We compare LG’s newest phablet – the 5.9” G Pro 2 - to the Sony Xperia Z1, a 5-inch stylish, water-resistant smartphone, that is large as well, but not gigantic. Both are high-end devices carrying the powerful quad-core Snapdragon 800 chip and two of the best smartphone cameras around, but look in the details, and you’d find tiny nuances that make one stand out from the other.
How do they differ and which one should you buy? We dive in the minutiae to help you answer that question - read on.
In this review, we have the Korean version of the LG G Pro 2 that could differ from the international model. This Korean unit features a slide-out antenna, a removable back cover and expandable storage, that – among other features – may not be on the international model.
Design
The G Pro 2 is big and it barely even fits in jeans pockets, but at the same time it is surprisingly light for such a big phone. The Xperia Z1 is also not a small phone, but it's much better suited for carrying in pockets.
We have two outstandingly well built smartphones in the G Pro 2 and Xperia Z1, but LG and Sony took starkly different routes to achieve that quality, using very different design approaches and materials. The G Pro 2 is made out of plastic, which may not sound all that great on paper, but its real in-hand feel is quite nice, and we like its slight curves and subtle, textured mesh pattern on the back. The Xperia Z1, on its part, comes with a strict, rectangular shape and a body made of glass that looks truly stunning, but those sharper edges make it a bit less ergonomic. You can choose one of three color versions for both phones: Sony’s phone is available in white, black and purple versions, whereas the LG device comes in more subdued grey, white and black tones.
The LG G Pro 2 has a much larger, 5.9-inch display, and it’s altogether a much bigger phone than the 5-inch Sony Xperia Z1. At the same time, in its class of phablets, the G Pro 2 is actually surprisingly compact, sporting a record screen-to-phone size ratio – something that LG achieves by keeping screen bezel at the absolute minimum. One thing that the G Pro 2 definitely surprised us with, though, is its light weight, especially for a device with such a large footprint. The choice of plastic materials for its body definitely has something to do with this, and it turns out that using a featherweight phablet definitely helps fight the size shock. In fact, the G Pro 2 weighs the same as the much smaller Xperia Z1! Moreover, the phablet is properly balanced, so it does not tip over in the hand. On its part, the Xperia Z1 is also considered large compared to the average phone - it’s much bigger than other popular 5 inchers - but it is smaller and that gives it the advantage of being able to fit in pockets much easier.
LG’s phablet uses on-screen buttons, while all physical ones (a volume rocker with a lock key in the middle) have been moved to its back, just like the ones on the LG G2. Using buttons that are on the back of a phone takes some getting used to, but once you remember not to reach out to the side to lock your phone, you’d be fine. The G Pro 2’s volume buttons can also be used as physical camera shutter keys, and since they are so clicky and easy to press, the experience is great.
Sony, on the other hand, uses traditional, side-positioned keys. The Z1 has a round lock key that is made out of metal and looks very stylish, but it can also be a bit too small and hard to press. The Xperia Z1 also features a dedicated two-step camera shutter key that we like.
Finally, Sony’s phone has one important extra feature - it is water resistant (can withstand continuous immersion in water beyond 3 feet deep) and dust-proof, carrying IP58 certification.
LG G Pro 2’s gargantuan display has great viewing angles, and that’s its biggest advantage over the display of the Xperia Z1 which washes out hugely at even a slight angle. Apart from that, though, both screens are fairly good, with nice, vivid colors.
LG G Pro 2 features a gigantic 5.9-inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels (pixel density comes in at 373ppi), and it’s a great, impressive display. The screen in the Xperia Z1, on the other hand, is smaller in size - 5 inches - but it comes with the same full HD 1080 x 1920-pixel resolution, so is even sharper.
Which one is better altogether, though? It’s hard to say as both have their pros and cons. The screen of the Xperia Z1 is at a more disadvantageous position, though, because of its disappointing viewing angles: tilt it just slightly, and the TFT (non-IPS) screen starts to lose a lot of its color and vibrancy. At the same time, color calibration is fairly accurate on the Xperia Z1, . In return, the G Pro 2 has an IPS LCD screen with very good viewing angles and fine colors - whites are a bit bluish, but for the most part, color accuracy is fine. The display on the Sony phone is also slightly brighter than the LG one, and overall the Xperia Z1 is slightly better for outdoor use.
The numbers below represent the amount of deviation in the respective property,observed when a display is viewed from a 45-degree angle as opposed to direct viewing.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
LG’s Optimus skin is packed with features and some like the new split-screen multi-tasking make a lot of sense for the G Pro 2. Sony has gone without such bells and whistles, but its skin is also lighter and gets the job done.
Being the newer device, the LG G Pro 2 also has a newer version of Android on board - it ships with Android 4.4.2 KitKat, while at the moment of this writing the Sony Xperia Z1 has been updated to Android 4.3 and is still waiting for the KitKat update. The difference between the two Android versions is not very visible on the surface (KitKat adopts white accent colors instead of blue, and it introduces features like Immersive Mode), but there are plenty of changes under the hood, including speed optimizations.
What makes the visual difference between these two phones much bigger are the user interfaces on top of Android. LG uses its Optimus skin, while Sony goes on to use its Timescape interface. LG’s one comes with a rainbow of eye-popping colors, flashy animations and transitions, and a fun, cartoony look. Sony’s skin looks more mature - with more toned down colors and - while animations are also there - they are not that much in-your-face.
In terms of features and apps, the LG G Pro 2 is just packed. LG has introduced quite a few optimizations for phablets in its interface, and our favorite one is the split-screen “Dual Window” multitasking that allows you to run two apps simultaneously alongside. The feature is similar to what Samsung has done with TouchWiz, but LG’s implementation is even sleeker as the feature is actually built in a new multitasking interface - you simply long-hold the ‘back’ button to bring recently opened apps and you can drag apps from there to enable this split-screen multi-tasking. Right now, there are 15 apps (among which Chrome and YouTube) that support this new multi-tasking feature. The G Pro 2 also supports a new one-hand operation mode that can shrink down your whole screen to a smaller size (swipe on the button bar to enable it) or just the keyboard to a smaller one (swipe on the keyboard to enable it). The handset also comes with a new security feature called ‘Knock Code’ that allows you to set a security pattern consisting of four to eight taps on a 2x2 square. You can then tap that pattern straight from the lock screen (without having to wake up the phone) to unlock it - neatly, it works anywhere on the screen, but you have to get used to the second or so that it takes for the screen to wake after you tap the code. Customization options are also rampant on the G Pro 2 with its support for custom themes and all sorts of tiny novel features - the capability to have a multi-photo wallpaper (with pictures changing as you swipe between home panels), to resize icons and to have support for landscape orientation in the home panel.
Sony’s handset does not have such features, but on the flip side of things, it is lighter on memory. Admittedly, Sony allows “small apps” like a calculator and a notepad to run on top of the main screen, but that’s as far as multi-window multi-tasking gets.
Both devices also feature a selection of first-party apps in addition to the phonebook and messaging. LG’s app suite includes a file manager, backup, notes, weather, calculator, alarm, email, video and music apps, while Sony’s selection is fairly similar except that it lacks the weather, backup and file manager apps. In reality, you can always rely on the Google Play Store with its catalog of over 1 million apps.
The G Pro 2 comes with an infrared sensor on top of it that you can use as a remote for say a TV, and to use that feature, LG bundles in its QRemote application that gets the job done without any bells and whistles. LG also bundles in its own voice assistant that it calls QVoice, and you can use it in addition to Google Now. QVoice comes with the preference of having access to core apps, so you can use it to say something in the lines of “call dad”, or “text my sister”, but for all other voice functions like searching the web we’d prefer using the quicker and more accurate Google Now.
Both phones feature large enough displays, so that the buttons in the on-screen keyboard are big and well-spaced, easy to type on. The LG keyboard has an additional row with the numbers and that’s definitely a time-saver, plus overall it felt just a bit more comfortable and snappier.
Processor and Memory
The quad-core Snapdragon 800 system chip is a tried and tested solution that brings smooth, lag-free performance, and is capable of running even the most intense of games.
The LG G Pro 2 and Sony Xperia Z1 are both high-end devices that pack a lot of punch and they both stand up to a standard of smooth, lag-free performance. “Civilian” users who don’t sweat over benchmarks and intense games would definitely find these two to be on par in terms of performance.
Digging up the technical details, there are indeed just very slight differences in what’s under the hood. Both run on the quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC (the MSM8974 version), and so much has been written about this tried and tested system chip that you probably already know that we don’t feel the need to go into much detail - fact is, it can easily handle even heavier loads with ease. The slight hardware distinction between the two handsets lies in the fact that the G Pro 2 features 3GB of RAM, while the Xperia Z1 has 2 gigs.
The G Pro 2 also features double the internal storage - it’s got 32GB on board, whereas the Z1 comes with 16 gigs on board. Even the 32GB on the G Pro 2, however, might not be enough for power users, so good news is that you can expand memory allowance on both devices with microSD cards of up to 64GB.
The gigantic 5.9-inch screen makes it much more enjoyable to browse desktop versions of websites, but in terms of speed and connectivity the two phones are on par.
Say all you want about how inconvenient it is to carry around a phablet, but it’s a liberating experience for web browsing. The 5.9-inch LG G Pro 2 is not an exception as desktop versions of many websites look much better (but not perfect) on that large screen, and that’s a plus. Both LG’s and Sony’s devices come with the Chrome mobile browser pre-loaded, and it gets the job done effortlessly with a well optimized for touch interface, quick rendering of pages and lag-free zooming and scrolling.
In terms of connectivity, you have 4G LTE on both devices with peak speeds reaching up to 150Mbps for downloads. All other basics are covered as well - the two handsets support dual-channel Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS and NFC. For connections to external monitors, the LG G Pro 2 relies on a SlimPort, while the Sony Xperia Z1 comes with an MHL port.
Camera
The LG G Pro 2 comes packed with novel camera features, and it captures great images with a lot of detail, lively colors and excellent dynamics. The new OIS+ stabilization technology also makes for smoother video. Sony’s Xperia Z1 has few of these bells and whistles, and it’s images are just slightly less impressive, but in video it impresses with very fast continuous auto-focus.
The Sony Xperia Z1 comes with a 20.7-megapixel rear camera with a single LED flash and a 'G' lens, while the LG G Pro 2 sports a 13-megapixel shooter with one LED flash and OIS+ technology. It's worth mentioning that the Xperia Z1 has the largest image sensor of any Android smartphone and that gives it an edge in most situations, plus it even puts it on par with some point-and-shoot cameras. Sony’s 1/2.3” camera sensor is actually nearly 60% larger than the 1/3.06” sensor in the G Pro 2 (most top Android smartphones like the Galaxy Note 3 also come with a 1/3.06” sensor), which is an important technological advantage. The Xperia Z1 camera also has a faster aperture (f/2.0) than the G Pro 2 (f/2.4), and the focal lengths of the two cameras stand at 27mm and 29mm, respectively.
The camera apps on both devices open up quickly, and you can also start the camera straight from the lock screen by long-pressing the dedicated camera shutter key (volume button on the G Pro 2). The actual interfaces are very different - LG puts all the controls in your hands, while Sony only allows users shooting in “Manual” mode to tweak camera settings like ISO. Sony’s app makes it a bit easier and quicker to start shooting right away as it comes with two separate buttons for video and stills, while the LG app has a single button and a slider, so it requires a bit more fiddling. Overall, however, LG support various modes that you can manually pick from and things like manual focus that are just not available in the Sony camera app. LG’s interface also has a slightly better optimized looks - there are no long lists that you have to scroll, everything is within a tap or two distance.
We used the fully automatic shooting modes on both devices: the Sony Xperia Z1 'Superior Auto' mode shoots 8-megapixel image stills, while the G Pro 2's 'Normal' mode captures 13-megapixel images. We ought to mention that the Z1 is also capable of capturing 20-megapixel image stills that theoretically offer more finite detail, but in reality the 8MP 'Superior Auto' photographs use pixel binning to remove many of the artifacts and offer comparable amount of detail.
Both devices capture very good images that look sharp, with an outstanding amount of detail, and with vibrant colors. The images shot on the Xperia Z1 are a little sharper, though, and that makes them look more detailed, an effect achieved in exchange for more artifacts in the image. The Z1, however,also tends to capture slightly washed out, even a tiny bit blueish colors that look a bit less impressive in comparison to the livelier ones in the G Pro 2. The LG handset shoots with more accurate (although slightly oversaturated) colors, good exposure and excellent dynamics. Both are pretty good, but the more vivid photosof the G Pro 2 are what we like more.
Thanks to its OIS+ stabilization, the G Pro 2 is capable of shooting without a flash most of the time indoors, even in darker environments, without blurring. In contrast, the Xperia Z1 fires up the flash much more often indoors. Colors retain much more of their liveliness on the photographs taken on the G Pro 2, but while the Xperia Z1 is a step below, it's not bad by any means. Amount of resolved detail is on par.
The LG G Pro 2 is one of the few phones to offer 4K video capture, and it also supports 1080p recording at 60 frames per second (in addition to the standard 30fps), and that’s a big advantage. Not just that, the G Pro 2 has some really fun features like tracking zoom where you can say tap on someone’s face and a small pop-in window will zoom on it and track it as the person moves around. LG has included a new OIS+ system that combines optical image stabilization with software one, and you can definitely notice an improvement in the steadiness of recorded footage.
While the Xperia Z1 does not have those elaborate functions, it still has the basics covered with support for 1080p video recording at 30fps. What’s more - those recordings turn out very smooth and the software image stabilization takes a lot of the shakiness in videos away (but not as much as G Pro 2's hardware OIS+). Quite importantly, the Z1 camera has probably the fastest continuous auto-focus in video - it’s nearly instantaneous, while the one in the G Pro 2 can take a very long while and sometimes the focus jumps back and forth for no good reason.
Both handsets also come with 2-megapixel front facing cameras that work fine for capturing an occasional selfie and for video conferencing. One notable feature is front-facing “flash” on the G Pro 2 - this is not a real LED flash, but instead the handset shows bright background while you shoot with the front camera. It’s not something terribly useful, but in nearly complete darkness it does light up the image.
Multimedia
The 5.9-inch display on the G Pro 2 is a huge advantage for movie buffs and YouTube addicts, plus LG also has the better loudspeaker.
Phablets are changing the way we consume media with their big screens acting like an invitation for consumers to watch more videos and photos on the go, and the G Pro 2 with its spacious and vivid 5.9-inch display is not an exception. Screen size alone gives it a definite edge over the Xperia Z1 for this, but it’s not the only factor.
LG includes all the needed codecs to play back video files of all sorts, formats and encryptions, so you won’t even need to download a third-party video player. The Xperia Z1 is equally capable in terms of codec support, but its sub-par viewing angles make it slightly less enjoyable for watching video and looking through images.
Listening to music is also a more rewarding experience on the G Pro 2 than it is on the Xperia Z1. Both phones come with Google’s Play music app, but Sony also includes its Walkman music app, while the LG features its own custom music application. All of these apps get the job done, and are capable of organizing your music collection by songs, albums, artists and genres, and all offer options like a sound equalizer, which is nice. LG’s handset comes with a powerful, 1-watt speaker on the back of the phone, and while it lacks a bit in depth, it’s a step above the quieter and generally less impressive speaker on the Xperia Z1.
Call Quality
The LG G Pro 2 is a large device, but this large size does not translate into loud sound in the earpiece, and in calls the earpiece is actually a bit on the quiet side. Our callers also reported hearing our voice with a bit of distortion - those are not huge issues, but we expect a bit better from a high-end device. The Sony Xperia Z1 is not perfect either, but you’ll at least hear your callers much louder and clearer, and the same can be said for the other end of the line - our conversation partners reported easily recognizing that natural tonality in our voice.
Battery
The LG G Pro 2 is a big phone that comes with a large, 3200mAh battery, and the Sony Xperia Z1 also features a fairly huge for its size 3000mAh battery. The battery endurance of the Z1, however, is not all that impressive - the phone just sucks up that battery juice very quickly. In most cases, the handset would last you a full workday, but overnight charging is pretty much guaranteed. The G Pro 2 ranks much better and you can rest assured it won’t die mid-day, plus - on less busy days - it could last up to two days, which is nice. We should also mention that the battery on the Sony phone is not user removable, while you can easily swap the battery on the LG G Pro 2 and that’s an option we like to have.
We measure battery life by running a custom web-script,designed to replicate the power consumption of typical real-life usage.All devices that go through the test have their displays set at 200-nit brightness.
After all that we’ve said about the LG G Pro 2 and the Sony Xperia Z1, you’re probably still wondering about the one big question that we have not answered yet: which one should you buy?
For us, both handsets are more or less on par. Both are very powerful devices that deliver smooth and enjoyable Android experience, both are great for gaming and have very good cameras that could easily replace a point and shoot. There are some subtleties: the Xperia Z1 camera captures smooth video with fast auto-focus, but the handset lasts shorter and its screen has poor viewing angles. LG’s G Pro 2, on the other hand, comes with a slightly better overall camera with OIS+, it features a large and vivid display, and offers a lot of useful features like the split-screen multitasking, and those nuances tip the scales in favor of the LG G Pro 2.
If you are not picky about these tiny details, though, you should simply decide which one looks and feels better in terms of size and design. For all else, you probably won’t regret buying either one.
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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.
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