The LG G2 Malaysia does one thing pretty much different then all other Smartphones. In a attempt to differentiate themselves from the other Smartphone manufactures and especially its Arch-Rival Samsung, LG placed nearly all buttons on the rear end of the G2. This is a very bold move in an age where most of the contemporary Android Smartphones look mostly like clones of each other. The oddest thing about that strategic decision from LG is: It doesn’t really need to differentiate itself from Samsung – The LG G2 can beat the Samsung S4 in nearly all aspects.

Back Vs Side Buttons

Lg says that the main reason to move the On/Off button to the back of the G2 is that it gets easier to manipulate the volume of the conversation while holding the phone to your ear. And they are right – it gets a bit easier to turn down or up the volume, so you can adjust the sound to your surroundings.

While this is a pro, it doesn’t outweigh the deficiencies that come with the new arrangement of the buttons. It gets more difficult to wake up or put the G2 to sleep. Because it doesn’t have a physical home button and the on/off key is between the up/down toggle its not easy to get the G2 just by feel.

Also while you watching a video or just laying the G2 on the back you risk putting the phone to sleep.

To put the G2 to sleep or wake it up, you have to tap it twice on the screen. While this double tapping works just fine most of the time, sometimes it does not and you have to fiddle with the keys on the backside, which is unnecessary work.

It comes with a slightly bigger screen then Samsungs S4 ( 5.2 vs 5 inches) and a better battery (3000 mAh vs 2600 mAh). Despite these advantages it is barely larger ( G2: 5.45 x 2.79 x 0.35 inches, GS4: 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches) or heavier then its biggest competitor.

Like all 5 inch plus phones the G2 is hard to manipulate with just one hand, e.g the dial pad option is one the upper left part of the screen making it nearly impossible to control it with just one hand.

Performance Comparison

The G2 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad core processor with 2.26GHz, which is superior to the Samsungs S4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 with 1.9 GHz. In benchmarks and side by side test for every day usage, like web surfing, checking mails, using apps or downloading videos, the G2 performs those tasks more efficient and better then the S4, if only slighter.

Both devices come with 2GB of RAM. LG delivers the G2 with 32GB of Storage versus the 16GB of the S4, but the G2 comes with out the MicroSD card expandability.

Screen Comparison

To compare the S4 and the G2 based on their screens, depends on how much video the user likes to watch.

Both Screens come with a 1920 x 1080 resolution. The G2 has an IPS LCD display with 423 ppi vs 441 pixel per inch on the S4 Super AMOLED. The G2’s screen is slightly bigger, but it has the Home Back and Menu controls on screen.

One Issue with the S4 that was remarked in a lot of tests and benchmarks is that is has gray tint that affects nearly every screen, but especially those with a white background. Because of that the GS2 colors are better and contrast brighter for nearly all activities on the Smartphone.

One big exception is watching Videos. When watching Videos the advantages of the AMOLED come to play. It has a much wider viewing angles and also for videos colors are superior to the experience on the G2 IPS (in-plane switching) screen.

Camera Comparison

When it comes to the comparison of the 13 MP Camera in both phones we have a clear winner – The G2 has the better camera.

Especially indoors without Flash and with optical image stabilization, the G2 focuses much better, brings pictures with more color and more detail and less blurry shots. With the GS4 it takes often some time to get a crisp shot, while the  G2 usually gets a clean shot at first time.

Outdoors and with sun is easy for both, although the G2 images have better colors and slightly more details.

Like the iPhone, the G2 also includes the Camera button on lock screen, so just slide up the screen and you are ready to go.

If you have to turn on the flash for pictures, the G2 doesn’t bleach the pictures as much as the GS4 and the flash is more evenly distributed on the pictures. Still both pictures take to long too take a picture with flash – up to 5 seconds.

LG G2s Picture is left on the pic, S4 right.

Battery Comparison

One of the most important factors these days in Smartphones is the battery life time. Due to the better battery with 3000mAh vs 2600mAH the GS2 comes with a longer battery life. When watching videos the G2 ran for 4.3 hours vs 3.75 hours on the GS4. With normal usage the G2 lasts longer into the days with a one time charge then the S4. Check out my article on Power Banks to charge your Smartphone too.

G2 TOPS and FLOPS 

TOP

• Brilliant HD 5.2-inch screen
• Very Good 13MP camera
• Superior Batter Life

FLOP

• Missing microSD card slot
• Average Video viewing
• Weird to navigate one-handed

Summary

The LG G2 price in Malaysia is 1663 RM at the moment. For that it offers more storage, a better screen and superior performance, as well as better pictures and navigation compared to the S4. As well as in nearly all aspects of every usage, battery life, navigation and usage of Camera the LG outperforms Samsungs Galaxy S4.

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