The LG G2 and the Sony Xperia Z1 are serious contenders for the ‘Ultimate Smartphone title.’ This Buzzle article examines how the Sony Xperia Z1 vs. LG G2 battle plays out.
TAGGED UNDER: Smartphones Sony Mobile Phones

Bite into KitKat

Sony Xperia Z1 and the LG G2 will be officially upgraded to Android 4.4 KitKat in early 2014.
2013 has been one of the most exciting years for smartphones. This year has seen some rapid strides in hardware and phone design. It is little surprise that Android, the most preferred mobile operating system, is at the heart of this mobile revolution. Two such phones leading the charge for the droids are the LG G2 and Sony Xperia Z1.

LG and Sony have long been the underdogs in the mobile industry, but their latest phones have outshone some other heavyweights from far-flung galaxies. We put these phones through their paces to find out which of them stakes a claim to the bragging rights of being the ultimate super droid.

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Image Source:
lg.com/us/press-media
blogs.sonymobile.com/press_release/

Sony
Xperia Z1

Click for
360° View
Operating System
Android OS, v4.2.2
(Jelly Bean)
Chipset
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
CPU
Quad-core
2.2 GHz Krait 400
GPU
Adreno 330
Memory
2 GB RAM
Storage
16 GB
Screen
5.0″
TFT Full HD Triluminos display
Resolution
1080 x 1920 pixels
(~441 ppm)
Primary Camera
20.7 MP
Secondary Camera
2 MP
Battery
Li-ion 3,000 mAh
Price
USD 649
LG
G2

Click for
360° View
Operating System
Android OS, v4.2.2
(Jelly Bean)
Chipset
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
CPU
Quad-core
2.26 GHz Krait 400
GPU
Adreno 330
Memory
2 GB RAM
Storage
16/32 GB
Screen
5.2″
True HD IPS+ LCD
Resolution
1080 x 1920 pixels
(~423 ppm)
Primary Camera
13 MP
Secondary Camera
2.1 MP
Battery
Li-Po 3,000 mAh
Price
USD 380/450

DesignHardwareGraphicsCameraSoftwareBattery
USPsDrawbacks

Design and Construction

Sony Xperia Z1

Designed to weather the elements. The Z1 looks stunning even with its screen turned off. The entire body is made of specially treated shatterproof and scratch-resistant glass. This is held together in a metal casing that can be seen along the phone’s sides. It barely sports any curves, which, along with its large size, makes it rather cumbersome to use with one hand. The phone has the usual placement of hardware buttons along the sides, with Sony’s signature power button further adding to the premium look of the device. It also has a dedicated camera shutter key, which vanished from smartphones. The Z1 ends the crescendo with one final ace up its sleeve-IP58 and IP55 rating for water and dustproof. Like its competitor, though, the phone is plagued by fingerprints and smudges.

Buzz Rating:

LG G2

Good, solid construction. At first glance, the G2 looks like any other plastic phone; there’s very little to tell the phone apart from the Samsung Galaxy S4. On closer inspection, though, the differences stand out. The device has almost all screens at the front and does away with all hardware buttons from the front and sides. Instead, the volume rocker and the power key are placed at the back of the device. This may seem a little odd at first, but with time, you would feel that this is where the buttons should have been on all phones. The phone feels solid, and its small screen-to-body ratio (5.2-inch screen, 138.5 x 70.9 x 8.9 mm) helps one-handed use. On the downside, you would constantly try to get smudge marks off the phone as fingerprints attract it like moths to a flame.

Buzz Rating:

Editor’s Take
The Sony Xperia Z1 is a svelte phone which seems to ooze with class. It can also easily withstand most of the torture it is subjected to. The only downside is the all-glass construction, which, coupled with its tall construction, makes it difficult to handle one-handed. The LG G2, on the other hand, has an all-plastic construction with very little ‘bling.’ All the magic happens at the back with the very intuitive placement of the keys. However, we are slightly inclined towards the Z1 for its premium looks and fantastic build quality.

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Hardware and Storage

Sony Xperia Z1

Top-of-the-line hardware. Powered by the high-speed Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset and Krait 400 CPU clocked at 2.2 GHz, the Z1 is one of the most powerful phones on the market today. 2 GB of RAM also ensures that there are no hiccups along the way. With 16 GB of internal memory, which can further be expanded with a Micro SD card (up to 64 GB), you aren’t running short of storage space on what is Sony’s best smartphone.

Buzz Rating:

LG G2

A complete powerhouse. This was one of the first devices with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset with a 2.26 GHz Krait 400 CPU. The phone is ridiculously fast, and even LG’s heavily customized skin does not seem to slow it down. The phone comes in 16/32 GB variants for storage, which effectively means about 12/24 GB of user-accessible memory. The phone has had to skip out on a Micro SD card slot to maintain its thin waist. Multitasking is a breeze thanks to the 2 GB of RAM onboard.

Buzz Rating:

Editor’s Take
The same extremely fast processor powers both devices, and they are the quickest phones, making them planet. Going purely by benchmark scores, the G2 is just inches ahead of the Z1. The Z1, however, emerges as the winner of this round with the Micro SD card slot.

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Graphics and Display

Sony Xperia Z1

Gorgeous display with an X-Reality engine. Sony surely went all out to make the Z1 stand out from the ever-increasing crowd of smartphones. The beautiful display screams for attention, and videos and images seem ready to pop out of the screen. The phone employs the company’s proprietary Triluminos technology. It has an X-Reality Engine, coupled with the might of the Adreno 330 GPU, that makes for an out-of-the-world multimedia experience. The 5-inch screen with a mind-boggling pixel density of 441 ppm underneath the shatterproof and scratch-resistant sheet of glass makes the Z1 seem like a window into another dimension.

Buzz Rating:

LG G2

If images were to be sharper than this, they would cut through the screen! The G2 has one of the most stunning mobile phone displays ever graced. IPS technology makes images seem painted onto the phone’s 5.2-inch screen. LCDs don’t quite match up to the incredible contrasts seen on AMOLED, but the screen on this device gives you little to complain about. The Adreno 330 GPU handles HD games and videos like a pro. With Gorilla Glass 2 protection on top, the phone promises to smile back at you even through bumpy rides in your pocket with keys for company.

Buzz Rating:

Editor’s Take
These are probably some of the most beautiful screens we have ever seen, and there is minimal choice between them. However, we are mesmerized by how amazing the almost no-bezel screen looks in our hands. LG has produced an absolute gem of a screen. It is larger by a couple of inches in a frame, about the same size as the Z1.

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Camera and Optics

Sony Xperia Z1

The Z1 has the most powerful camera on an Android. Its mammoth 20.7 MP camera at the back is among the best available smartphones. The Glens on the camera are very capable and shoot some brilliant images. The camera app has a wide variety of modes and settings, making photography fun. The dedicated hardware camera button is a nice touch. At the front is a 2 MP camera, which does a decent job with video calling.

Buzz Rating:

LG G2

OIS is a welcome addition.OIS ably assists the 13 MP camera on the G2. This makes for some crisp images, especially in daylight, and cuts out a lot of motion blur. Videos, too, benefit greatly from the OIS and aren’t as shaky as those shot by most other phone cameras. You also have the option to shoot videos at 1080p@60fps, which captures an incredible amount of detail. The volume down button at the back doubles up as a hardware camera shutter button and is great for taking selfies. At the front is a 2.1 MP camera, which shoots at 1080p@30fps.

Buzz Rating:

Editor’s Take
The G2’s camera is a great shooter and is among the few smartphone cameras with OIS. The Z1, however, with its superior camera and well-designed camera UI, wins this round despite lacking OIS.

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Software and Customizations

Sony Xperia Z1

Jelly Bean is hidden under the rubble of Xperia UI. The phone runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Xperia UI on top. It has some useful features found on most of the Xperia lineup. The pity here is that there is little to differentiate the software onboard Sony’s flagship phone from the rest of the company’s lineup of smartphones. The phone is set to get a taste of KitKat soon, bringing in software improvements.

Buzz Rating:

LG G2

Heavily customized Android experience.LG has packed its flagship with all the best features on op smartphones and thrown it into the kitchen sink. The phone features useful tweaks like KnockOn, QuickRemote, Guest Mode, and QuickMemo. Most other features are gimmicky and aren’t very practical. The heavily skinned Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean is pretty much at par with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI and, over time, doesn’t seem all that bad. With an upgrade to KitKat around the corner, things should improve for the phone.

Buzz Rating:

Editor’s Take
Neither of the software implementations on these phones impressed us, and sadly, we are left to pick the lesser of the evils. The LG G2 just about makes it across the finish line, mainly because of the few useful tweaks it brings along.

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Battery Life

Sony Xperia Z1

There is plenty of power to go around. The Li-ion 3,000 mAh battery on the Z1 powers the phone through a day of moderate use with minimal fuss on a single charge. The large size of the battery should be more than enough makeup for its non-removable nature.
Buzz Rating:

LG G2

A power-packed performer, the phone is powered by a non-removable Li-Po 3,000 mAh battery. It lasts a day of moderate usage, with plenty of juice to spare on a single charge.

Buzz Rating:

Editor’s Take
Now, this is where things look great again after an abysmal run for both the phones in the software segment. It is wonderful to see phone manufacturers finally paying attention to the demands of the users and producing phones with larger batteries. These devices comfortably make it through a day of heavy use on a single charge. This one is too close to call, and both phones share the honors in this department.

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The Good

Sony Xperia Z1

The phone comes with a cloud of IP58-certified dust and waterproof construction.

Fantastic Triluminos display with Sony’s X-Reality engine.
Top-of-the-line hardware.
Great 20.7 MP camera with G Lens.
Great build quality.

LG G2

The innovative back-mounted button layout on the LG G2.

Some handy software tweaks
Great battery life
Almost edge-to-edge screen
The intuitive hardware button layout
Great camera with OIS

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The Not-so-good

Sony Xperia Z1

Fingerprint and smudge magnet.
Too large for one-handed operation.
Sub-par speaker output.
Outdated UI.

LG G2

Loads of bloatware
An absolute fingerprint magnet
No assurance of continued software upgrades

Final Thoughts

Both LG and Sony are heavily banking on the success of their respective flagships and have undoubtedly gone all out to make them as future-proof as possible. For us, the LG G2 emerges victorious after an epic battle. The Sony Xperia Z1 is a worthy opponent and only falls short. The G2 edges ahead of it for having a larger screen, intuitive hardware key placement, and some neat software tweaks. The phone is touted as one of the year’s best phones, with popular tech site Stuff. TV crowns it the smartphone of the year and the year’s gadget.

These phones live up to what they claim to be and deliver much more. The LG G2 surely has learned a thing or two from you, making almost everything seem possible now, while the Xperia Z1 undoubtedly showcases the best of Sony all in a smartphone. Whichever one of these phones you choose, you are in for quite a treat with either. Enjoy the ride, then. Cheers.