Beautiful screen – There is no denying the G2 screen pops out at you. It is a 5.2” full HD IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 2. It has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 423 pixels per inch ( PPI) , ultimately meaning that little fails to impress on the display. It was an absolute pleasure to use.
Design – For a handset that has such a big screen the device does not feel as big as one might think. LG have given smooth cured edges to the device that help make the overall footprint feel much smaller than it is. Add to this the practically non existent 5mm bezel around the screen and it all helps to make the G2 feel quite special. The positioning of the micro USB port, headphone jack and speakers on the base of the device work in its favour too in my opinion.
Rear mounted buttons – For seasoned smartphone users, the rear buttons take some getting used too, but you can get used to them. They feel logical after a while and help keep the design very minimal. Thanks to KnockOn ( where you tap the screen) there is little need to even touch the power button. Both the volume up and down key are programmed for quick access to the camera and notes app.
Video out – You may use it infrequently, but it is always good to have it. It uses a SlimPort adapter or for the more advanced users miracast is available too for wireless screen sharing. A very nice touch is you can be playing a video back in the video player, which is outputting to a HD display but also be doing something different on the G2 itself.
USB on the go ( OTG) – Few require it, but it is nice to have it. Read and write files to a memory stick thanks to the on board support.
Audio quality – The G2 supports 24 bit/192KHz Hi-Fi playback through the on board speakers to produce playback quality better than that of a CD. Fantastic, the audio sounds crystal clear if you have FLAC files on your device.
Battery – 3000mAh battery built into the device will last most through the day. I lasted nearly 2 days and I am a moderate user. Even the heaviest user should get a day out of it unless you are using it for GPS navigation all day or other intensive tasks.
They is battery management controls to conserve power when it is running low which helps.
Camera – On the whole I found this quite pleasing. Shots often looked better on the G2 screen than they did on a desktop PC, but they were not bad. 8x digital zoom as well as optical image stabilisation are very helpful. In dark environments the clarity was better than others. You can read more in the full review.
Software – Unless you are a vanilla Android fan then there is nothing not to really like about the tweaks LG have made to the G2. It is interactive and easy to use with great touches to improve the overall experience and usability of the device. Enhancements include being able to schedule SMS, turn on and off the LED, rotate the home screen and much more.
LG G2 Cons
Rear mounted buttons – Whilst a pro, the negative is that for some getting used to the rear buttons will be too much of an issue, when you have had years of side mounted buttons. When trying to adjust the volume or zoom in certain apps using the controls will be awkward for many.
Video out – The only con here is that the G2 uses the SlimPort standard rather than the more common MHL.
Internal memory – 16 and 32GB memory variants are available, but 16GB is most commonly available. With the OS installed only 10.5GB approx. is available to the user. This is not much space for the more app hungry users. If you stream music then you are ok, but if you store music on your device you could too very quickly eat up the free space. This is without taking into consideration photos, videos and more.
To benefit from the enhanced audio, you need larger audio files, which take up more space too, meaning that in all reality you will not put the better quality files on your device because of the memory it will use.
Memory card slot – LG could have made this th