Whats Holding me back from the Optimus G (is this reasonable)

BCShakarov

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After weeks of research and reviews, I narrowed down my phone selection to the Galaxy Note 2 and the Optimus G, both on AT&T. I'm just coming into android after purchasing the Note 10.1 and holding onto my iPhone 4 until I get a new phone.

I preordered the Note 2 so that I know it will be there for me come Nov 9th but since the LGoG is coming out this Friday, I feel that I have time to change my mind if needed.

I REALLY like how the LGoG is looking, and the Specs pull me in. It would be my first pick except I have a few concerns and I hope some here can help clarify...

1. Support: ICS at launch with the "promise" of JB coming? This is a concern not just bc of OS but overall company support. I LOVE the customization and UI options over touchwiz, but I can do that with the Note 2. The benefit here is that I won't need a 3rd party launcher to get all those goodies. But why should I get a phone from a company that isn't active in updating its software or wait till 2013 to get an update that is 2 OS' behind. Is this a reasonable concern or am I underestimating LG?

2. Phone components: Based on the reviews, the audio is lacking and the camera isn't all that great. Ive seen some pictures and heard audio recordings and don't think its all that bad, but the other phones do seem to do better in this department. Plus I don't know what audio chip they're using (compared to Samsungs Wolfson) because Sound Quality is important to me (I use the UE TripleFi)

3. Cases: There's an Int'l, Sprint, and ATT version and after seeing each one, I don't think there will be one case. It would be a long shot to say that manufacts will produce a case for each. I'm one that uses a case regardless of good build quality and It would be much harder to find a case for this phone.

These are my 3 main gripes. I will obviously go to the store and check the phone out but these concerns won't be cleared up by inspecting the phone. I really want to choose this phone, and had it not been for these 3, It would be a no brainer for me.

Thank You for your help
 

slammer1

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Like you, I have been researching this phone for the last week. I have also been looking at the Samsung GS3, and deciding if I want to wait for the HTC One X+. LG said early December they will roll out Jelly Bean, If they make a press release saying they will release it and then they don't, that will terrible PR. I have pretty much decided on the LG Optimus G, the review are overall pretty good, of course I am waiting to try it out at the store. I'll 14 days to return it if the sound quality is bad, or there is something else I don't like.
 

nrm5110

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1. Root and you wont have that problem

2. Samsung has been known to use crappy audio components in some phones. Luckily modifying alsa settings and eq's I get decent audio on the crappy Yamaha chip.

3. Cases will be abundant on these phones im sure as both are going to be very popular devices.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
 

Pre-dawn raid

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There are two conditions which have to be met before I get this phone (on Sprint): 1) bootloader gets unlocked, 2) timely update to Jelly Bean, like in 2012.
 

jhasty

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Agreed. And make sure that JB update doesn't encrypt the bootloader like Motorola did to the Photon. (And then announced no more software updates.)
 

jsntrenkler

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I picked one up this morning. So far its a solid device. I am coming from a galaxy s3. The UI overlay is much better than touchwiz and the phone is very snappy even with eco mode enabled on the phone. I am pretty happy so far.

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2
 

Pre-dawn raid

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This is good news. Glad you're liking your new device. Yeah, it seems like a REALLY solid phone but I like to flash a lot so a strong dev community is important to me.

Keep us up to date with any issues you have and especially battery life since the N4 is almost the same hardware.

Sent from my PC36100 using Android Central Forums
 

ericizzy1

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I picked one up this morning. So far its a solid device. I am coming from a galaxy s3. The UI overlay is much better than touchwiz and the phone is very snappy even with eco mode enabled on the phone. I am pretty happy so far.

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2

hi,is it much snappier than the sg3, or a small diffrance?
 

j_grouchy

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timely update to Jelly Bean, like in 2012.
Big one for me, too. That and battery life.
I'd also like some reasonable expectation of getting whatever the next big OS upgrade is (Key Lime Pie??). I know there are no guarantees...but like someone else said, Motorola let a lot of folks down when they left them out in the cold on updates.
 
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vingem

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i have the same dilemma except that i have 1 more phone in my comparison, i'm torn between LGOG , SGS3, HTC One X+. I'm on At&T

it's easier if i put it this way, If LGOG had jelly bean out of the box i would have picked it up without any hesitation. since it's on ICS and considering LG's track record with software updates i'm having second thoughts, but now that the bootloader is unlocked and some would say you can root it load custom roms but i would prefer to not root it if i don't have to.

here's the PROS & CONS for me

LGOG
PROS:
Quad core with 2gb RAM
LTE
sd card slot
faster phone and with this hardware i'm really hoping this phone could last a little while and get few upgrades from google

CONS:
ICS
touchscreen issue (something to do with grounding and it happens only when the phone is charging?)
not much support for the device (atleast as of now)
can't find much accessories (not really worried much about this for now)

vs

SGS3
PROS:
not much to say that hasn't been said already. has proven to be the winner.
will be getting JB update pretty soon, any time now i guess?
plenty of support for the phone
better camera

CONS:
dual core with 2GB ram. the only reason i'm listing this under cons is becuase i'm not knowledgeable & not sure which is better when it comes to cores & RAMs. will SGS3 be as snappy as it is now with dual core with future updates and won't slow down with new apps and be used for a longer time or LGOG would better in the longer run becuase of the quade core & 2gb ram?

HTC OneX+ - i think i like everything about the OneX+ except that it has only 1gb ram and i've eason ono various posts taying that HTC suffers from wifi problems, quality issue and etc
although i haven't been able to figure out what exactly those problems are.

LGOG is on sale for $99 at bestbuy
& SGS3 would be on sale this black friday.

i really need to decide fast and get 1. can someone please help?
 

just_trev

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I had the LGoG for a week it froze 2 times but it was a awsome phone the screen and build quality is second to none (minus the one x+) but my problem was the speaker wasnt that loud, there is no file manager built in u have to download one from the market, there is no support for apps to sd card, and for some reason the ram gets eatin up quick I found my self hitting the optimization button on the ram widget frequently. I wound up returning mine for a galaxy note 2 at&t version and im completely satisfied minus the fact I dont have multi window feature yet but sprint version is the only one with it as of now unless u root.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Android Central Forums
 

just_trev

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I liked the optimus g it was snappy fast the games played smooth the operating system ran smooth but it started getting lil hick ups like freezing up and it powercycled once not a bad phone at all though.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Android Central Forums
 

vingem

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thanks for the reply!
i did hear about not being able to move apps to sd card but i think i can live with that because the way i use is that i store all my media on the sd card and all the apps on the phone.
 

vingem

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interesting and surprised, this is the first time i'm hearing anyone say that LGoG freezes. is it possible that you could have had a faulty device? did you ever experience the touch screen issue and if so was it only during charging?
 

frmorrison

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Regarding the future JB update messing up the bootloader, just use the FreeGee unlock tool, then root and then you don't have to wait on LG to release an update. Just use the community produced ROMs (only one for now, but I am sure more are coming).
 

ohlad

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Hmm LGOG is still ICS? I think you wont have a problem with the update to JB, I'm from Asia and we get the LGOG on JB already. I totally agree this phone blows the s3. I like the UI better in LGOG as well. speed? oh its very snappy!

You are right though on camera and audio. I'm not happy with the camera, its Ok you can use it everyday but there's no wow factor :D the speaker on the other hand is place at the back and its not that good sound quality. but if you use a good headphone instead then its alright. So far these are my two issues with this phone.

I have the E975, is it E970 in US? same look and packaging?
I created a short video, is it the same?

LG Optimus G E975 - Unboxing and Benchmarking - YouTube