LG's G2 is the company's newest flagship and it replaces the former model, the Optimus G, it has the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and some pretty impressive features as well. So let's take a deeper look at what makes this smartphone stand out.
Design
From the front it's a gorgeous device, the branding is up to it's minimum, it's not really in your face and since there is no hardware buttons on the front, they took advantage of that and used the space to enlarge the screen, The side bezels are almost non-existent, the top and bottom areas are small enough, and you truly feel like you are holding nothing but one giant smartphone panel in your hand without any extra fuss. to the top left corner you'll see the 2.1 MP front facing camera along with the proximity and the brightness sensor then comes the phone speaker in the center.
On the sides you won't see any physical buttons, no volume rockers nor power button, LG has moved them to the back of the device -Which we'll talk about more later on in this review- right under the camera, on the left you'll see the SIM card slot, and from the top you'll see the noise cancellation mic along with the IR blaster, from the bottom you'll see the 3.5 mm headphone jack with the main microphone, Micro USB port and the speaker, From the back you'll see the volume rockers and the power/sleep button which has a secondary notification light raped around it in line to the rear facing 13 MP camera with an LED flash with a plasticy back that I'm not digging very much, There is nothing redeeming about a black slab of shiny plastic that needs to be wiped a minute after using it to clean the mess your figures have caused. If you buy the G2, invest in a case… like, now.
Personally I'm not a big fan of the physical buttons placement but it's simply my personal opinion that you might completely disagree with, with that being said, I cannot stand LG’s decision to move buttons from the traditional side placements and place them in the middle of the backplate under the camera. Pressing them often feels completely unnatural and regularly confusing, Thankfully, LG included KnockON, so you don’t necessarily need to press the power button in order to wake or sleep your phone. This is something that almost anyone could more than likely get used to if this phone became theirs for a long period of time. It’s just such a drastic change for someone like me that uses a traditional button setup after traditional button setup, that I couldn't get over it .
Display
The device rocks a beautiful 5.2 inch True IPS+ LCD screen. At a resolution of 1920×1080 with 423ppi, it's very sharp and it's clarity is unlike almost any other smartphone screens I've seen. Videos look like true 1080p, games are full of amazing detail - of course the Adreno GPU plays a big role here-, The display itself leans slightly to the cooler side of display temperatures, whereas the AMOLED in a device like the Galaxy S4 and Moto X clearly comes off warm. The on-screen buttons does take a small bit of the screen but they're not always there as when you're playing videos or going through pictures but personally I did have some issues with them as I do on all devices with on-screen back, menu and option buttons like the Nexus 4 or the Moto X especially when I'm typing in vertical mode, because the space button is right above the menu button and I often mistaken these two and press menu in the middle of typing.
Camera
The 13MP Sony IMX135 Exmor sensor in the G2 is pretty good, in face I've rarely had to re-take a photo especially with the 9-point autofocus and OIS ( Optical Image Stabilization ). But to be honest I didn't notice the difference in photos, OIS mainly works with video which you can see clearly when recording a 1080p video. Low light images were outstanding, it competes with other high end devices,Only issue I had with the camera is that it takes quite a while to adjust the 9-point autofocus which sometimes can be annoying and even worse when the flash is needed because it lights up in your face (in case if you were taking a selfi) for about 4~5 seconds which leaves you semi-blind for a moment! with that being said, the end results are pretty awesome, Check out pictures below and to see some camera samples.
(Click to enlarge)
Connectivity
The G2 supports 4G LTE but I couldn't try that out because in Jordan we're still living with shitty 3G/HSPA, It also has NFC connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0 LE ( Low Energy ) which has became standard in 2013 flagship devices and an IR blaster which can be programmed to duplicate any remote which I found to be an awesome feature! unlike other flagship devices that comes with a pre-programmed set of codes that can only work with a hand-full of brands, the G2's IR blaster can be used to copy any remote control simply by directing the IR blaster of the remote to the IR blaster of the device and pushing a button for two seconds so that the G2 can record the code and re-use it to control other devices. It's not a jaw-dropping feature but I like how LG paid attention to this little detail.
Performance
The LG G2 is the first smartphone to launch with the Snapdragon 800 processor -Quad core clocked at 2.26GHz- which is one of the most powerful CPU's out there at the moment, it's extremely power efficient and it's a monster when it comes to gaming, along with the Adreno 330 GPU ( Graphics Processor Unite ) it gives some pretty impressive performance and benchmark results, During my testing period I didn't suffer any kind of lag or software issues, It didn't crash on me not even once, I honestly can't understand why Samsung won't distribute the Snapdraon version of their devices in the middle east - we always get the Exynos version - not that the Exynos version is bad or anything but the Snapdragon is just better when it comes to performance and power management and it never heats up.
Software
The G2 comes with Android 4.2.2 out of the box, LG has put a lot of effort into developing the UI, it's full of beautiful animations, very slick and smooth, you can even play with the icons sizes or replace them with images from your gallery. They have included apps like QuickMemo, QSlide, and Slide Aside that all want you to be able to accomplish multiple tasks at once. With the pulldown of the notification tray, you can jump into a variety of QSlide apps that hover as mini apps over whatever you are doing. You can change their transparency to see through to your background task and even open more than one at a time. With Slide Aside (my least favorite of the three), LG wants you to use a 3-finger swiping gesture while in an app to hide it off to the side. You can stack up to three apps to the side, accessing them again with another 3-finger swipe. It’s unnecessary since Android already has a multi-tasking app that can be accessed with a long-press on Home and shows much more than your last three apps.
Battery Life
Last but not least, let's get to the battery... Now, I've tried a lot of devices and the G2 has the best battery life I have ever seen, Thanks to a 3,000mAh -unremovable- battery the G2 packs, I ran into zero battery scares. On 3G with regular usage, The device lasted for a good 18 hours and still had 20% or so left. When you tuck the device in your pocket, 3% will get you through 5 hours, on light use the G2 can last for 2 days without worrying about charging.
The Verdict
The Good:
- The processor is lightning fast.
- Beautiful transaction animations, very customize-able.
- The 5.2 display is gorgeous, awesome for watching videos and browsing internet.
- Battery life is simply out standing and will keep you going for a full day of regular use no problem.
The Bad:
- No SD card slot, the device comes with two options of storage either 16 or 32 GB.
- The backplate materials feel very cheep and it's a figure print magnate (Solved by purchasing a back case).
- Physical buttons placement needs some getting used to.
- Multi-Tasking limitations, You can't run more than 2 apps in minimized mode and you can only save up to 3 apps in Slide a Side feature.
Bottom line
LG tried to create the ultimate powerhouse with the G2 and succeeded. To power it all, you have the latest quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor from Qualcomm clocked at 2.26GHz with an upgraded Adreno 330 GPU. Then you add on the 5.2″ True IPS+ display, 2GB RAM, 13MP camera with OIS (optical image stabilization), 4G LTE, 32GB of storage, and 3,000mAh battery all tucked into a frame that is only 8.9mm thick, the LG G2 may last three or four years before it shows signs of aging. The screen is as good as it gets, the processor is the most powerful on the planet, and the camera includes the next movement in mobile photography.
Well done, LG.
Gallery
Video Review [Arabic]
Unboxing Video [Arabic]
LG G2: The Best Smartphone LG Has Ever Made [Review]
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