LG G2 review

LG has doubled down and gone spec-heavy in its bid to take on the iPhone, S4 and HTC One.

It's a phone that, once again, bears the most resemblance to the latest Samsung flagship, with a plastic chassis encasing a huge 5.2-inch screen… although once again it's been pushed to the edges of the phone in a bid to make it all look a little bit more amazing.

LG has recently been clinging on in the smartphone race, and there's a feeling that a phone like this could be the make-or-break device if it's to accelerate away from the chasing pack.

So with a spec list that includes a Full HD display, a 13MP camera with optical image stabilisation, a 3000mAh battery and a completely redesigned sound system that promises 'proper' Hi-Fi audio, there's a lot to love from the spec-fiend's point of view.

The design of the phone, even with a number of design enhancements to make it sleeker and slimmer, is surprisingly large for a flagship handset. It's around the same thickness of the HTC One, but the plastic back can't hold a candle to the aluminium casing that adorns the Taiwanese rival device.

The main design feature is the fact the volume and power button are not on the rear of the phone, directly below the camera. This a new idea from the South Korean brand and it's at least innovative – however, in real testing it didn't really feel like the keys were spaced far enough apart to warrant the design change.

However, the upside of such an option is the screen can be pushed closer to the edges of the chassis, with only 2.65mm separating the two. Combined with the sumptuously clear Full HD 5.2-inch display, LG has definitely taken the lead when it comes to getting the most out of what you can use in your hand.

The lack of buttonry allows extends to the home and menu keys, as these are all now digital options that appear at the bottom of the screen. At least LG has seen fit to alter these somewhat, giving the user total control over the elements that live there.

Actually, that's another point for which LG should be applauded: its detail in the UI. Whether it's being able to change the on screen buttons, alter the minutiae of the LED notification light or enhancing the Quick Remote infra red functionality to learn any other remote you're thinking of replacing with a smartphone.

What's more, the overall look and feel is rather intuitive once you get used to it. You can double tap on the screen to unlock the phone, and double tap in an unused part of the display (or the notifications bar) to relock it once more.

It's actually a rather neat way of doing things, and within a few minutes it had become second nature to us. Similarly the notion of being able to use one unlocking pattern to open the phone and another for guest mode makes it much easier to give the phone to a child or show a friend how your new gadget works.

But that's really where the intuition ends. We've been critical of LG's UI in the past, and sadly it doesn't look like much has changed. There's just so much going on that it's very difficult to pick out what's happening at first pass.

For the advanced user, this is a compliment rather than a criticism, as you can pretty much do anything you want with this hyper-advanced smartphone. Want to change the font? Have little floating widgets that you can vary in transparency? Want to have a pervasive remote control in the notification bar? All possible if you want to spend some time digging through the settings menu.

But for the more casual user, the person on the street who doesn't know much about one OS compared to another but simply wants the best phone that won't see them horrendously outdated in a few months, then it's a complicated mess.

Compare this to the HTC One or the iPhone 5 (even with iOS 7 on board) and there's no contest – your less smartphone-savvy friend will go for one of these options every time.

Early verdict

LG so desperately needs a phone that allows it to capture the same kind of audience as Samsung and Apple, but with the G2 it's just played it safe again.

That's a hard thing to really criticise, as LG has once again done what it does best: make a smartphone with arguably the best specs in the world.

The screen is so stunning when watching Full HD content that it's hard not to instantly fall in love - and the processor, RAM and general speed of the phone is top notch.

However, the design is middling, the implementation of Android 4.2 only so-so, and there's nothing here that really will claim the headlines when it's splashed across billboards and taxis around the world that people haven't already seen before.

We really like the LG G2, but we can't see it being the critical hit that the company wants (and really deserves, given the amount of effort that goes into pushing the envelope in terms of smartphone technology).

The unit we used was definitely a pre-production sample, such was the speed of certain apps, so when we publish our full LG G2 review, things might have got a little better.