As we mentioned earlier, the power / screen lock key and the volume rocker keys are located at the back just below the 13-megapixel camera lens and LED flash.
The power key of the LG G2 also features a light surrounding it that glows up while making a call. The two keys are metallic and offer good tactile feedback. The Volume-up key also doubles up as a shortcut key to launch the Quickmemo app on long press and the Volume-down key acts as a camera shortcut key on long press when the phone is locked.
While LG claims that it has done some consumer research before deciding to go with the new design for the button, we found the placement of these keys on the LG G2 a bit awkward. A major reason for this is that we're used to these keys being placed on the edges.
Also, in certain situations, such as listening to music while the phone's placed lying at its back, it's difficult to access the volume rocker keys (especially when you're driving). We were often hitting the camera lens instead of the volume up key while trying to increase the volume without looking at the phone. To make sure you don't end up scratching the lens, LG has used scratch resistant sapphire crystal glass.
Display
The LG G2 sports a 5.2-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) IPS LCD display, with a pixel density of 423 pixels-per-inch (ppi). The G2's display comes with Corning 's Gorilla Glass 3 protection making it resistant to scratches.
In our use, we found the LG G2's screen to be very bright with text and images looking crisp and sharp. Colours looked vivid albeit a bit oversaturated, which means that images shot with the phone look a little different on the phone, than their original colours as seen on a desktop. The screen delivers deep blacks and has great viewing angles. It was a little reflective but sunlight legibility was good.
Overall, the LG G2's display is one of the best in class and the minimal bezel surrounding it accentuates it further.
Software/ User Interface
The LG G2 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, which is a disappointment as we expected LG to ship Android 4.3, the latest iteration of the OS at this time, with the phone.
LG has added its own Optimus UI layer on top, majorly changing the look and feel of the interface and enabling users to customise the phone according to their liking.
LG also adds several tweaks including Smart Screen that keeps the screen on if the phone detects the user's eyes looking at it - a feature we first saw in the Samsung Galaxy S III. It also offers Smart Video, automatically pausing videos when you look away.
There are no physical buttons on the G2's edges or at the front. LG has been touting this particular attribute of the phone's design as a distinguishing feature; the LG G2's power and volume rocker keys are placed at the back of the phone below the camera lens.
It's likely that you'll get used to the new arrangement after some time but we feel that not everybody will welcome this change. More on that, later in this section.
The front of the LG G2 is dominated by its 5.2-inch display. As we just pointed out, the bezel surrounding the phone's display is minimal. In fact it's one of the most narrow bezels we've seen on a device and that really helps in one hand usage of the phone since it features a big screen.
The 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera, a notification LED and the sensor array are located above the LG G2's display.
The micro-SIM tray is located at the left edge of the LG G2, while there are no buttons or ports on the right edge. The Infrared blaster port sits at the top edge. The port allows the phone to be used as a universal remote control in combination with a bundled app.
The bottom edge of the LG G2 features a 3.5mm headset jack just like the iPhone 5, apart from two speaker grills and a Micro-USB port. A chrome frame runs across the edges, giving the phone a premium feel.
The LG G2's 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera also takes good quality pictures and combining it with the Beauty mode will satisfy the needs of most narcissists. it also does a good job for making video calls and supports 1080p video capture.
The video mode also allows taking 1080p videos at 30frames per second as well as 60frames per second. It also allows you to take 2-megapixel still images while shooting videos.
The video capture option also offers a Dual recording mode allowing you to simultaneously shoot videos with both of the phone's cameras.
There's a Tracking zoom mode which shows you the area that's zoomed in while shooting in a separate window.
LG also offers a unique Audio Zoom feature that allows you to focus on a particular source of sound while shooting. We feel that it's more of a gimmick and didn't notice much improvement in the audio capture, though the camera does a good job in capturing video.
Overall, the LG G2 features an excellent camera but don't expect it to take low-light shots that match up to the Nokia Lumia 925 / 920 or even the Sony Xperia Z1.
Performance/ Battery Life
The LG G2 sports top of the line hardware (at this point in time), as it is powered by a 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM, and an Adreno 330 chip for processing graphics. Our review unit had 32GB of built-in storage (a 16GB variant is also available), out of which 24.8GB is available to the user. The phone doesn't offer a microSD card slot for expandable storage.
The overall experience of navigation through the interface was extremely impressive, thanks to all the power under the LG G2's hood.
We did not experience any lag at all while launching apps, playing games, scrolling web pages or switching between apps on the LG G2.
The gaming experience on LG G2 was pretty good with games like Temple Run 2, Subway Surfers, Jetpack Joyride, Shadow Gun: Dead Zone and Asphalt 7 running without any hiccups.
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