It was just this past few years when the popularity of smartphones and tablet has started. Now, there is again a new craze in the world of gadgets, the “phablet”—a hybrid of tablet and phones. To keep up, LG has released its own line of phablet, the LG Optimus G. It usually compared to the more popular Samsung Galaxy Note 2. But to give you a better idea, let me discuss some features of this new smart tablet phone.
Exterior
On a quick look, it is hard not to be impressed by this product. I experienced a “love at first sight” with this tablet phone. The first thing that I noticed was its shiny exterior. It gives the gadget that sleek and elegant appearance yet you will say that it has a minimalistic design. The LG Optimus G has a 4.7-inch wide glass screen and has a little higher resolution than other phones (1280 x 768 vs 1280 x 720). Actually, if you’re not too meticulous, the small increase in resolution isn’t much noticeable. It has three buttons below the screen while it has a bumpy glass crystal-patterned back. Both the front and the back of this tablet phone are covered with Corning Gorilla Grass 2 which makes it less prone to scratches (plus points to the rather clumsy users like me). The front camera is located on the top right corner beside the notification LED light, the one that blinks when you have a message or e-mail. In terms of its weight, LG Optimus G is relatively heavier compared to other tablet phones weighing 145 grams—a turn off to other users.
OS and User Interface
The operating system of LG Optimus G is the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Hence, it lets you download and run business apps like that of the RingCentral phone service, DropBox and even social apps like Facebook and Twitter. It has a user interface layer on top of the screen which works like a taskbar. This notification tray lets you see the important status like your phone signal reception, battery power remaining, WiFi connectivity, and others. You also get to customize the sequence of icons and shortcuts in the taskbar. The icons themselves can also be personalized. One of the cool things for me about this tablet phone is the new feature called Smart Screen. Whenever the screen identifies an eye contact from the user, the screen will be kept on which adds the more personalized and emphatic feel. It may not be new to Samsung Galaxy users, but hey, I think LG made a good version of theirs.
Camera
This tablet phone has two cameras: first, a 13 megapixel camera which has an auto-zoom feature. The camera has an option to take shots on voice commands, be on panorama mode which allows you to capture a 360-degree panorama shot, and time-catch shots which is a feature that lets the camera take shots even before you press the button. And before I forget this one, it also has a 2 megapixel front camera that is used for teleconferencing (and as a mirror too!).
Battery Life
This device is powered by a 2100 mAh battery. For a tablet phone, the battery life of LG Optimus G is not bad at all. With a normal usage level like playing some music, checking my Twitter account, placing some business calls and surfing the internet, a fully charged battery can last a whol day—still better than your Apple gadgets. It also allows you to choose a preset energy saver option for an extended battery life, convenient for frequent travellers.
