Introduction
I bought my first smartphone about 2 month ago. It was the Motorola RAZR I. I lately went abroad on vacation and my brand new phone was stolen. I then had to realize that the only shop that had it, now does not offer it anymore and I went with the LG Optimus G instead due to it being cheap compared to similar phones. The LG Optimus G is very similar to the Nexus 4. It's the same platform in a slightly different enclosure. Main difference hardware wise is that it comes with 32 GB of storage compared to 16 GB of the nexus for...and both cost the same.
I might update the thread later on as I have only had the LG for a couple of days.
The Phones
Motorola RAZR I
4.3 inches
540 x 960 pixels
Super AMOLED Advanced
126 g
Intel Atom Medfield (single-core with HT)
LG Optimus G
4.7 inches
768 x 1280 pixels
LCD IPS
145 g
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ 8064 (1.5 Ghz Quad Core)
Comparison
RAZR I
+ Dimensions (size and weight)
+ Multi-Color Notification LED
+ Camera button
- usually hanged a bit when installing a new App from play store
- no LTE (but in real-world I did not notice this at all)
Optimus G
+ Display Resolution
+ Keyboard (from LG)
+ LTE
- Only Red-Green LED and any configured color always uses green
- Email App does not work with one of my mail providers ( bug in LG software)
- very glossy screen
Summary
What bothers me with the Optimus G is the notification LED. I googled for reviews but I was not aware that some phones have LED with limited colors. Rookie mistake I guess. With the RAZR I you can set a different color for SMS, whatsapp, missed calls, calendar entries, email...and know instantly why it is blinking.
Another issue is the mail client which just does not work with one of the email providers I use. No issue with gmail obviously. Only solution was to use a 3rd party email app, k9-mail was recommended but it's a bit overkill. The RAZR I email client did exactly what I wanted, simple, good enough.
The display of the Optimus G is way sharper. The difference is much bigger than I expected and you just instantly see the difference. However it is much glossier and way, way more prone to smudges from usage.
What I can not tell yet is the impact of the size. The Optimus G is way bigger and it's very noticeable while in my jeans pocket. However I make a lot less typing errors due to more space.
Battery life: clear win for RAZR I especially when using it. With the Optimus G I can basically watch the battery drain while using it. My guess is the display as it supposedly consumed over 50% of total power. With the RAZR I that was usually in the 30%-40% range.
UPDATE 1:
The screen is a real issue. It gets dirty very quickly. I don't now what the difference is to the RAZR I but that screen was way better and I did not have to wipe it like 5 times daily. Smudges were not that easily visible (or it was less prone to get them in the first place).
I bought my first smartphone about 2 month ago. It was the Motorola RAZR I. I lately went abroad on vacation and my brand new phone was stolen. I then had to realize that the only shop that had it, now does not offer it anymore and I went with the LG Optimus G instead due to it being cheap compared to similar phones. The LG Optimus G is very similar to the Nexus 4. It's the same platform in a slightly different enclosure. Main difference hardware wise is that it comes with 32 GB of storage compared to 16 GB of the nexus for...and both cost the same.
I might update the thread later on as I have only had the LG for a couple of days.
The Phones
Motorola RAZR I
4.3 inches
540 x 960 pixels
Super AMOLED Advanced
126 g
Intel Atom Medfield (single-core with HT)
LG Optimus G
4.7 inches
768 x 1280 pixels
LCD IPS
145 g
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ 8064 (1.5 Ghz Quad Core)
Comparison
RAZR I
+ Dimensions (size and weight)
+ Multi-Color Notification LED
+ Camera button
- usually hanged a bit when installing a new App from play store
- no LTE (but in real-world I did not notice this at all)
Optimus G
+ Display Resolution
+ Keyboard (from LG)
+ LTE
- Only Red-Green LED and any configured color always uses green
- Email App does not work with one of my mail providers ( bug in LG software)
- very glossy screen
Summary
What bothers me with the Optimus G is the notification LED. I googled for reviews but I was not aware that some phones have LED with limited colors. Rookie mistake I guess. With the RAZR I you can set a different color for SMS, whatsapp, missed calls, calendar entries, email...and know instantly why it is blinking.
Another issue is the mail client which just does not work with one of the email providers I use. No issue with gmail obviously. Only solution was to use a 3rd party email app, k9-mail was recommended but it's a bit overkill. The RAZR I email client did exactly what I wanted, simple, good enough.
The display of the Optimus G is way sharper. The difference is much bigger than I expected and you just instantly see the difference. However it is much glossier and way, way more prone to smudges from usage.
What I can not tell yet is the impact of the size. The Optimus G is way bigger and it's very noticeable while in my jeans pocket. However I make a lot less typing errors due to more space.
Battery life: clear win for RAZR I especially when using it. With the Optimus G I can basically watch the battery drain while using it. My guess is the display as it supposedly consumed over 50% of total power. With the RAZR I that was usually in the 30%-40% range.
UPDATE 1:
The screen is a real issue. It gets dirty very quickly. I don't now what the difference is to the RAZR I but that screen was way better and I did not have to wipe it like 5 times daily. Smudges were not that easily visible (or it was less prone to get them in the first place).
Last edited:
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