The LG G2 is LG's flagship mainstream size (by Android standards) smartphone for fall 2013. It competes with the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, Moto X and iPhone 5s, and it does a fine job. While the shiny plastic back and simple front don't set it ahead of the classier competition from Apple, HTC and Nokia, the edge to edge 5.2" full HD IPS display does set it apart, as does the Qualcomm 800 CPU. Sure, in 6 months that CPU will be standard fare for top tier phones, but right now it's one of the very few on the market. The LG G2 also features an excellent 13MP rear camera, WiFi 802.11ac, NFC, a larger than average battery and an immense bundle of LG software. Following the flagship Android trend, the LG G2 has an IR remote so you can control your home theatre gear from the comfort of your couch.
LG has come a long way from promising but flawed high end Android phones to the well-received Optimus G Pro phablet and now the G2. The G2 carries on for the Optimus line (LG has dropped the Optimus name here), and it's a very good smartphone with no caveats or fatal flaws. Yes, the design isn't wildly imaginative, but it feels good in the hand, has tapers and curves in the right places and it's solidly put together. The phone is available in gloss black and gloss white. LG did exercise a little imagination for button placement: the power and volume controls are on the back, where your index finger would naturally fall when holding the phone in portrait mode. They did this so they could bring the display out to the very edge on the sides. I wouldn't call it a selling point, but in actual use it works easily enough except when holding the phone in landscape mode. Then I had to hunt for the volume controls since they don't live where my hands tend to hold the phone. Oddly, the Verizon version of this phone has slightly different rear buttons that are less tactile; we prefer the "standard" version buttons used on other carriers' models.
Display
Look out, HTC One: the LG G2 is threatening your top display title. The G2's 5.2" full HD IPS display is simply sharp, colorful and gorgeous. Viewing angles are generous and colors are natural and well balanced. In fact, the color calibration is among the best we've seen on a smartphone (which admittedly doesn't say much since most phones and mobile OS tablets pay little attention to color calibration). The display is viewable outdoors, unlike the Super AMOLED displays used on the Galaxy S4 and Moto X. We're impressed that LG managed to fit an even bigger display in a phone that's the same size as the 4.7" HTC One and 5" Galaxy S4. Pixel density is an impressive 424 PPI, and that means you won't see staircasing on text, no matter how good your eyes are.
0 comments:
Post a Comment