Gadgetory

as I am still continuing the testing of the G flex 2 for my full review let's take a look at how it stacks up to some of the competition in this versus the 2 LG Giants go head-to-head this is Joshua freghar from Android authority what's going on everybody and this is the LG G flex 2 versus the LG g3 it's obvious where the differences lie in this comparison when it comes to design the curved display of the G flex 2 gives it a unique look and feel though what once was the size of the G Pro Series now fit squarely in the realm of the g3 s territory the G flex 2 has been shrunken down to the benefit of many users who thought the larger 6-inch original was just too big the curve still goes from top to bottom helping the phone sit very comfortably in one hand but like with the original LG claims the curved results in a more resilient device all around this is due to a self-healing back that is supposed to make scratches on the back disappear after some time and the benefit of an overall flexible device that can take some pressure when flattened the backing of the phone is removable too much like in the g3 which sports a brushed design without the benefit of the self-healing properties LG is now iconic button layout is on the back as well with the volume rocker and the power button sitting below the camera optics that also include the laser autofocus no buttons on the sides means that both of these devices can be kept pretty thin despite the curve of the G flex 2 obviously skewing this a little bit and upfront a pretty thin bezel keeps everything looking quite svelte with 5.5 inch screens keeping everything just within the realm of one-handed comforts the LG g3 started many of the tropes that D flex benefits from but the curve honestly does help very much with the handling the self-healing back of the Flex does give it a little more grip because of the somewhat sticky material compared to the very smooth feel of the g3 and while size has a lot to do with the handling I do give the ergonomics badge to the G flex because the curve does make hand gymnastics easier to perform displays on both of these devices come in the same size but while the G flex 2 brings a curve to its screen it also lowers the resolution a little bit the LG g3 screen was one of the first to support quad HD or 1440p resolution bringing high powered display experiences into the mainstream but there have been some reports of some compromises with the g3 screen a bit of over smoothing can be seen in mostly text-heavy areas like in the browser and with so much pixel power two emotes certain elements might have a slight stutter in place of completely smooth movements such claims at least in my experience prove to be fairly rare and though the power of the quad HD display might not be noticeable without a keen eye I still thoroughly enjoy mostly media consumption from the high-resolution screen but as was the case with the original G flex we learned that the second iteration has a lower resolution that is just fine and just as enjoyable and indeed 1080p is still the standard of display quality only made a little more immersive given the curve the screen will often not be as close to your face to make the curve fully make sense but that's a trope that's left for large LG TVs it's not hard to notice the curve skewing the phone's scrolling elements however it's an effect that still hasn't gotten old I do notice that some of the stutters I noticed in the quad HD display were not present in the 1080p curved display making the case that super high pixel densities could indeed impede of general performance if anything both IPS displays work very well where they should rightness is good in broad daylight and colors have the vibrancy that makes all media look great ultimately this comparison makes it even clearer that our tried and true resolutions are still viable in today's cutting-edge environments you just have to pick which enhancement you want the curve or the bump up to a higher resolution this seesaw of features on LG's top devices continues to rock in the performance Department even if the G flex 2 is not technically supposed to be considered the flagship device it still comes with the latest and greatest a Snapdragon 810 backed by the audrina 430 and up to 3 gigabytes of RAM while I have had a good time with in-app tasks and gaming on this device thus far I will admit that there are some performance issues when going through the GUI in particular this can come from a lack of optimization in this lollipop edition of LG's interface but also the sheer amount of bloatware that you typically get in devices made for the Asian market after all take a look at all the apps that are already baked into this Korean review unit if this will be the first place that the Snapdragon 810 will prove itself I think that having a localized version of the phone will help it fare better in my testing the LG g3 on the other hand has what can now be considered old technology the Snapdragon 801 with the audrina 330 and 3 gigabytes Brown performance on the g3 has remained reliable despite how fast the market has been changing and with updates to the GUI up until now getting through the elements feels smoother despite what little stutters I mentioned before due to the quad HD resolution obviously the cutting edge is a place where many of us power users want to be but while the Snapdragon 810 is a pretty big deal many variables might be skewing its performance experience in this very first crop that includes a lollipop build that could benefit from some updates hardware on the G flex 2 focuses mainly on its curve and as I stated before it's supposed to help with durability and handling the self-healing backing if it is anything like the G flex 1 will remove superficial scratches over time but anything more than that and you will have permanent marks this is something I've already seen in some preliminary testing removing the back doesn't allow you access to the battery bud to the microSD and SIM card slots are still exposed speaking of the battery I have yet to conclude my longevity tests in just a couple days that I've had this phone thus far but I can give you an example of one days power usage 10 hours is what it took for me to get to critical power saving modes though that was also with over three and a half hours of screen on time which isn't too shabby the 3000 milliamp hour battery unit likely won't go the long long distance but it should be able to get you through a full day with a little more frugal usage the battery of the g3 on the other hand is replaceable but packs the same capacity my original review of the g3 put the battery life on par with its main competition despite its higher resolution screen I've not seen a big change since my original review though I will say that being able to replace the battery easily gives it a bit of an edge in the long haul otherwise the g3 doesn't really benefit from any unique Hardware changes but it does still support a microSD card slot and all of the regular fixings for connectivity both devices still have the knock-on capability enhanced with not code which you can use as a customized way of unlocking the phone it's important to note that my G flex 2 does not work on US carriers for LG connectivity and my testing will be relegated to Wi-Fi and 3G Internet that being said call quality has been about standard for the G flex 2 as it was for the GT the laser autofocus was well the focus of the LG g3 and it brought very fast focusing the top optical image stabilization and camera app that kept things really simple it was a very well received camera experienced by us and thus it should come as no surprise that the experience on the G flex 2 is largely the same right down to the apps themselves the experiences in shooting with the lg cameras are largely the same you get the simple elements for picking resolution or changing from the decisive number of modes that include HDR panorama and dual shooting however magic focus seems to have been left out of the Flex 13-megapixel shots are available in either iteration with video modes including 4k recording and slow-motion through 120 frames per second what made the g3 camera interface so enjoyable was the fast point-and-shoot capability when in the minimal camera interface you can just tap a point and then the lasers focus on it quickly snapping the shot in very little time picture quality then takes on a pretty similar fare in the G flex 2 as these quickly shot photos show good color reproduction to the scene this is to say that there isn't a high level of saturation in the post-processing that you might be now accustomed to in competitors cameras this is something the photographer will have to decide is a true benefit or maybe a detractor as more vivid photos tend to be preferred by users HDR modes do add a little more color to the photos though its main function of lightening darks in clarifying blown out areas might not be particularly strong the sometimes overly aggressive noise reduction in the g3 seems to have returned however which is the trade-off sometimes the pictures are just softened a little too much and the fine details can suffer what does prove itself well is OIS plus helping shaky hands capture clear photos and helping video keep from getting too jittery and sub portraits have been made easier with a new gesture allowing you to review the picture you just took with a natural downward angle movement the 2.1 megapixel front-facing camera is still just a standard performer however full testing of the G flex 2 camera is ongoing though it is clear to me in this versus that it is highly familiar to the experience of the g3 and finally in software we're dealing with an updated version of the GUI via lollipop in the G flex 2 but the changes are mostly subtle and as I mentioned before they may be in need of some more optimization polish my g3 still hasn't been updated so you will see differences in the soft keys the changes in the recent apps screen to a Rolodex layout in the Flex and the card centric style of the note drop down in lollipop but from there not much more has changed in the GUI as many of the elements take on lg's typical style the settings screen is still a tabbed layout in the quick settings above the notifications is still a little too crowded for comfort the smart notice widget does get a few more capabilities but my most enjoyable smart app experience is still the keyboard which is just a blast to tap type on with the Flex with a customizable height and extra button layout with number keys up top it's one of my favorite om keyboards available the only real addition to the Flex interface is a peaking feature that is triggered by swiping down on the turned off screen which is basically a quick way to check the time in the notification bar it does remain however that the GUI is still a little too cluttered for its own good as my early performance issues seemed to prove lollipop was a need and move forward for Android but LG kept things looking and feeling mostly the same in the G flex 2 which might not be a good thing to everyone and so there you have it the LG G flex 2 and the LG g3 these are definitely the two top dogs in the LG camp and it should come as no surprise that they are very similar the higher resolution display of the LG g3 is its marquee feature but if you're looking for something more unique at the LG G flex 2 it has already impressed us with its looks and its very nice feel what points I do give the G flex 2 for its noticeably faster camera experience are somewhat taken away a bit by the Numa lollipop edition of the GUI that seems to lack the optimization needed to meet Snapdragon 810 expectations that said I'd thoroughly enjoy the G flex 2 so far and that basically means I still enjoy all that the g3 offers it's just that the flex is trying to bend the rules making it a marginally more intriguing choice as I already stated before these videos are away from me to get some real testing on the G flex 2 so that later this week I can give you a full in-depth review make sure you keep it tuned to Android authority for all of that and to drop us some likes on our videos to subscribe to our channel if you haven't already and don't forget to check out all of our other outlets we have our forums out on android authority comm and also the friday debate podcast that you can find on pretty much every podcast channel out there keep it tuned here for even more and don't forget to head on over to android authority comm as well because we are your source for all things Android