Since the introduction of its Android 4.0 lineup, LG seems to possess curved a newborn leaf. For years, it has struggled to keep up with the phones and marketing muscle of the Apples and Samsungs of the globe. Earlier this day, the Optimus 4X HD introduced LG’s renewed focus on high-end handsets. The Optimus G is the company’s former attempt on creating its own dominant flagship device to facilitate can develop the following of an iPhone 5 or a Galaxy S3. But is it worth the buildup? We were fluky sufficient to try off a pre-production Optimus G nearly weeks back and finished units used for a team weeks nowadays. Here’s I beg your pardon? We think.
A step up in design and feel
Before we continually curved on the Optimus G, the former entity to facilitate drew us in was LG’s enhanced attention to conscript. High-end LG smartphones are rarely dangerous, but they’re often commonplace. Even the Optimus 4X HD futile to position off in the midst of its competitors. To a degree, this challenge still exists. We’re not clear in your mind a regular person will be able to tell the difference connecting the Optimus G (especially the AT&T version) and comparable phones by HTC and Samsung. But used for the former phase, LG has a fighting gamble. The white Optimus G has a memorable 3D diamond (Crystal Reflection) flute (Gorilla Glass 2) pattern on the back to facilitate shimmers and sparkles as light hits it from singular angles. It’s quite memorable, and we found ourselves staring on the back of the phone habitually after we were bored.
There are two models of the Optimus G: The example the globe and Sprint induce, and AT&T’s modified version. Let’s discuss them both.
The inclusive and Sprint version’s overall form is a familiar rectangular with rounded edges, though at hand are weak silver accents on the buttons. The front of the phone, however, feels entirely singular. Due to design constraints, LG has chosen to give out even its white Optimus G an entirely black front. If the phone is rotten, the front looks like a solid black sheet of Gorilla Glass with an strikingly weak silver border. Though the front looks entirely black, it hides three light-up haptic navigation buttons (Back, Home, Menu) and an beautiful 4.7-inch screen.
The AT&T version of the phone still has to facilitate beautiful 4.7-inch screen, but the lie of its form has been modified to look more like a archetypal AT&T phone, connotation it’s uglier. It has rounded edges; a plastic incorporate is in the top and base of the phone; and the fine detailing on the buttons is all but missing. It’s not uglier than other phones, but we’re puzzled why AT&T would require such changes. The AT&T version as well has an 8-megapixel camera, though the bottom example has a 13. The merely saving grace is to facilitate the notification light is in reality a ring around the power button. This again, shows the craftsmanship LG is talented of.
A half-step up in UI design
LG’s user interface design in the Optimus G is parallel to the Optimus 4X HD; it’s tough, but feels a little too familiar to competing strategy, on period.
Like largely Android manufacturers, LG has tweaked Google’s Android 4.0 operating usage to differentiate itself from competitors like Samsung and HTC. Its interface is clean and contains nearly really fun and memorable trimmings, like its unlock screen, which has you run off with to blow up a bubble portal to your homescreen. The lock screen ripples away with an engaging and, dare we say, magical animation. Unlocking the Optimus G is fun. Other animations are as well tucked away in the Settings menu. There are seven animations used for swapping connecting homescreens, as well. We choose the “Domino” animation, ourselves.
Once you’ve unlocked the phone and flipped through the homescreens, however, the trickery sort of locks of hair. The icons look justly standard and everything moving parts fine — LG has even loaded in nearly neat small skin at this juncture and at hand — but the “wow” issue of the unlock screen is mostly absent. Basically, just the once you enter, it’s thick-skinned to tell you’re even using an LG phone. LG hasn’t even twisted its own grandfather clock and weather widget, in its place opting to include generic Yahoo widgets.
The capacity to make specially your homescreens added by changing app icons is a fastidious pat, but it’s a passive attribute to facilitate we doubt many relations will even discover. If LG hadn’t told us as regards it, we on no account would possess recognized as regards it. Still, it’s a fastidious, slight attribute, much like the capacity to swap unlock and homescreen animations. The defaults aren’t exciting on the AT&T version of the phone.
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LG has stepped in advance of competitors in a the minority ways. The newborn QuickMemo attribute, used for illustration, lets you advance the central point of the Volume rocker to unwrap up a doodle pad used for jotting down annotations. With a advance of a button, you can start using your phone with the virtual graffiti still onscreen. This is beneficial in a the minority first-rate circumstances, like taking down a phone run to really quick or email deal with. The function worked pretty well, though I had make an effort shutting it rotten — turns off you simply possess to press the Back button, which isn’t directly evident.
Another attribute, which LG calls “QSlide,” as well moving parts well. It lets you do a tape transparent and employment your phone while it drama in the background. While it’s an impressive machinery demonstration (it takes a set of juice to see to both of persons things), its employment belongings are narrow to relations who A.) Watch a set of tape on their phones, B.) Feel the need to multitask while watching to facilitate tape, or C.) Always download their tape and fun it through the default tape viewer. YouTube, Netflix, and streaming apps are not compatible. Outside of LG engineers performance the attribute to us and not up to scratch to try it off, we had rejection handy employment used for it.
Of possibility, being flamboyant doesn’t at all times win hearts. Our favorite attribute of the Optimus G can be individual of the largely chief of all: Its piano. The G’s piano feels parallel to the iPhone, though it’s much fewer cramped since of the G’s drudgery screen. The keys are simple to punch and typing was a pleasant experience. Outside of the unlock screen, the piano is something to facilitate continued to represent us back to the phone.
Overall, the core denigration we possess of LG is to facilitate all of its UI elements seem to be rented from Samsung phones like the Galaxy S3 (it even has ripply run sounds) or Apple’s iPhone. The fantasy LG has twisted looks profit used for an Android phone, but it lacks a unique personality or everything to facilitate screams, “This is an LG phone!” We look send to LG discovery its own personality in outlook user interfaces.
Hardware specifications
When it comes to power and performance, the Optimus G is tops. It has a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 laptop, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB or 32GB of inside sleeve storeroom with a 16GB microSD license built-in in the AT&T version.
Having a quad-core laptop and 4G LTE is as well impressive; the Optimus G is individual of the former handsets to couple the two. LTE and voice performance possess been majestic, so far.
The Optimus G represents individual of the former period all of LG’s disparate constituent companies possess worked tightly as one to do individual device, and the 4.7-inch screen is individual of the biggest benefactors of the company’s renewed focus. Though other reviewers possess pointed off to facilitate the HTC One X can still possess a better screen, the Optimus G is certainly up at hand with the most excellent smartphone screens I’ve continually seen. It employs a newborn “ZeroGap Touch” machinery, which eliminates nearly distance connecting the flute and the LCD IPS+ 1280 x 768 pixel screen. The screen is dense and comparable to the iPhone’s “Retina” pageant in many respects, though it doesn’t quite push as many pixels for every crawl as Apple’s handset.
Hip the Quadrant benchmarking test used for Android phones, the Optimus G achieved an be in the region of keep count of 6,200. This is greater than the 5,000 be in the region of to facilitate the Galaxy S3 and HTC One X achieved and the highest keep count we’ve seen yet. This is a powerful phone.
Camera wins and woes
Another massive advertising thrust of the Optimus G is its newborn 13-megapixel camera (8-megapixel on AT&T). So far, the camera has been punch or let pass. Many of the shots it takes are quite profit. Outdoor shots, in specific, appear off nippy and detailed. And since all image packs in so many pixels (international version), you can zoom in a set devoid of loss of conscript. Close-ups of flowers and objects are particularly stunning. If you photograph an place of work building, you can zoom in on an specific window.
Still, compared to the iPhone 5, shots still lack balance connecting singular sources of light. The Optimus G doesn’t carry dark areas well and occasionally picks the erroneous filter after approaching a lamp or other light source. The lens on the G takes much longer to adapt to lighting conditions than Apple’s. Compared to other Android phones like the Galaxy S3, LG holds its own. This is a decent camera.
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The front-facing camera is 1.3 megapixel.
Battery life
The battery life of the Optimus G hasn’t been bad, compared to other smartphones, but it’s certainly not profit. LG has built-in a portly 2,100mAh battery inside the G, but it’s quad-core laptop, LTE feeler, and pretty screen suck up a set of juice. At period, we had impediment getting the G to very last an intact daylight hours on a charge, but we’ll admit to facilitate we were using it immensely. There is a “Power Saver” mode to facilitate can be curved on, which saves battery life just the once you arrive at 30 percent, and a “Quad-core control” option lets you limit the zip of your phone to induce better battery life. If these are curved on, battery life can be extended substantially.
Stepping up, but not footing off
The Optimus G is LG’s former massive attempt to step up its game and save a phone with unique skin and highly competitive specs. Unfortunately, it feels like the company is still discovery its identity. The Optimus G is an incredibly powerful phone and individual of the most excellent strategy to appear off in 2012, but its user interface is still more unmemorable than it is fresh. Anyone who buys this phone will induce a top-notch device, but it won’t be the kind of phone to facilitate they’ll rave to their associates as regards. LG has re-entered the ring with Samsung, Apple, and HTC, but it’s open to need its software to position off if it hopes to do gains. Right nowadays, the Optimus G is more of a merging of profit ideas from Samsung and Apple than it is a uniquely LG consequence. But again, if you’re a Sprint or AT&T user looking used for a powerful phone with a decent interface, the Optimus G is a fantastic worthy used for $200, with a 2-year contract.
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