LG's latest looks to be a worthy contender in AT&T's summer lineup
LG formally took the wraps off its latest AT&T flagship tonight in New York, and the US-version of the Optimus G Pro is just as impressive as we when we first met it back in Barcelona. A worthy contender in AT&T's summer lineup, the Optimus G Pro beats the Note 3 to the market as the next-gen phablet designed to compete: with a 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, 2 GB of RAM, and an eye-popping full 1080p IPS display, the Optimus G Pro hits shelves on May 10, joining the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 in the summer's most robust portfolio. LG's offering will cost $199 on contract. Hit the break for our initial impressions.
Optimus UI here feels insanely smooth, more noticeable than ever before, thanks in part to that Snapdragon processor, in part to LG's newfound focus on it. Quick Memo finally feels useful and, dare I say, fun, while Q-Slide's improved multitasking capabilities are a breath of fresh air. The 13 MP camera brings with it a bevy of unique and well-done functionalities -- VR Camera is a cool little answer to the standard panorama mode, and is made even cooler by what appears to be pretty great photo quality. It's possible Optimus UI has finally grown into itself, though I'll withhold that level of judgment for a few more days.
LG's answer to Samsung and HTC this season is a savvy one, breaking from the pack by offering a jumbo-sized device in a flagship-friendly package. We'll be spending a lot of quality time with AT&T's Optimus G Pro ahead of our full in-depth review; should you be ready to roll before then, AT&T will begin preorders on Friday, May 3 online.
Reader comments
AT&T Optimus G Pro hands-on
I ordered mine last Saturday and it will be delivered this week. But the one thing that every reviewer seems to skip time and again is how much usable storage do we get? I mean is it so hard to actually look before you do your quicky review. I am expecting 20-24GB of space, but not sure exactly how much we will see.
This will be my 1st LG phone since that LG slider form years ago. I really like the size of the phone as it's just like my GN2 which I love but the only 16gb onboard storage option is a killer if you enjjoy rooting your device and need to create backups or even downloading games and what not. LG OGP may only come in 32gb but that's enough considerng it can be expanded to support 64gb sd card. I'd much rather have this phone than wait for a 32gb GN2 or 32gb GS4 when neither one as every come to the states (although 32gb S4 may still come).
Nice to see LG getting some love! They were always treated like Samsung's ugly cousin by the tech press.
I think it looks nice already settled on the Htc One for this year got a black one nice phone. If i was rich id buy all the new phone i have a problem i like them all some more then others
Well this sucks I was really looking forward to this phone but since it seems exclusive to ATT I won't be getting it now.......maybe the Oppo Find 5 instead.....
Regardless of what any of these tools are talking about doesn't change anything. The Lg Optimus Gpro won't sell of any true significance plus it's on At&t with crappy data plans and poor updates nothing new with Lg. They are one of the biggest jokes of the android platform period.
You're a dumbass. Period.
Your confused...all of the Carrier's have overly expensive data plans, crappy no. At&t has excellent coverage for the 100K I drive on the east coast. As far as LG and updates, my LG Nexus 4 gets faster updates then any other phone...
Is his name really Anndrew? Poor boy. Did his parents have a stutter!!
LG seems to have hit a home run with this phone! Unfortunately for LG I won't be getting this since I just upgraded to the HTC One and I love everything about it. The Ultrapixel camera is fantastic and I have read only mediocre reviews about the 13-mp camera on this phone. Not to mention I want something other than black and AT&T is not giving consumers a choice here. :( I may pick one up in a year or two for use as a solid back-up when/if the battery starts going out on my HTC One as it ages. I wish LG all the success in the world. At this point I want anybody but Samsung to have success, not because I'm a 'hater' but because consumers NEED choice. Android NEEDS choice and competition is the only way things will continue to improve so rapidly for the user.
What reviews have said the 13MP camera is mediocre? I haven't seen any and that is of course a minor concern. I don't do tons of camera phone shots but its nice to have a decent camera on my phone.
I will be switching from my current Note 2 to the LG Optimus G Pro because I prefer the narrower width of the Optimus G Pro in comparison to the Note 2 plus I rarely use the included stylus that was included with the Note. I attempted to go from a 5.5" screen phone to a 5" screen device and within a few days I reverted back to the 5.5" Note 2 because I just couldn't give up the screen size & great battery life but always wished the Note's width was narrower which the Optimus G addresses adequately!
I agree and look forward to it hitting the stores next Friday. When I return from vacation I will be checking all of the phone options out in detail. From available storage, ease of use, beneficial features and what it CAN DO for me. I had the GN2, the S-Pen was nice, but I really didn't use it. I could just buy one to keep in my pocket its not a big deal to carry it around.
If this was on Verizon I would seriously consider switching from the Note 2. As it is after looking at the HTC One and S4 I'm going to wait on Google I/O and hope against hope that they introduce a newer Nexus or a Nexus 4 on Verizon. Slim chance I know...but I'm sick of all the overlays and especially Touchwiz which has just turned into a useless, bloated, ugly monstrosity that lags on high end hardware. it's really an insult to Samsung customers to expect them to put up with this.
Lg Optimus G pro is a copycat of Note 2 from front and S3 from back..nice one Lg :)
If by this you mean they are both phones then I guess they did.
Other than that the Note2 was just pwnd in every way shape and form, so was the GS4 and HTC One.
Maybe I missed it, but does this have any sort of stylus like the Note 2? The S-Pen is what really sets the Note 2 apart and turns it into something special. And the big screen, and the big battery, and the perfect build quality, and....
But yeah, I don't think I could live without the S-Pen now.
no the g pro doesn't have a stylus. its in the video.
What, videos are supposed to be watched? LOL! Thanks! :)
You're born with ten to eleven styluses. Use them.
Sadly that eleventh one only works from time to time once you hit 40. :-(
Speak for yourself..my stylus ALWAYS works! Lol!
You can buy a stylus and I know its not included and would have been nice, but hey its their second attempt and perhaps their first "real" Phablet. They may also see that users are not truly using the S-Pen, I didn't when I had the GN2 (which I sold due to the sheer lack of available memory and the not so beneficial S-Note apps).
You could also buy a spare S-Pen or another stylus :)
You can get a stylus for $5 or less at most convenience or drug stores. Less online.
Though it is a pain to possibly lose them. I'd favor a case that included a good stylus holder. (I've already lost two wallgreens styluses (styli?))...
My guess is very few Note 2 users, like me, ever use the stylus. Perfect build quality? The Note 2? I don't think so...
It is nice but it is just a big phone.
Fanboys abound....... Anyway.. Good Job LG it's all about choice..
This is nothing more than a large screened smartphone with NO productivity abilities or real multitasking options. Matter of fact NO originality what so ever perfect WANNA BE Galaxy Note 2. Definitely not even on the same wave length as the Galaxy Note 2. Another 4.1.2 jellybean device brought to market classically if this device was truly about anything it would've released with 4.2.2. This is why LG SUCKS in software. The Galaxy Note 2 shits all over this bootleg device and don't even think this is on the same wave length of any Galaxy Note 3. I can't stop laughing about this.
Relax, Phones are defecating on one another now. Take a deep breath and realize no one's going to make you buy it. It's only a first look at a phone. This phone does not make the Galaxy line worse or better. You might be slightly LGPhobic relax have a couple drinks it might grow on you, who knows.
If anything, it'll make the Galaxy line better if Samsung sees the Optimus G Pro as a threat and decides to improve their next Note device accordingly.
yep and im still gonna buy it.
I cant stand amoled screens so this is perfect for me.
Really? A screen with TWICE the pixels, better colour reproduction, faster processor, better UI layer (yes, TW sucks asthetically), bigger battery, in a smaller and lighter package, SUCKS? Do you realize Note 2 is a step back from Note 1, since its UI is just an inflated version of S3 UI?
Compare Nexus 4 with S3 side by side, and you will see how superior LG hardware is these days.
And there was I, thinking we were safe from Apple fanboys here. Seems like they're not the only kind to be feared.
Yarrell has his choice of electronics tied in with his identity as a human. He doesn't need a new phone so much as he needs a psychiatrist.
Wow, why all the butt-hurt? I'm not even going to give you a seriously reply but rather I will mock you as an adolescent troll who is probably hopped up on Red Bull and snickers getting chocolate on your keyboard as you laugh to yourself while taking your teenage anguish out on companies you hate for no good reason. Keep on trolling man, it will take you far in life. Not.
Sadly, this "well known for being an AC douche" person is a grown a$$ old man...
Personally I find it rather amusing. Mostly by the comments he solicits from others.
He's on several other web sites that I post at too. He always gets heated over non Samsung devices.
To add on, not only is he a "grown a$$ man", but an incompetent, unintelligent, and often hypocritical one at that. 2 years ago, he seriously told me that rooting was for "2plus year old devices", and a year later claimed for 2 whole months to be "looking into" rooting his Galaxy Nexus. In the span of 365 days, he went from "applauding" HTC/Sense and saying how they were the best manufacturer/skin, to claiming Nexus/stock was the best, to claiming how "pimp slapping" Samsung/Touchwiz/Nature UI is. He is the epitome of the term "bandwagon jumping fanboy".
For the few weeks leading up to the S4 reveal, he claimed to "know" the specs of the device, but would change his story on a daily basis. He also "knew" the T-Mobile/Metro PCS deal would go through "on schedule and without any changes". And then the next day, the deadline got pushed back and the deal was changed. He's a total moron who lives in Lala Land.
Lol I still will never forget when, for many months, Verizon was his carrier, and every. single. comment. he. left. was about how absolutely soul-crushingly wonderful Verizon was, their network was unstoppable, and he warned everyone many time to "don't even THINK AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint (insert whichever carrier was talked about in the post) will EVER stand a chance against Verizon!!!11~".
Then, he got really upset with Verizon for some reason and switched to T-Mobile. Now read his comments in any post on AC that has to do with a carrier. :-P T-Mobile is the absolute God of carriers and everything else is complete junk and will never rise to T-Mobile. lol I love the delusion!
Same old useless squiddy20 the troll nothing new here. Still rolling with your crappy Sprint Galaxy Nexus to bad you can't hold a job as long as you like to hold onto phones. You're a pitiful loser in my eyes same goes for all the other jerk offs who didn't like my comment. Who cares what anyone here says the feeling is 100% mutual.
1. Considering you don't even know my real name, let alone what my current job is or how many of them I've "held onto", have fun with those utterly stupid, baseless insults. You must feel realllll proud of yourself and manly making childish insults across the Internet.
2. If you really didn't care what other people thought, you wouldn't say you didn't. You're just like a bratty little child who, when he doesn't get his way, storms off yelling and screaming about how he doesn't actually care. Grow the fuck up.
3. What's sad is, maybe if you actually tried NOT insulting everyone who doesn't own a Note 2 (cause, you know, there's this little thing called opinion), people would actually like you. Instead, you carry on like one of those snobby "iPhone heads" (as you've repeatedly called them) who thinks he knows everything simply because he has a $250 carrier subsidized smartphone. What a joke.
To tell you the truth he's worse than an iDrone. One of the awesome things about Android is that we have choice, so much choice. We have many OEMs that we can choose from with many different screen sized phones etc. Yet people like him are just pathetic because they don't like that others have different phones. The Note II is a good phone but clearly it's not for everyone, something that Richard can't seem to comprehend.
I remember being as fanatical as Yarrell is about electronics and trashing everything that wasn't MY BRAND (Commodore, specifically). Then I turned 17.
Wow chief....you take your phones kinda serious.
Maybe a step back is in order.
So yeah, it's not 4.2.2. That doesn't mean LG went and put all the bells and whistles in 5 GB of ROM and it's device is always using up 1.5 GB of RAM. Oh yeah, LG doesn't do that. That's Samdung that does that.
I may be exaggerating the numbers but they are close. If Samsung was great at software it would know how to make a leaner one.
That's my take. I could agree I may have been a fanboy once and I would've been in Samsung's side, but then I went vanilla and that's just the way I like it. Samsung's UI it's too grayish blue.
So sick of reading comments where people with absolutely NO engineering experience rail on OEMs for including OS ver X and NOT ver Y.
Even though it should be humorous because it shows what idiots they are, I'd really just rather not see it in the comments time and time again.
Actually there is reason for concern when an OEM doesn't offer a more updated OS vs an older OS even if they are both Jelly Bean. Reason is LG is the Nexus 4 OEM so they have 4.2.2 on board already and they are familiar with it. They just rolled out 4.2.1 on the Optimus G in the last month or so. Again if they can put out very nearly the most current OS within say .1 revision then they should have rolled it out on the US launch of their next flagship device.
The reason behind the concerns is validated even further due to US Carrier involvement and delays in getting the updates to the users so if the Optimus G launched in November 2012 and the update rolled out 6 months later we could be seeing the same thing . . . Christmas time for an update when it should be there at launch.
Now 4.1.2 is not a crappy version of JB, but 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 does offer some extra benefits that users want.
So they have a right to be concerned and to complain. If you don't like it you can simply skip my comment and theirs and not post a reply.
Doesn't matter if they have access to 4.2.2. Doesn't matter that ANOTHER phone just got an update. What matters is that there's timetables involved. In order to get QA certified on 4.2.2 for THIS phone, they would have had to push the release back. That's expensive. Better to release it with 4.1.2 and update it later.
1. You want a device with "productivity abilities or real multitasking"? Get a f*cking laptop/desktop. They've had the ability to do multiple tasks simultaneously for decades.
2. "Another 4.1.2 jellybean device brought to market" Yeah, cause there's such a huge difference from 4.1.2 to 4.2.2. -__-
I still can't fiqure out why are you even here commenting?? Your not purchasing anything nor have you in 2yrs since your crappy Galaxy Nexus on Sprint. Before that you had a pitiful Samsung Moment no question quality device aren't affordable for you. Can't help but laugh at you year in and year out.
"nor have you in 2yrs since your crappy Galaxy Nexus on Sprint." Proof that you have no concept of time or the ability to do simple math. The Verizon Gnex was made available 16.5 months ago (just under 1.5 years), and the Sprint version was released several months AFTER Verizon's. In fact, the Sprint version was released just a year and 12-or-so days ago. Far cry from the "2yrs" you claim. For a 50-or so year old man to screw up something so basic and elementary, is utterly hilarious. Go back to school retard.
Interesting...Such strong comments for a phone you have not used yet. I have used the S4 and I would compare this LG to that, and quite favorably, since the S4 has lag to it. I would also choose this over any Samsung just for the skin. Just opinions tho.
Yarrell: You never did answer my question on YouTube: does Samsung pay you well?
Y
both vids work fine over here
The second video isn't playing for me.