 | |
Score: 9/10 (Fantastic)
ProsFantastic design, gorgeous display, incredible processing speeds, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, hard-to-beat price | Cons Rear-facing camera is unimpressive, short battery life, |
Although the LG Optimus G Pro is nearly hear, the original Optimus G is still a fantastic handset. The Optimus G is still rocking quad-core processors, a beautiful 4.7-inch HD display, has a beautiful design, and is running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. While the Optimus G Pro is certainly a superior device in many ways, you can currently pick up the LG Optimus G on AT&T from Amazon for only $59.99 with a new two-year service agreement. For the price, is it still worth getting an Optimus G, or should you wait for the Optimus G Pro? Find out in our full review!
NOTE: Parts of this review have been taken from our review of the LG Optimus G on Sprint
NOTE: Parts of this review have been taken from our review of the LG Optimus G on Sprint
Design/Build Quality
The LG Optimus G is easily has the best design of a smartphone I have tested to date. The Optimus G looks and feels like the premium device it is with it's 4.7-inch screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 and glass backing. The Optimus G is also very slim and lightweight with a width of 2.71" and weighing in at only 5.11 oz. The Optimus G feels downright fantastic in the hand and is one of the most premium feeling handsets I have ever tested. The Optimus G also has a very strong build quality. Corning Gorilla Glass 2 is one of the strongest displays available for smartphones out there. After my 2 weeks with the device, there was little to no visual signs of wear and tare. My only real complaint with the build quality of the Optimus G is the glass backing. While it is extremely durable, it attracts a ton of fingerprints. After cleaning the device with an alcohol wipe, the back was loaded with fingerprint marks within a matter of minutes. Aside from that though, I could not find anything wrong with the design or build quality of the device. The Optimus G is already off to a fantastic start.
Hardware
One of the many highpoints of the Optimus G is it's processing power. Under the hood is a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm SnapDragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM. What does that mean? It means that this thing is a processing beast. The Optimus G will be able to keep up with everything you throw at it, and then some more after that. The Optimus G was able to keep up beautifully with everything I ran on it and, no matter how hard I tried, I could not make the phone slip under pressure.
Along with it's incredible processing power, the Optimus G also packs in an equally impressive display. The Optimus G has a True HD IPS screen with a resolution of 1280 x 768 with 318ppi (pixels-per-inch). While it is true that there are smartphones out there with higher resolution displays, the Optimus G still has a gorgeous looking screen. Colors are extremely vibrant, text is easy to read no matter how far your are zoomed in, and everything on it just looks plain great.
When reviewing a phone, it can be hard to overlook how the actual "phone" part of the phone operates. Thankfully, the Optimus G has fantastic call quality. Everyone I talked to said that I sounded great and the same goes for the individuals that I talked to on my end. AT&T's 4G LTE network is also quite incredible. Average download speeds were around 25mbps with peak speeds up to a whopping 48mbps. Upload speeds averaged out at around 13mbps and peak speeds at 15mbps.
Unlike the 13MP camera found on the Sprint version of the LG Optimus G, the AT&T model features an 8MP rear-facing shooter. Although it takes good pictures with generous lighting conditions, it certainly is a whole lot less impressive than the 13MP camera on the Sprint handset. Both cameras on the AT&T model of the Optimus G perform just fine, but do leave something to be desired.
The LG Optimus G has a 2,100 mAh, non-removable battery. In our time the device, we got about 9 hours of usage with 4G data connection, heavy Web browsing, game playing, music/video streaming, taking pictures, and texting.
The LG Optimus G has a 2,100 mAh, non-removable battery. In our time the device, we got about 9 hours of usage with 4G data connection, heavy Web browsing, game playing, music/video streaming, taking pictures, and texting.
Out of the box, the Optimus G is running Android 4.0.4 ICS. Thankfully, AT&T has recently pushed out the update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. 4.1 Jelly Bean brings along features such as "Project Butter", Google Now, Improved Notifications, and more.
The LG Optimus G is layered with LG's Optimus 3.0 UI over Android Jelly Bean. The Optimus 3.0 UI brings Quick Settings, QuickMemo, changeable icons, beautiful transition effects, and the ability to use your Optimus G in a landscape mode. While not everyone will be a fan of LG's UI, I personally really like it. It may look a little cartoony, but it brings a lot of additional functionality to the handset.
Final Verdict
Although the Optimus G on AT&T may not be as stunning as it's brother on Sprint, it is still one heck of a smartphone. Although it has a poor battery life and less than impressive cameras, it's quad-core processing power, beautiful HD display, elegant design, and price of $59.99 on Amazon make this a great deal for anyone looking to get a fantastic smartphone at an extremely low price.
DISCLAIMER: Joseph Maring used the LG Optimus G on AT&T for 15 days before beginning to write this review. LG sent MobileCupOfJoe the Optimus G for a review, but in no way affected our final score of the device.
Author: Joseph Maring
DISCLAIMER: Joseph Maring used the LG Optimus G on AT&T for 15 days before beginning to write this review. LG sent MobileCupOfJoe the Optimus G for a review, but in no way affected our final score of the device.
Author: Joseph Maring
RSS Feed