Our friends over at AT&T have sent us the LG Optimus G Pro for use to review. This is LG’s latest device and is their flagship device, it combines the Optimus G with the Intuition. The Optimus G Pro is LG’s “Phablet” or large screen device, it is comparable to the Galaxy Note II. However, it’s hardware and design is where you will see the differences. The LG Optimus G Pro is larger than the 2(two) main flagship devices on AT&T, those being the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4. It is still entering the market at a very competitive time, but will LG’s latest device find its own place? We will answer that in the full review of the AT&T LG Optimus G Pro and it begins now!
Unboxing
NJTechReviews unboxed the AT&T LG Optimus G Pro and gives some first impressions on the device, you can see it below!
Design
I love the design of the Optimus G, it was a device that feels right in the hand. You Can See My Review Of The AT&T LG Optimus G, By Clicking Here. LG did give the Optimus G Pro a nice design as well. For the size of the device, the G Pro is quite thin and it is thinner than the Galaxy Note II. Unlike the smooth and slippery back of the Note II, this device has a matte finish. This way it provides some grip and it won’t slip out of your hand. LG did take into account that this device is large, so they made it as pocket friendly as possible. It really is not too big for the hand and it did fit in mine quite nicely. The Optimus G Pro will come in the color of black and it is nice color. To add some pop to the design of the device, the back has some carbon fiber detailing in it. The design is very clean, as there are only 2(two) logos on the device. A LG one on the front and an AT&T one on the back. A very cool feature is found in the home button as well, it has LED’s surrounding it, this way when you turn the device on it will glow in different colors. It can be used a LED notification light and it looks very nice. That is a very cool feature of the design and it features a dedicated Quick Button and you can customize what happens when you hit it.
Hardware
Speed is important on any device and from my time with the device so far, the 1.7GHz Quad-Core Processor with 2GB of RAM is very fast. Swiping through the home screens, watching a video, taking a photo, using applications, and more happen with no lag. LG choose the right processor for the device and it is comparable to the other high-end devices on the market. Using QSlide to multitask happens very fast and I did not experience any lag while using this feature. The “Smart” features on the device do not slow down the Optimus G Pro as well.
AT&T’s very fast 4G LTE and extensively back hauled 4G HSPA+ Network’s will be running on the Optimus G Pro. They will be giving it the speed, so that you can browse the web, stream videos, stream music, and do much more wherever you are and when ever you would like too. AT&T is currently in the process of rolling out their 4G LTE network and very recently launched this network on the Jersey Shore! It was done just in time for the start of summer and it will be getting plenty of use! If 4G LTE is not available in your area just yet, you will be on their extensively back hauled HSPA+ network. This way you will still data speeds faster than 3G!
LG did a great job with the display and I could tell this from when I first used the device. The Optimus G Pro has a 5.5-inches display and it is Full 1080p HD with 400 pixel per inch. The 400 pixels per inch is higher than the Galaxy Note II and you can see the difference. Everything looks vibrant on the display and the colors really pop out at you. The display can get very bright and the 400 pixels per inch will make sure images dont’ get pixellated. Text is very easy to read on the display, LG has certainly come a long way since the display on the LG Nitro HD. The display on the Optimus G Pro is very sharp and I think it is better than the display on the Galaxy S 4.
The Optimus G Pro has a removable 3140mAh Li-ion battery. This is a very large battery for a very large phone. I am happy to say that it performed very well. With brightness all the way up and a full day of usage, I got around 6 hours of battery life. With auto brightness on I was able to get to around 8 hours of life with normal usage. The battery on the Optimus G Pro should last you a day with normal usage.
In terms of storage on the AT&T LG Optimus G Pro you will get 32GB of internal storage and micro SD card slot. There are plenty of options for storage on this device. Even if you fill up your internal storage and the micro SD card, there are many cloud services available for you use. Dropbox, Google Drive, Cubby, and SkyDrive can come in very handy. With Dropbox you can have it automatically upload your camera roll to your server.
The AT&T LG Optimus G Pro features 2(two) cameras, a 2.1 megapixel front facing camera and 13 megapixel back camera. The 2.1 megapixel camera on the front comes in handy for taking “selfies” and video chatting while on the go. It is a wide-angle lens, this way it perfumes well when taking “selfies” with a large number of people. The 13 megapixel back camera performed pretty well, it can also record video in 1080pHD. The quality of the photos were nice and are comparable to those taken on the HTC One or Galaxy S 4. Every once in a while you may take a photo that just does not turn out the way you hoped. LG was the first to have Dual Recording and it does appear on the Optimus G Pro. This feature will allow you to record and snap photos with both the front and back cameras at the same time. It will let you capture memories from 2(two) different viewing points. There are many different picture-taking modes like Time Catch Shot, HDR, Panorama, VR Panorama(Google Photo Spheres), Burst Shot, Beauty Shot, and more. You can also take a photo simply by saying “cheese”. The video quality records at 30 frames per second and is in 1080pHD, I would have like to see better sound quality though. You can see our camera tests below!
NJTechReviews AT&T LG Optimus G Pro Camera Test
Software
The AT&T LG Optimus G Pro is running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and it is by no means a clean version of the operating system. It has LG’s User Interface put on top of regular Android and this enables many great features for you to enjoy. LG is giving the user a lot of customization with this new interface, for instance you can change the font on the device. The software performs very nice on the Optimus G Pro thanks to the 1.7GHz Dual-Core Processor with 2GB of RAM!
LG QuickMemo is back and will let you take screenshots and customize them to your liking. On the Optimus G Pro you have plenty of real-estate, this way you can write as much or as little you need on the screenshot. The G Pro features a “Quick Button” and this is can be customized for what ever you want it to do. Out of the box when you push the Quick Button is launches QuickMemo. This makes it very easy to simply capture a screenshot whenever you need too. From there you will have access to all of the great editing tools in QuickMemo. You can change the image from whatever you originally capture to a note pad, undo or redo something, change the type of writing utensil, change the color of the ink, change the thickness of the ink, and more. You can save the image right your device or share it via an email, text message, AT&T Locker, Dropbox, Note Pad, Google +, Twitter, Facebook, Bluetooth, SmartShare, and more. QuickMemo is one of my favorite features on the Optimus G Pro for AT&T.
LG’s famous QSlide feature is back and this will let you become the king of multitasking on the Optimus G Pro. This feature is similar to Samsung’s MultiWindow feature on the Note II and S 4. You have 4(four) applications that are QSlide “enabled” appellations. For instance let’s say you are browsing the Play Store, but need to jot down a note. Simply slide down from the top of the display and Note Pad. A pad will instantly appear over the screen or application you are currently in, you can movie it around and size this window to your liking. If you want to make it more transparent, you have the option to do this as well. If you feel that you no longer need the application in small screen, you can make it full screen by tapping a button. The QSlide applications are Videos, Calendar, Calculator, and Note Pad.
The AT&T Optimus G Pro has many “Smart” features as well and these were nice to have. SmartScreen will help you save battery life and will help your eyes. This feature will have the Optimus G Pro detect and track your eyes, if they are away for a certain period of time the screen will darken and then eventually go to sleep. This is similar to the Smart Stay feature on Samsung’s Galaxy devices. It is a nice feature to have and will most certainly help you save battery. Smart Ringtone will monitor the volume of your ringer, this way if you are at a convention and it is very noisy it will automatically increase the volume. This will help you and give you extra advantage to answering your phone calls in certain environments. QuietTime will let you turn off all sound and notifications, during certain set times. You choose which notifications, messages, and calls will still be allowed to come through. If you don’t want sound to work, you can have it vibrate instead. As I previously mentioned you chnage the Front Type and Size on the Optimus G Pro. You can choose from LG SmartGothic, LG BaikzongulPen, HYTravel, HYFoxrain, HYCoffee, HYPurewhite, HYSerif, and Roboto. There is certainly a font that you will like on the Optimus G Pro. For font sizes you can choose from Minimum, Small, Medium, Large, Very Large, and Maximum. Another Smart feature of the device would be the Infrared Sensor built-in, this way you can use the smartphone as remote. The Optimus G Pro can control your Cable Box, Home TV, DVD Player, Audio Player, Air Conditioner, and Projector. While it does not have a TV Guide built-in like the HTC One, you can control more device than what is available on the other devices. Lastly, the customizable Home Button was home run hit out of the park in my opinion. It has an LED light that goes around it and you can choose what it turns on for. I like it better than just having a LED notification light up on the top of the device.
AT&T has pre-loaded many applications on the Optimus G Pro. y. You will get AT&T Drive Mode which goes along with there It Can Wait campaign. It will help you stop texting or even using your phone while driving, if you are going over 25 mph it will automatically respond back to those texts and forward those calls right to voicemail. AT&T Locker will let you store your photos, music, videos, and more. You will get 5GB of Free Storage for you to use. AT&T FamilyMap, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Ready2Go, AT&T SmartWiFi, Mobile Hotspot, Mobile TV, and MyAT&T. Emergency Alerts is a nice feature to see on the Optimus G Pro, you will get an alert if a weather warning is issued right to your smartphone. I would like to see this feature rolled out to other devices.
Overall, the software experience on the AT&T LG Optimus G Pro is a good one. The new user interface from LG feels much more complete and offers some great new features. The operating system on the G Pro makes it one of the best “Phablets” or large devices on the market. It pairs very well with the hardware and design.
Bottom Line
The AT&T LG Optimus G Pro is by far the best “Phablet” or large screen device that AT&T is currently offering. It is also tied for the Best Smartphone on AT&T with the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4. It’s direct competitor, the Galaxy Note II, is losing the battle when it comes to hardware and design. The Optimus G Pro is a thinner device and feels better in the hand, it also has a better touchscreen display. In fact this is one of the best display’s I have ever used on a smartphone. You get a lot of speed from 1.7GHz Dual Core processor and you are running on AT&T’s fast 4G LTE and 4G HSPA+ networks. You have a very nice 13 megapixel back camera and an equally good 2.1 megapixel camera on the front. Android 4.1.2 with LG’s User Interface is a great software experience. I highly suggest you look at the AT&T LG Optimus G Pro for your next device. The AT&T LG Optimus G Pro retails for $199.99 with a 2-year contract and is available now. For More Information On The AT&T LG Optimus G Pro, Please Click Here.We would like to thank AT&T for providing us with a copy of the “AT&T LG Optimus G Pro”.
