LG G Pad 8.3 Review

LG has only had one attempt at making an Android tablet (the old Optimus Pad), and it was definitely a failed one. However, with LG's recent success in the smartphone department, it was only a matter of time before they took another shot at the tablet market, and so we have today the LG G Pad 8.3. As the name suggests, the LG slate falls within the 7"-8" segment, and that puts it in direct competition with the iPad mini and the Nexus 7. With a 8.3" display of 1920 x 1200 resolution, a powerful, if not slightly outdated, Snapdragon 600 processor and a reasonable starting price of $349, the G Pad 8.3 might be just what LG needs to gain some market share in the tablet space.

	LG G Pad 8.3	Apple iPad mini 2	Google Nexus 7 (2013)
Body	217 x 126.5 x 8.3mm, 338g	200 x 135 x 7.5mm, 331g (Wi-Fi)/341g (LTE)	200 x 114 x 8.7mm, 290g (Wi-Fi)/299g (LTE)
Display	8.3" IPS LCD 1920 x 1200 (273ppi)	7.9" IPS LCD 2048 x 1536 (324ppi)	7" IPS LCD 1920 x 1200 (323ppi) w/ Corning Gorilla Glass
Storage	16/32 GB, 2 GB RAM (microSD expandable)	16/32/64 GB, 1 GB RAM	16/32 GB, 2 GB RAM
Connectivity	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi, GSM (2G), HSDPA (3G), LTE (4G)	Wi-Fi, GSM (2G), HSDPA (3G), LTE (4G)
Camera (Rear)	5 MP with HDR and 1080p@30fps video	5 MP with HDR and 1080p@30fps video	5 MP with 1080p@30fps video
Camera (Front)	1.3 MP	1.2 MP with 720p@30fps video	1.2 MP
OS	Android 4.2.2	iOS 7	Android 4.3
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 APQ8064 (Quad-core Krait 300 @ 1.7GHz + Adreno 320 GPU)	Apple A7 (Dual-core Cyclone @ 1.4GHz + PowerVR G6430 GPU)	Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (Quad-core Krait @ 1.5GHz + Adreno 320 GPU)
Battery	Li-Ion 4,600 mAh	Li-Po 6,430 mAh	Li-Ion 3,950 mAh
Starting Price	$349 (16 GB)	$399 (16 GB)	$229 (16 GB)

Design

One of the best things about the G Pad 8.3 is its amazing design. Many elements of the G Pad 8.3's design are somewhat similar to the iPad mini, for instance, the narrow side bezels and the aluminium construction. For its size, the G Pad 8.3 is very thin. Measuring just 8.3mm (yeah, just like the name of the tablet and the size of the display), it's slightly thinner than the 2013 Nexus 7, but still a bit thicker than the iPad mini. The G Pad 8.3 also weighs 338g, so it's significantly heftier than the Nexus 7 (of course, the Nexus 7 has a much smaller display and battery), and a few grams heavier than the new iPad mini (albeit with a much smaller battery than the iPad mini's). It's clearly not as svelte as the iPad mini, but for its size and price it's still very thin and light.

The G Pad is one of the few Android tablets that have a back cover made of aluminium. In the case of the G Pad, it's a brushed aluminium finish. On the very center, oriented vertically, is an LG logo, and the right side of the back contains one speaker, decently spaced apart. Obviously, the landscape positioning of the two speakers means you'll only get a stereo effect when you're holding the tablet in landscape mode, which makes sense, since watching videos and playing games is usually done in landscape mode. On the top-left corner sits a 5 MP camera that can shoot up to 1080p@30fps video. 

The front of the tablet makes it look a lot like a blown up LG G2. The 8.3" display is of IPS technology, which means excellent viewing angles and good color reproduction. The 1920 x 1200 resolution results in a very crisp pixel density of 273ppi. While the display is extremely sharp and it's almost impossible to be able to discern individual pixels with the naked eye, it still falls short of the iPad mini 2 and the 2013 Nexus 7, which have displays of 323ppi and 324ppi, respectively. While the difference between 273ppi and 323ppi sounds big, in most cases it's very hard to notice a difference in sharpness between them. 

Performance

That is the area where LG has compromised to keep the price of the G Pad 8.3 low. While lately we've only seen flagship devices be powered by the latest and greatest SoCs, like the Snapdragon 800 or the Tegra 4, the G Pad 8.3 sports a more modest Snapdragon 600 SoC. This processor is composed of four Krait 300 cores running at up to 1.7GHz plus an Adreno 320 GPU. This means that the G Pad will perform considerably worse than the iPad mini 2, but will still match the 2013 Nexus 7 on that area. While the G Pad is nowhere close to the current flagships in terms of processor power, it would be a lie to say that it's slow by any means. As long as LG doesn't bloat its custom UI too much (which it hasn't done), the G Pad 8.3 should offer smooth performance at all times.

Conclusion

LG's return to the tablet market has potential to be great. The G Pad 8.3, aka LG's first shot at making a tablet in years, excels in its design with a sufficiently thin and light aluminium chassis and has an excellent display. LG's choice of using a slightly older processor in the G Pad 8.3 might be a deal breaker to some, though. Priced at $349 for 16 GB, it isn't exactly overpriced, but it's not that cheap either, considering what it offers, but still, the G Pad 8.3 is currently the best 8-inch Android tablet available. If you can afford to spend an extra $50 though, I think the iPad mini 2 will be a better alternative when it becomes available. 

Google Nexus 5 Review

The Nexus 5 smartphone has had so many leaks that it barely needed an official announcement. Still made by LG, the latest Nexus smartphone brings all of the expected upgrades; a larger display with a higher resolution, a faster processor, etc. The Nexus 5 is also the first device to ship with Android 4.4 KitKat, which brings a lot of important changes, including a more refined UI. While the Nexus 5 doesn't have anything that distinguishes it from other flagships, it's price tag is very appealing as always, and the pure Android experience may be more appealing to some users than competitors' modified software. 

	Google Nexus 5	Apple iPhone 5s	LG G2
Body	138 x 65 x 8.6mm, 130g	124 x 59 x 7.6mm, 112g	138.5 x 71 x 8.9mm, 143g
Display	4.95" True HD-IPS+ 1920 x 1080 (445ppi) w/ Corning Gorilla Glass 3	4" IPS 1136 x 640 (326ppi) w/ Corning Gorilla Glass	5.2" True HD-IPS+ 1920 x 1080 (424ppi) w/ Corning Gorilla Glass 2
Storage	16/32 GB, 2 GB RAM	13/32/64 GB, 1 GB RAM	16/32 GB, 2 GB RAM
Connectivity	Wi-FI, GSM (2G), HSDPA (3G), LTE (4G)	Wi-FI, GSM (2G), HSDPA (3G), LTE (4G)	Wi-FI, GSM (2G), HSDPA (3G), LTE (4G)
Camera (Rear)	8 MP with OIS, LED flash and 1080p@30fps video	8 MP with dual-LED flash, 1/3" sensor size, 1.5µm pixel size, HDR, 1080p@30fps and 480p@120fps video	13 MP with OIS, LED flash, HDR and 1080p@60fps video
Camera (Front)	1.3 MP	1.2 MP and 720p@30fps video	2.1MP and 1080p@30fps video
OS	Android 4.4 KitKat	iOS 7	Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM 8974 (Quad-core Krait 400 @ 2.3GHz + Adreno 330 GPU)	Apple A7 (Dual-core Cyclone @ 1.3GHz + PowerVR G6430 GPU)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM 8974 (Quad-core Krait 400 @ 2.3GHz + Adreno 330 GPU)
Battery	Non-removable 2,300 mAh Talk time: 17hrs Standby time: 300hrs	Non-removable 1,560 mAh Talk time: 10hrs Standby time: 250hrs	Non-removable 3,000 mAh Talk time: 17.5hrs Standby time: 900hrs
Starting Price (Off-contract)	$349 (16 GB)	$649 (16 GB)	$549 (16 GB)

Design

The Nexus 5 may be cheap, but its design doesn't look very cheap at all. While it may not be as premium as the iPhone 5s with its aluminium build, it's still solidly built. The back of the smartphone takes a leaf from the 2013 Nexus 7's design with a matte finish, sold in either black or white. A large Nexus logo is rather awkwardly placed horizontally on the center, accompanied by a small, vertically oriented LG logo on the bottom. An 8 MP camera, which by the way slightly protrudes from the chassis, sits on the top left of the device, accompanied by an LED flash below the camera.

The phone's design isn't very rectangular and consists of slightly curved sides. The front, of course, consists mostly of the 4.95" 1080p display. The display is in line with what is expected from a flagship device nowadays, no more, no less. As the Nexus 5 is based on the LG G2, the bezels on either side of the display are very narrow, while the top and bottom bezels are, well, regular for a smartphone. 

The Nexus 5 isn't exactly the skinniest flagship smartphone available. Measuring 8.6mm thick, it's considerably thicker than the iPhone 5 and 5s, and also thicker than Samsung's Galaxy S4 (7.9mm). It's thinner than the LG G2, though. Nevertheless, while it may not be the thinnest, you can't possibly call the Nexus 5 thick. After all, that extremely attractive price tag requires some minor compromises, and anyway, for a $349 phone, the Nexus 5 is doing very well on the thinness department. 

The Nexus 5, weighing 130g, isn't lighter than the iPhone 5 and 5s (of course, it has a much larger display and battery), but is one of the lightest 5" flagships, as it's considerably lighter than the LG G2 (143g) and has the same weight as the Galaxy S4. Not bad for a phone with such a low price. 

Performance

The Nexus 5 is but another phone that enjoys the extreme power offered by the Snapdragon 800 processor. Powered by four Krait 400 cores clocked at 2.3GHz and the monstrous Adreno 330 GPU, you're pretty much dealing with one of the absolute fastest smartphones available. That, combined with the trimmed down Android 4.4 KitKat OS and the absolute lack of any OEM customizations and bloatware, gives the Nexus 5 impeccable fluidity and performance. 

Conclusion

The Nexus 5 isn't an attempt to revolutionize the smartphone market through fingerprint sensors and weird hand and eye gesture controls and whatnot. Quite the contrary, it's supposed to be a basic smartphone with flagship qualities, achieving success through the simplicity of its hardware and user interface. The exclusion of all those bells and whistles is what allows for its very low price, and for some people, that may be just about perfect.

Some people don't need, or don't want, a bunch of extra hardware and software features they'll barely ever use on their phones, in other words, some people just need a powerful yet easy to use phone, and that is the space the Nexus 5 intends to fill in. And it does so very well. This phone has the basics a flagship requires nowadays, a 5" display of 1080p resolution and a Snapdragon 800 processor, and also has a basic, unmodified OS, and that's pretty much it. 

If all you want from a phone is for it to provide a fast, fluid experience for all use cases, from texting to gaming and watching videos, I would strongly recommend the Nexus 5. I would only recommend you to get another phone if basic isn't your kind of thing, that is, if you like the complexity of OEM-modified UIs and nifty hardware extras like fingerprint sensors. But the Nexus 5 is, with no doubt, the best basic smartphone flagship this year.

Possible Google Nexus 5 Benchmarks Leak

As the original LG Nexus 4 is growing long in the tooth, a refresh to the Google smartphone is imminent, and GFXBench's database seems to have just confirmed the existence of the Nexus 5 smartphone. The upcoming smartphone has already had a couple of minor leaks: one is about an FCC document referring to an LG smartphone that could be the Nexus 5. The other leak was pretty intentional; the smartphone appeared during a Google promo video introducing Android 4.4 KitKat. Here's what the GFXBench leak reveals:

The device, as expected, is named Google Nexus 5. I find it very strange that the Android version is apparently named Key Lime Pie, even though Google announced officially that the next Android version was to be named KitKat. Also, the SDK version is number 18, but I'd expect it to be 19, since the version 18 refers to Android 4.3. These are reasons to take this leak with a large grain of salt. 

The device runs on a strange screen resolution of 1800 x 1080, which could either indicate Google is going for an unusual aspect ratio, or the different resolution is due to the presence of a navigation bar, which has been present in all Nexus smartphones instead of physical buttons. 

The device runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC, which features an Adreno 330 GPU  and four Krait 400 cores @ up to 2.3GHz. 

The leak consists of only two benchmarks results. One of them is the rather old GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt HD Offscreen test, which, as the Adreno 330 implies, yields some very impressive results, although it's not exactly ahead of other Snapdragon 800-bearing devices, but rather on par with them. The other result, the T-Rex HD Offscreen test, also shows some impressive scores, again, on par with most Snapdragon 800-based devices, but slightly behind the Snapdragon 800 Galaxy S4 variant (GT-i9506) and the Nvidia Shield.

While the benchmark results aren't outstanding for a Snapdragon 800 device (this means they are outstanding compared to the rest), it does add to the slowly turning rumor mill about an upcoming LG Nexus 5 smartphone. Like I said though, the Key Lime Pie nomenclature and the odd SDK version number, as well as the strange display resolution doesn't help me gain confidence on this leak, but a 1080p, Snapdragon 800 5-inch Nexus smartphone is almost predictable, so the leak could be legitimate.