Gadgetory

think back to the last time you use an LG phone it probably wasn't a smart phone and if you're anything like me it was probably the chocolate since then LG has struggled to break out of the mid-range game and jump into the top-tier smartphone market well now is the time to get excited because LG has just released their new flagship phone hey I'm Joshua vagar for android authority what's going on everybody and this is the LG optimus G from Sprint let's jump right in look how gorgeous this phone is sporting what I call a black slate style the Optimus G is quite literally one of the smoothest phones i have ever handled in terms of build the optimus G employs a more squared edge design and is just a smidgen smaller than the samsung galaxy s3 the size and shape of this phone allow it to fit safely and comfortably in my hand and there were never any fears of the phone slipping from my grasp the top end has the headphone jack and one microphone the right panel holds the power switch and the left side has the volume rockers the bottom of the phone takes the industrious look further with two Torx screws flanking the microUSB port even if these screws are removable you're unfortunately dealing with a non replaceable battery here the back portion of the phone houses the speaker near the bottom as well as a camera of which has a popped out design that might lead to some scratches down the line if you happen to slide your phone around a lot coming over to the front one can't help but be impressed with LG's offering on the Optimus cheese screen the true HD IPS + LCD display can display a resolution of 1280 by 768 at a 318 ppi pixel density to provide a crisp and highly enjoyable viewing experience as seen here I was able to see the display quite well under broad daylight kudos go to the 0 gap technology which essentially means that only the glass window lies between you and the actual LCD screen itself this also lends to the incredible responsiveness of the screen I felt as if the screen was responding within a millisecond of my touching the surface and navigating the phone as a result was a breeze the hardware underneath all of this beauty is just as impressive LG is the first manufacturer to widely release a phone with a quad-core processor that's right a quad-core 1.5 gigahertz Snapdragon processors that provides a snappy experience I had basically no hiccups on the phone as apps opened seamlessly and multitasking was easy to do you get two gigabytes of RAM for running multiple apps at once and the 32 gigabytes of internal memory should be adequate for most users a lack of expandable memory is a sacrifice you make for such a well packaged powerful phone nonetheless the performance of this phone is definitely eye-opening as this benchmark operates in among some of the best current phones LG's Optimus G on Sprint is capable of connecting to 3g and 4g LTE though the problem here is that sprint has yet to widely spread LTE across the states if you happen to be in an area that has 4g LTE coverage then you will have unlocked essentially every capability of this phone unfortunately I did not have coverage in my location so this is one of the few weaknesses holding this otherwise amazing phone back near field communications are available on this phone and are worth a mention due to the inclusion of LG tag + stickers these can be used as a quick way to change your phone settings simply tap the back of the phone to the tag and your phone will perform the program tasks this is a quirky feature with loads of potential imagine a routine where you tap your phone to the NFC tag at work to ensure your phone is silent using Wi-Fi etc the Optimus UI makes a comeback in version 3 point no on the optimus G and is one of the most customizable stock operating systems out there even the lock screen has many options as it is customizable with four app launchers found on the bottom in this case I am using the ink unlock effect and the biz theme which are just a couple of the different effects and themes readily available despite my usual pension for third party launchers and customizations I actually found myself enjoying the Optimus aesthetic it was stylish organized and provided many options such as the quick toggles found in the drop-down of no is the quick memo function which takes the basic task of screen capture and adds a welcome layer of editing to it simply go to the drop-down notification area and hit quick memo you can write right on the resulting image with your finger and even highlight to your heart's content this is quite useful for when you encounter something you want to save but you need a quick fast and editable way of doing so and all that brings me to the camera one of the most exciting features of this phone at least for me at a whopping 13 megapixels this can provides quite a punch and in my testing is suitable for a multitude of different situations you have basic ISO white balance and touch focus settings here and while image quality is understandably below that of dedicated cameras it is definitely a cut above your typical Instagram food shots or self portraits a few features sweeten the pot however there is an HDR mode to punch out more color in your photos and a panorama feature that proved a good performer in this particular shot time catch shot is a worthwhile feature that helps solve the problem of either jittery hands or blinking subjects the camera continuously takes shots shortly before and after hitting the shutter button and when the picture is captured a listing of about half a dozen different pictures are made available for selecting the perfect one cheese shutter is just a fun way of capturing a shot kimchi when it came to video I found myself happy to have this phone available to record videos of nearly any nature while low-light capabilities of this camera are admittedly but unsurprisingly lacking video came out quite nicely under good lighting conditions in an age when I phones can be used to record artistic indie and even some feature productions it is nice to know that the Android side is moving in that same direction with a little bit of creativity and some tools I was able to get the shots you saw at the beginning of this video and these as well my satisfaction what the final videos has led me to believe that the lg optimus G is a viable backup camera solution for amateur and even some serious artists as a wise man once said the best camera you have is the one on you and so there you have it LG's coming-out party has just begun and if you are interested in celebrating with them the LG optimus G will set you back 1 99 99 with a contract on sprint with killer processing power an incredible screen and a more than capable camera this is plenty to love packed into one of my favorite looking phones ever just check if you have 4G LTE in your area or at least coming soon as it is one of the only things holding back the lg optimus G from my full written review head over to android authority your source for all things Android