Gadgetory

I'm Andrew coil for CNET and this is the LG g2 mini is the smaller less powerful but mercifully cheaper version of LG's flagship now it's a funny old world when a 4.7 inch phone could be called mini but it is admittedly smaller than the 5.2 inch g2 it has a narrow bezel around the screen which helps keep the body size down so it actually has similar dimensions to the 4.5 inch motorola moto G it's reasonably comfortable to use in one hand although I'm not keen on the scratchy plastic back which I think makes it feel a bit cheap like the g2 it keeps its power and volume buttons on the back rather than on the side it's a nice idea in theory of they're positioned exactly where your finger sits when you're holding the phone even so I found they took a lot of getting used to and I just don't think volume button position is a problem that needed fixing to begin with although it bears the same name of the flagship for GT Mini is watered down in nearly every respect we display have a very disappointing 960 by 540 pixel resolution which is less than the Moto G's 1280x720 screen and that cost less in half and at least has decent colors and it's fairly bright but it just doesn't have the clarity around icons or in text but you'd get from a higher resolution panel the processor is heavily watered down - with a 1.2 gigahertz quad-core chip inside rather than the much more sprightly 2.2 chip in the g2 it handles the everyday tasks fine but it starts to struggle when it comes to more demanding gaming rather than the 13 megapixel camera of the g2 the mini pax an 8 megapixel camera on the back which managed to take some good shots and its HDR mode works well the battery put in a strong performance on our drain test and it's removable in case you want to carry a spare while the g2 mini does come with a cheaper price when it's Big Brother it seriously waters down all the specs if you're looking for a more pocketable phone with the power of a flagship look towards the superb Sony Xperia z1 compact if you are on a budget though than Motorola MOTO has a better screen similar power and the same up-to-the-minute version of android kitkat and hit coughed half the price of the g2 mini the Moto G doesn't have 4G but that's probably a good compromise considering the price safe to say the GT Mini is not quite the shrunken flagship we hoped it would be I'm Andrew Hoyle for CNET and this is the LG g2 mini