LG Optimus G Pro E988 / E 985 Flash Review

LG has mostly faced challenges in releasing devices in India, they have either been too late (i.e. Nexus 4 ) or too early (Optimus 3D) in some cases awkward ( Optimus VU) and in some cases they have failed to hit the hammer on the nail (Optimus G). With the new LG Optimus G Pro, the company seems to have almost all the things right except the massive price difference in the US $ when the competition launched their phone and when LG launched their phone. The LG Optimus G pro is available for a price of Rs. 38990 , but does it justify that value? Lets Find Out !

Build Quality and Hardware

The build quality of the LG Optimus G Pro is nowhere near the HTC One, in fact it appears as if the Korean Manufacturers (read: Samsung and LG) like building their phones with plastic as the major component. The LG Optimus G Pro however is no light weight and can hold its own when it comes to build. The construction is solid and don’t expect any rattle or shake from the device.

The LG Optimus G Pro looks very identical to the Galaxy Note 2, maybe LG is playing on the worlds new weakness for Galaxy devices, as Samsung played for iPhone’s love. 

The hardware on this phone is as big as the device itself, Qualcomm’s crazy fast quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor clocked at 1.7GHz, with the Adreno 320 GPU, 2 Gigs of RAM and a total of 32 GB of storage.

The cameras include a set of fantastic full HD capable sensors, with a 13 MP main camera and a 2.1 MP front facing camera which we will talk more about below.

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Display, Multimedia and Camera

The LCD on the LG Optimus G Pro is not as bright as the Optimus G, where the screen felt just fantastic, here it seems a little dull. The display is big and wonderful no doubt, but it is definitely not the best display out there. LG usually throws in IPS displays and the viewing angles are great, the same is the case with the new LG Optimus G Pro and its IPS Plus LCD display. Add to the great colour reproduction and a 10 point multitouch panel overlay, which works really well. 

Not only is the display fantastic, so is the audio. The Speakers are loud so if you are watching movies or videos or even playing games, you will be quite pleased with the capabilities of the LG Optimus G Pro.

The main camera on the LG Optimus G Pro, yields out great compositions, with a impressive hold on color correction and white balance. You can also manually adjust most of these things, but the auto mode is mostly accurate and can really deliver great pictures. The camera also has several shooting modes, including panorama, quick bust etc all of which work really well. 

The HD video captured on the LG Optimus G Pro also gets stabilization among other effects. The video comes out nice, has little noise during the day and is well balanced in low light. You can also activate the infamous dual camera mode allowing your video to be captured while you capture the world.

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Phone, UI and Battery

The Phone call capability of LG Optimus G Pro is strong and we found networks to be exceptionally potent. The signal strength is almost always proper and we found little or no noise distortion when on calls.

The Optimus UI on the new Android Jelly Bean interface makes for a great experience, including several apps that actually work really well. The quick remote app on the LG Optimus G Pro controls more things than any remote app out there, it even remembers your AC and lets you control it with the flick of a finger. There are many other features like quick apps, Qslide and quick toggles, the quick note also lets you scribble directly on the screen and then later save it as a note.

The UI itself however, is not so pretty looking. It looks kind of clustered and reminds you of a messy lifestyle vs a more refined and organized one on other manufacturer overlays.

Battery is superb on the LG Optimus G Pro and will last you a really long time. We got good 6-7 hours of talk time over dodgy 3G reception, which is actually really fantastic. Below is the complete test result.

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Conclusion

If you really want a big phone then this has to be it. The phone is fantastic, it’s fast to boot and responsive throughout, plays games great and has excellent cameras. It is large enough to a point where using it with one hand would simply be foolish, even if you have large hands like mine. The UI is the biggest let down and simply can be written over with a tap of a button. 

If big is your thing then the LG Optimus G Pro is the right kind of slab for you.