Home > Phone Comparisons > LG G2 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 Comparison

LG G2 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 Comparison Smackdown

Posted September 16, 2013 by Lisa Gade, Editor in Chief (twitter: @lisagade)

It's the battle between Korea's two biggest name phone makers, Samsung and LG. In the right corner we have the incumbent Samsung Galaxy S4, released in May of this year. In the left corner we have the newcomer just released on Verizon and AT&T this week, the LG G2. Both are big screen smartphones running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with heavy manufacturer customizations. They both have quad core processors, 2 gigs of RAM, high quality front cameras and 13MP rear cameras with a plethora of capture features including dual capture video using the front and rear cameras simultaneously. The LG G2 has the specs edge with a slightly larger display and the latest and fastest Snapdragon processor.

Design and Ergonomics

These two could be cousins. Both are slim, shiny and plasticky phones that love fingerprints. These phones may well capture more fingerprints than Apple's new iPhone 5s Touch ID sensor. Samsung gets the win for styling, with a slightly slimmer design and a faux metal trim ring that saves it from monotony. The LG G2 is a very generic looking phone that doesn't stand out from the sea of black smartphones. It's also available in white, and honestly it's not wildly more distinctive in white. In terms of build quality, both are quite good with little flex, no unsightly seams, and though they're plastic, they don't look cheap.

Samsung gains points for the removable rear cover that grants access to the removable battery.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S4

Display

LG fights back here with their excellent 5.2" full HD IPS display that makes the 5" Samsung Super AMOLED display look a little outdated. It's not the small size difference we're talking about, the and the phones have near identical pixel density, but the LG G2 display is one of the nicest phone displays on the market. It easily matches the lovely HTC One for quality and we slightly prefer the G2's even more balanced colors and whites that are white. The Samsung Galaxy S4's PenTile matrix and exaggerated colors make for grayish whites, sometimes cartoony colors and less clear text (though text clarity is more than acceptable on the GS4).

IPS displays are much more viewable outdoors in sunlight as well, while Super AMOLED displays fade out. Viewing angles on both are very good, and Samsung claims a point back for offering the "works with gloves" feature. The LG G2 will work with very thin gloves (ladies dress gloves) but not hearty gloves.

Winner: LG G2

Horsepower and Performance

As I've noted in our Moto X and Droid Ultra reviews, smartphone CPUs are getting absurdly fast, and they offer more speed than we need. But I know many of you are specs mavens, or want your phone to stay strong for the full duration of a 2 year contract, so you're looking for the fastest phone you can get. Right now, that would be the LG G2, which is one of the first smartphones to use Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 800 quad core CPU. The Snapdragon 800 is clocked at an impressive 2.26GHz and it benchmarks significantly higher than the 1.9GHz Snapdragon 600 used in the Galaxy S4. Even if 3D games evolve quickly to make use of the Snapdragon 800 and NVIDIA Tegra 4 CPU that competes with Qualcomm's new boss CPU, it would be hard to imagine the 800 seeming long in the tooth in terms of actual responsiveness. Of course, product marketing folks will convince you that you need whatever CPU is the new top dog in 2015, but that's another subject.

Both phones have 2 gigs of RAM. The $199 (contract price) GS4 has 16 gigs of RAM, while the LG G2 priced the same has 32 gigs of storage. To be fair, the GS4 has a microSD card slot to expand storage so LG was wise to offer the non-expandable G2 with 32 gigs.

Winner: LG G2

Cameras

The front and rear cameras have close to identical specs and features. From dual video shooting to HDR, panorama, a wide range of special effects and manual settings, these two are neck and neck. I slightly prefer the LG G2 for it's slightly faster HDR shooting, slightly more natural yet vibrant photos and OIS (optical image stabilization). It also handles low light shots better with less noise than the GS4. But it's a really, really, really close race.

Close enough to call a tie, a slight edge to the LG G2 for OIS and better low light shots.

Software

This is a somewhat subjective topic since some folks adore certain features, or in the case of Samsung have grown accustomed to TouchWiz and don't welcome change. One non-subjective element is the performance toll that software takes on performance, and TouchWiz is prone to inducing occasional lag. That's a common discussion topic on forums, and some folks might prefer the Google Play Edition for its lighter software load (though you do lose some genuinely useful Samsung features). Though the LG G2 is replete with software, it just doesn't bog down. Is it simply the significantly faster CPU and GPU? I'm sure that's part of it, but even on Snapdragon 600 phones like the LG Optimus G Pro (also loaded with software features), the phone wasn't as lag prone as the GS4.

Watch our video comparison to see the software features of each phone in action. They share several features like using the front camera to see if you're looking at the screen. If you are, the phones can keep the display turned on, and if you look away they can pause video. They both use motion for various features like quieting the ringer and they each offer multi-tasking enhancements.

This is highly subjective, but my personal preference is LG over Samsung for software. You may well feel different and there's no right answer here. Though we do implore Samsung to reduce the performance hit that TouchWiz takes in future models. Given the even more complex features in the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, I'm not sure that's going to happen any time soon.

Battery

The Samsung Galaxy S4 scores big points for its removable 2600 mAh battery, a feature that's becoming increasingly rare. LG gets points for its even larger 3,000 mAh battery (that's moving into phablet territory) and battery life optimizations that are truly effective. The LG G2 lasts longer on a charge, but you can't swap in a spare battery. You'll have to resort to portable micro USB battery packs to charge on the road if you're away from an AC outlet.

Winner: tie (Samsung for removable battery, LG for higher capacity battery and optimizations).

LG G2 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 Comparison Video

Related:

LG G2 Review

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review

All Android Phone Reviews

Samsung Galaxy S4 Specs:

Display: 5" Super AMOLED display (441 ppi). Resolution: 1920 x 1080. Has ambient light sensor, accelerometer and proximity sensor.

Battery: Lithium Ion Polymer rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. 2600 mAh.

Performance: 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad core CPU with Adreno 320 graphics. 2 gigs DDR2 RAM. 16 or 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 megapixel front video chat camera and 13 megapixel rear camera with LED flash, BSI and HDR for photos. Digital 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. Not compatible with first generation Samsung TecTile NFC tags, must use the new TecTiles.

Software: Android OS 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung TouchWiz UI. Samsung apps and features including Air Gesture, Smart Scroll, Smart Stay, Watch On (AV remote with IR control), S Beam, Multi Windows, Air View, S Voice, S Translator and Buddy Share. Polaris Office (MS Office compatible suite that can view, edit and create Office docs), carrier applications and standard suite of Google apps.

Expansion: 1 SDXC microSD card slot, compatible with cards up to 64 gigs.

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: None.

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