My comparison of the G2 to the Droid Maxx

Snareman

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I debated between these 2 phones and thought I'd post my thoughts for anyone else that might also be debating. I held out after the Maxx came out bought the G2 and loved it. I've had some problems getting the LED to light up correctly with different colors and always wondered if the grass was greener with the bigger battery of the Maxx. So I went out and picked one up. Now I have both and will return one of them in the next week. So here is my quick comparison

G2 Pros- Love the buttons on the back, even though they are too small on the Verizon version. Love that there are no buttons on the side and I can grip it without worry of turning it on. The screen is beautiful, large and clear and I love how it takes up almost the entire front of the phone. Knock on is one of the greatest things ever. I love being able to have it sitting on the desk and just tap it twice to turn it on. I love that the phone can tell if I'm looking at it and will keep the screen on as long as I'm staring at it. Its more of a novelty with the movies, but cool for every day use. I love that is HAS an LED light. Phone is nice and light weight and it feels thin because of the curved back. Great camera with OIS.

Cons - The speaker could be louder (as it is on the maxx). 3000mah is nice, but 3500 would have been nicer. The plastic finger print magnet rear just begs for a case, making the phone larger. I could care less about Verizon branding everyone complains about.

Droid Maxx - Pros - Crazy large battery, louder and clearer speaker, active notifications, kevlar back is MUCH nicer, phone feels more well built

Cons - smaller screen (relatively), side buttons (now that I like the rear), heavier, feels larger because of the squared off back, less good camera, slower processor

Comparing the battery life during my normal 10h shift the G2 was consistently down to 65% by the end. Today the Maxx was only down to 85% with perhaps just slightly lighter use. The screen is nicer on the G2, but its good enough on the Maxx and if you didn't have them side by side you probably wouldn't know what you're missing. I like the louder, clearer speaker on the Maxx. It definitely feels heavier, boxier, chunkier because, well, it is heavier, but also with the more squared off corners you feel it more. I didn't know how I'd like it, but I really like the active notification. Pull it out of the pocket and it lights up to tell you if you have anything. I do wish I could have separate icons for each gmail label and could pick which thing it opens to as opposed to just the last notification. The kevlar rear is far nicer. Overall though I much prefer the form factor of the G2.

So in the end... which will I keep. They are both great phones and I wish I could meld features from both of them together. Granted after only 1 day with it, I think I'll probably end up with the Maxx. Assuming the battery life holds up like it did today over the next week its pretty impressive. The G2 battery is likely good enough, but the maxx seems much better and I like that peace of mind. If the G2 had a larger battery (even at the expense of some weight and size) and if I could either get the LED to work correctly, or better, had active notifications (which it could when it gets 4.3) I'd definitely keep it. I absolutely love knock on, but with the Maxx, I can at least get half of that via Nova and the turn off screen app same way I was doing it on the G2.

I don't think you can go wrong with either phone. For me I think its the battery and active notifications that are winning the fight.
 

anon(847090)

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obviously Maxx is much better like u said.. Go Maxx

LG is turning to bloated like S4 but the scary part is LG is turning to bloat monster faster than samsung
 

Ken7

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How important is the camera to you? We know the G2 has a much better camera than the Maxx. It may not mean much to you, for me it's a big factor.

Did Snareman say the Maxx was much better than the G2? I must have missed that. ;-)
 

Snareman

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I agree. I don't think the max is necessarily better. I really want to like the g2 better but I really like the peace of mind of the larger battery and active notification is nice. I think the g2 feels better in the hand with its form factor and the screen is certainly nicer along with a better camera. I guess I am willing to make a few sacrifices. It's all about what the person finds important in their phone.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk 4
 

tx_tuff

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I agree with the OP, it depends on what the using wants the most. I almost got the Maxx but waited for the G2 to come out. I played with the Maxx and the store and the camera just didn't do it for me. The camera on the G2 is great! That plus the larger LCD 1080p screen did it for me. I also would rather have LED instead of active notifications. At least I think so. So it was G2 for me.

Posted via Android Central App
 

kkel19

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obviously Maxx is much better like u said.. Go Maxx

LG is turning to bloated like S4 but the scary part is LG is turning to bloat monster faster than samsung

G2 bloated? really? I just disable the FIVE att apps and the thing was running crisp.
 

kollarism

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Dynamic notifications and knock 2 are notification apps you can download.I'm not sure if they will show up when you pull the phone out of your pocket, but still a cool feature. Also, so have a 65% battery make that much of a difference compared to 80?

Thanks for the phone comparison.
 

Snareman

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Dynamic notifications and knock 2 are notification apps you can download.I'm not sure if they will show up when you pull the phone out of your pocket, but still a cool feature. Also, so have a 65% battery make that much of a difference compared to 80?

Thanks for the phone comparison.

I think you have to have 4.3 for dynamic notifications to work with the downloaded app from what I've seen. Having the phone breath at you when you take it out of your pocket is one of the great features of it. And yes, I think that's a huge difference in battery. I was finally down to around 65% around midnight last night after having taken it off the charger at 6am.
 

Kris Nelson

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I think you have to have 4.3 for dynamic notifications to work with the downloaded app from what I've seen. Having the phone breath at you when you take it out of your pocket is one of the great features of it. And yes, I think that's a huge difference in battery. I was finally down to around 65% around midnight last night after having taken it off the charger at 6am.

Dynamic notifications has been updated for 4.0 for awhile now...works great and yes it does have a wake feature for pulling out of pocket.

Posted via Android Central App
 

Snareman

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Dynamic notifications has been updated for 4.0 for awhile now...works great and yes it does have a wake feature for pulling out of pocket.

Posted via Android Central App

I'll take a look at it tonight. Thanks! Although, FWIW, on the G2 it will have to light up the entire screen vs just part of it on the Maxx so it will wear on the battery more.
 
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Ken7

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Installed Dynamic Notifications, but don't like it and now I can't get rid of it. In the App Manager the ability to delete it is grayed out. Anyone have any ideas. Something about "Administrative authority" or something?

Edit: Got it to delete.

What I didn't like about it is that it semi-disabled knock on. I also noticed that when putting it IN my pocket, the screen went on. Looks to me like it might pose some additional issues for the battery.
 

Snareman

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Installed Dynamic Notifications, but don't like it and now I can't get rid of it. In the App Manager the ability to delete it is grayed out. Anyone have any ideas. Something about "Administrative authority" or something?

Edit: Got it to delete.

What I didn't like about it is that it semi-disabled knock on. I also noticed that when putting it IN my pocket, the screen went on. Looks to me like it might pose some additional issues for the battery.

The wear on the battery having to turn the entire screen on would be a concern of mine as well. and it would be a toss up between it and knock on. Perhaps I'd like it for the notifications but still want to be able to double tap the screen on whenever I want. Probably can't have both.
 

Ken7

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Yeah, it's possible those two actions conflict with one another. I'm sure the developer of the app didn't consider the knock on feature of the G2 when it was designed. I suppose it's possible that I might not have had a setting right.
 

Jdroids

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Other than slightly worse battery life maybe, G2 wins in almost every way I think. As long as the phone has enough battery charge left by the end of day, having extra 10~20% is not that important for me.
 

Ken7

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^ I'd agree with that. When you consider the screen, camera, features etc., for me an extra 20% doesn't mean much. I get through a really full day with battery to spare. But everyone has their 'hot button' so we each make our own decision.
 

rackumrack

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I had a maxx hd and the only benefit it had was the radio and battery life. The Motorola/Google UI is just cheap and outdated. I was using nova just because of hating the Motorola home screens. LG has stepped up with a radio comparable if not better than Motorola. I work a 500 square mile area 12 hours a day and phone service is important to me. That's why I bought the maxx because Samsung could not make a phone with a good radio. I know it is a user's preference but the g2 has hit a home run with this phone. At the end of the day whether I have 30%, with the g2 or 45% with a maxx is not a big deal either way I can still make a call and they have to charge to be ready for the next day.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
 

JayWill

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What's kind of funny is, if LG had made it possible to change the colors of the LED natively, Snareman may have never gone out and bought a Maxx. Everyone has their "thing" with a device, and I think Snareman has made a very fair comparison and is going about things the right way, which is deciding what is most important to his experience and deciding from there. I personally think the fact that the G2 isn't even being advertised as a "battery champion" phone speaks volumes for how excellent the device is. But Active Notifications was home run for Moto, and if battery life is one of your highest priorities, it makes the Maxx look very nice for some.
 

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