LG's smartphones and tablets aren't as popular as Samsung's, but that doesn't mean the company hasn't been making some nice mobile devices in their own right. Let's take a look at LG's latest phablet, the G Pro 2, and see how its features and specs compare to those of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
Size
Sizes are pretty close, with identical thickness. The LG G Pro 2 is, however, 5 percent longer and 4 percent wider than Samsung's Note 3.
Weight
Both phablets should feel relatively light in hand. Despite its bigger size, the G Pro 2 is only 2 percent heavier than the Note.
Build
Both devices have plastic finishes, but the Galaxy Note 3 is a simulated leather. Apparently Sammy liked what it saw on the Note 3, as all of its new Galaxy Pro tablets use that same pleather material.
Display
Both phones have gigantic screens, and the G Pro 2 shows that the screen size arms race is still alive and well. Its display is about seven percent bigger than the already-humongous Note 3 display.
Have you seen the Knock-On feature that LG included in the LG G2 and G Pad 8.3? Well, the G Pro 2 is taking the next step with a security-focused version called "Knock Code." It lets you unlock your device by rapping a pattern of knocks on the screen. The pattern can include anywhere from two to eight taps which leads to, according to LG, 86,367 knock combinations.
Stylus
In our time with the Galaxy Note series, we've thought the marriage of oversized smartphone screen and S Pen (stylus) works pretty well. Despite the two devices' similarities, stylus input is something that the G Pro 2 doesn't give you.
Storage
Your storage options are doubled in the Note 3, though both devices do let you augment that with a microSD card.
Processor
We don't expect any performance issues with the G Pro 2, as it runs the zippy Qualcomm Snapdragon 800. If you live in an area with LTE, then you should get the same CPU in the Note.
RAM
The G Pro 2 also matches the Note's 3 GB of RAM – an impressive amount for a mobile device.
Battery
Both phablets' batteries hold the same amount of juice, but we'll have to wait for some extended time with the G Pro 2 before we know if its battery life can keep up with the lengthy uptimes we saw from the Note 3.
Cameras
If we're looking at resolution alone, then both phablets' cameras are looking pretty similar. There are a few other features, though, that can't be captured in the above graphic.
The G Pro 2 can record video in 120 frames per second, which can be edited in three different slow-motion speeds. It also has a "Natural Flash," which supposedly captures flash photos with a more balanced color and exposure (sound familiar?) and "Magic Focus," that lets you select a shot's depth of focus after shooting, but before saving. Both phones can also record video in 4K Ultra HD resolution.
Software
The G Pro 2 is launching with Android 4.4 KitKat, but it has LG's custom UI sitting on top (which looks more than a little like Samsung's TouchWiz UI). The Note 3 has technically been updated to KitKat, but that update is still rolling out globally. So depending on your region and carrier, you might be stuck on Jelly Bean for a little while.
Unknowns
There are still a few things we don't know about the G Pro 2. LG has only announced the phone for the Korean market, so we don't know exactly when it will start popping up in other countries. That means we also don't know about pricing. If we had to guess, we'd say it will hit the US and other non-Korean markets by May (that's when last year's version, the Optimus G Pro, hit the States).For more on Samsung's phablet – which has already been on store shelves since September – you can read our full Galaxy Note 3 review.
