change-up to the
standard smartphone layout.
Screen Quality
Having
lost points on design, the LG G2’s screen is something of a show
stealer, wowing us from the off. The 5.2-inch Full HD IPS display
features stunningly sharp 423 pixels per inch density. The
streamlined bezel of the G2 further enhances the impressive IPS panel,
giving the display added pop and helping to set the handset out from the
crowd. Although the phone’s footprint is no bigger than that of the S4,
the G2 has a screen 0.2 inches bigger, and this makes a noticeable
difference.
The reduced bezel and HD screen turn the LG G2 into a
one of a kind device, but we expect to see a number of rival
manufacturers follow suit in the near future.
The benefits of the
LG G2’s screen are not all about the slimline bezel though. The IPS
panel might not be as bright as some AMOLED display hosting rivals, but
the colours are truer and less over-exaggerated. The LG G2 screen
produces colours that are accurate and do not suffer from the familiar
oversaturation issues of some rivals. The screen’s touch panel is
responsive, with no undue lag or hesitation meeting any of the gesture
commands we threw at it.
A complete package, the 423ppi image
density means even the finest of details are pin-sharp and text never
appears smudged or soft at the edges. The screen is capable of tackling
pages of text and vibrant, detailed HD images with equal aplomb and
continues to impress long after it has first grabbed your attention.
Unfortunately,
the LG G2 screen quality is not without the odd blemish. The display is
a little on the reflective side, with outdoor conditions producing an
unwanted amount of glare. Only a slight issue, this problem is far from
the same performance depleting leagues of the Huawei Ascend G510. The
LG G2's screen quality is so good that we can almost forgive the
necessary button placement move fitting in such a large, edge-to-edge
display has necessitiated.
Software
The LG G2 is
an Android phone with a custom-made LG interface on top. Building on
Google’s Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS, the LG UX interface has all the
features and functions you would want and expect from a high-end phone.
The G2’s UI is not as elegant as that on the HTC One, or as overloaded as the Samsung Galaxy S4's, but instead is something of a happy medium that impresses but never really excites.
The
LG G2 software is not brimming with masses of filler features. The
phone instead plays host to a few neat extras that make the overall user
experience simpler, and more pleasant. The first of these to get to
grips with is KnockON, a feature that lets you forget about the awkward
button placement by using a double tap on-screen to unlock and activate
the phone.
Although a far more intuitive way to
access your phone than reaching for an out of sight physical key,
KnockOn is not always flawless and smooth, proving slightly
temperamental during testing. As it requires you to tap the exact same
spot twice in very quick succession, we feel a BlackBerry Z10 esque 'slide up to unlock' motion would be a more useful and fool-proof.
Forgoing
the eye-tracking filler features of the rival Samsung Galaxy S4, the LG
G2's software has a few more useful extras instead. A Guest Mode lets
you keep all of your personal data safe when you hand the phone to a
friend, while LG’s Plug and Play is a welcome inclusion. Inserting a
pair of headphones causes a pop-up menu of app shortcuts to appear,
bringing music, video, YouTube and phone apps to the fore. A simple
addition, but a real time saver.
The LG G2 might not feature a
single killer software feature, but what it does offer is an user
experience that is pleasant, engaging and sure to satisfy both hardcore
users and smartphone newbies alike. Most importantly, the UI keeps the
phone feeling smooth and prompt.
Performance
Having wowed
us with its screen, the LG G2’s performance continues the trend, with
the 2.26GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor marking the
phone out as one of the speediest on the market. It's among the first
phones to feature the new Snapdragon CPU, alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Sony Xperia Z1.
Back
to the LG G2, though - the phone was more than capable of handling
anything and everything we could throw at it. Strong across the board,
the G2 pairs the 2.26GHz CPU with an Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of DDR3 RAM.
Launching apps is a prompt, fuss-free affair with multitasking handled
with ease. Jumping from web browsing, to constructing an email, to a
casual gaming session in quick succession and the G2 doesn’t break a
sweat.
Multitasking is one of the LG G2’s fortes, too. Tackling
the issue from multiple angles, three finger swipe multitasking lets you
drag across apps running in the background. This proves to be a quick
way to move between programs in very easy fashion.
Further
multitasking benefits include Q Slide. Having featured in past LG
phones, Q Slide lets to pin certain apps (calendar, memo, calculator)
over whatever else you’re doing. A transparency slider lets you make
content more or less prominent.
On to gaming. Real Racing 3 is a
stumbling point for many entry and mid-market phones, but the LG G2’s
processor barely misses a beat. The GPU ensures that graphics are on
point and, combined with the Full HD IPS screen, overall gaming visuals
are second to none. Video content again benefits from the screen and
graphics partnership, with motion blur and image lag now a thing of the
past.
Camera
The LG G2 camera
is a 13-megapixel offering with optical image stabilisation (OIS) thrown
in for good measure. Although an impressive camera on paper, in
reality, the results fall slightly short of expectations with long focus
times and an unreliable white balance bringing the performance quality
down. As you would expect from a modern flagship phone, 1080p Full HD
video recording is also possible.
The first 13-megapixel
smartphone camera to benefit from OIS, the LG G2 is a largely well
balanced offering that, like the phone’s software, impresses but doesn’t
really excite. Despite having OIS, slightly blurred shots are still an
all-too-frequent occurrence, with the image stabilisation features
proving more of an occasional improvement than a regular shot saver.
It's not as effective as the OIS found in the Nokia Lumia 1020. Despite
what LG would have you believe, the G2 camera is not going to stop
shots in less than ideal lighting being prone to blurring either. A
steady hand is still required to capture strong pictures.
Further enhancing the G2 camera, LG has
packed the phone with all manner of shooting modes. Everything from the
standard night mode and action shots, to dual camera shooting and LG’s
own Photo Sphere rival is included. The result is an array of
options capable of tackling most shooting environments. Although it has
an LED flash, the LG G2, like most smartphone cameras, is not the best
of indoor performers.
The flash is one of the better additions,
not completely whiting out your snaps. The G2 camera does generally
struggle with its brightness management, though. A bit happy on the
whites, shots can end up overexposed
Hardly a game changer, but a fun extra, the ‘Cheese Shutter’ takes a snap when subjects say ‘cheese’ - sure to make the kids happy to get in front of the camera. Giving the physical controls a bit more purpose, the down volume key can be held to launch directly into the camera app from the lock screen. The LG G2’s camera collection is about more than just the 13-megapixel showpiece, with a secondary 2.1-megapixel snapper on the phone’s front.
Shameless selfies will not disappoint. The forward-facing camera is capable of relatively detailed and bright shots. As you would expect, though, depth to images is not the secondary camera’s strong point.
United States
Price : $ 209
See other product :
* Samsung Galaxy S6 * Amazon Fire Phone
* Sony Xperia Z3 Compact D5803 * Motorola Moto G (2nd Generation)
* Samsung Galaxy A5 * Samsung Galaxy Young 2
* Samsung Galaxy S3 mini * Samsung Galaxy J1
* LG Realm * Nokia Lumia 635
* Nokia Lumia 520 * BLU Advance 4.0 A270A
* HTC Desire 510 (A11) white * HTC one M9