LG G Pro 2 review: See you 2morrow

Ever since the Note series rose to power and propelled the phablet class to stardom, their reign has only been disturbed once. The first generation of the G Pro, known as Optimus back then, was unveiled as the ultimate phablet in terms of specs, but the patchy market availability and inadequate marketing backup prevented it from reaching its potential.

  

LG G Pro 2 official photos

Now, a generation older and a year wiser, LG will be looking to prove that it can learn from its mistakes and produce a device that can finally put a proper challenge for the phablet throne. The G Pro 2 certainly seems to have the right tools for the job: powerful hardware, brilliant screen and minimal bezels, plus a bunch of home-baked software features for an extra bit of exclusivity.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support; Quad-band 3G with HSPA; LTE cat4
• 5.9" 16M-color 1080p True HD IPS Plus FullHD capacitive touchscreen
• Corning Gorilla Glass 2 display protection
• Android OS v4.4.2 KitKat; LG Optimus UI
• Quad-core 2.26GHz Krait 400 CPU, 3GB of RAM, Adreno 330 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset
• 13MP autofocus camera with LED flash, geotagging, Intelligent Auto, optical image stabilization, Time catch shot, smart shutter and VR panoramas
• 4K video recording @ 30fps with continuous autofocus and stereo sound; HDR mode, Dual recording, optical image stabilization
• 2.1MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording
• 16/32GB of built-in storage, microSD card slot
• microUSB port, USB host support, USB on-the-go, SlimPort TV-out
• Bluetooth v4.0
• NFC
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Voice commands
• Multi-tasking with mini-apps and optional transparency (QSlide)
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
• Huge 3,200mAh Li-Ion battery
• IR emitter for remote control of home appliances

Main disadvantages

• Plastic finish of the back cover has poor grip
• No dedicated camera key
• No FM radio

The LG G Pro 2 gets quite a lot of things right, and while it's only able to match the Galaxy S5 for processing power, its innovative design should help tip the scales in its favor. Rear-mounted buttons may seem like an odd solution at first sight, but everyone who's handled the G2 will tell you that once you get used to them, you realize that they are actually a truly inspired bit of engineering thought.

   

LG G Pro 2 live photos

Then there's also the camera that matches the Galaxy Note 3 unit for resolution and video recording and one-ups it with optical image stabilization. Given that low-light performance was the Achilles' heel of the Samsung phablet, this might be the right ingredient to turn a solid camera into a flawless performer.

This is certainly going to be an exciting battle, and one that will potentially shape the mobile landscape. And we're lucky to be watching from the front row. Join us on the next page for the hardware inspection.

Rich retail package that we probably aren't getting

Our LG G Pro 2 review unit came in a very rich retail package, containing a spare battery and even a tabletop battery charger in addition to the usual set of accessories. While those are quite welcome add-ons, we're not sure they will be available outside of Korea.

  

The retail package is richer than usual

LG G Pro 2 360-degree spin

At 157.9 x 81.9 x 8.3mm, the LG G Pro 2 is about as compact as a device could possibly have been, accommodating a 5.9" screen. LG has done a great job of minimizing the bezels and the device is barely wider than the Note 3 (151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm) despite having a slightly bigger screen diagonal.

Compared to the HTC One Max (164.5 x 82.5 x 10.3 mm), which has the same size display, the G Pro 2 is far slimmer and slightly narrower, which both result in better pocketability and handling.

   

The LG G Pro 2 next to the LG G2 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Design, build quality and handling

The different finish aside, the LG G Pro 2 looks like an upsized G2 and that's actually quite the compliment. The slim-bezel buttonless front is about as neat as it can get with smartphones and the gorgeous screen really makes this one a stunner.

The slim profile helps the overall looks too, and the buttons on the back, while unusual are made to fit nicely with the surrounding plastic. All in all, the G Pro 2 has all the right shapes in all the right places to get great marks for design.

We do have our reservations about the choice of materials LG has used however. The glossy plastic of the original G Pro wasn't ideal and the change is welcome, but on this particular occasion we are not sure it's for the better.

The G Pro 2 is said to have a non-slip metal mesh finish on the back cover for a comfortable and firm grip. The polycarbonate back is impressively lightweight and resistant to cracks too, which are both important attributes of a removable cover. The only thing that doesn't quite match the description is "non-slip" - as much as we liked the texture. The back of the phablet just has a slippery feel to it.

    

The design is great, but the materials chosen could be better

The brocade look of the front isn't the best choice - tiny light-reflecting dots are a bit too much for our taste and perhaps at odds with the clean and minimal design. This is not an issue on the white unit as there's less bling there, but the slippery feel is something to consider.

Overall, the LG G Pro 2 is a handset we wouldn't mind being seen with, but just short of perfect. Oh well, maybe the third generation.

In terms of handling the G Pro 2 does fairly well for the class. The slippery plastic does take away some from the market-leading 77.2% screen to surface ratio, but you can still perform certain tasks with one hand.

Of course, making full use of a phablet without getting both hands involved is out of the question unless you activate the dedicated one-hand mode, which shrinks the UI so it only uses about 4" of the screen, placing the furthest corners within reach. The activation of the feature (once turned on in the settings) is pretty simple too - just swipe across the on-screen Android keys.

Controls

The innovative design with back-mounted keys means that there's very little going on at the LG G Pro 2's front. Besides the huge and vibrant IPS display, the phablet accommodates the earpiece, the 2.1 MP secondary camera, the proximity sensor and the LED status light.

  

There's not a lot going on at the front

So the most interesting part in terms of controls is the back, where the optically-stabilized 13MP camera lens is joined by the power button and the volume keys. There's also a 1W speaker here, which LG says offers Hi-Fi studio quality. Now that might be a bit too much to ask from a speaker this tiny, but we did notice it delivers audio cleaner than most competitors.

    

The back is where all the controls are

When the screen is locked a long press on the Volume Up key launches the Quick Memo tool, while a long press on the Volume Down control fires up the camera. The Power/Lock combo at the volume rocker's center has a LED-lit rim that doubles as a notification LED.

LG made a big deal out of the key's location when it introduced it with the G2 and now, having spent some time with it, we can see why. It favors a more secure hold of the device and improved ergonomics, as the buttons fall exactly where the index finger usually rests. The key placement spares you excessive finger stretching (quite important on a phablet). It's really one of those moments, when you can't help but wonder how no one thought of this earlier.

The sides of the LG G Pro 2 are completely bare, as the microSD and microSIM slots are moved underneath the back cover.

  

The sides are perfectly bare

The top houses the secondary mic, the 3.5mm audio jack and the IR emitter for the remote control functionality.

  

The top has a mic, a 3.5mm audio jack and an IR port

The bottom has the primary microphone, the loudspeaker and the Slimport-enabled microUSB port. The G Pro 2's connectivity port supports TV-out and USB host.

  

The primary mic is next to the microUSB port

Finally, undoing the battery cover reveals the two card slots (the microSD being hot-swappable) and the ample 3,200mAh Li-Ion battery. This time the battery is user-replaceable too although, from our early impressions, you won't have to do that too often.

 

Taking a peek under the battery cover

Naturally we are doing a dedicated battery test, but that's yet to be completed. We'll make sure to update this page with the scores in the next few days.

Display

The eye-catching 5.9" True HD IPS Plus display of Full HD resolution is definitely one of the LG G Pro 2's key selling points. Large and bright, the screen really makes images spring to life and colors pop.

The display is impressively sharp too, thanks to the great pixel density of 373ppi. It's not quite up there with the 1080p 5-inchers in terms of pure numbers, but in real life you can't really see the difference.

Contrast is excellent, too, as we've come to expect from LG flagships. It is a somewhat lower than on the G2, though, as stretching the panel to the greater size has obviously taken its toll.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
LG G Pro 2	0.11	130	1132	0.48	533	1113
LG G2	0.10	149	1522	0.45	667	1495
LG Optimus G Pro	-	-	-	0.41	611	1489
LG Optimus G	0.14	197	1445	0.33	417	1438
Sony Xperia Z Ultra	-	-	-	0.47	467	1001
Sony Xperia Z	-	-	-	0.70	492	705
Huawei Ascend Mate	0.23	222	982	0.67	711	1053
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3	0.12	160	1364	0.32	440	1379
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4	0	201	∞	0	404	∞
HTC Butterfly S	0.15	165	1117	0.43	451	1044
HTC Butterfly	0.14	173	1200	0.45	501	1104
HTC One	0.13	205	1580	0.42	647	1541
Oppo Find 5	0.17	176	1123	0.51	565	1107
Apple iPhone 5	0.13	200	1490	0.48	640	1320

Viewing angles are very wide and although the contrast compression and color shift at extreme angles aren't quite the best we have seen they are close enough to perfection in real life usage. Everything remains legible no matter how wide you go and that's all you should care about really.

The sunlight legibility is virtually on par with what the LG G2 offered, which is to say good but not quite spectacular. You will be able to easily read what's on your screen on a bright sunny day, but you won't really get to enjoy multimedia content properly.

Feature-packed KitKat

The LG G Pro 2 runs on LG's own, deeply-customized launcher dubbed Optimus UI on top of Android 4.4 KitKat. There's a rich selection of themes, icon sets and home-brewed apps on board.

True to its phablet nature, the LG G Pro 2 comes with multitasking-assisting features like Dual Window and Slide Aside UI.

The lock key at the rear is still a novelty and one that works well on the bigger body of the G Pro 2. you can wake the screen with a double tap on it. To lock the phone you don't need to use the hardware key either. You just double tap on an empty area of your homescreen or on the status bar no matter where you are - it will lock your G Pro 2.

The lockscreen can span across multiple panes, each containing one full-screen widget. The page to the right is special and fires up the camera, but you can easily disable it in the widget menu.

The pages to the left contain different widgets - four different clocks, Gmail, Google Now, Calendar, Google+ posts, Quick Remote and Weather. More apps can be downloaded off the Play Store to add new widgets.

    

The lockscreen

With the G Pro 2 LG has implemented the Knock Code feature. It allows you to unlock the device with a predefined knock pattern, including taps in a specific part of the display. LG says there are 86,367 knock patterns (2-8 taps on the four available sections) and yours should be as impossible to break as a password.

To set up the Knock Code you're guided through a screen where you enter two Knock Codes that have to match and set up a backup passcode. For many it may not be as cool or unique as a fingerprint scanner but we have to admit that it's forward-thinking and outside the box.

 

Knock code

The G Pro 2 also supports the so-called Guest Mode, activated by a specific unlock pattern. There's no app drawer in guest mode - you can access up to five apps: camera, video and music players, calculator and quick remote. You can, of course, make more apps available from the suggested list. To exit guest mode and make the full functionality available you'll need to lock the screen and unlock into standard mode using your regular password.

Guest mode will come in handy if you are handing your phone to a child or you just want to keep your stuff personal from friends, who might like to use your phone for a quick call or anything.

   

Guest Mode

The bottom of the G Pro 2 homescreen fits up to 5 shortcuts (including the shortcut to the App Drawer). You don't have to use all available slots though - you can discard all but the App Drawer shortcut.

As usual, the shortcuts are visible on any of the homescreen panes. With the exception of the app drawer shortcut, you can rearrange, delete or replace any of these with shortcuts of your choosing, even folders. In fact, most aspects of the phone's behavior can be customized, you can go to as small detail as the capacitive key layout and functionality, background, lock animation, system fonts, and even the notification light on the back.

LG has its own Get to Know the G Pro 2 homescreen with information on its various and many features. You can turn it off if you like. You can also set any of the homescreen panes as default.

   

The homescreen

By default you get three homescreen panes to fill up with widgets and shortcuts, but you are free to add more (up to seven) or delete unneeded ones to speed up navigation.

The homescreen auto-rotates too as you flip the device landscape - a must have in phablets. Everything on the screen rotates to fit the orientation, even the capacitive keys' icons.

 

Homescreen preview

The front touch buttons (Back, Home and Menu being the default layout) are also highly customizable. You can drag additional buttons for Quick Memo, recent apps, Q-Slide and Notification area pull down up to the original three. You can have up to five navigation buttons at a time. You can also set a black or white background for the keys and control the opacity. There is also an option to swipe the controls left or right for one-handed operations.

Strangely you can't choose to hide the navigation bar in specific apps like you could on the G Flex. Perhaps that's to do with KitKat's Immersive Mode but we're just guessing here.

  

Customizing the navigation buttons

You can resize widgets or you can even shrink a widget down to the corresponding app's icon. Also, if you move a widget over an occupied slot on the homescreen, the icons underneath immediately move out of the way, which is really neat.

Adding stuff to the homescreen is done by tapping and holding on a blank area of a homescreen pane. A context menu appears, allowing you to add various customizations to your phone. The tabs along the bottom let you select the appropriate app, widget or wallpaper, which you can add to the homescreen of your choice. Gridlines will appear when you hold and drag an app or widget, allowing you to easily place it on the homescreen.

   

Placing widgets and apps • Changing wallpaper

There's a set of different icons to choose from and you can even make custom ones or make your own entirely.

 

Customizing the icons

The contextual menu gives you a quick access to different settings, as well as themes. You can get more themes for free at the LG Smart World app store.

  

Choosing a theme

The Q-Slide shortcuts in the notification area launch pop-up widget-like versions of the video player, web browser, phone, messages, calendar, email, memo, voice recorder, file manager and calculator. In case you don't need some of those shortcuts, you can remove them via the edit key at the end of the shortcut row.

The Q Slide feature is very similar to Sony's small apps but supports only two windows opened simultaneously. You can resize the mini app the way you like, and there is a dedicated shortcut that'll take you to the full screen app. There is also a transparency scrubber - once you decrease the transparency even by a hair, the mini app is no longer part of the active UI (besides its transparency scrubber) and you can interact with whatever's beneath it (the mini app will continue its work of course, i.e. a video will still be playing).

 

Q-Slide in action

The notification area has also been tweaked by LG to let you rearrange the toggle buttons available. You are also free to add and remove toggles from the edit menu. You can add an insane amount of shortcuts here, and don't have to worry about whether they'll fit on the screen - the row becomes side-scrollable so you can still access them all.

As usual, if you have a music track playing in the background, quick controls will show up here. You can also swipe notifications to the left or right to dismiss them. Notifications can be expanded as well.

  

Notification area

The task switcher shows you all of the currently running apps, which can be swiped left or right to terminate. There's a shortcut to the task manager too. It lists the running apps and the current use of RAM, conveniently offering a button to stop all running apps.

  

Task switcher and task manager

Next up is LG's three-app multitasking feature called Slide Aside. You can use a three-finger swipe from the right side of the screen to add the app into the Slide Aside UI, while three finger swipes from the left will switch between the running apps.

Slide Aside supports up to three apps which get into a sort of frozen state and you can access a preview of all the three apps either form the notification area's dedicated shortcut or via a three-finger swipe to the left on the homescreen.

We had gripes with the three finger recognition on the G Flex and are happy to say that we had no issues on the G Pro 2 - the display recognizes all three-finger swipes without issues.

  

Slide Aside UI

The app drawer lists all your available apps and widgets, with a dedicated tab for user downloads. There is a button in the top right corner, which triggers edit mode and lets you to easily reshuffle or uninstall applications. You can also hide the apps you don't need but you can't install.

You can opt to make the icons in the app drawer bigger, too. If you select an app whilst in edit mode, a pop up will let you see information like storage footprint.

   

App drawer

The settings menu has a tabbed interface and you swipe between tabs. There are loads of settings so you'd need a few walks before you know where you're going in this place.

 

Settings menu

LG's take on the Samsung-pioneered Smart Stay is here too - Smart Screen. t uses the front cam to detect whether you're looking at the screen. This means you can browse the phone for hours on end without it auto-locking itself. We can confirm that the feature works very well.

SmartVideo on the other hand will pause a currently playing video when you look away. That's another thing copied over from TouchWiz.

  

Smart Screen and Smart Video

Another LG take on a Samsung first - One-hand operations is a fotocopy of Samsung's Minuature UI. We saw this a while ago on the Huawei Ascend Mate as well. With One hand operations enabled, you can move the screen unlock, dialer, and the keyboard to the left or right of the screen, depending on which hand you are using. It's a handy feature to have on such a big device. You can also enable one-hand operations for the system-wide capacitive keys.

   

One-hand operations

As for Samsung's Multi Window - it's here as well but in the form of Dual Window. I t lets you run two apps side by side. You can adjust the division line giving one app more space. Only compatible apps can be used with Multi-window, for now that means mostly the ones that come preinstalled on the phone. You can't run two instances of the same app like you can do on the latest TouchWiz UI. You can still easily swap the two apps or resize the windows.

   

Dual Window in action

LG Quiet Mode is also enabled. It works in a similar way to the Do Not Disturb feature on iOS and the Blocking Mode at Samsung's Galaxies. It gives you extra control over incoming call alerts.

If turned on, Quiet mode will mute incoming calls and you can set the time of day when it gets activated every day.

Just like DnD on iOS, Quet mode has an exception list where you can add some contacts that won't be affected by its restrictions.

  

Quiet Mode

Quick Memo is integrated in the phone's OS, allowing you to capture screen shots of anything (including the lockscreen!) and scribble notes over them like you would on the G2 and G Flex, to name a few. You can save the result as an image or add it to the Notebook app.

   

Quick Memo

Another useful feature is the Clip Tray. Upon a tap and hold on links, images, music and video files, phone numbers or just chinks of text, you can copy them to the Clip Tray to paste later in messages, emails, the browser, etc. The Clip Tray items are displayed at the bottom of the screen (you must have at least 2 items in the tray).

 

Phonebook

Not much has changed when it comes to the phonebook in Android 4.4 KitKat. It's quite straightforward and easy to navigate, with a dedicated tab for your favorite contacts for quick access.

   

The standard phonebook

There's plenty of contact information you can assign to each contact and it still remains neatly organized. You can even add a custom color for the notification LED to a particular contact.

   

Editing a contact • Assigning a custom LED color

Telephony with native video calling

The LG G Pro 2 has great earpiece volume and there are also native video calls available right in the phone app. Smart Dial also works like a charm and searches both names and numbers.

  

The dialer • Smart Dial

The LG G Pro 2's loudspeaker earned a score of Average in our dedicated loudspeaker test, which means that you should be able to hear the device in most environments. You can find more about the testing process here.

Speakerphone test	Voice, dB	Pink noise/ Music, dB	Ringing phone, dB	Overal score
Apple iPhone 5	66.8	66.1	67.7	Below Average
HTC Desire X	63.6	61.6	69.6	Below Average
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus	65.7	61.5	66.6	Below Average
Samsung Galaxy S III mini	66.5	63.0	76.0	Average
Sony Xperia V	65.5	61.1	66.2	Average
LG G Pro 2	66.7	64.9	75.7	Average
Sony Xperia go	66.5	66.1	77.9	Good
Samsung Galaxy Express	67.7	66.6	75.7	Good
Samsung Galaxy Grand	74.1	66.2	76.0	Good
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo	72.1	65.8	73.3	Good
LG Optimus L7	66.7	66.6	75.6	Good
Motorola RAZR XT910	74.7	66.6	82.1	Very Good
HTC Desire	76.6	75.7	84.6	Excellent

Great messaging capabilities

Laid out in threads, the messaging department is quite neatly organized.

  

Swiping gestures

Thanks to the larger screen, typing is easier than on smaller droids, LG or otherwise. Swype-inspired finger tracking is also present, but has limited language support.

Additional input methods include Google's voice input, as well as split and regular landscape keyboards. Also included is handwriting support for multiple (downloadable) languages, and a special keyboard that can be nudged to either side of the screen for one-handed operation.

    

The G Pro 2 supports numerous input methods

Adding any multimedia content to the message, like photos or video, automatically turns it into an MMS. You can also customize your speech bubbles and background.

  

Adding an image from the clipboard automatically turns it into an MMS • Customization options

The Gmail app includes the usual inbox filtering options (Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates). LG's own Email app is similar to Google's, except that it can handle multiple POP or IMAP inboxes, which is useful for when you want to keep track of multiple accounts.

    

The Gmail and Email apps offer different benefits

The Hangouts app is Google's attempt at a one-stop shop for all of your IM needs. The app offers group video chats, emojis, photo exchange, history sync across multiple devices, and can even be integrated to handle your SMS/MMS conversations as well.

   

Robust gallery

The gallery on the LG G Pro 2 is quite similar to what you get on most Android devices, including a resizable list of thumbnails. There's support for full-res images which results in a pleasant viewing experience thanks to the ample and sharp screen.

    

The Gallery • Viewing an image

Rather than having an in-house editing suite like Samsung droids, for instance, the LG G Pro 2 relies on Google Photos to handle image editing. It features a variety of neat filter effects and the standard options like crop, rotate, and color balance, but doesn't let you write or stamp on an image.

  

Google Photos is the integrated photo editor

Capable music player

The music player is jam-packed with features and supports a wide variety of file formats, including .FLAC, and .WAV among others.

Music is sorted by the usual Artist, Album, Playlist filters but there's also Folder support that's quite handy as it saves you the need to sort songs into playlists like on so many other players. It can also search for content on other devices like PCs on the same network via its DLNA functionality.

    

Music player app

LG has enabled equalizer presets (including a custom one with 7 bands) and even has the ability to adjust the pitch and speed of a given track during playback.

   

Equalizer and pitch/speed modifiers

While listening to a song you can find music controls in the notification area and the lockscreen.

  

Music player controls in the notification area and lockscreen

Great video player with full codec support

The video player on the LG G Pro 2 opens into thumbnail view by default, which on some of Samsung's premium models would be animated but on the G Pro 2 are static.

  

Video player app

Besides being able to choose between three crop modes for how the video fits the screen, you can also adjust the playback speed anywhere between 0.5-1.5x.

The LG G Pro 2 offered a list of subtitles and let us pick. It scans all available subtitle files, so the file doesn't even have to have the same name as the video file as before.

   

Great codec and subtitle support

Video playback is great, especially considering it's capable of playing virtually any file trouble-free - including the more obscure DivX and AC3 codecs.

Splendidly clean audio output

The LG G Pro 2 audio output turned out excellent, with the phablet acing our test. It produced stellar scores on both parts, and even the dip in stereo crosstalk when we plugged in our headphones was among the smallest we have seen.

The only unimpressive part to this performance was the volume, which was only average in either scenario.

And here go the results so you can see for yourselves.

Test	Frequency response	Noise level	Dynamic range	THD	IMD + Noise	Stereo crosstalk
LG G Pro 2	+0.02, -0.23	-93.8	94.2	0.0040	0.029	-93.3
LG G Pro 2 (headphones attached)	+0.07, -0.02	-93.7	93.4	0.050	0.039	-73.5
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo	+0.01, -0.03	-96.1	92.4	0.0091	0.013	-94.9
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo (headphones attached)	+0.02, -0.04	-95.8	92.4	0.014	0.024	-57.2
Samsung Galaxy Note 3	+0.02, -0.07	-96.5	92.8	0.0035	0.0099	-96.3
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (headphones attached)	+0.01, -0.09	-96.2	92.7	0.017	0.017	-62.1
HTC One Max	+0.14, -0.14	-93.8	93.8	0.0009	0.015	-94.1
HTC One Max (headphones attached)	+0.26, -0.02	-93.6	93.6	0.026	0.080	-80.4
LG Optimus G Pro	+0.48, -0.11	-81.7	82.0	0.010	0.028	-80.7
LG Optimus G Pro (headphones attached)	+0.31, -0.27	-81.1	81.1	0.0097	0.052	-66.2
Sony Xperia Z Ultra	+0.02, -0.08	-92.5	92.5	0.0058	0.011	-90.7
Sony Xperia Z Ultra (headphones attached)	+0.48, -0.11	-87.8	87.0	0.047	0.168	-51.9

13MP OIS camera

The main camera on the LG G Pro 2 has a 13MP optically stabilized sensor that captures photos with a maximum resolution of 4160 x 3120 and 4K videos at 30fps. 1080p videos @ 60fps are also an option, as well as slow-mo 720p @ 120fps . The 2.1MP front-facing camera also shoots 1080p videos.

On paper, the sensor is the same as on the G2. However, LG claims improvements to the stabilization, as well as refined exposure and noise reduction algorithms, so photos that come out are 20% better. How exactly they measured that is unclear, but 20% of difference should be readily visible in real life shots.

There is also a new LED that LG calls natural flash. It's the first time we see Qualcomm's ChromaFlash technology in use, which is supposed to produce more natural colors when shooting with a flash. Unlike Apple's solution, this one only uses a single LED rather than two with different hues, and the results aren't quite as good.

The interface has been mostly unchanged and offers two capture modes - for stills and videos. This means you won't be forced to frame 4:3 stills and 16:9 videos in the same viewfinder and we believe that's worth the extra click to toggle the shooting modes.

  

LG G Pro 2 camera UI

You get to pick between quite a few scene modes: Normal, Shot and Clear (erases something from a picture), HDR, Panorama, VR Panorama (Photo Sphere shot), Beauty shot, Dual camera shot, Magic focus, Sports, Time Catch shot and Intelligent Auto mode, which automatically selects the right scene.

A cool new addition is the Magic Focus mode, which works in a manner similar to Nokia's Refocus. It captures several shots of the same scene with different focus and then lets you do the blurred background effect that smartphones normally fail to produce. You also get the option to select all in focus, which can come in handy for macro shots. Unfortunately, you don't have the option to save multiple images, just one of the versions.

The image quality is excellent. Photos have a lot of fine detail and very little noise. Processing is more mature than it used to be on the G2 and there are next to no artefacts to be spotted. LG also moved to correct the over-enthusiastic metering on the G Pro 2, but it went a little too far and now photos occasionally come underexposed.

Still that means more detail is preserved in the highlights, so it's the lesser of two evils. Colors are very accurate, the white balance is great too. Overall the G Pro 2 does some great photos and you can see that for yourselves in the samples below.

    

    

    

    

    

  

LG G Pro 2 camera samples

We also did a comparison shot with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which shows that the G Pro 2 has no trouble matching its Samsung rival.

  

LG G Pro 2 • Samsung Galaxy Note 3

We also tested the HDR mode, which we found to produce pretty good results, finding a good balance between contrast and dynamic range. This is to say, it can save the day in tricky conditions and you are free to use it everywhere as it won't destroy less demanding scenes by ruining their contrast.

    

HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on

Here is a panorama shot taken with the LG G Pro 2. It does the stitching well, and this time LG has managed to get the resolution right - at 3,000 pixels high the panoramas can go beyond 40MP in total resolution. Great performance indeed.

 

LG G Pro 2 panorama shot

Photo quality comparison

The LG G Pro 2 is up for comparison with the 13MP flagships in our Photo quality compare tool. You can see the LG G Pro 2 is trades victories with Samsung's Galaxy Note 3, but is consistently producing great levels of detail, accurate colors and excellent contrast.

  

LG G Pro 2 in our Photo quality compare tool

4K video recording makes a difference

With the G Pro 2 LG has finally broken the 4K barrier joining the elite club along with Samsung, Acer and Sony. The phablet can do 4K videos at 30fps, 1080p at both 30 and 60fps and slo-mo 720p clips at 120fps.

The phablet can also record with botch cameras 720p@30fps - that's the Dual recording mode. It looks a lot like video calling with the video feed from one camera filling the screen and the other shown in a small window. You can tap the viewfinder to swap the cameras, even during video recording.

There are other interesting modes available in the camcorder Live Effect and Tracking Zoom.

The Live Effect videos are shot in 480p and alter faces in real time. There are six types of face altering - big and thin eyes, big and small mouth, big nose and squeeze face.

Tracking zoom uses a small resizable and moveable windows which shows you a zoomed area of the video you are shooting. You can move both the zoomed window and the place you are zooming on.

  

  

Camcorder UI

Finally, there is a feature called Audio Zoom. While you are capturing a video you can zoom on a person or an object and the G Pro 2 will capture its sound only. The picture zooms with the audio zooming too. We tried this feature but the results were quire disappointing.

The 4K videos are captured with a bitrate of just over 30Mbps and have plenty of fine detail. There's stereo audio at 160kbps and 48kHz sampling rate.

Those are some impressive specs on paper and the actual results are great too. The 4K videos are full of detail and run very smoothly - actual framerate is closer to 29fps, colors are lively and contrast is very good.

The optical stabilization works its magic great and will improve the videos you've shot on the move. Both samples we are giving you here are shot hand-held, rather than using a tripod as we normally do, but you can barely tell.

All-around connectivity suite

The LG G Pro 2 comes with a plethora of connectivity options. For starters, it has quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE for global roaming, dual-band 3G with HSPA and a dual-band 4G LTE for fast mobile Internet.

Local connectivity is plenty fast with dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac. The Wi-Fi capabilities also include Miracast wireless display protocol, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi Hotspot.

SmartShare is a service that lets you control a DLNA network - you can play media from other devices (e.g. NAS) on your phone or play something from the phone onto another device (e.g. a DLNA-enabled TV).

Wi-Fi Direct is a technology, which lets devices connect to each other without the need for a Wi-Fi hotspot. The beauty of it is that only one device has to be Wi-Fi Direct-ready for the magic to happen.

Using this technology two (or up to eight) devices can share files in a more advanced, fast and secure way, paving the road to the eventual demise of Bluetooth.

There's also Bluetooth 4.0 LE support for short-distance connectivity.

NFC is also on board with support for Android Beam. With NFC Beam you can share contacts, URLs, memos, messages, calendar events or even a call request to another NFC-enabled device or a tag.

For wired connections, the LG G Pro 2 relies on its SlimPort - a regular microUSB on the outside, but actually a DisplayPort based interface allowing you to output video and sound to an external display (via an adapter). It's not as fast as the Note 3's microUSB 3.0, though.

The USB port has yet another feature - it enables USB On-The-Go. You'll need an adapter for that too (again, there isn't one in the box). This is probably the only way to expand your storage in case the 23GB of free memory isn't enough for you.

The G Pro 2 has several ways to push out multimedia but it can do more than that - the IR emitter and QRemote app allow it to control your whole multimedia setup, the TV or a projector, the stereo, disc players and set-top boxes and even the air conditioner.

   

IR remote control • devices are organized into rooms • adding a new device

You can add multiple devices to QRemote and organize them by room so it can easily handle your home theater setup, the TVs in all the rooms at home, as well as the office projector and AC.

The app is accessible from the lockscreen by tapping the Home key, which saves you a click when you want to use the G Pro 2 as a remote. There's no QSlide version of the remote, but you can add it to the notification area.

Overall, the LG G Pro 2 can replace multiple remotes and media players (Android has apps for practically all the popular movie and TV show streaming services and the Play Store is one of them to begin with).

The remote can be configured to launch automatically when the G Pro 2 connects to your home Wi-Fi network.

The last connectivity option worth noting is the 3.5mm audio jack at the bottom of the G Pro 2. LG has added this cool feature called Plug & Pop. Once you plug in a pair of headphones, a pop-up menu with four shortcuts will appear at the bottom of the screen. The default four assigned shortcuts are Music, Videos, YouTube and Phone. You delete those or you can add even more apps from the dedicated Edit button.

 

Plug & Pop

Great web browsing experience

The LG G Pro 2 features the standard Android browser (with some LG modifications on top), but also comes with Chrome preinstalled so you are given a choice right from the start.

The standard browser offers the typical minimalist interface, with the address bar (used both for typing web addresses and initiating web searches) on top and a control bar at the bottom (with options hidden by default).

   

The LG G Pro 2 default web browser

Scrolling down moves the address bar out of view. The bottom control bar houses the back and forward keys, homepage shortcut as well as new window and bookmarks keys. You can hide that bar by dragging it down.

The button just to the left of the address bar - it puts the browser into QSlide mode, turning it into a floating mini app. You can't switch between tabs in this mode, but the control bar at the bottom is still available.

 

Browser in QSlide mode

The web browser comes with Incognito mode, which enables you to surf the web without the browser keeping track of your history or storing cookies.

The browser can save pages for offline reading: they go in the Saved section of your bookmarks, and can be accessed even when you're no longer connected to the internet. The bookmark list shows a thumbnail of the bookmarked page and you also get a history section in addition to the Saved pages list.

There is also the so-called Capture Plus setting, which allows you to take a screenshot of the whole web page you've opened.

Find on page, always request desktop site and share page options are available from the advanced menu. If you tap and hold on some text you get the usual markers and select/copy/find/web search/share options.

The G Pro 2 supports double tap and pinch zoom. There's text reflow too - it adjusts the columns of text to fit the screen width. If you've pinched to zoom in, you need to double tap the screen to make the browser reflow the text. Text remains legible even at very low zoom levels thanks to the high pixel density.

Finally, the LG has made available for you to have two separate browser apps at the same time, which is really need for true multitasking.

 

Dual browser mode

Chrome is also available on the G Pro 2 out of the box. It doesn't support Flash or QSlide, but it will sync tabs (among other things) with the Chrome browser on your computer.

  

Great organizer

The G Pro 2 comes with the usual set of organizing apps and Polaris Viewer 5 document viewer. Unfortunately, you'll have to pay extra for the document editing version of Polaris Office package.

So, you can view documents - Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents and PDF files are supported.

   

The Polaris Office app does a splendid job

The G Pro 2 could become the essential presenter tool with SmartShare. It can stream content over HDMI (via the SlimPort) or over Wi-Fi (Miracast) and audio over Bluetooth so you can run the presentation from your G Pro 2. The app can also push content to compatible LG devices with Beam.

The calendar app has a split screen interface - the top part is reserved for the monthly calendar and one on the bottom for the agenda/daily/weekly view. This way you will always have your monthly view visible. The border line between the two sections is not fixed and you can easily move it. You can hide the monthly view completely, but you can't do the same with the other section.

    

The Calendar app

The calendar supports QSlide so you can check your schedule while writing an email without having to switch between apps all the time.

In case you want to enjoy the calendar full screen without any additional views, just turn the phone landscape. The G Pro 2 is syncable with multiple online calendars.

  

Adding an event

The LG G Pro 2 features an alarm clock application, which lets you set multiple alarms, each with its own start and repeat time, and ringtone. You can enable application autostartup, so the calendar/email/music player/ tasks/weather app launches when the alarm goes off.

    

The alarm app now features application link

There's also a clever feature called puzzle lock, which will make you solve a simple puzzle to disable the alarm. This way you will only be able to stop the ringing when you have properly woken up.

The Timer, World Clock and Stopwatch features are also part of this app.

   

The timer, world clock and stopwatch

The organizer package also includes a useful voice recorder and a nicely touch-optimized calculator. The calculator is QSlide enabled to be always at hand.

 

There's voice recorder and calculator preinstalled as well

The Memo app allows you to take notes and add media to them, such as images, audio, or location.

   

The Memo app

Notebook is more advanced and lets you create books with multiple pages, add multimedia, draw and eventually export as PDF and email them.

    

Notebook creates beautiful multi-page "books"

There's also a nice animated weather app that can show you the forecast by the hour, for the next four days week.

  

The weather app

Google Maps and Navigation

The LG G Pro 2 managed to get GPS lock in about a minute from cold start without A-GPS. A-GPS can speed up the lock (but it involves data traffic). Cell-ID and Wi-Fi positioning are also available if all you need is a rough location, but they need a data connection too.

    

Google Maps

Google recently revamped the UI, but the basics are the same. Maps offers voice-guided navigation in certain countries and falls back to a list of instructions elsewhere. You can also plan routes for bicycles and public transport. A nice addition in the latest version is that Maps shows you a couple of alternative routes like the desktop version of Google Maps.

For navigation, the map will cache the data it needs and will reroute you offline (so you don't need a data connection along the way). The Navigation app itself had its UI polished to match the rest of Maps.

You can also search for nearby POI and go into the always cool Street View.

  

Plotting a course • Street view

Popular places around the world feature pictures and reviews by people. Street view isn't available everywhere, but it is growing in coverage and is the coolest thing we've seen on a Maps app to date (that includes Aerial view in iOS).

You can save maps for offline view, which caches them on your device's storage, but keep in mind that not all map info is saved (meaning not everything down to street level like businesses, POIs, etc.).

Google Play has plenty of apps

The Google Play Store features several scrollable tabs - categories, featured, top paid, top free, top grossing, top new paid, top new free and trending. You can also check out the Play Picks, Apps to Watch, Apps Highlights and Editor's Choice categories on the Home tab for more curated app lists. The Recommended for you list is based on what apps you've installed and what your Google+ friends have liked.

Apps usually have several screenshots (many even offer a demo video) so you can get an idea of what the app looks like before installing it.

You can also check out comments and ratings, as well as the number of downloads and so on, to help you decide if the app is worth it.

    

The Play Store will give you access to hundreds of thousands of apps

The Google Play Store is full of all sorts of apps, but in some countries it also offers music, movies and TV shows, books and magazines.

The LG SmartWorld app store is also on board. It's similar to the SamsungApps market - there you can find various content and promotions exclusive to LG users.

    

Final words

Last year, the LG Optimus Pro almost did the unthinkable, beating the then-incumbent Note II at its own game. The LG flagship was better looking, more powerful and flaunted a better, higher-resolution screen than its rival. That was more than enough for it to get our nod back then.

Unfortunately for the G Pro 2, it hasn't been afforded the luxury of competing against a phablet of sub-retina sharpness or one with glossy plastic design that gets bashed from all sides. The second generation LG phablet is dealing with a far more polished Galaxy Note 3, which is as formidable a rival as they get.

It may only be a hunch, but it seems the LG G Pro 2 isn't offering enough to justify the 6 month delay. The camera got OIS, the screen is slightly bigger, but the chipset is the same and there's no response to the S Pen. A Snapdragon 805 under the hood or some sort of new dimension to the user experience, like a fingerprint scanner, could have altered the dynamic of this battle, but right now the LG G Pro 2 feels like more of the same 6 months later.

That said, you may not need the S Pen at all and chances are there will be enough people out there who don't want to go the Samsung way for one reason or another. It could be the choice of design, screen technology, or simply a fancy for Optimus UI over TouchWiz. And of course, there's also the matter of pricing - if LG manages to undercut its rivals by €50 or more, then it will all make sense.

 

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

And the great news is that if you tick one of the boxes above, the LG G Pro 2 won't let you down. It is an excellent device, offering stellar experience and demanding no compromises from the user. The screen is awesome, there are no issues with speed and response and the camera delivers on its promises. Helpful software is at hand too, assisting in plenty of your day-to-day operations.

If you are still not convinced, here's how the LG G Pro 2 compares to the other phablets on the market.

The HTC One Max looks better thanks to its aluminum chassis and throws in a fingerprint scanner, but that one isn't implemented well enough to make a meaningful difference. The HTC phablet is also far heavier, notably bigger and fails miserably in the camera department. The G Pro 2 has the processing battle in the bag too, rocking a Snapdragon chip that's a generation newer.

 

HTC One Max

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra offers excellent design and screen and a Snapdragon 800, but its camera is pretty terrible and with a 6.44" screen and ample bezels it's closer to tablets than phablets. Sony itself admitted that by releasing a Wi-Fi only version to be used as a mini-slate.

 

Sony Xperia Z Ultra

Finally, there's the Acer Liquid S2, which is the other S800-powered phablet. The handset that pioneered 4K video recording on mobiles is far heavier than the LG G Pro 2, has a bulkier frame and runs an older Android version. Plus the Acer device is next to impossible to find in many markets.

 

Acer Liquid S2

So as the phablet market grows, there should be plenty of space for the LG G Pro 2 to call its own. What was a very tiny niche is now a place where even second best-selling is a great achievement. It's up to LG to seize the opportunity and even shoot for the top. Just market it properly, making it more readily available this time and you're halfway there. Anything less will do a splendid device no justice.