Can you help convince me to buy this phone?

[sRedwolf]

Hi everyone,

I'm due for a handset upgrade and I've been looking seriously at the Optimus G. I'm a huge fan of the Galaxy S3 but to be honest I'm looking for something a little different than what most of my friends have and the Optimus G really caught my eye. I've played with it a few times in the store and overall I'm pretty impressed - nice screen and blazing fast. (For what it's worth I'm in Canada and our carriers are selling what more or less seems to be the Sprint version of this device I believe)

The thing is, the S3 is somewhat of a "sure thing" and I'm a little unfamiliar with LG. Overall, the brand has never screamed "quality" to me but the reviews of the Optimus G have been mostly positive, I love the styling and it ticks most of my wants/needs boxes.

There are two things making me a little leery of the purchase though - I keep reading about the overheating issues. Is this a common problem or do some people seem to have defective units? Any chance any of the patches has corrected the problem? Or is it just being overblown online? Second, I'm not seeing many choices for cases online - even from the big manufacturers. That's pretty minor I know but it kind of gives you the sense that this device isn't being supported overall. Or is that possibly just because it's so new?

Anyway I'd love to hear opinions.

(By the way - by no means am I an Android newbie. Been using Android in one form or another since Eclair)

Update: Ok to be honest my thread title was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I'm not REALLY asking you to "convince me" - obviously I plan to make the decision on my own. What I'm really looking for is some general opinions from people who own this device particularly in regards to the overheating issues I've read about online. If you own the device have you found that to be an issue? Is it any worse than the average phone on the market today?

Thanks in advance.

 

[bespinct]

I'm not sure that if you need convincing that this is the phone for you. Any phone that you need to be convinced to buy probably isn't the right choice.

As for the lack of case selection. That isn't so much because the phone isn't being supported, just that it doesn't produce the sales volume that the S3 does. Case makers don't have much incentive to work through the design and production process if the market isn't very large.

Steve

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[sRedwolf]

I'm not sure that if you need convincing that this is the phone for you. Any phone that you need to be convinced to buy probably isn't the right choice.

Hi and thanks for replying. I do completely agree with you about that and to be honest I was being a little tongue-in-cheek with the title. What I'm actually looking for is the general opinion of the user community. Overall I am "convinced" - it's just those two nagging doubts that are holding me back. Problem with searching the internet is you tend to find lots of bad until it seems like everybody that owns a particular device experiences a particular issue.

 

[Who?]

Go buy it and return it if you don't like it. Only you know what the best phone is for you. Buy from somewhere with no or little restocking fee.

 

[sRedwolf]

Go buy it and return it if you don't like it. Only you know what the best phone is for you. Buy from somewhere with no or little restocking fee.

It's not really a question of it being "the right phone for me" as I've used it, read about it and like it over all. I guess what I'm really asking is: "Is overheating a serious problem on this device because from some accounts online it sounds like it is. If you own it what's your experience in that regard?"

 

[Who?]

And I have the same answer, but this time I'll be more specific: buy the phone at Best Buy and use it for the duration of their 30 day return policy.

 

[Hvacmanjc]

I have had it since it came out. Never overheats or actually, never even gets hot. Very fast, speedy phone with zero lag to anything you throw at it. Yeah, the cases suck but I agree with you about the S3. Why buy a phone that everyone else has.

Sent from my LG-LS970 using Android Central Forums

 

[jleliekelly]

Love my OG. Mine does get hot occasionally but usually when playing a game. I installed a temp Guage - but never hot enough to shut it down or put into any kind of emergency only mode, haven't had any second thoughts.

Sent from my LG-LS970 using Tapatalk 2

 

[leever6000]

Bought this phone for my wife on Sprint. She absolutely loves it. It replaced her HTC EVO 4G.

It's fast as hell, and she has had no issues. We did find quite a few case options for it on Amazon.

The only issue in my opinion is its still on ICS 4.0.4, but is due to get JB 4.1.1 any time.

Sent from my LTE Xoom EOS 4 JB 4.2.1 using Tapatalk HD

 

[AnnTagonist]

I've had my Sprint LGOG since November and haven't had any heat issues at all.

I love this phone, I use it hard and it holds up.

I have no less than 4 different cases on the way for it (one of them is bound to work out); there are a lot of options on ebay if you're willing to gamble a few bucks on a direct order from korea. Careful to check for model compatibility.

 

[sRedwolf]

Thanks everybody for the input and personal experiences.

 

[Little Darwin]

Mine has been a little warm at times when playing games, but not hot enough to be a concern. It is a great phone.

What are you upgrading from? I know it was a dream compared to my earlier phone, which barely had enough power to run Android... The biggest down-side to me is the lack of marketing means that this phone may never get the attention it deserves from the after-market producers.

However, in bicycling, I like vintage road bikes, and there is always a discussion on cycling forums about whether to convert old bikes with 27" wheels to 700c wheels for a better selection of tires... I fall into the camp that it doesn't matter if 27" only has 10 tire choices available versus several hundred for 700c, as long as I can get a pair that I like... As far as after-market items for my LG Optimus G... I have a case I like, so it doesn't matter how many varieties there are.

 

[sRedwolf]

What are you upgrading from? I know it was a dream compared to my earlier phone, which barely had enough power to run Android... The biggest down-side to me is the lack of marketing means that this phone may never get the attention it deserves from the after-market producers.

However, in bicycling, I like vintage road bikes, and there is always a discussion on cycling forums about whether to convert old bikes with 27" wheels to 700c wheels for a better selection of tires... I fall into the camp that it doesn't matter if 27" only has 10 tire choices available versus several hundred for 700c, as long as I can get a pair that I like... As far as after-market items for my LG Optimus G... I have a case I like, so it doesn't matter how many varieties there are.

I'm coming from an old Galaxy S Captivate (that I've flashed the heck out of)... it's been a work horse and I've been pretty happy with it but it's definitely time to move on. I tend to agree with you about the options - as long as there's one I'm happy with then it works for me as well.

I guess I'm also somewhat concerned that the lack of marketing and mass market appeal is also going to be an impediment to eventual software updates - Either from LG or the carriers. I'm not one of those people who demands the latest Android version the second it comes out but I certainly would like to see JB on this eventually. I realize that the GS3 or Galaxy Note II (my other choices) are probably the safer bets but i just had a lot more fun with the Optimus G in the store than I did with those other devices.

 

[precon22]

I currently have the phone and from personal experience this phone is in a top tier league. It is insanely fast screen is great and build quality is very top notch. No lag what so ever. The one thing it does not so well on for me, is battery life. But again that is just me. I just came from an iPhone 4s and 5 and thee current king GS3 and to be honest is night & day, nothing compares at all. Few guys at xda are already putting the final touches on aosp from what I have read so far and jelly bean is right around the corner. One last thing the screen while amazing I feel that the super LCD 2 is a bit better in contrast. But that's about it cheers

Sent from 10thMt11b using LS970 EXTENDED CLIP

 

[Evilgoose]

Personally this phone does everything I want it to. The best way to look at this phone would be to judge its aesthetics and function.

The phone itself is great in terms of aesthetics (purely opinion of course) while also offering some great protection all around without a case (gorilla glass 2). I'm not sure about other people but I've dropped this thing twice since I got it: once when I forgot I had it in my shirt pocket and bent over to pick something up (hit on a corner from about a foot drop, no visible damage) and the other when I snagged the charging cable while it was sitting on my desk (landed face down on the ground from about a 3 foot distance, again no damage whatsoever). In my opinion the screen looks gorgeous and don't believe that the GS3 or Nexus 4 compete (I've used my brother's phones to compare). Having small hands I can say that it's hard to handle this thing with one hand. Some things will work but most things won't (if you have small hands that is). The phone fits nicely in my hands when I use it though, so again I have no complaints there. Overall I like the aesthetics of the phone.

The phone functions phenomenally. It's quick and responsive and very few things actually make it hang (scrolling through emails if you have like 1000 of them, also the looking at albums under the folder tab in the default music player). This phone actually supports some formats not mentioned on the box or booklet such as FLAC, and MKV containers in h.264 encoding (FLAC is a bit unstable though). Other than that there really isn't much that this phone can't do. I will say however that it does take the phone a little bit of time to change from recognizing 3G to 4G (I know my city well enough to know where the 4G spots are and usually have to disable and re-enable the network to get on 4G if it didn't already do it). The great thing is that this thing finds network almost immediately whenever it is available. It takes about 2 seconds to pull down the top bar and tap twice to do this once you've gotten used to the phone. This phone is functionally sound and is very nice to use. I do however have some hangups (nothing too major for me).

The feature that stops music from playing once you've unhooked your headphones can sometimes cause my music player to stop altogether. This requires a restart of the phone to fix (doesn't happen as often as you may think). It can get annoying if you happen to get the problem regularly. This is where the speed can be seen. Restarting the phone doesn't take long (~20 seconds). The other being that using the flash on the camera or heavy network causes the phone to get pretty warm. This for me is probably the biggest problem I have with the phone. Again it doesn't happen enough to the point where it disrupts my using the phone, but when it does happen I feel as though I'm killing my phone.

tl;dr Overall I'm happy with my purchase. It has its fault but I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a sleek-designed phone with a ton of power behind it.

 

[imarek3]

I used the LGOG for about a month and really loved it, it is the fastest phone out there bar none. It is a great phone and seems to be really good quality. I do have concerns about support and about the non-removable battery. My wife has a SGS3 and it can't hold a candle to the LGOG as far as speed.

My latest phone is the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which is a quad-core and is pretty close in speed to the LGOG, but I think the LGOG wins out. For me, as a company, I think Samsung wins out because they are the 900 pound gorilla in the Android phone world and will probably get better support from them, also Sammy uses removable batteries.

Take stock of what matters to you and what's important for you and make your decision on that and don't be afraid to take it back if you decide you don't like it.

 

[prowlingfox]

The design of the OG vs the GS3 was the push for me.

The GS3 feels too plasticky, and I don't like the curved design. Also, for me, the screen on the OG seemed more crisp and natural than on the GS3.

It was also the fact that I couldn't bring myself to spend 200 dollars on a device that's already almost a year old (the GS3). While there's barely any development for the OG, there definitely will be soon once we get 4.1.2 proper.

 

[sRedwolf]

I just wanted to thank everybody for relating their experiences and opinions about this phone - I genuinely appreciate it. I went ahead and chose the LGOG today but probably won't have it in my hands until early next week. I'm definitely looking forward to it!

 

[sRedwolf]

I received my Optimus G and I've been using it for a few days now so I just wanted to report back on my thoughts... I truly fallen in love with this phone. Admittedly I'm coming from a Gingerbread based device so at this point anything is a huge improvement but at the same time I've used a number of other Android devices (both ICS and JB) as well so I do have a reasonable basis for comparison.

This phone is incredibly fast and responsive which makes the user interface a joy to use - I've barely seen any lag at all. The screen is gorgeous even at lower brightness levels and the colours are great. I'm still really liking the external design of the device and how premium it feels in my hand. Some people have complained about it being difficult to hold but I have large hands and haven't really had any issues there. The Optimus UI has really grown on me and I think I actually like it better than Touchwiz - usually I use third party home launchers but as of yet I haven't felt the need to do so on the Optimus G. Sometimes the back of the phone gets "warmish" but nothing I would classify as "hot".

The only minor complaint I have so far is that on my carrier (Rogers) this phone uses only 2600Mhz LTE which I've read has less ability to penetrate buildings than other frequencies - In my experience so far whenever I'm inside buildings I get either no LTE or very weak LTE. When on such a weak LTE connection I notice that text messages tend to either fail or triple send while telling me they failed which is annoying so I tend to leave the phone on 4G only mode. I didn't buy this phone specifically for LTE so this isn't a big deal to me.

It will be nice to eventually get an upgrade to Jellybean but I really can't say I'm missing it all that much - it just works so well and it's so fast that I really don't care that much but I certainly understand why it's a deal breaker for some people.

Overall I think the Optimus G is a great and I can't recommend it enough to anybody looking for a new phone right now (especially considering how cheap it is compared to its counterparts). More people should go ahead and take a chance on this device.

 

[erwaso]

Love my OG. Mine does get hot occasionally but usually when playing a game. I installed a temp Guage - but never hot enough to shut it down or put into any kind of emergency only mode, haven't had any second thoughts.

Sent from my LG-LS970 using Tapatalk 2

Mine has been a little warm at times when playing games, but not hot enough to be a concern. It is a great phone.

What are you upgrading from? I know it was a dream compared to my earlier phone, which barely had enough power to run Android... The biggest down-side to me is the lack of marketing means that this phone may never get the attention it deserves from the after-market producers.

However, in bicycling, I like vintage road bikes, and there is always a discussion on cycling forums about whether to convert old bikes with 27" wheels to 700c wheels for a better selection of tires... I fall into the camp that it doesn't matter if 27" only has 10 tire choices available versus several hundred for 700c, as long as I can get a pair that I like... As far as after-market items for my LG Optimus G... I have a case I like, so it doesn't matter how many varieties there are.

After how long would it get hot? 30 min? An hour?