- Dec 21, 2011
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I just recently purchased a Sprint LG G2 from Craigslist. I had been using the HTC One, which is a pretty new phone too. What tempted me? The specs, the price, Sprint Spark, battery life and the screen size. I picked this guy up off of craigslist at a price lower than a Nexus or a Moto X, both devices that I really like, but both have features missing that, since my HTC One, I now refuse to live without.
The specs? This phone is sporting the Snapdragon 800, a quad core chip clocked at 2.3 ghz. It has 2GB of RAM, 32GB of device storage (no micro SD support), and it's running Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean). It has a 1080p 5.2" screen, a 13mp shooter out back and a 2.1mp on the front. The batter in this beast is a whopping 3000mAh pack that is not removable. The outside is a tough gorilla glass front and a plastic casing. The most notable feature on the phone is that all the buttons are in a line on the back next to the camera.
The Good?
Screen size
Battery life
Button placement
Knock feature
The Bad?
Plastic casing
Ugly UI
Cell reception
I know I may be in the minority still, but look at that screen! The larger 5.2" screen feels enormous compared to the HTC's 4.7" display. The trade off in size isn't a whole lot either because of the impossibly thin bezels of the LG G2 and the added area the HTC One uses for its dual speakers. For me, it's hard to decide which I would prefer more, even after using both for a while. Both are great and both are worth having a phone this size. The screen on the LG G2 is very clear too. At 1080p, you can't even begin to see individual pixels. The screen is sharp, had a lot of room to work, and with the speedy Snapdragon, it's amazingly responsive.
The other neat thing about this screen is turning it on and off. LG has included a feature they've called the, 'knock.' When the screen is off, I don't have to reach around the back to press the power button like I would on almost every other smartphone. Instead, I 'knock' twice on the screen and it magically wakes up ready for me to unlock and use it, or just to check notifications. It's incredibly useful, especially with the screen button on the back of the phone. It avoids the need to flip the phone over if it's resting on the desk - something I appreciate greatly. I hope this is adopted by the industry.
One thing I can't stand is LG gave this phone a beautiful screen and body but didn't try to match the UI to the elegance of the rest of the phone. It's a block UI. Nothing looks natural or refined about it. The UI doesn't match the Google icons in the slightest (it's picky, I know) so the screen looks cluttered. LG offers themes to its skin which do help a lot (I am using "Piano Music" at the moment - it's definitely an upgrade) but it still doesn't feel as refined as HTC Sense.
The downside of having the lightweight plastic body is that it's a magnet for scratches and fingerprints. I am spoiled with the body of the silver HTC One. I can throw that phone in my pocket with my keys and the keys will be dull before the phone has a scratch on it. That's not the case with the LG G2. I didn't have a case for the first day and a half of owning this phone and it took its toll on the glossy plastic case of the phone. I tried to get a good picture here, but after I buffed out all the fingerprints (get used to them without a case) you can still see a significant amount of scuffing on the bottom of my phone. The case helps, but I still notice that any little pieces of dust from my pocket that get in between the case and the body do an incredible amount of pretty visible damage to the finish on the back of the phone. The gorilla glass can take it on the front - no more need for a Zagg screen protector there - just on the plastic bac.
I don't know how this happens, but LG has made a phone that no matter what I run it through, it's alive by the time I get home. This is just an example of my battery after a whole day off the charger with as much use as I could justify. Last night I was able to really use the battery from 6:30 to midnight. It was on wifi and 3G and LTE and still, by the time I plugged it in I had only managed to use 85% of the battery. I normally take steps to conserve my juice, but with this one, I can't even drain it all if I try. If you're looking for amazing battery life with Android, think the LG G2.
The most unique physical feature on this phone is the location of the power and volume buttons. They are placed together on the back right underneath the camera. At first, this was a tough thing to get used to. There were a few times I found myself stumbling around the edge of the phone trying to figure out how to turn the screen off. Once I was used to it, it's the feature on this phone that I appreciate the most. Now that I am used to it, the placement of the buttons makes sense. As I hold the LG G2 in my hand (it's pretty comfortable to do) the buttons are right where my index finger naturally rests. This makes it easy to use the phone with one hand, as I prefer to do (Pro tip: trace keyboards like Swype and SwiftKeys make single handed typing very easy. I'm using SwiftKeys on the LG because it allows users to snap the keyboard to the lower corner of the screen to avoid over stretching the thumb). I think this may catch on as a great way to keep the edges of the phone clean while making the buttons more accessible to the user.
One thing I've noticed about the phone is that the service isn't as great when compared to the HTC One. Take this however you will since I'm on the Sprint network, but my HTC One had consistently better service than the LG G2 is getting. If you're on the fringe of service, I might decide to steer you away from this phone because of the small reduction in service.
So there's my review of the LG G2 on Sprint. There were software things I didn't find myself using at all (ie Slide Aside) and there were things that work just as they should (ie Infrared blaster). All in all, I really like the LG G2 because of its battery and screen size and I recommend it to most people who want that bigger screened phone. As for me, I prefer the feel of the HTC with Sense and will likely go back to the smaller screen because of it. If you're trying to decide, I recommend picking up both of these phones at a store and figuring out which subtletees you like better.
The specs? This phone is sporting the Snapdragon 800, a quad core chip clocked at 2.3 ghz. It has 2GB of RAM, 32GB of device storage (no micro SD support), and it's running Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean). It has a 1080p 5.2" screen, a 13mp shooter out back and a 2.1mp on the front. The batter in this beast is a whopping 3000mAh pack that is not removable. The outside is a tough gorilla glass front and a plastic casing. The most notable feature on the phone is that all the buttons are in a line on the back next to the camera.
The Good?
Screen size
Battery life
Button placement
Knock feature
The Bad?
Plastic casing
Ugly UI
Cell reception
I know I may be in the minority still, but look at that screen! The larger 5.2" screen feels enormous compared to the HTC's 4.7" display. The trade off in size isn't a whole lot either because of the impossibly thin bezels of the LG G2 and the added area the HTC One uses for its dual speakers. For me, it's hard to decide which I would prefer more, even after using both for a while. Both are great and both are worth having a phone this size. The screen on the LG G2 is very clear too. At 1080p, you can't even begin to see individual pixels. The screen is sharp, had a lot of room to work, and with the speedy Snapdragon, it's amazingly responsive.
The other neat thing about this screen is turning it on and off. LG has included a feature they've called the, 'knock.' When the screen is off, I don't have to reach around the back to press the power button like I would on almost every other smartphone. Instead, I 'knock' twice on the screen and it magically wakes up ready for me to unlock and use it, or just to check notifications. It's incredibly useful, especially with the screen button on the back of the phone. It avoids the need to flip the phone over if it's resting on the desk - something I appreciate greatly. I hope this is adopted by the industry.
One thing I can't stand is LG gave this phone a beautiful screen and body but didn't try to match the UI to the elegance of the rest of the phone. It's a block UI. Nothing looks natural or refined about it. The UI doesn't match the Google icons in the slightest (it's picky, I know) so the screen looks cluttered. LG offers themes to its skin which do help a lot (I am using "Piano Music" at the moment - it's definitely an upgrade) but it still doesn't feel as refined as HTC Sense.
The downside of having the lightweight plastic body is that it's a magnet for scratches and fingerprints. I am spoiled with the body of the silver HTC One. I can throw that phone in my pocket with my keys and the keys will be dull before the phone has a scratch on it. That's not the case with the LG G2. I didn't have a case for the first day and a half of owning this phone and it took its toll on the glossy plastic case of the phone. I tried to get a good picture here, but after I buffed out all the fingerprints (get used to them without a case) you can still see a significant amount of scuffing on the bottom of my phone. The case helps, but I still notice that any little pieces of dust from my pocket that get in between the case and the body do an incredible amount of pretty visible damage to the finish on the back of the phone. The gorilla glass can take it on the front - no more need for a Zagg screen protector there - just on the plastic bac.
I don't know how this happens, but LG has made a phone that no matter what I run it through, it's alive by the time I get home. This is just an example of my battery after a whole day off the charger with as much use as I could justify. Last night I was able to really use the battery from 6:30 to midnight. It was on wifi and 3G and LTE and still, by the time I plugged it in I had only managed to use 85% of the battery. I normally take steps to conserve my juice, but with this one, I can't even drain it all if I try. If you're looking for amazing battery life with Android, think the LG G2.
The most unique physical feature on this phone is the location of the power and volume buttons. They are placed together on the back right underneath the camera. At first, this was a tough thing to get used to. There were a few times I found myself stumbling around the edge of the phone trying to figure out how to turn the screen off. Once I was used to it, it's the feature on this phone that I appreciate the most. Now that I am used to it, the placement of the buttons makes sense. As I hold the LG G2 in my hand (it's pretty comfortable to do) the buttons are right where my index finger naturally rests. This makes it easy to use the phone with one hand, as I prefer to do (Pro tip: trace keyboards like Swype and SwiftKeys make single handed typing very easy. I'm using SwiftKeys on the LG because it allows users to snap the keyboard to the lower corner of the screen to avoid over stretching the thumb). I think this may catch on as a great way to keep the edges of the phone clean while making the buttons more accessible to the user.
One thing I've noticed about the phone is that the service isn't as great when compared to the HTC One. Take this however you will since I'm on the Sprint network, but my HTC One had consistently better service than the LG G2 is getting. If you're on the fringe of service, I might decide to steer you away from this phone because of the small reduction in service.
So there's my review of the LG G2 on Sprint. There were software things I didn't find myself using at all (ie Slide Aside) and there were things that work just as they should (ie Infrared blaster). All in all, I really like the LG G2 because of its battery and screen size and I recommend it to most people who want that bigger screened phone. As for me, I prefer the feel of the HTC with Sense and will likely go back to the smaller screen because of it. If you're trying to decide, I recommend picking up both of these phones at a store and figuring out which subtletees you like better.
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