Final Words
Simply put, I think the LG G Pro 2 is a solid evolution of the LG G2 design. While I went into the review expecting a phone that wasn’t much more than an attempt to cash in on the phablet trend, LG has definitely put in enough that I found the phone to be surprisingly good. LG has managed to avoid many of the pitfalls that TouchWiz has with its UI by keeping things somewhat more tidy and understandable, but also added features that are good enough to be incredibly obvious in hindsight. While there’s some room for improvement in display calibration, the UI could use a better theme, and I’m not sure who will use features like Content Lock, the phone is surprisingly good. Features like KnockCode are a great addition to KnockOn, Mini View helps to alleviate some of the issues with using a phablet, and the multiwindow function works well, if a bit clunky from a UI perspective. LG is doing many things right with this phone, possibly more than Samsung did with the Note 3. The real question now is whether it’ll come to western regions without major changes.
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Belard - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - link
I agree, also need to fit the phone in my pocket along with my wallet. I like to be able to use the phone one handed. Hence, I don't want any of these HUGE phones. My wife, on the other hand uses her phone as her main computer (web / fb / etc) and doesn't mind using 2 hands and of course she has a purse.A good smaller phone is the Motorola X (there is an excellent review on this site for that phone) which most reviewers loving how the phone feels, its weight, etc. It has just started in Europe with very good reviews... considering its been in the USA market for over 6 months. The moto X has a 4.7" screen and a very small body.
The only thing that SUCKS on ALL ANDROID phones is Google Maps 7.x, which is why I dread replacing my AtrixHD which has issues from a drop, needing replacement. When I updated my phone, it stuck on the horribly useless Maps. Luckily, I can revert that particular APP to factory default. I'm researching to see if I can rip out 7 and install 6 when I get a new phone... otherwise, I'm screwed. Google should have fixed it months ago.
* Having a prettier map display is useless if its useless, doesn't work right and worse - require far more button presses than what is necessary.
kmmatney - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - link
For the most part, I have given up placing my 5.5" phone in my pocket. I've gotten used to it. They are starting to make dress shirts with larger, hidden cell phone pockets, and I think this will eventually catch on.I do agree that Google maps seems to keep getting worse and worse... So has the Android music player. Actually a lot of Apps in Android seem to be getting worse, and anytime I want a new App it seems to take several tries to get anything decent, or not riddled with annoying ads.
retrospooty - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - link
You are holding it wrong.brothamon - Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - link
I now have a Xperia Z ultra. I can check messages with 1 hand, i just cannot write them.I would never go back to a phone with a smaller then 6 inch screen. Its so nice to be able to read news / do work / read emails on a giant screen.
I can actually use the smart functions of my phone and use my laptop much less then i used to with a smaller device.
I have a hard time even holding an Iphone, it tends to just want to fall out of my hand cuz its so small.
jonup - Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - link
Couldn't agree more with you. 4.7" with G2 bezel would be the best I could comfortably do with one hand. My N5 is pushing it sometimes.fokka - Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - link
i'm on your side. too bad you gotta go 5" or go home when it comes to "proper phones" nowadays. i just hope the z1 compact starts a trend and we see capable competitors in the form of a new and non-gimped one mini and s5 mini soon.blzd - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - link
Screen size alone does not determine one handed usability. The size and shape of the bezel around it does as well. 5" phones feel great in one hand right now even if you can't reach the top without shifting, if bezels get even smaller (something LG has been pushing for a while now) that could extend to larger screens as well.R0H1T - Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - link
Alright I have to ask but how exactly does AT know that X device cheats in benchmarks & Y doesn't ?dtek - Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - link
OEMs whitelist benchmark apps so that when the apps are launched, it will plug in all CPU cores as active and run them at max freq for the duration the app is running. That's what AT generally looks for. A normal behaving app will leave the SoC in idle states and ramp up based on instantaneous needs for the workload.jonup - Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - link
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7187/looking-at-cpug...