Shootouts

Shootout: Compact 4G LTE Smartphones under S$600 (mid-2014)

By Sidney Wong - 15 Jul 2014

LG G2 Mini LTE - Design & Features

LG G2 Mini LTE

The concept of "mini" certainly does not adhere to LG's definition; the G2 Mini LTE has a sizeable 4.7-inch display!

As the name suggests, the G2 Mini is a smaller variant of its innovatively designed G2 smartphone. Therefore, it inherits most of the design traits which are mostly positive. As the power and volume buttons are shifted to the rear of the device, there is absolutely no hardware buttons on the front and sides of the G2 Mini, which helps to keep the design clean. While it sounds great theoretically, on actual usage, the rear button design looks to be a better fit for larger devices than for more compact phones where a straightforward setup would perhaps be easier.

The rear button setup doesn't make much practical sense on a 4.7-inch phone.

The G2 Mini also sports very thin bezels, which allows LG to cram a 4.7-inch display into a compact body. This resulted in the G2 Mini having one of the highest screen-to-body ratios along with the Motorola Moto X. The 4.7-inch IPS display has a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. With its screen size and resolution, icons, text and images do not look as sharp as they would on a higher tier device. Nevertheless, we find the screen to be quite bright and offers good viewing angles.

The back cover can be removed just like its 2,440mAh battery.

Like its bigger counterpart, the G2 Mini has a tapered back that sits comfortably in your hands. The textured surface not only gives a better grip, it also keeps fingerprints and smudges at bay. Removing the rear cover will give you access to the battery - which also can be removed/replaced - and the microSD and micro-SIM card slots. Similar to the Ascend G6 4G and Sony Xperia M2, the G2 Mini can support memory cards up to 32GB in capacity to augment its internal storage of 8GB.

After updating the preloaded apps on the LG G2 Mini LTE, you are left with about 3.31GB of available storage space out of the box.

The LG G2 Mini is preloaded with Android 4.4 KitKat and several of LG’s unique software features such as Knock Code and Guest Mode. Knock Code is a security feature that requires you to set a minimum of two to a maximum of 8 taps to unlock the phone, while Guest Mode safeguards your private content when sharing the phone with others. It was first introduced on the LG G Pro 2.

The LG G2 Mini LTE runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Q Slide allows you to open up to two app windows on the LG G2 Mini LTE. It can be launched from the notification panel. Unfortunately, it probably has little use for a small phone with its low resolution. Knock Code is an innovative method to secure your LG G2 Mini from unauthorized access, but at the same time provides a quick way to unlock it.

As with all the phones in this comparison, the LG G2 Mini is powered by a silicon chip from Qualcomm. It utilizes 1GB RAM for a fluid user experience. Like the previous two phones, it too has LTE CAT 4 connectivity.

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