G2: Good, Bad and Ugly

[tech_head]

I'll be waiting until Verizon announces.
It will be after the new Droid line becomes available and also after the HTC One.
No matter.I have to buy off contract anyway. Looks like Motorola has lost me as a customer, since they have decided not to play in the high-end phone arena.
The X and Droid phones are not in the same league as this phone, not even close.....

 

[madlaw1071]

want to hear how the speakers sound compared to the One and camera performance and any unique features like highlights.

 

[AllenRulz]

I have 2 questions that I'm worried about.

1. Being LG, I heard the Android updates were bad when it came to the LG and Optimus line. How do you think it will be?

2. With a non-removable battery, how do you reset a phone when stuff goes wrong like slowing down or something like that? I know some times with my Nexus S 4G, turning off the phone some times doesn't work because it freezes. So I have to actually TAKE the battery OUT for it to reset and work. With not being able to take a battery out, how would this work with a phone???

I appreciate the help.

 

[Nelson Guerrero]

I have 2 questions that I'm worried about.

1. Being LG, I heard the Android updates were bad when it came to the LG and Optimus line. How do you think it will be?

2. With a non-removable battery, how do you reset a phone when stuff goes wrong like slowing down or something like that? I know some times with my Nexus S 4G, turning off the phone some times doesn't work because it freezes. So I have to actually TAKE the battery OUT for it to reset and work. With not being able to take a battery out, how would this work with a phone???

I appreciate the help.

As far your second question, Im sure its like most phones with non removable battery where you just hold down the power button and or the volume button at the same time and it completely restarts it. I have a Droid Razr Maxx with a non removable battery and if my phone does freeze I just hold power and volume buttons and it works 100 percent of the time.

 

[Nelson Guerrero]

You can pin your music over wifi that's what I did I just pinned my play list and it plays at hi quality a. d dose not stream ant more because it's on your device.

Posted via Android Central App

Okay thanks. I literally took out my SD card this morning with 50 gb of music and I'm messing with google play music and seeing how I do without it. So far it doesnt seem bad actually I like that I can search any song or album and they have it.

As far as pinning it seems like a good thing for a small amount of music... like just a few mp3's. Because it stores it on your device and it takes up like 5-10 mb a song... I was just trying it and pinned like 10 albums and I just saw my Storage space go way down. Keep in mind im doing this without an SD and just my phones storage which is 8 gb.

But overall I like google play music all access. I might just keep it and just accept that they are phasing out the micro sd card from phones.

 

[ultravisitor]

Good, Bad, or Ugly?

 

[AllenRulz]

As far your second question, Im sure its like most phones with non removable battery where you just hold down the power button and or the volume button at the same time and it completely restarts it. I have a Droid Razr Maxx with a non removable battery and if my phone does freeze I just hold power and volume buttons and it works 100 percent of the time.

Oh okay, I didn't know you could do that. That helps with that problem. Next would be LG and Updates...

 

[RenoD2010]

I would love to have that phone. I really like my LGOG. I am very interested to hear feedback once it is in the hands of consumers.

From my LG Optimus G E970 using AC Forums mobile app.

 

[Haalcyon]

This looks like it'll be a great phone. I definitely would've preferred to see 32/64GB storage options and an SD card slot but manufacturers are moving away from expandable storage. I hope Samsung continues to offer it OR at least add large onboard storage options. 64/128GB

Sent from my Note 8.0 LTE

 

[ne0ne]

Antutu scores from the g2 come in around 24k. My htc one on sense 5 gets 25k all day long surprising I'd have expected the 800 to pull better numbers but the LG skin is heavy.

AT&T HTC One MoDaCo.Switch Beta 8
Nexus 7 2013 Unlocked Root + TWRP
Chromecast

 

[Aquila]

The only thing I wasn't a fan of (so far) was the UI (easily fixable with Nova, etc) and the menu button on the navigation bar (and lack of recent tasks). Soft keys has a simple and elegant solution to menu button in legacy apps that haven't updated for a couple of years, it just adds a 4th button. A dedicated button with soft keys is a mistake. Nova also solves for this with gestures to call functions (such as recent tasks, settings, etc, etc) but I believe you have to be on the home screen to do it, which makes app switching a bother, when finding settings from within an app is always obviously one of two places... on the app portion of the screen or in the nav bar.

 

[T Android]

The 2.26Ghz processor on the G2 is faster than the processor on my desktop computer.

 

[Chiplg]

As far your second question, Im sure its like most phones with non removable battery where you just hold down the power button and or the volume button at the same time and it completely restarts it. I have a Droid Razr Maxx with a non removable battery and if my phone does freeze I just hold power and volume buttons and it works 100 percent of the time.

+1 Same with the Droid RAZR. Volume + Power kills the phone, even if it's locked up. I'd prefer to pull the battery, but I got over it. I was a BB user before my Droid X, so battery pull was a part of life.

As for this phone, I'm more interested than I thought I would be. Hate the buttons on the back. Love the battery and screen size. The slide aside may be the feature that wins me over. I may have hatted battery pulls, but I still miss the way BB handled apps and multitasking. You could exit the app and leave it in it's current state, or you could close the app and it would start fresh next time.

I'm interested in the Maxx with it's always listening feature, and I'm intrigued by the X8 architecture. However, it still hasn't been proven long term. It's hard to say no to the latest processor. 32GB should be enough. So, that's ok. Wireless charging would have been nice, but that's no big deal. I've never been a fan of on screen buttons. I like my capacitive buttons on my RAZR, and they keep the VZW logo company. Seeing that they are customizable, even by a small degree, may make me change my mind though.

I'll have to take a picture with the camera in store and see the noise level before I pass judgment there. Noise from high ISO is the primary reason I hate cell cameras. The bump it up higher than needed to keep the shutter fast. The camera has OIS, that means they can lower the ISO and keep the image steady even with slower shutter speeds. I hope they did.

I guess the final question right now for me is how long I'll have to wait. I want to compare the One, Maxx, and G2 at the same time. Right now, I'm thinking the One is out already. My main reason for wanting the Maxx was the battery. The G2 might be close enough, and have an advantage in other areas. I like the physical design of the Maxx better, but I'm not buying a phone to admire its design.

I guess I need to compare them side by side, unless the reviews can tell me all I need to know.

 

[Rule9]

Sorry anyone who writes off an entire phone's feature set just because of SD cards should write link bait articles for sites like Forbes. SMH.

 

[Aquila]

Sorry anyone who writes off an entire phone's feature set just because of SD cards should write link bait articles for sites like Forbes. SMH.

I feel like Google was crystal clear that the SD card was a legacy feature that Android was moving past. Granted, not everyone likes the solutions offered in its place so far, but when people keep buying the 16GB phones on day 1 instead of the $50-$100 more 32GB devices that come out a month or two later, yeah... they're going to assume based on sales that 16GB is sufficient for everyone.

 

[JHBThree]

I feel like Google was crystal clear that the SD card was a legacy feature that Android was moving past. Granted, not everyone likes the solutions offered in its place so far, but when people keep buying the 16GB phones on day 1 instead of the $50-$100 more 32GB devices that come out a month or two later, yeah... they're going to assume based on sales that 16GB is sufficient for everyone.

I think part of the problem too is that there are carriers that only carry the smaller capacity (I'm looking at you, T-Mobile jerks) so people don't really have a choice. I know that I will be picking up a G2, and based on T-Mobile's history I'll likely only be able to get a 16gb one.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Aquila]

I think part of the problem too is that there are carriers that only carry the smaller capacity (I'm looking at you, T-Mobile jerks) so people don't really have a choice. I know that I will be picking up a G2, and based on T-Mobile's history I'll likely only be able to get a 16gb one.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

True. Apparently their research is telling them that 16GB (10 usable) is plenty for the average person. I think it's self fulfilling for the reason you stated, + they tend to release the 16GB 1st and follow up later (maybe) with larger versions... but even the iPhone sells tons of 16GB devices relative to the 32GB and 64GB versions. Like it or no, people are going to either start figuring out a way to proactively use the cloud to their benefit or to be much more intensional about their syncing habits in an offline/wired capacity. That or start convincing friends/family to hold out for the devices that play to their wants, rather than jumping on the first thing offered and to communicate those reasons to OEMs and carriers.

 

[Nelson Guerrero]

True. Apparently their research is telling them that 16GB (10 usable) is plenty for the average person. I think it's self fulfilling for the reason you stated, + they tend to release the 16GB 1st and follow up later (maybe) with larger versions... but even the iPhone sells tons of 16GB devices relative to the 32GB and 64GB versions. Like it or no, people are going to either start figuring out a way to proactively use the cloud to their benefit or to be much more intensional about their syncing habits in an offline/wired capacity. That or start convincing friends/family to hold out for the devices that play to their wants, rather than jumping on the first thing offered and to communicate those reasons to OEMs and carriers.

Very true. No lie just because of the LG G2 announcement and finding out it has no SD card slot, Im finally giving in and finding ways to use the cloud. I have a 64 gb micro sd with 50 gb of music too that im probably just gonna have to forget about.

I uploaded all my photos and videos to Google Drive which has 15gb free. And I got Google Play Music all access and I'm putting my music on it.

Im getting ready to leave Verizon because of the 4gb limit and I'm about to switch to T-mobile and maybe get this LG G2 and have all my stuff set up in the cloud already.

 

[Aquila]

Very true. No lie just because of the LG G2 announcement and finding out it has no SD card slot, Im finally giving in and finding ways to use the cloud. I have a 64 gb micro sd with 50 gb of music too that im probably just gonna have to forget about.

I uploaded all my photos and videos to Google Drive which has 15gb free. And I got Google Play Music all access and I'm putting my music on it.

Im getting ready to leave Verizon because of the 4gb limit and I'm about to switch to T-mobile and maybe get this LG G2 and have all my stuff set up in the cloud already.

The cloud IS MUCH more realistic with an unlimited data plan such as Sprint or T-Mobile. If T-Mobile has good coverage where you need it, their $30 prepaid or $70 plans can't be beat. I love Verizon's network coverage and speeds in my area, and I have unlimited, but if I didn't... I have to be honest I'd be shopping for an unlimited plan. Good luck to you!

 

[haillyl]

Antutu scores from the g2 come in around 24k. My htc one on sense 5 gets 25k all day long surprising I'd have expected the 800 to pull better numbers but the LG skin is heavy.

AT&T HTC One MoDaCo.Switch Beta 8
Nexus 7 2013 Unlocked Root + TWRP
Chromecast

Lol.. maybe HTC use benchmark booster like Samsung did? Jk. people dont actually care about benchmark scores, day to day use performance is the most important.