Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs LG G2

Introduction

So let's say that you're interested in getting a new high-end smartphone, and having a huge display is one of your top priorities. Well, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is among the handsets matching that description – it is fast, loaded to the brim with neat features, and equipped with a gorgeous 5.7-inch touchscreen. However, as in most cases, there's a number of alternatives to consider – high-end alternatives that will fit in your pockets much more easily than the Note 3, yet will provide you with a screen that is nearly as spacious. One of them is the LG G2, packing a 5.2-inch display and the hardware muscle needed to give Samsung's phablet some heated competition. Without a doubt, choosing a favorite between these two smartphones is no easy task, so let's dive into it and see what they have to win our hearts with.

Design

It is hard to say which one of these two smartphones looks better, primarily because neither of them has much to sparkle with. Don't get us wrong – they definitely can't be described as bad-looking, but putting at least a little more effort into improving their appearance wouldn't have hurt anyone.

The plastic-made Samsung Galaxy Note 3, with its conservative shape and leather-like plastic back plate, looks and feels a bit more like a device built with professionals in mind. Its textured surface has a very low tendency to slip out of your palm, and that's quite a big deal since handling this jumbo-sized handset can be challenging. At the same time, no fingerprints or pocket lint get stuck to the Note 3's back, so it looks nice and spotless pretty much all of the time.

The LG G2 looks and feels quite okay and has a better chance at appealing to the younger crowd with its curvy physique. But again, its design can't make any jaws drop as we see nothing extraordinary about its construction or build quality. It sports a body made of glossy plastic treated to a fine, discrete pattern seen on the handset's back plate. Smudgy traces build up on its surface rather quickly, but thankfully, they are easy to get rid of with a quick wipe.

What does make the LG G2 stand out, however, is its size. For a smartphone packing a huge, 5.2-inch touchscreen, it feels surprisingly compact and it would definitely fit easier in your pocket than the Galaxy Note 3. Furthermore, while handling Samsung's phablet with a single hand is a challenge, the LG G2 is a lot more suitable for single-handed use.

One of the tricks that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has tucked up its sleeve is the S Pen it comes bundled with. Resting in its dedicated slot, that is a pressure-sensitive digital stylus and a perk every Galaxy Note device offers. The accessory is used much like a real pen, but instead of paper, a virtual canvas is used for writing on. Entering text by hand, drawing, taking down notes, and navigating through the phablet's interface are all among the main uses for the S Pen. Naturally, there's a number of S Pen optimized apps and features built into the UI, and you can learn more about them in our Galaxy Note 3 review.

Lifting the Note 3's back cover reveals its user-replaceable 3200mAh battery, as well as its slots for the Micro SIM and microSD cards. Alas, the LG G2 has a non-removable back cover so its 3000mah battery is off limits. No microSD card slot is present on the G2, so you'll have to rely solely on its built-in storage.

LG has placed the G2's power and volume keys on the back for a couple of reasons. Firstly, that has allowed for the company's engineers to make the phone more narrow (read: easier to hold), and secondly, this unorthodox solution is meant to make these buttons easier to access. Well, we've been using the LG G2 for a while now, and while we're fine with having the power and volume keys placed where they are, we don't think that their placement makes them easier to operate.

Buttons on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 are arranged in a typical for the company fashion, with a large physical home key below the screen accompanied by a pair of capacitive buttons for the back and menu functions. The power and volume keys are positioned on the right and left sides respectively and are easy to reach despite the handset's size.

Display

Screen quality plays a crucial role in determining whether a given smartphone is worthy of attention. Well, the good news is that neither of these two handsets disappoints in that respect. Their manufacturers have outfitted them with near-excellent displays – a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED screen graces the front of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, while the LG G2 packs a beautiful 5.2-inch IPS LCD panel. Their resolution is 1080 by 1920 pixels, as is now typical for top-of-the-line Android smartphones.

Looking at size alone, the Note 3 definitely has the upper hand since its screen is larger than the one on the G2. That makes Samsung's phablet more suitable for a number of tasks that would benefit from the extra real estate, such as browsing the internet, enjoying photos or videos, playing games and so on. But size is not everything, and the G2's display, despite being smaller by half an inch, is also a pleasure to admire. In fact, we find the screen on LG's flagship slightly more detailed – something that doesn't surprise us given its higher pixel density (423ppi vs 386ppi for the Note 3) and the fact that a standard RGB sub-pixel arrangement is in use, as opposed to the Note 3's Diamond sub-pixel panel.

However, as awesome as they may look, both displays have their flaws, and one of them is their not-so-ideal color representation. The typical for AMOLED panels pumped up colors are present on the Note 3 as well, while the LG G2 has its color temperature leaning towards the colder side. Nevertheless, these imperfections are so slight that they are likely to go unnoticed by most users and we don't think they spoil the overall user experience at all. Outdoor usability isn't an issue either. Both screens can be operated comfortably even on a sunny day thanks to their high brightness output and low reflectance.

Interface

One thing that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the LG G2 have in common is that their user interfaces have been heavily modified. And we don't see that as bad thing, of course, since these UIs add a great dose of much-appreciated functionality.

Android 4.3Jelly Bean – the latest version of the platform to date – comes onto the Galaxy Note 3, and layered on top of it is the company's TouchWiz user interface. Some might find it a bit more cartoony than it should be, yet that aside, there's actually quite a lot to like about this popular UI. For starters, it runs fluidly, it is customizable, and the bunch of pre-loaded widgets can come in handy. Naturally, Samsung has sprinkled its minor and major features all over, thus improving the overall user experience. Extras borrowed right from the Galaxy S4, such as Smart Scroll, Smart Stay, Air View, and Air Gestures, are on board. While they aren't anything mind-blowing, they do enable users to interact in a different, and in some cases, more convenient, way with their device. A feature much more practical than these, however, is Multi Window, which lets us have two apps, or two windows of the same app, running side by side. Yup, that's real multitasking right there, taking advantage of the Note 3's giant screen. My Magazine is also among the features we're happy with. Powered by Flipboard, it serves as a personalized news reader with an eye-pleasing interface.


The LG G2 comes running Android 4.2.2 out of the box, so it is a step behind when it comes to OS software versions, but that's not really a deal breaking issue in this case. What's great about the custom user interface loaded onto the device is just how customizable it is. You're even free to set a UI theme, to change the size of your icons, or to reorganize the toggle buttons in the notification panel. Visually, using the LG G2 is kind of like watching a light show. There's color everywhere, the lock screen animation feels as if a firework is exploding before our eyes, and the screen transitions (which you can also modify, by the way) bring every home screen to life. Feature-wise, there's a ton of goodies pre-loaded, one of the most useful among them being Slide Aside, allowing one to multitask by saving up to three apps in their current state for later use. We also appreciate having the QSlide companion apps, hovering in a window above the UI, as they give quick and instant access to the phone book, to our web browser and messaging apps, and more.

Processor and Memory

Snapdragon 800 is the chip powering the LG G2 and the LTE model of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. That little piece of silicon it is quite a beast, actually, crushing all previous benchmark records with its quad-core Krait 400 based CPU that can sprint at speeds of near 2.3GHz. Sure enough, the performance of these two handsets is outstanding and no matter which one you pick, their UI smoothness and responsiveness is not going to disappoint. They can run anything from demanding applications to today's visually intensive 3D video games.

If you're a heavy multitasker, then the Note 3 might be right for you. It has 3GB of RAM at its disposal, so switching between apps always happens in an instant. The LG G2 has 2GB of RAM, which is considerably less, yet still enough to meet the needs of the great majority of users.

On board storage on the LG G2 is limited to 16 or 32 gigabytes, depending on which model you pick. Unfortunately, there's no microSD card slot, so the phone's storage space cannot be expanded. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3, on the other hand, has one and can take up to 64GB extra to go along with its 32 or 64GB of native storage. Plus, Samsung is throwing in 50GB of Dropbox storage at no cost – a deal which lasts for 2 years after enabling the service.

Phonebook and Dialer

Fundamentally, these apps, as executed on the Note 3 and the G2, are very similar and straightforward to use. There are separate tabs for the dialer, the user's contacts, favorites, and call logs. Several neat additions are present, however, in both applications. Samsung's solution allows us to pick between a bunch of vibration patterns that can be assigned to contacts. LG, on the other hand, lets us set LED to blink in a specific color whenever a specific someone is calling.

Here is also where LG's VuTalk service is accessed from. It is a feature present on some recent LG phones, allowing users to share images, video, notes and map data in real time during calls. Note, however, that VuTalk requires an internet connection on order to work. Samsung, on the other hand, offers a built-in video call feature to and from compatible Samsung phones.

Messaging

The messaging apps on both smartphones allow us to attach not only images and video to our texts, but also map locations, contact data, and calendar entries, just like any app of this kind should. Their keyboards can be condensed on the left or right side of the screen for easier single-handed typing – not that we find this more comfortable than entering text using both thumbs, but it is good to have options. Overall, we can shoot messages back and forth pretty swiftly as our fingers can easily hit the right button. The Note 3's keyboard, being wider, is more convenient, but the one on the G2 is easy to use as well.

Organizer apps

Samsung has not forgotten to load the Note 3 with an arsenal of organizer and productivity apps, including its S Planner app. It serves as a versatile calendar with the option to create To Do lists as well. Managing your agenda on the LG G2 is done via its Calendar and Tasks apps, which are also pretty nice and work in a similar fashion.

Both smartphones come with very capable translation apps, capable of interpreting foreign languages. S Translator, pre-loaded on the Galaxy Note 3, uses a speech-to-text engine to convert whole sentences from one language into another and then speaks out the result. However, one huge downside to this is that the app requires a data connection in order to work, and data usage while abroad can be ridiculously expensive. The Quick Translator app on the LG G2, on the other hand, can download whole dictionaries for offline use. The camera of the device is utilized to “see” words and phrases, which are then translated instantly into a language selected by the user.

Taking down notes on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is not only easy, but it can be quite fun, actually. The S Note app can be used for the purpose and, of course, it works well with the S Pen. You can write or type in text, and add clip art graphics or images that you have stored onto the handset. The LG G2 has its own Notebook application, which offers an identical set of features, but instead of a stylus, you use your fingers to doodle stuff with. Need something simpler? Well, there's a basic Memo app at your disposal.

Internet Browser and Connectivity

Thanks to their large, high-res displays, both the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the LG G2 are ideal for surfing the web. But if we had to pick a favorite, that would be the former. The stock Internet app on the Galaxy Note 3 loads pages fast and increases the size of text where that is appropriate, thus making it easier to read. Articles can be viewed in the very convenient Reader mode, which clears the entire page, leaving only the body of the post. On the LG G2 we find a browser that is just as fast, but not as enjoyable to use. Text isn't automatically inflated so it can still be hard to read without zooming in.



Connectivity-wise, there's nothing missing on either of these handsets. Both the note 3 and the LG G2 support those super-fast LTE networks, but can rely on HSPA+ as well if that is required. As you might guess, essentials like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC are also on board. We cannot omit mentioning that the Galaxy Note 3 supports the USB 3.0 standard for faster data transfers between it and a computer, but you'll need a USB 3.0 compatible PC in order to take advantage of that. Also, while the LG G2 comes with FM radio support, the Note 3 lacks that feature.

Camera

LG has equipped its G2 smartphone with an outstanding 13MP camera. This capable snapper takes great-looking photos not only thanks to its large sensor, but also because its optical image stabilization does a great job at keeping the frame steady. The camera lens, made of sapphire crystal, is extra durable and resistant to fingerprints, while the 9-point auto-focus system ensures that your subject is, well... in focus.

The 13MP, F2.2 camera on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 may lack OIS, but nevertheless, it should not be underestimated. In fact, the phablet's camera did quite well in our recent camera test, which you should totally check out in case you haven't done so already.

Launching the camera app on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 brings us to a familiar interface. Its biggest advantage is the boatload of camera features and effects that are pre-loaded, such as the built-in image filters, and the fancy shooting modes we know from the Galaxy S4. The handset itself, with its flat sides, is comfortable to hold while shooting.

Call Quality

Phone calls made from the LG G2 sound quite pleasing. Its earpiece performs well and produces natural, crackle-free voice tones, as long as its volume isn't set to the maximum. Overall, we'd rank it as above average. Sadly, we can't say the same about its microphone, which happens to deliver loud, but somewhat artificial-sounding voices on the other sound of the line.

The Galaxy Note 3 has a powerful, yet average-sounding earpiece. Its microphone, however, does a much better job at capturing natural voice tones than the G2's, with noise reduced when that is appropriate.

Battery Life

One of the largest batteries ever packed inside a smartphone is on the Galaxy Note 3. It has a capacity of 3200mAh, which is quite a lot – definitely enough to last you through a day of heavy usage, and even two if the smartphone is used with moderation. Behind the LG G2's back plate hides a 3000mAh battery, which might be smaller, but should deliver comparable results. As a matter of fact, LG's flagship is one of the top devices on our battery benchmark test, achieving 6 hours and 48 minutes of intensive use on a single charge. The Note 3 got us only 6 hours and 8 minutes under identical conditions.

Conclusion

This is where we wrap things up and present you with our advice on which smartphone you should go with – the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or the LG G2. But in all honesty, we're split in our decision, so ultimately, the choice will depend on the needs and preferences of each and every user.

Size is the Galaxy Note 3's weakest link, but it is one of its strongest selling points at the same time. That's because even though the handset would be too large for the average consumer to comfortably handle and carry around, it rewards us with its spacious touchscreen – a touchscreen that ranks among the very best we've seen on a smartphone to date. Ultimately, all that display real estate makes the Note 3 one of the top handsets for entertainment and media consumption. Not to be forgotten is the S Pen and the boatload of productivity features loaded onto the device, optimized to work in tandem with Samsung's digital stylus.

But the LG G2 is no less amazing, and its slightly smaller, yet just as good-looking touchscreen is also suitable for any task you might imagine. At the same time, the company's flagship is much easier to wield and as a result has a higher chance at grabbing the attention of typical buyers. Or at least those who don't mind the unusual placement of its power and volume keys.

These key differences aside, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the LG G2 both are well worthy of being regarded as the cream of the crop among Android smartphones. We're pleased to say that they both excel in delivering the premium user experience and the smooth performance we've come to expect out of a contemporary high-end smartphone. They are mighty fast, pretty much equally capable from a hardware standpoint, and loaded to the brim with unique features – all traits that place them on top of the Android foodchain.