LG G2 (D802) review: a proven flagship. G-series G2 Gold Cell phone lg g2

Despite the successes of the Korean company LG Electronics in the segment of household appliances, its mobile division was practically outsiders, playing mainly the role of catching up and releasing at the same time insufficiently balanced and ill-conceived devices, some of which were either ahead of their time - which is why they did not use popularity, or, simply, suffered from flaws in the assembly, quality of work, support, etc.

Nevertheless, LG still managed from time to time to grope for that so important thread needed to create really interesting models that were in good demand and support from both the manufacturer and the Internet community, which released alternative firmware versions based on CyanogenMod. The turning point in the manufacturer's activity was 2012, which brought with it a popular series of inexpensive models of the LG L line, which had already been updated to the second generation, and ensured the appearance of an unprecedented model of the year - the LG Nexus 4, created in cooperation with Google, and after - re-released in the form of its own, no less good flagship model LG Optimus G.

In fact, it is the G-series models that have lost the Optimus prefix this year that have become the main calling card of LG. This year, this line has been replenished with several more interesting devices, including the innovative hit of the season - LG G2, with the features of which we will understand in the continuation of the material.

Specifications

Delivery and equipment

The smartphone is packed in a small box made of very dense cardboard, which protects the device inside well enough during transportation. It is painted white, and the visual design, which, in general, is not, can only offer a couple of logos: "LG" and "G2". In addition, on its back there is quite extensive information about the main characteristics and supported functions, as well as about certification marks, among which there is UA UCRF. Technical information about the delivery, including: a list of supported frequencies in 2G, 3G and 4G networks, model name, body color, production date and IMEI number - is located on the front sidewall.

We got a pre-sale version of LG G2 for testing, the package of which included only a user manual, a special “G”-shaped paper clip to access the SIM-card tray, and two protective films on the front and back sides. The retail version will also offer a small charger with a detachable USB ↔ micro-USB cable. Headphones and other accessories will have to be purchased separately.

Appearance, design

In general, the design of the LG G2 is not much different from many touchscreen monoblocks both from LG itself and from almost any other manufacturers who like to use black in combination with the ubiquitous gloss, and make the general outlines with noticeably rounded corners and edges. Be that as it may, the smartphone looks nice, and it would be stupid to deny it, especially since a close acquaintance with the model reveals several interesting and sometimes insignificant details, trying with all their might to distinguish the device from the crowd.

For example, a thin chrome strip runs along the perimeter of the case, which, although it is only decorated plastic, creates the impression of the presence of metal in the structure. Moreover, this is partly true, because a solid magnesium frame is used inside the smartphone. By the way, chrome, only in an even thinner version, is also present on the rim along the contour of the front panel.

In addition, the back side of LG G2 looks interesting, which is not just glossy in this model. There is a slightly “sparkling” diagonal pattern under the coating, very much like a fabric. At the same time, the plastic itself is slightly textured and allows you to feel the structure of the material (this is especially noticeable if you hold it with your fingernail).

The front side of the smartphone with rounded edges in the manner of the fourth "nexus" is covered with a protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 2 and boasts a huge 5.2-inch display and record small frames, which is twice impressive. Of course, it is still not possible to completely get rid of them, but, apparently, it will not be long to wait for completely frameless smartphones. In LG G2 the distance from the display to the side edge is only 2.65 mm, but in real conditions it seems much less. The thickness of the upper and lower frames is also small - 9 and 12 mm, respectively.

The manufacturer emphasizes that such results were achieved thanks to the innovative Dual Routing technology for mobile devices, which implies the use of two connectors at once for connecting a sensor substrate, and not one, as in all other smartphones.

The overall dimensions of the LG G2 are quite small and only slightly exceed those of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One (138.5 x 70.9 x 8.9 mm versus 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm and 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 mm respectively). At the same time, these smartphones are equipped with noticeably smaller displays - 5 and 4.7 inches, respectively. It is quite convenient to operate a smartphone with one hand, but it takes a little getting used to. As for the weight, it is equal to 143 grams, which, in our opinion, is the optimal value for a device of this class.

As mentioned, the outside of the smartphone is made of plastic and glass, while the inside is complemented by a magnesium frame. The build quality is definitely very good, but there is still one gripe. It concerns the presence of an extremely small gap between the protective glass and the side frame, where dust begins to clog over time. The LG G2 has a non-separable body, which makes it possible to get to the battery only through a service center. But it is tactilely perceived by a tightly knocked down monolith and is distinguished by enviable rigidity: when trying to pressure and twist, characteristic sounds appear only under a very strong impact, which is difficult to achieve in real conditions. Doubts about the strength of the novelty can only be caused by the slightly rattling focusing lens of the main camera, which, however, is just a feature of the module's structure.

The LG G2 is only available in two color options: black, which actually looks more like a deep blue with a gray tint, and snow white. However, for fans of bright colors, the branded cases of LG G2 QuickWindow are perfect, available in black, white, red-pink, blue, purple, yellow and turquoise.

Arrangement of elements

The upper part of the front side contains a fairly wide slot for the earpiece, decorated with a corrugated metal plate and a fine-grained mesh above the speaker itself. It looks nice, but the practicality is somewhat disappointing, since it is constantly necessary to blow out the accumulating dust. To the left of the slot are located: light and proximity sensors, a notification indicator that glows in several colors depending on the situation, as well as a front camera.

At the bottom there is only a chrome logo of the manufacturer, which is a little distracting. The touch buttons that were in the LG Optimus G are not. They are presented on-screen.

The back side from above is occupied by: the main camera module, covered with a sapphire glass, an LED flash and three control buttons, which we will discuss in more detail below. In addition, there is another chrome logo of the LG company, and under it are applied: the name of the device model, country of production and certification marks.

On the left side there is only a tray for installing a SIM card and a hole for removing it using the supplied G-clip (or any other sharp and thin object). The right side remained completely empty.

The bottom side contains: a micro-USB 2.0 connector, a headphone jack (mini-jack 3.5 mm) and two perforated grilles, under which, it would seem, should be located stereo speakers. But no, there is only one speaker and it is hidden under the right grill, while under the left one is the main microphone. Above, there is a second microphone and an infrared port, with which you can easily control any modern technology that has a remote control.

Rear Key

The most unusual and at first glance extremely inconvenient feature of the LG G2 is the rejection of any side controls and their transfer to the central part of the "back", exactly under the camera module, which, in turn, caused a lot of controversy. However, in reality, such an arrangement, which received the brand name Rear Key, turns out to be inconvenient, or rather unusual, only during the first hours of using the smartphone. Oddly enough, but it is on this or the adjacent place that the index finger rests during a conversation, allowing you to quickly adjust the volume. The use of such a design, as the manufacturer notes, made it possible to fit a more capacious battery into the device, which is rather controversial, because it mainly occupies the lower part of the internal volume. But, thanks to the resulting symmetry of the body, LG G2 fits equally comfortably in both the right and left hands.

In total, there are three familiar buttons, namely: a wide volume rocker with an inscribed (slightly convex) power / lock button in the center. The latter is chrome-plated and has a contoured LED notification indicator, and small protrusions are provided on either side of it for easier finding of buttons, for example, when the smartphone is in your pocket. In addition, this protrusion slightly raises the upper part of the body, thereby ensuring less contact of the camera's protective glass with surfaces.

The rocker, in addition to the basic function, has several additional ones. So, a long press on the volume up button brings up the Quick Memo application, which allows you to create quick handwritten notes. Holding down the volume down button launches the camera, in which these buttons can be used to take pictures or zoom (the operating mode changes in the application itself). But you cannot assign any other function, but such an opportunity, in all likelihood, should appear in the upcoming update of the operating system.

As for the process of unlocking a smartphone using the rear button, there are several nuances here, because the search for this very button is not in all cases convenient and can lead to irreversible consequences. For example, in the case when the LG G2 is attached to the dashboard of a car and is used as a navigator. Therefore, so that every time they do not reach for the unlock button and not tempt fate, the smartphone provides an alternative, faster and more convenient way - KnockON - double tap anywhere on the screen to unlock and double tap on an empty space on the desktop or on the notification panel for reverse blocking. At the same time, you don't have to worry about accidental unlocking. this process is directly related to the proximity sensor. In other words, if the sensor detects an obstacle in front of it, then unlocking will not occur even by pressing the corresponding button.

By the way, the G2 in the lineup of LG is at least the second device with rear-mounted controls. The first was the LG KE / KU 990 Viewty camera phone, which went on sale back in 2007, i.e. at the dawn of the formation of touchscreen phones. In this model, a special ring was used around the camera module, the rotation of which in one direction or the other made it possible to decrease or increase the volume of the sound, and in the camera application it was used to scale.

The LG G2 has a 5.2-inch display, which is based on a very high-quality IPS-matrix, in the LG nomenclature is called more extensively - "True HD IPS", with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, i.e. Full HD, which is the standard value for this year's flagships. The pixel density in this model reaches 423 ppi, which is noticeably higher than the threshold when you can see individual pixels without any tools at hand. Thanks to this, the image displayed on the screen is as detailed as possible, and even almost invisible details can be seen. The viewing angles are excellent and are almost 180 °, however, in extreme positions the contrast begins to drop noticeably, and the white color becomes gray. In addition, there is also an insignificant manifestation of the pedigree of the disease of IPS-displays - a departure to warm and cold shades when viewed from an acute diagonal angle. Although in real conditions of using a smartphone, this is almost imperceptible.

The contrast level is quite high. The black display, although quite deep, is still very far from the level of AMOLED matrices. But the color rendition, on the contrary, is one of the best among flagship smartphones and is distinguished by a more correct display of colors and their shades, which, by the way, is difficult for organics to cope with (in most cases). In addition, a wide range of brightness control pleases, but this process, especially in automatic mode, has its own characteristics that are inherent only in LG devices. So, from 0% to 39%, the brightness level does not change at all, from 39% to 99% it gradually increases, and from 99% to 100% it instantly switches to maximum. Perhaps this is a flaw in the firmware used and in the next versions the automation will be corrected, because with manual adjustment there is no such thing, and everything works like a clock. Perhaps it should be so. In this case, the brightness itself is regulated, based on the selected level and degree of ambient lighting - you have to get used to this. In general, at the minimum level, it is quite comfortable for working in the dark, while the maximum level is more than enough for trouble-free reading of information on a bright sunny day. This is also the merit of a good anti-reflective filter.

The touch pad, connected via two connectors, is capable of handling up to 10 simultaneous touches and boasts excellent press clarity and high sensitivity, thanks to which there are practically no erroneous actions, and accidental touches at the very edges of the display are correctly filtered. However, the sensitivity is not as high as that of some competitors, which is why the ability to work with gloves is not provided. Finger glide is excellent and residual prints can be wiped off with ease, even with the back of your hand, thanks to the high-quality oleophobic coating.

Sound

One of the most important advantages of a smartphone, which will be especially appreciated by music lovers, is the sound subsystem, represented by the progressive audio chip Wolfson WM5110. Its feature is the ability to reproduce sound with a bit depth of 24 bits at a sampling rate of 192 kHz, which corresponds to the Hi-Fi standard. True, to appreciate all the delights of such sound, you will have to be generous with high-quality headphones. LG, apparently, understood this, removing standard headphones from the LG G2 package, which probably could not reveal the full potential of the device.

The external speaker, despite the fact that it is one, has a loud and rather good sound quality. Of course, you don't have to expect something special, but with its tasks, namely: calls and notifications, soundtrack for videos and games, it copes very well, but more, in fact, is not required. The location of the speaker on the bottom edge is very correct, because it does not dim when the smartphone is on the table. And you can cover it while watching videos and playing games only if you tightly grip the device.

The earpiece speaker showed no shortcomings during testing: the voice quality is pleasant and clear, but no more. In addition, it has a fairly large volume reserve, which is sure to come in handy when in a noisy environment.

Unlike the front camera, represented by a completely ordinary 2.1-megapixel module, the main one is based on a more advanced Sony Exmor RS with a resolution of 13 megapixels, a matrix format of 1 / 2.3 ", an aperture f/2.4 and a wide range of features, and innovative for the mobile market segment. Why, LG G2 is the first smartphone from a Korean manufacturer that is able to compete at least on equal terms with flagship models from Samsung, Sony, Apple, Nokia, etc., and even surpass them in some parameters.

LG G2 is the first smartphone on the market with a 13 megapixel module and the presence of an optical image stabilization system, which, by the way, does its job well, i.e. with the elimination of minor hand shake when photographing. Of course, a small-sized system is not able to provide such a level of stabilization, which, for example, is found in "soap dishes", but even it is able to add noticeable smoothness of motion in the video, and it costs a lot. In addition, LG's flagship model boasts an excellent 9-point focusing system borrowed from full-fledged cameras. Thanks to this, as well as the presence of the tracking focus function, the objects captured by the camera are kept in focus, despite their movement in the frame. If the automation fails and does not want to focus on the desired object, you can simply tap on the screen to point at it or even make even more reliable manual focusing, which is currently present only in several smartphones from LG and Nokia.

Another feature of the camera is the ability to record video in 1080p at 60 frames per second, as well as the use of Super Resolution technology, a software algorithm that can significantly improve the quality of photos taken using digital zoom by combining several images taken simultaneously. We also note that a durable sapphire crystal is used to protect the camera module, which is also edged with a slightly protruding rim.

As for the camera application, it has a very rich set of functions that can be accessed in a couple of taps. So, the user has access to: the option of a voice shutter release and shooting with a time delay, adjusting exposure, white balance and ISO, as well as changing the resolution, overlaying color effects and activating the Audio Zoom function when shooting a video (increases the sensitivity to sound in the zoom area and decreases recording interference). There are also a number of shooting modes, among which we highlight: HDR for shooting with a high dynamic range; Shot & Clear, which allows you to remove unnecessary objects from the finished picture; regular and circular panoramas; sports and night modes. However, there are also disadvantages, which are mainly associated with shooting in low light, when there are problems with color reproduction and a significant drop in fps when photographing and shooting video. We hope that LG will fix these flaws in the next updates, and if not, and you are not satisfied with this, then you should pay attention to the modification from xda-developers users. In other cases, the LG G2 camera shows itself from the best side and allows you to get very high quality results.

Examples of photography

Examples of filming

Daytime shooting, 1080p 30fps.

Daytime shooting, 1080p 60 fps.

Evening shooting, 1080p 30 fps.

Evening shooting, 1080p 60 fps.

User interface

The LG G2 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, which is rumored to be updated to the latest Android 4.4 KitKat soon, which would be pretty cool. As a user interface, the proprietary shell LG Optimus UI 3.0 is used, which is distinguished by a very rich set of functions and solid possibilities for transforming its appearance, which, by the way, does not look very harmonious in the initial version and in general structure quite strongly copies the ideas of Samsung's TouchWiz ' and.

The interestingness of the software begins to appear already from the lock screen, on the main screen of which (there may be several of them, and additional widgets can be placed on them) a clock widget is displayed, which has a beautiful animation with imitation of weather conditions. Up to five quick launch apps can be located at the bottom of the display, and they can be completely different. The lock screens are switched by swiping to the left, while swiping to the right always launches the camera.

The customizable unlock effect is very nice, accompanied by the appropriate sound design. There are five such effects in total: ripples with leaves, a drop of dew, particles, a crystal and, least beautiful, a white hole.

The desktop, of which there can be a maximum of seven, is a 5 x 5 matrix and each icon can be doubled in size. Moreover, the official icon of the application can be replaced with some other one or even a fragment of the picture can be used for this. A long tap on the free space on the desktop opens quick access to applications and widgets (there is also a standard full-screen menu, from where you can search for the required application and completely delete them from memory), as well as to the choice of wallpaper. A swipe from the Home button provides the ability to launch the QuickMemo application and the Google Now service.

Given the presence of a large display in the LG G2, the manufacturer has provided one-handed control functions, when activated, the dialer, which has the ability to search for contacts by the first letters or numbers, and the keyboard can be shifted to the left or right edge of the screen.

The notification shade has a very rich functionality and, in addition to the standard ability to turn on and off various interfaces, it provides the ability to display QSlide applications and a compact remote control. Here you can adjust the brightness of the display backlight, the speaker volume level and, in fact, view the notifications. Holding the Home button launches the open application manager, from where you can not only completely close applications, but also go to the task manager. It indicates the number of running applications with the ability to stop any of them, as well as the occupied and free amount of RAM.

Smartphone settings are divided into four tabs. The first three groups all kinds of settings for wireless networks and wired connections, sound and display, and the last one contains general settings.

Since the proprietary shell contains a really huge number of functions and capabilities, the description of which would take at least one more review, here we will focus only on the most interesting of them, as well as on some applications.

An interesting and very useful function is pop-up windows for incoming events, which display SMS text or information about the caller.

A very impressive feature is Clip Tray - a full-fledged clipboard that can hold up to 20 text or graphic elements. An irreplaceable thing when working with office applications.

Thanks to the Plug & Pop function, when headphones are connected, a list of applications is displayed at the bottom of the screen (their set can be edited), prompting you to select the one you need, for example, a player. When connecting a USB cable, you are asked to select one of the proposed actions related to this type of connection.

QSlide is a limited set of core applications that feature a desktop-style multitasking window. These programs can be moved around the screen, changed their transparency and size (some only), and expanded to full screen and collapsed back.

Slide Aside is an alternative manager of running applications. In this case, their number can vary from one to three. Switching between them is carried out by using a three-finger gesture with a swipe to the left (to save the program in memory) or to the right (to open it back).

A very useful function, or rather an application, is Quick Remote - a kind of constructor for turning a smartphone into a universal remote control, which has a large number of pre-configured remotes. If LG G2 could not automatically determine the model, for example, of a TV or a music center, then the necessary remote control with the required "buttons" can be created independently.

Surely many will like the ability to adjust the position of the touch buttons, as well as display additional ones for quick access to the QuickMemo program and open the notification curtain without having to reach for it.

We also suggest that you familiarize yourself with the appearance of some applications.

Hardware platform and performance

LG G2, among other things, is also one of the first smartphones to be equipped with the most efficient processor at the moment - Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 in the MSM8974 modification. It is manufactured using a 28nm manufacturing process and includes four proprietary Krait 400 cores based on the ARMv7 microarchitecture and running at a nominal 2.26 GHz clock speed. The L2 cache is 2 MB. As a graphics subsystem, a Qualcomm Adreno 330 solution integrated into the CPU is used, which supports API DirectX 9.0c and OpenGL ES 3.0. The graphics adapter works at a clock frequency of up to 550 MHz. This set is supplemented with 2 GB of 32-bit dual-channel LPDDR3-800 RAM and a 32 GB drive (there is also a more affordable model with 16 GB of internal memory) without the possibility of expansion via microSD cards. The user also has 24.8 GB available.

A separate item should be noted for the first time used in mobile devices, graphic memory GRAM (Graphic RAM), which in LG G2 is a kind of cache located in the chain between the graphic adapter and the display. According to the manufacturer, this memory can reduce the power consumption of the graphics adapter by 26% when displaying a static image that does not require constant refreshing at a frequency of about sixty times per second, as is the case when displaying a dynamic image, for example, in video and games. In general, the presence of GRAM adds up to 10% to the autonomy of the device, which is a pretty good indicator.

Unsurprisingly, given these characteristics, the LG G2 performs some of the best in almost all synthetic tests. The smartphone is not good enough only for tasks that require an even more productive graphics subsystem, but they all relate to benchmarks, for example, Basemark X and GFXBench (T-Rex HD scene), which, in fact, are created in order to squeeze out of the platform all possible juices.

Even in the most demanding games at the moment, the resources of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 are more than enough. Dead Trigger 2, Real Racing 3, Asphalt 8: Airborn, Plants vs. Zombies 2 easily confirms this. Here, a much more important role is played by the degree of optimization of the game itself for one or another hardware and software platform, as well as a productive cooling system that does not allow the processor to warm up to the level at which throttling begins, i.e. lowering the operating clock frequencies. And with the latter in the LG G2, not everything is so smooth - the automatic system “cuts” the frequencies quite strongly, which is especially noticeable after several consecutive runs of AnTuTu Benchmark. But the body of the smartphone remains only pleasantly warm even under prolonged loads. At the same time, the quality of displaying games does not deteriorate.

The operating system itself works as smoothly and very quickly as possible, however, many of its functions, which are directly related to the proprietary LG Optimus UI 3.0 shell, which require more serious optimization, occasionally jam. However, this phenomenon is observed only in the first seconds after launching a particular function, for example, when opening the notification curtain, when scrolling through quick settings or when opening some applications. And this is quite annoying if you know about this problem and constantly try to fish it out. Otherwise, you may not even notice that something is not working as well as it should.

Communication and communications

The smartphone is capable of working in all modern mobile networks: GSM, WCDMA / HSPA + and LTE. The quality of 2G communication is excellent in both directions: there are no interruptions or spontaneous drops, and the voice transmission is clear, but depends on the user's location.

The set of communication capabilities of LG G2 is very rich and includes almost all modern data transfer standards. So, there are Bluetooth V4.0 with A2DP support, dual-band (2.4 / 5 GHz) Wi-Fi with support for 802.11a / b / g / n / ac protocols and Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi Hotspot functions, as well as NFC, IrLED (infrared), DLNA and Miracast interfaces. In addition, there is support for USB-OTG and USB-Host standards, thanks to which you can connect external drives to your smartphone.

As for the direct operation of the Wi-Fi module, everything is fine here. Searching for points and connecting to them occurs almost instantly, and the established connection has good stability and does not try to "fall off" when strong interference appears. The data transfer rate on the home network is quite fast. In the heavily clogged 2.4 GHz range, it reaches 40-50 Mbit / s (with a total wired line of 100 Mbit / s).

Positioning on the global map of the world is provided by GPS systems with support for A-GPS and GLONASS. The search for satellites, provided that the user is in an open area, takes a few seconds, for which there are about 15-25 pieces. It takes a little longer to connect to them, and in most cases only half of them are connected.

Autonomous work

The last, but perhaps the most important feature of the smartphone is the use of an innovative lithium-polymer battery, which is distinguished by a special "stepped" shape and the use of silicon oxide as an anode, not graphite (SIO + technology). As a result, this made it possible to make the most efficient use of the internal space of the LG G2 case and accommodate a 3000 mAh (11.4 Wh) battery in it, which is significantly more than that of many competitors.

In total, such a charge is quietly enough for up to two days of battery life with fairly active use of the smartphone's capabilities: 5-7 hours of display operation, a constantly turned on Wi-Fi module, several hours of Internet browsing, about one hour of talking, 2-3 hours of listening to music , one hour of games, etc. on trifles, but subject to the use of automatic brightness control of the backlight, set at a level of no more than 70%.

However, when performing resource-intensive tasks (for example, games) and setting the maximum brightness of the display, you can discharge the battery in a few hours, which is confirmed by AnTuTu Tester, in which, by the way, the LG G2 received a pretty good score of 503 points, discharging up to 19% in 2 hours 48 minutes. Much more interesting is the result of looping HD video playback using the MX Player with half the brightness of the display backlight and the included Wi-Fi module - more than 14 hours. In this case, the time to fully charge the battery from the complete charger is about 3-4 hours.

"Live" photos of the smartphone

Outcome

Over the past year, LG's position in the global smartphone market has strengthened significantly, and this is definitely the merit of cooperation with Google in the framework of the Nexus project. In addition, the bar for the quality of its own products has also risen, which is proved by the latest models of devices, among which are rightfully the best flagship of this year - LG G2.

This model boasts not only interesting and largely innovative hardware and software solutions, such as: really convenient buttons on the back of the case, a wonderful display with incredibly narrow side frames, a capacious "double-layer" battery, a very powerful processor, a wide range of wireless interfaces, good cameras with optical image stabilization, a high-quality audio chip, the ability to unlock with a double tap on the screen, etc., but also a very attractive price for the official version with a 32 GB drive, which dropped to 5777 hryvnia ($ 692).

Of course there is LG G2 and disadvantages. The most significant of them is the easily soiled glossy case, which is covered with fingerprints at an incredible speed and is prone to abrasions, as well as a not very thoughtful cut of the earpiece that constantly collects dust. The rest of the shortcomings are not so significant, and almost all of them are software, which means that in the next updates they may sink into oblivion.

Advantages:

• the best case dimensions in relation to the display diagonal;
• a remarkable 5.2-inch Full HD display with extremely narrow side bezels;
• productive hardware platform;
• excellent sound subsystem;
• good camera with optical image stabilization system;
• implementation of the block of rear buttons and the KnockOn function (unlocking with a double tap);
• excellent battery life;
• support for all types of mobile networks (2G, 3G, 4G);
• support for all popular data transmission standards, including Wi-Fi 802.11ac and IrDA;
• support for global positioning systems GPS (A-GPS) and GLONASS;
• support for USB-OTG and USB-Host;
• functional proprietary shell LG Optimus UI 3.0;
• the ability to control almost any household appliances;
• low heating of the case under active load.

On August 7, the official presentation of the new flagship smartphone LG G2 took place in New York, which received top-end characteristics and took the place of last year's leader - Optimus G.

Particular attention was paid to the design when creating the novelty. For example, the bezels have been reduced to 2.65mm and the screen takes up almost all of the front panel space. The buttons for unlocking the screen and adjusting the volume have moved to the back cover, if left-handed and right-handed alike will like it.

A long press on the volume control button launches the QuickMemo applications and the camera. If the LG G2 is lying on the table, then to unlock the screen, the device does not need to be turned over, it is enough to “tap” it twice.

more smartphone photo

Specifications LG G2

The large 5.2-inch screen has Full HD resolution and a density of 423 ppi. It is based on an IPS-matrix, provides wide viewing angles, high brightness and clarity. LG G2 is based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 @ 2.3 GHz, has 2 GB of RAM and a storage capacity of 16 or 32 GB, depending on the modification. Don't forget about the 13MP main camera with OIS and the 2.1MP front camera.

The new flagship runs Android 4.2.2, supports LTE networks and has a 3,000 mAh battery.

Overview

Video review of the LG G2 smartphone:

Price

Over the next two months, the new product will go on sale from 130 mobile operators: first in South Korea, then in North America, Europe and other markets.

In Russia, the price of LG G2 is 24,990 rubles.

In terms of dimensions, the LG G2 is in line with other modern five-inch flagships. The smartphone is tall and wide. Of course, it can be held in one hand, but it is very difficult to operate the device. The most acceptable option is to hold the device in one hand and operate it with the other. The main material used in the G2 is glossy plastic. The material is impractical: the body is quickly covered with scratches and “collects” fingerprints. The model weighs 143 grams and is 8.9 mm thick. The smartphone is sold in two colors: black (black) and white (white).

Screen - 4.5

The LG G2 smartphone has a 5.2-inch display, the screen resolution is 1920 × 1080 pixels (PPI - 441), the matrix type is IPS (special advertising name is True HD IPS), the screen is covered with Gorilla Glass 2. Smartphone display one of the best among modern devices, the screen has a high level of brightness, close to maximum viewing angles and natural color rendition. Photos and even small text look great on this screen. An interesting feature of the smartphone - you can turn it on by tapping twice on the screen. Separately, it is worth noting the minimum bezels to the left and right of the screen, thanks to this decision LG engineers managed to at least slightly reduce the width of the device.

Camera

The smartphone has a 13 MP camera with LED flash. The maximum video resolution is 1920 × 1080 pixels, the frame rate is 60 frames per second, the sound is recorded in stereo.

Working with text - 5.0

The LG G2 has an excellent built-in keyboard. Most of the keys here provide additional characters that are typed with a long press, in addition, there is a separate number row for quickly entering numbers. Of the additional features, it is important to note the support for text input by sliding your finger (Swype) and changing the language with one click.

Internet - 3.0

Google Chrome is preinstalled as a browser, which supports synchronization of tabs with the desktop version of Chrome. There is no support for multiple page scaling and a separate reading mode, but you can manually set the font size for a single scaling, after double-clicking on the page, all the text will be the size you selected. You can adjust this setting once and not have problems with text that is too small or too large on the screen.

Interfaces

LG G2 supports all common wireless interfaces: dual band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC. There is also support for Russian LTE frequencies.

Multimedia - 4.2

The LG G2 video player supports many common formats and codecs, plays excellent video in high quality, up to 1080p. The disadvantage is the lack of a choice of subtitles and audio tracks. The G2's audio player supports both popular formats like MP3 and uncompressed FLAC audio.

Working hours

The smartphone has a 3000 mAh lithium-polymer battery, the battery is non-removable. During testing, the device demonstrated excellent battery life, most users will have enough charge for a day. The smartphone plays HD video at maximum brightness of 7.4 hours. When listening to music with the screen off, the device discharges in 42 hours.

Performance - 3.3

The device uses the Qualcomm MSM8274 Snapdragon 800 platform with a 2.2GHz quad-core processor, Adreno 330 graphics and 2GB of RAM. At the moment, a dual-core processor with 1 GB of RAM is sufficient for normal operation in everyday use. The cores and gigahertz fade into the background, where the optimization of the device by the manufacturer is much more important. The LG G2 has no problem with this - the smartphone works quickly and without slowdowns. The Qualcomm 800 chipset is currently considered one of the fastest and most powerful, so it is not surprising that the LG G2 runs even "heavy" games without problems.

Memory - 1.0

The total amount of internal memory in LG G2 is limited to 32 GB, 26 GB is available to the user, there is no memory card slot, and this is one of the main drawbacks of the model.

Features:

The device uses a proprietary shell from LG - Optimus UI. It includes a launcher, keyboard, browser, dialer, SMS client and most of the other built-in applications. The keyboard now has a call for additional characters by holding a key, in the dialer - Russian letters, in the notification curtain - switches for wireless interfaces. This is the first smartphone of the company (and also the first in the world) in which the power and volume buttons are located on the back of the device. Initially, this solution does not seem very convenient, but, according to experts, you can quickly get used to it, because the volume rocker is located right under the index finger when talking on a smartphone.

LG is one of those companies that are fighting for the title of the best smartphone maker on the planet. In 2014, the Korean electronics and home appliance giant presented to buyers and experts a very interesting model LG, which was very positive about and which is a smaller version of the flagship LG G2. The phone turned out to be very interesting, so it's impossible not to make a review dedicated to it.

Specifications

The manufacturer from South Korea has tried to do everything to make this smartphone the best, at least among the "small copies" of flagships. Therefore, the developers have equipped the phone with very strong characteristics. The processor consists of four cores, each with a clock speed of 1.2 GHz. It was decided to put 1 gigabyte as RAM, and 8 gigabytes as internal built-in memory. If this volume is not enough, then this smartphone supports MicroSD flash cards up to 32 gigabytes. The device itself has a screen diagonal of 4.7 inches, but its resolution is not very large, only 540 x 960. In addition, the latest version of Android - 4.4 is used as an operating system.

This smartphone has several names. One of them is the LG Optimus G2 mini, as a tribute to the corporation's previous line of smartphones - Optimus. The 8-megapixel camera of this smartphone adorns its backside, while the quality of the images remains at a fairly good level.

Ergonomic

Many people loved the design of the LG G2 mini. The appearance characteristics of the smartphone are quite attractive. The entire phone is made of plastic. At first glance, everything has been done at a fairly high level. The material itself is very high quality, the phone is very comfortable in the hands. On the front of the smartphone there are touch-sensitive control buttons, as well as a speaker and. Turning the device over, you can find a rather interesting phone panel along with the main camera. The panel attracts particular attention. The fact is that this is not just an ordinary piece of plastic, but slightly corrugated. This was probably done in order to avoid unnecessary soiling of the phone and to improve the grip of the LG d618 G2 mini white smartphone with the hand. If you look at the bottom end of the smartphone, you can find several holes. Two of them are speakers for conversation, and one is a connector designed both for charging the phone and for connecting a smartphone to a personal computer. A headset jack is located in the upper end of the device. It is also worth noting that the power button of the phone (and also located in an innovative way, namely on the back panel, right under the camera. This may seem a little unusual, but at the same time quite convenient.

Display

LG G2 mini (technical characteristics of the display and its size) surprised everyone even with its announcement, because the screen diagonal is not standard 4 or 4.3 inches, like other "younger brothers" of flagships, but 4.7 at once. However, despite such a large size, the developers were stingy to make it a resolution of 1280 x 960. Instead, we get an unacceptable 960 x 540. The glass coating of the screen itself is very pleasant in tactile terms and does not scratch too much, which is an undoubted plus. The screen brightness is at a very good level and the colors displayed on the smartphone display look very realistic. The problem occurs in bright sunlight. This makes the image faded and the detail is reduced. But this is a problem for many smartphones, so this fact should not be considered a special disadvantage.

Software

On mini, reviews of which are quite good both from buyers and from respected experts, the latest version of "Android" is installed, namely "Android 4.4". In addition, the company has developed several interesting programs that will facilitate not only the use of a smartphone, but also the use of various household and electronic devices that are switched on using the control panel. The program can use the infrared port to control almost every electronic thing in your home. Another "feature" of the developers from South Korea is the KnockOn program, which allows you to turn on and off the screen of your smartphone with a few taps on the screen. This moment is very convenient and does not require a lot of effort.

LG G2 mini, specifications: battery and runtime

This is where the real plus and advantage of this model is in its battery. The battery capacity of the device is large enough for those smartphones that exist on the market today. It is 2440mAh. This means that you can use your smartphone for various purposes almost the whole working day, and it does not require instant charging. If you use your smartphone adequately, the battery charge can easily last for two working days.

Audio and video

The sound quality of this device is good, but it is still inferior to the obvious leaders in these characteristics, which are NTS and Samsung. As for the video, thanks to a fairly strong processor and a gigabyte of RAM, videos are played quickly and without freezing. But there are problems related to the screen resolution. Due to the fact that it is compiled only 960 x 540, sometimes there is a small ripple in the frames.

Camera and photo quality

LG G2 mini, the technical characteristics of which do not raise any questions, has two cameras: main and front. The main camera has eight million pixels, which is quite normal for a small copy of the flagship. The quality of the photos obtained by this camera is kept at a fairly high level. It should be noted that the detail and clarity of the image when shooting with a smartphone from LG is better than similar smartphones from other companies. This cannot but rejoice the first owners of this device, especially if the camera and the quality of photos in a smartphone are the most important factor for them.

Communication and Internet

Let's take a look at such an important factor for a phone as connectivity in the LG G2 mini. The reviews of many owners say that this is one of the best devices in order to go online and chat with friends. And they may be right. The fact is that when accessing the Internet, the connection occurs almost immediately, and the initial connection speed is always at a very high level. As for the Wi-Fi network, the situation is similar. When the required access point is found, the connection is instant.

As for the conversational communication, which is the main function of any phone, there are no problems here either. The interlocutor is heard perfectly even at a speaker volume level of fifty percent. In case you are on a busy street, 80% volume is enough to hear a friend on the other side of the connection.

Options and prices for this gadget

After purchasing a smartphone from a South Korean company, you will receive a box with all the necessary components for the LG G2 mini. The paper manual is the first thing you see when you open the box. It can be useful for those people who are first faced with the issue of using a smartphone. In this manual you can find all the necessary information regarding the device, its functions and capabilities. In addition to the documentation, you will also receive a headset in the form of headphones. Moreover, this accessory is of very good quality. Of course, if you are a music lover, then it is preferable to buy something better, but for an ordinary listener, these headphones are quite a decent option. Another component in the box is a USB adapter designed to connect a smartphone to a computer. Well, the final item in the box is the charger. The case for LG G2 mini is not included in the package, but you can always buy it almost anywhere.

As for the prices for this product, they are set by different stores independently. In some cases, there may be a different price for this phone depending on the additional flash memory. The average price of this smartphone is $ 275, which is quite acceptable, especially considering what characteristics it has.

LG G2 mini. Customer reviews and expert opinion

The smartphone from the South Korean manufacturer LG has collected a very good harvest in terms of reviews. Of course, each user proceeded from the price-quality ratio, so it is not surprising that most of the reviews are very positive. Many users from among ordinary buyers note an excellent battery as an advantage of the device. Some of them claim that they can do without charging for more than two days. Also, many buyers note the quality of the photos taken with the phone camera. The only factor, some users, is the design of the back of the smartphone. They claim that this design is not characteristic of ultra-modern smartphones, but of their grandmother's glasses case. As a "compensation", some users suggest that the company also provide a cover for the LG G2 mini in the package, but this is a bit over the top.

The opinion of experts largely coincides with the opinion of ordinary smartphone users. After conducting several comparative analyzes, they came to the conclusion that this variant of the phone is almost the best for the price of $ 275. The only drawback that they could not keep silent about is the small screen resolution. Although many people do not pay attention to how flawless the image on their screen is.

Let's sum up the review

LG is gradually starting to increase its share of the overall high-tech smartphone market, and it's safe to say that the LG G2 mini will be able to take that share even more. This model has a 4-core processor, and each core is 1.2 GHz. Despite the fact that the RAM of the smartphone is one gigabyte, its performance is at a very high level. Don't forget about his camera. Despite the fact that, unlike the flagship, it is only 8 MP, the image quality is kept at a very good level. And no matter what time of day it was during the shooting. New programs are very convenient. As for the sound and communication, they are also up to par. Do not forget that we were considering only a budget version of the smartphone, the price of which does not exceed $ 300. And for such a price, it is not always possible to find a high-quality device that can fully satisfy your needs.

It is clear that this LG d618 G2 mini white phone is not a clear leader among smartphones in terms of its characteristics, but it was produced as a competitor to similar smartphones from other companies. And we can say with confidence that this product is a very interesting option for those who do not have the money for the LG G2, but they like its design.

Detailed testing of screen, camera, performance, battery life

Immediately after the official announcement in Russia of the new flagship smartphone LG G2, we all concerned the appearance, design, materials, general arrangement of the body elements, as well as the convenience of working with the novelty in terms of fundamental functions and software in general. Now it's time for technical details. After completing all the standard procedures for testing the device in our laboratory, we present the results of a detailed examination of the screen of a new smartphone using measuring instruments. We also bring to your attention the results of all our tests of the performance of the hardware filling of the smartphone and the duration of its battery life. Finally, we will spend some more time on the LG G2 camera and its modes of operation. Test photos obtained in the process of studying the novelty will be commented on by our specialist Anton Soloviev.

Main characteristics of LG G2 (model D802)

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, 2.2 GHz, 4 cores Krait 400
• GPU Adreno 330
• Operating system Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
• Touch display IPS, 5.2 ″, 1920 × 1080, 424 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 2 GB, internal memory 32 GB
• 3G (HSPA +), 4G (LTE)
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n (2.4 + 5 GHz), Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
• NFC, Miracast, OTG
• GPS, IRDA
• Camera 13 MP, autofocus
• Camera 2 MP (front)
• Battery 3000 mAh
• Dimensions 138.5 x 70.9 x 8.9 mm
• Weight 143 g

Screen

LG has equipped its G2 with a stunning 5.2-inch Full HD IPS screen. The screen is covered from above with a protective Gorilla Glass 3, which is resistant to scratches. Moreover, the screen here occupies almost the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe front surface: the frames around the screen, as mentioned earlier, are so thin that sometimes you get the impression of their complete absence - as if you are holding only the display in your hand. In numbers, the physical parameters of the smartphone screen are as follows: dimensions - 65 × 115 mm, diagonal - 132 mm (5.2 inches), resolution - Full HD 1080p (1920 × 1080 pixels), pixel density is 423 ppi - very good, although not a record figure.

The display brightness has both manual and automatic adjustment, the latter based on the operation of the light sensor. Multi-touch technology allows you to simultaneously process up to ten touches, which is confirmed by tests. There is also a proximity sensor that locks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear. In addition, the LG G2 is equipped with graphic random access memory (GRAM), which is used to refresh the screen (the screen buffer is placed in it, which allows you to "not jerk" the RAM unnecessarily). According to the developers, the GRAM memory reduces the power consumption of the screen by up to 26% when displaying a still image, which in general increases the battery life of the smartphone by about 10%.

Alexey Kudryavtsev, editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, carried out a detailed examination using measuring instruments. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the tested sample.

The smartphone screen is covered with a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface and, judging by the reflection of bright light sources in it, it has a very effective anti-glare filter, surpassing the Google Nexus 7 screen filter in reducing the reflection brightness. The doubling of reflected objects is present to some extent, but the shadows of the objects are very faint, which indicates that there is no air gap between the outer glass and the matrix surface. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very good, better than that of Google Nexus 7), so fingerprints do not appear as quickly as in the case of ordinary glass, but are removed more easily.

With manual brightness control, its maximum value was 500 cd / m², minimum - 7 cd / m². As a result, at maximum brightness in bright daylight, the smartphone can be used without much inconvenience, and minimum brightness will allow you to comfortably work with this mobile device even in complete darkness. There is an automatic brightness control according to the light sensor (apparently, it is located to the right of the front camera). This function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If it is set to 100% or 0%, then the screen brightness does not change (it always remains equal to 500 cd / m² and 7 cd / m², respectively); if by 50%, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to at least 17 cd / m2 (it is still possible to read from the screen), in an office illuminated by artificial light, it sets to 100 cd / m2 (acceptable), in a very bright environment it increases to maximum 500 cd / m². Obviously, the ranges of automatic adjustment are not chosen very well, since there is no adjustment at the extreme values. However, the position of the slider by 50% ensures adequate operation of this function. At low brightness, there is virtually no backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering.

This smartphone has an IPS-type matrix. The micrograph shows a typical IPS subpixel structure:

The subpixels seem to consist of two halves, which is quite unusual, since, for example, even in HTC One, which has a higher pixel density, you can see 4 parallel "beds" in each subpixel. Dark areas between the subpixels, arranged in an orderly manner, may indicate that a capacitive touch sensor is integrated into the matrix.

The screen has good viewing angles - no tint inversion and no significant color shift up to reasonable perpendicular viewing angles to the screen. When looking almost parallel to the screen, the darkest shades are inverted, but this can already be attributed to the distinguishing features of the matrix, and not to the disadvantages. The black field is strongly lightened when deviated along the diagonal, but remains close to neutral gray. When viewed from a perpendicular view, the black field uniformity is good. The contrast is high - about 1300: 1. The gamma curve plotted at 32 points did not reveal any blockage in highlights or shadows, and the exponent of the approximating power function is 2.34, which is slightly more than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve slightly deviates from the power dependence:

Due to the dynamic adjustment (not very pronounced) of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image, the obtained dependence of brightness on the hue (gamma curve) may slightly differ from the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential output of shades of gray on the entire screen ...

The response time for the transition black-white-black is 24 ms (13 ms on + 11 ms off), the transition between gray tones of 25% and 75% (by numerical value of the color) takes 36 ms in total.

The color gamut is actually sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components together - as a result, the colors on this screen are close to natural in saturation.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is good, since the color temperature is slightly higher than the standard 6500 K and its variation is small, and the deviation from the spectrum of a black body (delta E) is significantly less than 10, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device, and also changes little from a shade to the shade. (The dark areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance there does not really matter, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

A significant drawback of this screen is the low stability of the black color when the gaze is deviated from the diagonal. There are no complaints about other important characteristics - excellent anti-glare filter and oleophobic coating, high brightness and contrast, sRGB coverage, color balance close to standard.

Camera

LG G2 is equipped, like most modern smartphones, with two digital camera modules. The main rear 13-megapixel camera is equipped with an optical stabilizer (OIS) and multi-point autofocus (Multi Points AF) - these functions are especially highlighted by the developers when describing the new camera. It is also noted that the camera optics are covered with a protective sapphire glass.

By default, the camera shoots in normal mode with a wide aspect ratio of 16: 9, the images are 4160 × 2340 (10 megapixel). In order to achieve the maximum resolution, you must manually switch the settings to the aspect ratio of 4: 3, then the pictures will be obtained with a resolution of 4160 × 3120 (13 megapixels). Examples of photos taken in automatic mode "out of the box", as well as at maximum resolution, are shown below with comments.

	The tree has been worked out well, but the foliage merges in places. On buildings at the edges, not very neatly suppressed noises are felt. Sharpness drops slightly towards the left edge.
	A drop in sharpness is still noticeable on the left edge. In general, the sharpness of the picture is not bad - we can distinguish the number of a car that is not the closest one.
	Decent sharpness in the distant shots.
	Overall, sharpness is good if you don't look at the left edge of the frame.
	Sharpness is good. A strong highlight of the sky is due to spot metering.
	Not a bad result in low light conditions. The noise is almost imperceptible.
	Not the worst macro, but nothing outstanding.

Below are photos taken with the 13-megapixel cameras LG Optimus G and LG G2 for comparison.

Photos taken with the LG Optimus G:

The LG G2's camera is a noticeable step up from the LG Optimus G's camera, which was also pretty good. At lower ISO values \u200b\u200band at higher shutter speeds, the LG G2 does much better.

For some reason, the G2 program diligently overwrites EXIF \u200b\u200bimages taken in the dark. Either LG is hiding some "know-how", or they don't want to scare us with huge values \u200b\u200bof light sensitivity. It is worth noting that the noise in such pictures is simply terrible, but, nevertheless, it will be possible to get some idea of \u200b\u200bthe subject.

Although the G2 flash is better than the Optimus G flash, it is still weak and does not allow you to get the original resolution.

As you can see from the graphs, according to the results of the laboratory test, the LG G2 camera is still the first in "laboratory" sharpness compared to cameras of other smartphones. This, of course, is a significant indicator, but perhaps it does not characterize the camera as a whole. Nevertheless, the G2 camera is made very well, and in the field does not do much worse than in the laboratory. The stabilization system deserves special attention, which allows the camera to use long exposures without affecting the image.

It feels like smartphone camera makers are on the right track and are getting close enough to the quality of compact cameras. There are still many parameters that do not allow them to equalize, but the noise reduction options offered by the manufacturers of the latest smartphone models cannot but command respect.

The LG G2's video camera shoots in Full HD 1080p at 30fps by default, but there is also a 60fps shooting mode in the settings. For comparison, below are videos shot in both modes. The clips are saved in an MP4 container (video - MPEG-4 AVC [email protected]/4.2, audio - AAC LC, 156 Kbps, 48 \u200b\u200bkHz, 2 channels).

• Movie # 1 (52.3 MB, 1920 × 1080, 30 fps)
• Movie # 2 (82.3 MB, 1920 × 1080, 60 fps)

In addition to the usual shooting mode, the software of the LG G2 camera provides other modes that allow you to add unusual elements to the familiar picture. For example, in the "Live Effect" mode, you can distort the hero's face with a small mouth, a large nose, etc. The "Dual Record" mode allows you to display in a separate window over the main picture what is filmed with the front camera (mostly it turns out to be the smartphone owner's own face focused on the shooting process). The last mode is called "Tracking zoom" and produces a picture similar in composition, only here in a separate window, superimposed on top of the usual video sequence, the area on which the crosshair is focused will be displayed on an enlarged scale. In the process of filming this window with a "lens" magnifying the image, you can move your finger across the entire screen from object to object. An example of such a video is shown below.

• Movie # 3 (17.6 MB, 1280 × 720, "Tracking zoom")

There are even more different modes for taking pictures. Here, in addition to the usual night, sports, panoramic, there is also continuous shooting, and the same shooting mode simultaneously on the rear and front cameras, and even such an option when, after taking a picture, the camera itself highlights with a dotted line that, in its opinion, does not correspond to the overall picture places and immediately on the spot offers to erase them. We cannot fail to mention the Audio Zoom mode, in which you can increase the volume emanating from a specific selected object in the shooting field. There are many modes, those who like to delve into the settings have a lot to turn around. Shooting can be done either by touching the screen or by pressing any of the volume keys located on the back of the smartphone.

Performance

The hardware platform of the LG G2 is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC. The central processor here has 4 Krait 400 cores, clocked at 2.2 GHz (CPU-Z shows 2.27 GHz). The processor is supported in graphics processing by the most modern video accelerator Adreno 330. The device has 2 GB of RAM, and the storage available to the user to upload their own files is just under 25 GB out of the nominally designated 32 GB. The device does not support memory cards, but it is possible to connect external media using OTG (USB host) mode. By the way, when a USB drive is connected, the Plug & Pop function mentioned in the first part of the review is immediately triggered, displaying a strip with a selection of applications that are most associated with the situation. In the standard composition, the strip contains icons for music and video players, photo galleries, as well as the built-in file manager itself, but, of course, you can bring any others here and fix them to open by default.

All the results we got when testing the LG G2 smartphone in the most recent versions of popular benchmarks, we have summarized for convenience in tables. For comparison, only those models of top-end smartphones have been added that have managed to pass tests on similar, most current versions of programs. Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison, it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, therefore, many worthy and relevant models had to be left behind the scenes - due to the fact that they once passed their "obstacle courses" on old versions of test programs ... Details below.

As for testing the graphics subsystem in the 3DMark cross-platform test, the subject "flew" out of the maximum possible result, which is why he received the mark "Maxed out!", Without even honoring us with the final figure. For the most powerful smartphones, it is now possible to run 3DMark in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps). Thus, when testing flagships, you should look at 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme and 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited.

In the Epic Citadel gaming test in High Performance mode, the LG G2 achieved an excellent 56.7 fps result. True, in this mode, almost all modern graphics processors in mobile SoCs have similar indicators, but the LG G2 does not sag in the tougher High Quality / Ultra High Quality modes (56.3 and 51.3 fps, respectively). In contrast, by the way, from the same Samsung Galaxy Note3, which beat all records with a low scene complexity, and "blown away" during the test in Ultra mode. Details in the table.

As for the benchmarks for evaluating the speed of the javascript engine, the results in them significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so that the comparison can be correct only on the same OS and browsers, and this possibility is not always available during testing.

Video playback

To test the "omnivorous" video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Web. Note that it is important for mobile devices to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is often impossible to process modern versions using processor cores alone. Also, do not expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a single table.

Since the Micro-USB connector here supports USB-host (OTG) mode, a device with such a large and high-quality screen can comfortably be used as a multimedia combine. It is enough to connect any flash drive through the adapter, and you can play music, movies, view photos directly from it, especially since the developers initially supplied the device with all the necessary decoders. The smartphone is able to play most of the common file types out of the box, and due to this, it is one of the best solutions for multimedia needs on the mobile market.

This smartphone says: "HDMI connector is available", but, of course, there is no HDMI connector, there is support for SlimPort (or Mobility DisplayPort) adapters connected to the Micro-USB connector and providing video (and sound) transmission to external display devices ... This time we already had a SlimPort to HDMI adapter. For testing, we used an LG IPS237L monitor. Output with this monitor and adapter is 1920 x 1080 at 60 fps. When the smartphone is in landscape orientation, the image is displayed on the monitor screen in landscape orientation, while the image on the monitor is inscribed within the boundaries of the screen and is an exact copy of the smartphone screen. In the portrait orientation of the smartphone, everything that can be rotated to landscape orientation is displayed in the same way, in other cases (for example, the start screen), the display of the image on the monitor screen may be carried out in portrait orientation, but we have not checked this.

Sound via HDMI is output (in this case, the sounds were heard through the headphones connected to the monitor, since there are no speakers in the monitor itself) and is of good quality. At the same time, multimedia sounds are not output through the loudspeaker of the smartphone itself, and the volume is controlled by buttons on the smartphone body. The smartphone connected to the SlimPort adapter is being charged, and the adapter must be connected to a power source via its existing Micro-USB connector.

The video output by means of a standard player deserves a special description. To begin with, using a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see Methodology for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1), we checked how the video is displayed on the screen of the smartphone itself. Screenshots with an exposure of 1 s helped to determine the nature of the frame output of video files with various parameters: the resolution varied (3840 by 2160 (4K), 1280 by 720 (720p) and 1920 by 1080 (1080p) pixels) and the frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). The results of this (block titled as " Screen") And subsequent tests are summarized in the table:

Note: if both the "Uniformity" and "Gaps" columns have "green" ratings, this means that when watching movies, most likely, either artifacts caused by uneven alternation and skipping of frames will not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. "Red" marks indicate possible problems with the playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion for outputting frames, the quality of video playback on the screen of the smartphone itself is high, since frames (or groups of frames) are displayed with a more or less uniform alternation of intervals and frame skips or not, or single frames are skipped. However, uniform frame interleaving is a relatively unstable state, since some external and internal background processes lead to periodic failure of the correct interleaving of intervals between frames and even to the skipping of individual frames. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly in the width of the screen, one to one pixel by pixel, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - all shades are displayed in shadows and highlights. The smartphone can even display 4k files - though up to and including 24p.

With a monitor connected via SlimPort, during video playback with a standard player, the video file image is displayed only in landscape orientation, while only the video file image is displayed on the monitor, and only information elements and virtual controls are displayed on the smartphone screen:

When playing video files with a resolution of Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) on the monitor screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the edge of the screen, maintaining the true proportions, and the resolution corresponds to the Full HD resolution. The brightness range displayed on the monitor is equal to the standard range of 16-235, that is, all shades are displayed in shadows and highlights. The results of tests output to the monitor are shown in the table above in the block “ SlimPort". The output quality is good, but not perfect.

It turns out that connection to external monitors, TVs and projectors made with the SlimPort adapter can be used for games, watching movies, displaying web pages and other activities that benefit from the manifold increase in screen size. Note that for the first time, we were able to observe the output of a Full HD signal (with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels) in a progressive format with a frequency of 60 fps via a Micro-USB connector. Formally, the devices with MHL support and the corresponding adapters that visited us for testing were supposed to work with the same quality, but in practice, for some reason, this did not happen.

Battery life

The LG G2 has a 3,000mAh lithium-ion battery. The battery is non-removable, so if the battery is swollen or otherwise damaged, you won't be able to replace it with a new one yourself, and you can't buy a spare one.

Testing in standard user modes of use, the LG G2 showed excellent battery life. LG representatives tirelessly repeat that they have developed a unique battery for themselves (and LG factories are capable of this, because the company once started with a chemical production), and here are the results confirming this. The LG G2 smartphone with a huge bright screen shows results of battery life twice as high as those that were considered the norm in the smartphone camp last year. For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that the Samsung Galaxy Note3 also produces record figures, although in game mode, like the Galaxy S4, it sags, overheating. (Exactly the same picture was observed with the Samsung Galaxy S4, until the new firmware was released - then everything immediately fell into place. Apparently, the same is waiting for the Galaxy Note3.)

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at the minimum comfortable brightness level (the brightness was set to 100 cd / m2) lasted 20 hours until the battery was fully discharged, and for continuous viewing of YouTube videos in high quality (HQ) The device spent 12.5 hours with the same brightness level through the home Wi-Fi network. In game mode, the smartphone lasted almost 4 hours and 45 minutes, which is an unusual figure, especially when you consider the size and resolution of the screen.

Outcome

As for the price, it has already been determined and is now 25 thousand rubles in our market. This price is fully justified (if, of course, an appropriate correction is made for the distorted realities of the domestic market). The smartphone really turned out to be extremely remarkable: maximum performance coupled with a record battery life, plus an excellent screen in all respects, which, moreover, fits into very digestible dimensions - all this is the LG G2. You can find fault, perhaps, only with the design: the convenience of the control elements located on the back wall is still a big question, and the design itself in the form of a brand of glossy boat has already blurred the eye. Otherwise, there are no complaints about the device, and the award from the editor for a perfectly balanced product will be very useful here.