Author: Matt Groff
Having never used an Android device by LG before, I was happy to have the opportunity to test drive the LG Optimus G. My smartphone journey has taken me from the Apple iPhone 4, to the Motorola DROID RAZR, to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1" HSPA+, to the T-Mobile HTC One S, to the Motorola Atrix HD, to the Motorola RAZR i, and finally landing on this review of the LG Optimus G. I have been almost everywhere in the spectrum of smartphones, and hope I can give you an unbiased look at this beauty of a device. Without further adieu... my Review
Hardware
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Processor: 1.5 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (Quad Core)
RAM: 2GB
Screen: 4.7" IPS display. 1280×768 resolution. Aprox. 318 dpi.
Radios (AT&T): LTE and HSPA+
Internal Memory: 16GB (expandable by microSDHC card)
Camera: 8-Megapixel. 1080p HD video at 30 frames per second.
Battery: 2,100 mAh
Extras: NFC, Barometer, Gyroscope, Accelerometer Sensor, Light Sensor, Magnetic Sensor.
Normally, carrier branding is annoying and can ruin the appearance of an otherwise beautiful device. Thankfully in the casing for the device, AT&T did not ruin this phone with it's logo everywhere. Both the front and back of the LG Optimus G are specimens of build quality and design. The AT&T symbol on the back is quite small, and the silver shimmer of it doesn't detract from it's sleek design. On the front resting on the top is a shiny LG logo, nothing more. Other OEMs can take a page from LG on their logo placing.
The audio quality seems to be on par with other non-Beats devices out there. No problems with audio to speak of, but of course things could always be better. One flaw is the speaker placement. It's a notch in the back's otherwise glossy complexion, and is muffled when the phone is face-up on a flat surface. For example, on a table when trying to play music through it. Easily fixed my turning it over, but the speaker should face towards the user, not away from them. Call quality was clear and neither side of phone calls had trouble hearing.
Notification LEDs are a great addition to most Android phones, and this one doesn't disappoint either. Unexpectedly, this LED is be part of the Power key, but it looks great the way it is. When charging the phone, the Power Key glows an orange color. This gives it a more unique look than other phones, and a less annoying blinking light.
While the IPS display look great indoors, it is heavily lacking in the outdoor department. Even on a cloudy day outside there is trouble seeing the display on the auto-brightness setting. Having a 720p display is great for watching HD videos and pictures. Below is a comparison picture of the best screen on a Motorola device (Atrix HD / RAZR HD) versus the Optimus G.
This phone uses capacitive buttons instead of software buttons like the Nexus 4. It has only 3 of them, but unlike HTC, the buttons are Back, Home, and Menu. To access the Multi-tasking function you simply hold the Home button for a second. LG realized the most often used buttons were Back, Home, and Menu, and made sure it was the Menu key instead of multi-tasking like HTC used. Sure, Android apps are supposed to be updated to support a software Menu button built into apps, but most of us know that is just simply not that case in many apps out there on the Play Store still. On the HTC One S, many apps show a new software Menu button that takes a large chunk of real-estate from the display. LG has done the right thing here with the button choices. Especially interesting on this phone is how without the backlight, the capacitive keys almost entirely vanish into the darkness of the device. It looks great. Occasionally the buttons needed to be pressed more than once to work. Those times they vibrated and got no response on the occasions when they didn't work.
Heat has been a slight problem when playing games, and not just graphic intensive 3D titles. Fruit Ninja makes this device heat up rather quickly. Nothing seemed to slow down, but it might worry some people. Turning on the Battery Saving mode in the Quad Core option under Settings helps with this. Not all Android apps are even optimized for Quad Core so having this option turned on shouldn't hurt everyday performance.
The camera has some handy features. Beauty shot for taking a picture of your own face and making it... more beautiful? More useful maybe is a speech feature, where the phone can say "Cheese" for you. Of course also coming along with it are HDR mode, Panorama and Continuous shot as standard in most new phones these days.. The 8-Megapixel on this performs rather 'meh' in all environments. The pictures look just plain bad compared to other 8-Megapixel smartphone cameras, even when not zoomed in at all. See the below gallery to see how the pictures turned out.
Battery life. One of the most, if not the most important feature on a phone. LG has put a 2,100 mAh battery pack in this device, compared to a DROID RAZR HD MAXX with a 3,300 mAh battery. Should last about two-thirds of the time as the DROID RAZR HD MAXX right? Unfortunately not. The quad core chip is not as power efficient as it should be, but there are built-in ways to turn off the beastly features of it that make it a top-notch device in order to save a few hours. For instance, left it on the charger all night to get 100% in the morning. Unplugged it and left it idle and locked for about 3 hours, came back and its 75%. Reason according to Battery Usage in Settings, was Android OS. Other than this example though, the battery has lasted the whole day with a single charge without using their modifications to help save battery. LG and other OEMs need to take a lesson from Motorola in putting bigger batteries in. 2100 mAh for a quad-core and LTE device just isn't enough.
Software
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benchmarks are best of 4 for each app.
Quadrant Standard - 7634
Antutu - 18,068
Vellamo HTML5 - 1,540
Using MX Player from the Play Store, played a 720p HD .mkv video it loaded up almost instantly and could switch between parts of the video without buffering times. Hardware shouldn't be a problem in this device for rendering videos, network speed will be the only bottleneck if streaming. Since this packs LTE and HSPA+ that will rarely be an issue, if you are lucky enough to be in those AT&T coverage areas.
OEM Android Skin - Optimus UI 3.0
OEM Skins can normally be a pain to deal with. LG provided a relaxing break from the other Skins that cause pain and anguish to stock Android lovers. The first thing you notice when you boot up for the first time, after the big AT&T logo in your face, is a different type of lockscreen. Forget "Slide to Unlock", now its swiping anywhere on the screen.
The default launcher and homescreen remind me of a mixture of TouchWiz and Sense, but with a lot less intrusion and forcing the user to use the launcher in only one way. Optimus UI is very customizable, with the ability to change Transitions, Wallpapers (of course), Widgets, and Managing Apps with ease. Another feature to mention, is being able to create your own custom icons for applications. This will help users be creative without needing to root or modify their device in ways without voiding their warranty.
Stock keyboards have never been my cup of tea. Like HTC does with Sense, Optimus UI includes its own keyboard. The auto-correct is one of the most annoying in any of the keyboards out there. You cannot choose to type incorrect words, at least not in an easy to figure out method. Want to type Antutu benchmark? Too bad. You will get Anthill Benchmark or something similar instead. Install a different keyboard if you want to keep your sanity.
The notifications pulldown includes Quick Settings. Not just basic toggles, but customizable to your needs. By default it has: QuickMemo, Sound, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, and Airplane mode. Next to those is the Edit button, letting you choose which you want to appear above your notifications. This is a feature that required hacks and custom ROMs previously, or use of the app
Quickmemo isn't exactly what you would expect from the name. It's a way to write notes or annotations on top of your current screen. Kind of like opening up a screenshot of the phone in Microsoft Paint to write on it. If you were expecting a Note-taking app when you saw the name, you are not alone. It would have been more useful to add to Quick Settings by default than this feature that will most likely never be used besides to just try it out.
Other than those features, its what you can expect out of Android, with a bit of Optimus theme here and there. The amount of work they put into giving you a decent Android experience was great, and it doesn't go unappreciated here. They improved Google's Ice Cream Sandwich experience and makes you almost not miss Jellybean. Almost. The Optimus UI however, offers the two main features that devices haven't had come stock in the past. The Quick Settings mentioned earlier, as well as the 1% battery reporting in the notification bar if enabled in Settings.
Root, ROMs, etc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over at XDA-Developers.com there is a large and active development community for this device. This is a great device for developers and isn't restricted for them. The bootloader is unlockable, and that means root and custom ROMs. Most normal people won't be affected by this, but it means. The LG Optimus G doesn't need root and custom ROMs to be everything you want it to be, but that in the end is up to the user.
Pricing
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final Decision
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While there were some negatives with the overheating, camera, speaker placement, and running an out-dated version of Android: the LG Optimus G is a top contender for the end of 2012 smartphones. If you are looking for a new phone for AT&T and can't get your hands on the $350 Google Nexus 4 (also by LG), then this one comes recommended.
