My Thoughts on T-Mobile and their LG G2

HIMAN1998

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OK, I have been on the Verizon ship since 2007 or so, and on their smartphone ship since 2010. Now, I am only a sophomore in high school, so this review might be slightly different than one from an adult. Well, here goes.

When I found out about T-Mobile buying out contracts from Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T, I felt as if I had to have them. For me, Verizon had been screwing up with Android since I had the Droid 2 back in 2010. They are the slowest at putting updates out (their S3, my previous phone, got 4.3 back in mid-December), they don't carry Nexus devices anymore, they screwed up with the Galaxy Nexus. All of these of course are my opinion, but they are important things to me. So with T-Mobile doing this, I jumped on it (no pun intended). I told my parents all we would be gaining for doing the switch, and what we would possibly lose. All we would lose as a family is some signal out of town, but we gained so much more. A cheaper plan, all of us got a new device, we gained GSM, which is a huge plus for me since I am going to Spain this summer. T-Mobile has international texting included in their plans for free, calling is 20? a minute, and let's face it, as a teen, I don't talk on the phone much at all through voice. I do a lot of texting, though. I gain the international texting all because I went to GSM. Their service in my area is excellent, I haven't been in an area that I have been below 2 bars of LTE, even places where I had 3G on Verizon. At my house, I now have 2-3 bars of LTE in my room. My room is a basement, and with Verizon I would drop signal all the time. That hasn't happened to me yet. Now on to the phone review.

Let me explain why I chose the G2 over other devices that I could have gotten. My first choice was the Note 3 until I saw the price per month, which was $5 more than on the G2, and the only thing I gained was a bigger screen and 1GB more RAM. Everything else is virtually the same. I was at first cautious about LG, as I have never had a device made by them since I had a flip phone. I was also cautious about button placement. I quickly adapted to the new layout. The phone is blazing fast, and it has amazing battery life. It has a 3,000 MaH battery in it. My phone choices other than this that I had to choose between personally were the S4, Nexus 5, HTC One, and the Note 3 mentioned earlier. I was first gonna go with the Nexus 5, but didn't mainly because the camera on the G2, S4, Note 3, and HTC One all outperform it. Then it came down to what was inside. With the release of the S4 and HTC One coming before the release of the Snapdragon 800, they have a lower clocked quad core. That left the Note 3 and the G2. The thing there was price. I didn't want to pay $30 a month for the Note 3, so I went to the G2 for $5 less. I fell in love with the camera on the G2, it is so much better than the S3. It does have some lag when taking pictures in the dark, and I miss the flash to help autofocus on the S3.

Now I will go to software and how it handles itself in the OS. This device runs 4.2.2 with specs that could easily power 4.4. Same specs as the Nexus 5. It handles 4.2 well, and it handles it's own custom UI well. I had Nova Launcher on there for 5 minutes before even giving LG's UI a try. Their UI is very good, smooth, and fits the phone well. I uninstalled Nova because of this. The only thing I don't like is the icons, but I can deal with that. Within LG's UI, I haven't had any hangs in the system, and I haven't had any apps stop responding. The phone handles this all well.

On to the build quality of it. It feels like a very solid built phone. It doesn't creak, it doesn't feel hollow, and it doesn't have gaps like some of these "non user-serviceable" phones have around the edge. The buttons feel solid. The screen sensitivity is amazing. The only issue I have is the glossiness of the back picks up smudges like crazy. I can get a case to take care of that.

Any other thoughts about it from me? Yes. This phone has been under appreciated by what I have seen, and it hasn't picked up as much good reputation as others. It is hidden by the HTC One, the S4, the Note 3, and the iPhone 5S and 5C. LG has never really been in the game to be top, they are out there to make the products that are amazing for their price, and this one hit that right on the spot. The reason I didn't go with an iPhone is because the last one I owned, a 32GB 5, was honestly nothing too special. It wasn't nearly worth the $300 I spent on it. I'm not going back to a phone that I can't do what I want to it for customization. That is also why I left Windows Phone 8 after about 1 month of usage. Too much of a boring design. This is the one phone I have found that has completely sold itself to me in the first day of owning it.
 

SactoKingsFan

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Good review. I've been very impressed with the battery, UI, and screen. If you don't mind voiding warranty, then rooting will open up even more customization options.

Sent from my rooted LG-G2 using Tapatalk
 

HIMAN1998

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Good review. I've been very impressed with the battery, UI, and screen. If you don't mind voiding warranty, then rooting will open up even more customization options.

Sent from my rooted LG-G2 using Tapatalk

How easy was it to root this phone? I might consider doing that, if it is like when you jailbreak where if you unroot it before needing to take it in for some reason, they won't be able to tell.
 

SactoKingsFan

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born2ride41

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I had the HTC one and I hated it. I just Jumped to tmobile as well and came from a Moto X which was a very good phone. I actually was went to tmobile on Tuesday night before the Z1s was released and the where out of G2's so I returned the next day and purchased the Z1s. Hands down the best Android experience I have had and I've had most of them. I wanted something different I had never had a Sony phone and wanted something different then everyone else and from the time I spent with the G2 I made a good choice that's not saying the G2 is great phone it is.

Sent from my C6916 using AC Forums mobile app
 

HIMAN1998

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I haven't had school because of snow the past couple days, so I decided to do an extensive battery test. It has been on for 29 hours off the charger, and is at 47%. Best battery life of any smartphone I've had.
 

Slingbox

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I haven't had school because of snow the past couple days, so I decided to do an extensive battery test. It has been on for 29 hours off the charger, and is at 47%. Best battery life of any smartphone I've had.
Same here & I came for Note 2.

32 Hours off charger.
Getting 5 1/2 hr of screen on time....2 of those hours watching Netflix 10% batt remaining never happened on My Note 2.
My G2 could of reached 6 hr screen on time with that 10% burned
 

ddavtian

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The only thing I don't like is the icons, but I can deal with that.

Go to lgworld.com on your phone, download their "market" app, from there download and try different themes, see which icons you like. Or click and hold on icons, it will give you few options for icons.
 

JHBThree

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Go to lgworld.com on your phone, download their "market" app, from there download and try different themes, see which icons you like. Or click and hold on icons, it will give you few options for icons.

Wait that works? ( the downloading their market app)

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 

Slingbox

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3 weeks using this device has been interesting & T-mobile rocks!
I like everything about device except for, No removable battery ,No SD card & development totally sucks which brings me to rant.

Rant
XDA forums for this device are the most disorganized Ive ever experienced lacking carrier general subforums.
No one click factory restore method available oh how I miss Sammy odin.
You have to jump through hoops getting recovery installed as seen in xda topic thread with many users having issues getting it to take.
I was lucky enough to come across one....only one posting in that thread touching on App called FreeGee that can be found at playstore.
Install FreeGee app & a couple clicks within app installed CWM or TWRP no issue had. Why no xda sticky for app it is beyond me, I'm betting 90% of G2 community doesn't even know such app exist.
End rant.

G2 is king but negatives are pushing my back to Samsung for S5 when Jumps upgrade becomes available
 
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ki11ak3nn

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3 weeks using this device has been interesting & T-mobile rocks!
I like everything about device except for, No removable battery ,No SD card & development totally sucks which brings me to rant.

Rant
XDA forums for this device are the most disorganized Ive ever experienced lacking carrier general subforums.
No one click factory restore method available oh how I miss Sammy odin.
You have to jump through hoops getting recovery installed as seen in xda topic thread with many users having issues getting it to take.
I was lucky enough to come across one....only one posting in that thread touching on App called FreeGee that can be found at playstore.
Install FreeGee app & a couple clicks within app installed CWM or TWRP no issue had. Why no xda sticky for app it is beyond me, I'm betting 90% of G2 community doesn't even know such app exist.
End rant.

G2 is king but negatives are pushing my back to Samsung for S5 when Jumps upgrade becomes available

I know about FreeGee. I did my research before getting the phone. I wanted a phone with good Dev support and "future proof" specs. Found that in the G2. It was kind of a hassle to root, but I've done so much to this phone since. I love it. I still miss my Nexus 5, but this just happens to be a better phone for me.

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk
 

Matt Gowin

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I just switched to Tmobile from sprint two days ago and picked up 2 G2s. So far I do not regret it a bit. I came from a HTC 4g LTE and a samsung my wife had. The HTC required rooting almost right away because HTC neglects to release updates almost ever. They havnt even release 4.2 yet. The reason I switched had less to do with the phone and more to do with the state of Sprint. I think I have paid for 4g for 4 years and maybe used LTE a handful of times. Originally, I had a duel band repeater in my house which was destroyed in a lightning strike in 2010. Someone said call sprint and they gave me an airave which fixes the issues at my house. However, everywhere else has now become a problem. I was plagued by dropped calls, missed text messages, slow or no data, and in the last week no texts or calls at all. I missed a very important call with some of my old OIF buddies coming into town and going to dinner. I also missed all of their texts. Last saturday night I got about 40 text messages for the week. This was unacceptable and my contract wasnt up till August.

So, I went to T-mobile. I am now paying $5 less a month than with Sprint and that is with the two G2s with nothing down. I again get no signal on the first floor of my house which was no surprise. However, wifi calling cuts the defunct middle man out of the picture. I also get a weird signal at my office in BFR. It is five bars from an unknown carrier with no service. They use to have altell but have since cut off their contract but the picocell remains. Makes me think it just blabers out a signal, that tmobile could normally roam on, and it just gets no service. This was also easily fixed with WIFI calling. It might sound at first like I have issues at places and T-Mobile doesnt fix it but that isnt true. No carrier reliably works without some sort of booster at either location. Part of it has to due with location and part because both structures have foil backed insulation. My office even has metal construction that the foil is attached to. Coworkers that use a carrier that doesnt have a booster often stand near windows or hold their phones in a weird way. Everywhere else I have noticed MUCH BETTER SIGNALS. I was pleased to see that I actually get LTE in the second floor of my house. In the nearby town area I also get reliable LTE. I speed tested at 25/10 mb today. I have also noticed very little switching time between G/2G/3G/4G/4G LTE. With Sprint a switch from 3g to LTE would take at least a minute and there was no service. Might I add that sprint has had the awful habbit for the last six months of switching on an LTE tower or at least doing something with it that causes a connection to LTE and immediate switch to 3g causing a minute delay. I have also noticed that T-mobile likes to stick antennas everywhere. I found 5 towers with opensignal within a mile of where I was at yesterday. They seemed to have even stuck an antenna on a local shopping center. That entire road was a week spot with sprint and I worked on it primarily for 4 years and to see that there is so many Tmobile towers I feel jipped.

Back to the phone. I really dont feel the need to root it. T-mobile gave me mobile hotspot for free, LG pushes OEM updates at a decent interval, and most of the apps I use work fine. Maybe if I want the 4k camera upgrade ?!?! I cant think of another reason.

Thanks for the review and sorry for the long reply.
 

rjl2

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I'm in a similar boat. Have the EVO LTE on Sprint as well, but considering the switch to T-Mobile, mostly due to service issues. Looking at the LG G2 mainly for the WiFi calling (would get a Nexus 5, but since no WiFi calling it's probably a no go).

How does the LG skin compare to Sense? I haven't checked it out yet in store, but curious about your experience with the switch.

Also, I'll search on this, but since I'm writing I'll throw it in here. If I root and install a custom ROM will WiFi calling still work?

Thanks
 

HIMAN1998

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I'm in a similar boat. Have the EVO LTE on Sprint as well, but considering the switch to T-Mobile, mostly due to service issues. Looking at the LG G2 mainly for the WiFi calling (would get a Nexus 5, but since no WiFi calling it's probably a no go).

How does the LG skin compare to Sense? I haven't checked it out yet in store, but curious about your experience with the switch.

Also, I'll search on this, but since I'm writing I'll throw it in here. If I root and install a custom ROM will WiFi calling still work?

Thanks

I don't use the LG skin, since Nova Launcher works with the transparent softkeys on 4.4. I haven't used Sense, I've never owned HTC devices. As for the rooting, I wouldn't know, as I haven't rooted the thing.
 

indiegirl716

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Just wanted to chime in on the LG G2 as well. I switched to T-Mobile and got the phone yesterday so I haven't had a lot of time with it, although I really like it so far. I had the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD on Verizon so the G2 is a considerable improvement, especially the speed and display. It came with 4.4.2 so I'm not sure how easy it'll be to root it, however it's not that bad running stock.
 

HIMAN1998

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I have something to add to this review. It's one of the most durable phones I've owned. I'll admit, I haven't been the most careful person in the world with it. It's suffered a few drops. Well, the only damage from those drops is a scratch on the back, a couple of scuffs on the plastic around the screen, and a tiny, and I mean tiny, scratch on the screen. It doesn't bother me, it's a phone, it should be able to handle some abuse. I might get a case that offers drop protection before I leave for Spain this summer, but for now, it's fine.
 

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