LG has been taking a dip on the phablet field and it seems, their new flagship LG G Pro 2 would like to take it deeper. This time, they’ve made use of the form factor that stems from the LG G2 especially the button layout and it’s sure to please those who want to have a premium phablet. Will it make an impression as a phablet worth buying? Let’s find out.
Design
As phone displays keep getting bigger, it’s only natural that you’ll keep the bezels as thin as possible to not only avoid making the phone much bigger but to make it more holdable. With the LG G Pro 2, it’s good to know that they used thin bezels around the 5.9 inch screen, making the dimensions kept to a minimal by 157.9 x 81.9 mm. When compared to the HTC One Max, which had the same screen size, the latter is bigger by a 164.5 x 82.5 mm dimension.
Looking at the front, you’ll find the LED indicator, the earpiece as well as the 2.1 MP front-facing camera. The display is made from Gorilla Glass 3, which is the latest the company has to offer.
At the sides, you won’t find any buttons here nor ports to stick to so the form of the phone is minimalist in a way. It’s also thin at 8.3mm. You’ll then find them at the top which houses the 3.5mm audio port with the secondary mic and IR emitter. On the opposite side is where you’ll find another mic with the micro-usb port.
At the back is where you’ll find the 13MP camera with LED flash well as the innovative power button sandwiched by the volume rocker. What’s neat here is that the power button lits up when someone calls you so you’ll notice right away when the phone is faced down. Lastly, the speaker grill can be found below the cover.
Overall, the feel of the LG G Pro 2 is somewhat on the premium class. The plastic materials surrounding the phone may be a bit of a drawback but it has some weight to it at 6.07 oz thanks to the large screen. I particulary liked the placement of the back buttons as it is easily accessible with your index finger. It’s very well thought of and I can see this button placement being used on the company’s future phones. One gripe though is that, you may accidentally press the back buttons while the phone is in your pocket or in your bag as the back of the phablet is prone to bumps. Try putting this on a hard case to minimize the chance of accidentaly pressing it.
Performance
The LG G Pro 2 packs a Snapdragon 800 chipset, Quad-core 2.26 GHz CPU and a 3GB RAM. Pretty impressive specs we have here so let’s test them out on our benchmarks below.
The Antutu benchmark puts the G Pro 2 right below the LG G2 and two places below the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. It does perform better than the Samsung Galaxy S4 though.
Quadrant benchmark puts the phablet right above the HTC One X with a score of 18991.
The LG G Pro 2 may not have topped our benchmarks but it still packs a muscle. Overall, I’m very pleased with the performance of the G Pro 2. The animations are really smooth and browsing content-heavy websites is as breezy as it gets. You won’t have any problems with this one so go ahead and load it up with your favorite apps.
Multimedia
The G Pro 2’s 5.9″ display boasts of its True HD IPS+ LCD which has a 1080×1920 pixel resolution and ~373 ppi pixel density. I have to say, the sharpness and contrast in this phablet is really superb. The colors have the right amount of saturation to it to make your images pop out and it’s going to be a treat watching your favorite HD movies. If you’re coming from a smaller phone, you might notice the the icons being stretched out or larger than usual (duh) but you’ll get used to it. One thing’s for sure, the graphics didn’t suffer so rest assured you’ll be getting the same eye-candy satisfaction from this one.
Sound on the other hand, didn’t quite played out for me. It wasn’t loud enough especially when you’re outdoors. Also, speakers that are mounted at the back tend to get muffled, which is the case with the G Pro 2 when it’s placed on its back so it’s a downer for me. Sound quality-wise, it was decent enough when played on lower decibels but tend to get a bit washed out on higher decibels. Anyway, you’ll most likely hook this up with your earphones or speakers.
Camera and Video
Checking out the 13MP camera, it was fast enough to focus and capture on daylight although, it starts to have difficulty focusing during low light. Not that it takes its sweet time to focus but you may miss important shots due to the lag.
Pressing the gear icon on the camera interface, will take you to a myriad of settings to choose from. We have the usual image size, ISO, white balance, etc. but there’s the shutter sound setting which you can mute. This is something for the discreet shooter although the focus beep will still be there. Also the camera is able to capture HD movies at 2160p at 30fps, 1080p at 60fps and 720p at 120fps. Anyway, here the camera samples below.
I have to say, the image quality is good enough for me. The shots are crisp with the colors having the right amount of saturation as well as having a balanced level of contrast. Also, when taking low light shots the camera is able to automatically compensate for the exposure wherein the images will look brighter so it makes up for the slow shutter lag. In effect though, the night shoots may look smudgy due to the heavy processing of exposure and noise reduction. Video recording is good too and it’s able to capture ambient sounds well. Lighting seems to be spot on and even on low light, it doesn’t suffer from being grainy.
Battery
The battery has got to be one of the G Pro 2’s best asset. It has a 3200 mAh capacity which is similar to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 but this one can last up to 2 days of occasional long calls, texts, use of social apps, watching Youtube videos and browsing the web. This is something that I’ve been looking for and it’s good to know that the G Pro 2 is able to hold up to another day since you’ll most likely use it for browsing, watching movies or playing games.
Verdict
The LG G Pro 2 is a really good phablet and this is one that I’d definitely recommend. It packs enough muscle to handle most of the demanding tasks and it is sure to satiate the heavy Android user. The superb 5.9″ display is quite the charmer and is sure to deliver the best output for the discerning eye. Top it off with the good battery life, and you’ll have a phablet that will please a lot of users. The camera quality is good enough but there are better alternatives out there while the speakers are just plain mediocre. Just a few drawbacks from the phablet but not to the extent that will turn off most people.
LG means business and they’re putting up quite an impression in the market so if you haven’t had the LG experience yet, then the LG G Pro 2 is worth looking at. At Php 32,990 SRP, it’s roughly at the same price range with other phablets and it’s already released so go ahead and check it out on your nearest gadget store.