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LG G2 vs. HTC One Comparison Smackdown

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Posted September 19, 2013 by , Editor in Chief (twitter: @lisagade)

In the culmination of our smackdown week where we pit the lovely new LG G2 against its three Android flagship competitors, the HTC One finishes the round. We and many other reviewers have been smitten with the HTC One's superb design, quality metal casing and clean Android build. Its Ultrapixel camera taught us that improved sensors with larger pixels could be as meaningful as the number of megapixels. It was the phone to get if feature spam was weighing you down with apps and UI tweaks you never used. But the LG G2 is several months newer and sports some impressive generational improvements; will it win the day?

LG G2 and HTC One

Display

The HTC One's large, full HD IPS display is one of its strongest selling points, and so far no other phone has rivaled it. Until the LG G2 that is! The LG also has a fantastic IPS display with very good color balance and it's a half inch larger (measured diagonally) than the 4.7" HTC One. The good news is that the LG G2 is no larger than the HTC One, so you won't have to put up with a wooly mammoth of a smartphone. In terms of display quality, they're very, very close. The LG G2's color calibration is slightly better, but the HTC One is slightly brighter. The LG G2 wins by size alone, since that increase makes for more enjoyable movie watching and reading without adding bulk.

Winner: LG G2 (based on size, otherwise it's a tie).

 

Performance and Horsepower

The HTC One ran what was the top of the line Qualcomm CPU and graphics chip: the Snapdragon 600 quad core clocked at 1.7GHz with Adreno 320 graphics. The LG G2 is newer so it gets the Snapdragon 800 quad core clocked at a mind-boggling 2.26GHz. The LG has Adreno 330 graphics for a secondary boost. Yes, the LG is significantly faster on benchmarks. No, you really don't need this much speed today: both phones are overkill. But two years from now, the LG will have a performance edge and by then application developers will probably have found good uses for all those CPU cycles.

Benchmarks Quadrant 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme AnTuTu Sunspider JavaScript Test
HTC One 12,252 6719, Demo test: 25.9 fps 24,589 1155
LG G2 19,762 9803, Demo: 46.8 fps 32,990 823

 

Winner: LG G2

LG G2 and HTC One

Design and Ergonomics

The HTC One beats every phone on the market except the metal iPhones that have an equally stunning metal chassis. The Aluminum, Gorilla Glass and polycarbonate HTC One is the poster child of what an aspirational smartphone should look like. The LG G2 is yet another bland, shiny plastic slab phone. The G2 is put together well, but it's nothing to look at and gets ugly with fingerprints before you can say "smartphone" twice.

Winner: HTC One

 

Camera

Much has been said about the HTC One's Ultrapixel camera that translates into 4MP in terms of resolution. Yes, the larger photosites make for much better night shots and for casual photographers, it's got everything you need. You can take great looking photos and 1080p video that look sharp on Facebook or on your phone's screen. But that lower resolution falls apart when you need to make large prints, or capture photos with max detail (like I do when taking a stealth shot of an unreleased phone at a show). The LG G2's 13MP camera with Sony Exmor RS sensor is one of the best camera phones on the market: resolution, settings, features and good image processing software come together for excellent results.

The front cameras? They're excellent on both devices (by today's standards).

Winner: LG G2

 

Software and Android

This is the "there's no right answer" part of our comparison, rather its what appeals more to you that counts. HTC went with a very modest customization of Android with HTC Sense 5. You get BlinkFeed (newsfeeds) on the home screen, the tastefully integrated clock and weather in the app drawer and a surprising stripping of quick settings from the notification area (HTC actually brings settings back in some versions of their One software, but our AT&T model hasn't gotten the update). For those who want pure, plain Android, there's a Google Play Edition of the HTC One, but you'll have to pay full retail.

LG, like Samsung, believes that you can never have enough software. To LG's credit, there's less feature spamming than on Galaxy smartphones, and the UI is a bit better looking than TouchWiz, but for those who love a super clean, Nexus like experience, you won't get that on the G2. That said, I generally prefer a clean Android build, but I find most of LG's apps and customizations useful and enjoyable. I particularly like the Knock feature where you tap the screen twice to wake up the phone, the motion activation for answering the phone, and the QSlide widgets that provide some multi-tasking.

Winner: this one's up to you.

 

Deals and Shopping:

LG G2 vs. HTC One Comparison Smackdown Video

 

Related:

HTC One Review

LG G2 Review

LG G2 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 Comparison

Moto X vs. LG G2 Comparison

 

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Specs:

HTC One Specs:

Display: 4.7" capacitive multi-touch Super LCD3 display (468 ppi), Gorilla Glass 2. Resolution: 1920 x 1080. Has ambient light sensor, accelerometer and proximity sensor. Supports Miracast and DLNA. HDMI out via MHL adapter (not included). Works with HTC's Media Link HD wireless HDMI adapter (not included).

Battery: Lithium Ion Polymerrechargeable. Battery is not user replaceable. 2300 mAh.

Performance: 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad core CPU with Adreno 320 graphics. 2 gigs DDR2 RAM. 32 or 64 gigs internal storage.

Size: 5.40 x 2.69 x 0.36 inches. Weight: 5.04 ounces.

Phone: GSM quad band with 3G HSPA+ and 4G LTE. Sprint version has CDMA with EV-DO Rev. A 3G.

Camera: 2.1MP front camera and 4MP UltraPixel rear camera with BSI, HDR for photo and video and LED flash. 28mm, f/2.0 lens.

Audio: Built in stereo speakers with Beats Audio (BoomSound), dual noise cancelling microphones and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack. Has an FM radio.

Networking: Integrated dual band WiFi 802.11b/g/n/ac, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX audio.

GPS: Has GPS with GLONASS.

Software: Android OS 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5.

Expansion: Micro USB port port supports USB host/USB OTG with dongle adapter (not included).

 

LG G2 Specs:

Display: 5.2" IPS display (424 ppi). Resolution: 1920 x 1080. Has ambient light sensor, accelerometer and proximity sensor.

Battery: Lithium Ion Polymer rechargeable. Battery is not user replaceable. 3000 mAh.

Performance: 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad core CPU with Adreno 330 graphics. 2 gigs RAM. 32 gigs internal storage.

Size: 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches. Weight: 4.6 ounces.

Phone: GSM quad band world phone with LTE 4G and HSPA+. Sprint and Verizon have CDMA dual band digital with EV-DO Rev. A 3G and 4G LTE.

Camera: 2.1 megapixel front video chat camera and 13 megapixel rear camera with LED flash, BSI and HDR for photos. Optical image stabilization, can use front and back camera simultaneously.

Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack.

Networking: Integrated dual band WiFi 802.11b/g/n/ac, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0.

Software: Android OS 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with LG UI. LG and 3rd party apps include Quick Memo, Quick Translate, Quick Remote, QSlide apps, Polaris Office (MS Office compatible suite that can view, edit and create Office docs), carrier applications and standard suite of Google apps.

Expansion: Micro USB port port supports USB host/USB OTG with dongle adapter (not included).

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