LG Optimus G (AT&T)

The LG Optimus G ($199.99) has all the makings of a killer smartphone. From its 4.7-inch 720p display to its quad-core processor, this is definitely the fastest smartphone on AT&T, and one of the nicest looking, too. Its 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor turned in the fastest benchmarks we've ever seen on an Android phone?even faster than the model we tested on Sprint. And 4G LTE speeds on AT&T were positively smoking. Unfortunately, all that speed makes for some overheating issues, and camera performance is average at best. The Optimus G is a beast of a phone, but it isn't perfect.

Editors' Note: The LG Optimus G?models on AT&T and Sprint are extremely similar, so we're sharing a lot of material between these two reviews. That said, we're testing each device separately, so read the review for your carrier of choice.

Design, Call Quality, and Network
The Optimus G on AT&T looks a lot like it does on Sprint, which is a good thing. LG created the gorgeous?Prada phone, so it's no surprise that the Optimus G is quite a looker. Made of high-quality plastic on the sides, with glass panels on the front and back, the phone has a vaguely incandescent pattern on the back that looks different depending on the angle you view it from. I miss the silver accent ring wrapped around the middle of the Sprint version, but the phone still pulls off simple-chic very well. Next to the?Apple iPhone 5, this is easily the nicest-looking phone we've seen. And at 5.12 by 2.82 by 0.33 inches and 5.19 ounces, it's a reasonable size given its large 4.7-inch display.

That 4.7-inch HD IPS Plus LCD is pretty awesome. It features 1280-by-720-pixel resolution, which works out to a crisp 312 pixels per inch. And unlike the?Samsung Galaxy S III?, this phone doesn't use a PenTile pixel layout, so it looks even sharper. That big screen is ideal for watching video, playing games, and taking photos. It also means you get a sprawling keyboard for typing; I actually had to stretch my entire thumb across the screen in order to hit every letter. It's a little big and unwieldy, but so are all phones with a screen this size.

One big problem: I did most of my testing with the screen brightness set to maximum. I noticed it dip considerably after about 10 or 15 minutes of benchmarking. When I checked on it in the phone's Settings, I saw the brightness level had dropped down to 66 percent. I tried to turn it back up, and got the message, "Unable to brighten more due to high temperature. Try again later." This happened on multiple occasions. Especially when using processor-intensive applications like games, the top half of the phone became increasingly warm. LG claims it has not encountered this problem, but this device, along with two test units on Sprint all showed the same behavior in our tests.

Three function keys beneath the display light up when the screen is on, otherwise the front of the phone is completely black. There's a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top, a cool glowing power button on the right, a volume rocker on the left, and a charging port on the bottom. There's also a microSD port on the left side of this phone, a welcome addition that's missing in the Sprint version.

The Optimus G supports AT&T's 4G LTE network, as well as HSPA+ 21. AT&T scored high in our?Fastest Mobile Networks?tests earlier this year, especially for its LTE network. Speeds in New York City were incredible. I saw an average of 33Mbps down and 12Mbps up, along with a high of 44Mbps down, which is about double the speed I get on my home internet connection.

Reception was solid, and call quality was good overall. Voices are a little muddy in the phone's earpiece, with some audible fuzz in the background. But calls made sounded clear and natural, with good background noise cancellation. The speakerphone sounds harsh, but is loud enough to use outdoors. The phone paired easily with my?Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset. LG's Voice Command app was extremely finicky, and I had to repeat a number of commands over and over again.

The Optimus G uses Bluetooth 4.0, which allows various smart watches and fitness devices to communicate with the phone. It also supports 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi on the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.?The nonremovable 2100mAh battery was good for an excellent 13 hours and 37 minutes of 3G talk time.

Android and Apps
The Optimus G is the first U.S. phone powered by Qualcomm's 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor. Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note II will be packing a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos 4412, but performance there remains to be seen. As it stands, this is the fastest Android phone we've tested?even faster than the Sprint version. According to our benchmarks, performance can sometimes be almost double that of phones like the Galaxy S III. It's actually closer to results we've seen?on top Android tablets, especially for gaming. Internet performance is solid, on par with the Editors' Choice Galaxy S III.?

The Optimus G ships with Android 4.0.4 "Ice Cream Sandwich," which LG pledges to update to Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" within the coming months. Although Ice Cream Sandwich lacks Google's Project Butter, which smoothes out the Android experience, the quad-core processor still makes everything feel fast.

(Next page: Camera, Multimedia, and Conclusions)

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