When the topic of smartphones comes up, LG’s name is hardly the first on anyone’s lips. Despite having launched the popular Optimus a few years back (arguably the first smartphone to be the same on all networks), LG has been without a major hit. Recent phones, such as the LG Viper, have failed to catch the public’s imagination. Until now.
LG’s new Optimus G is a cousin to the latest Google Nexus phone, the Nexus 4. That alone has grabbed everyone’s attention, having sold over a million units as of January 20. What is it about this 4″ slab that’s making people pay attention to LG?
First Impressions
The first word that comes to mind when seeing the Optimus G is slab. Optimus G is a solid black semi-rectangular phone, with slightly rounded corners. This sounds more boring than it is, but the phone’s appearance isn’t something that’s going to grab the eye, a la a Nokia Lumia. What will, however, grab you is the fairly stunning IPS display. With 318 pixels per inch, the G makes videos and images pop. Colors seem more accurate than on HTC or Samsung’s screens, and viewing angles are great.
The body of the G is plastic, but it doesn’t feel cheap at all. This may be partially because the Optimus G doesn’t have an end-user accessible battery or the ability to add more storage. The solid feel of the phone makes it a joy to hold.
Google’s push for buttonless displays is alive and well here, as the G has three capacitive buttons in front (back, home, menu) and the only physical buttons are on the right (power) and left (volume). It’s a natural layout, especially is you’ve ever used an S III, and flows well.
The Software
It’s frustrating to review Android phones and see an older version of the operating system. While the Optimus G has cutting edge hardware, it’s saddled with the previous edition of Android with Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) instead of Jelly Bean (JB). While ICS is a fine OS, JB is superior, so why not jump right to it? The most likely reason is skinning.
While previous LG Android devices were gloriously unskinned, someone decided that there was a need to heavily skin the Optimus G. It’s hard to decide if the LG skin is worse or better than my least favorite, TouchWiz, but it’s absolutely neck and neck. You can’t control music from the lock screen, the app drawer is quirky (I constantly had to reset it to list alphabetically), and the behavior of a long screen hold on the homescreen is cosmetically different from any other Android device. Actually, I like the long hold behavior, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s unintuitive. I will say that the notification shade’s quick-menu on the top is full featured, lets the user toggle a lot of tools, and is very configurable.
One additional cool feature that I didn’t get a chance to test is SmartShare, which allows you directly share what’s on your phone with other screens.
Performance
The LG Optimus G is one of the first phones out there with a quad-core processor and wow, does it feel like it. Thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 under the hood, the phone is crazy responsive . Eventually, this will be something people get used to. Right now though? Using the G makes going back to just about any Android device tricky, as you lose that performance boost.
The screen, as mentioned above, is also high-end and feels like it. Sadly, the sound is not as hot. If you use your phone to listen to music, invest in headphones, because the speakerphone is weak as all get out. Also weak? The soft keyboard. If you do decide to go for this phone, download almost any of the many keyboard choices in the Google Play store. The G’s built-in keyboard borders on unusable.
While you can’t add storage or swap the battery on the G, the 2100 mAh battery is quite good, even with the faster chip. Most users should be able to leave their chargers at home. As for storage, bundling in 32 GB of space sort of eliminates the need for an SD card slot.
Call quality is fine, although I did have a few times when data connectivity was lost. Not that it matters, as Sprint’s LTE Network in Houston continues to be weaker than Verizon or AT&T’s, with down speeds barely hitting 3 Mbps. If you’re coming from 3G, it’s going to feel fast. However, if you’re switching from anywhere else, you may feel a little bit frustrated.
The camera on the Sprint Optimus G is a 13 MP shooter that’s quite good for snapshots. Colors are crisp and shutter speed is nice. Autofocus works well. While I didn’t use the filters included, there are plenty available. The lack of a dedicated physical camera button slightly annoying, but I’d happily say that the Optimus G is one of the best smartphone cameras I’ve used.
An example of the spectacular colors the Optimus G camera can produce.
Hackability
The bootloader for the Optimus G ships locked. Of course, there are tools out there to allow you access. There’s already a Clockwork Recovery mod and assorted goodies out there.
The Strengths
The thought that we’re starting to see quad-core phones is rather insane, and the Optimus G shows how great such a device can be.
The Weaknesses
It’s a shame though to see such wonderful hardware hampered by an annoying software skin. Android manufacturers need to trust the Google UI team a bit more.
Pricing & Availability
Sprint is selling the Optimus G for $199, but smart shoppers don’t need to pay that much. Outlets like Best Buy have already had the Optimus G for free (it’s currently $99, with no activation fee), and you can currently score it on Amazon for a mere $50. That’s an absolutely insane value.
Wrap Up
If you’re currently looking for an Android Smartphone on Sprint, the Optimus G should absolutely be on your shortlist. Even with the annoying skin, the sheer power under the hood makes it superior to the Galaxy S III or the HTC EVO 4G LTE. Add to that the pricing deals out there, and you have a phone that will absolutely knock your socks off.
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