We are witnessing yet another battle of premium flagship smartphones. This time it’s the newest LG G2 that challenges the king of smartphones HTC One. Can the new contender outclass the HTC One, one of the most favorite handsets of 2013? The LG G2 is definitely well-equipped and has many new perks. Let’s see if it can really beat HTC’s wonder kid.

Build and design

There are just a few smartphones that can match the build quality of the HTC One. The LG G2 shows good effort, but HTC One still has a better finish with its rock-solid metal build, yet light weight. The all-plastic build of the G2 could’ve been better, although it’s still a pretty good looking phone.

On the plus side, the G2 has a cleaner look and thinner bezels than the HTC One. But the latter looks and feels better in your hand, there’s no doubt about it.

Display

• LG went for a bigger 5.2” display with IPS technology, which could work to its advantage. The HTC One has a slightly more compact 4.7” display and uses the Super LCD3 technology.

Both are state-of-the-art in terms of color brightness, and both have the same resolution of 1080 x 1920. The HTC One does have a larger pixel density of 468 ppi to the 423 ppi of the LG G2, but the differences are not visible to the naked eye. Overall, it’s a matter of size preference, but a bigger display could win the fight for the LG G2.

Under the hood

The winner here is really obvious. LG made every effort to overpower the competition, and they succeeded.

• The LG G2 is definitely lightning-fast with its quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor at 2.26GHz. It definitely surpasses the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 at 1.7GHz of the HTC One.
• The LG G2 also has the newer and faster graphics with its Adreno 330 GPU compared to the Adreno 320 of the HTC One. Both devices have the same 2GB RAM memory, but the LG G2 wins the speed race.

Interface and software

• Both Android smartphones are running the Jelly Bean 4.2.2, but are scheduled for an update to the 4.3 soon enough.

However, their concepts of Android are pretty different. LG G2 chose to be a little more innovative by implementing some new features. It has a great widget menu, the new LG lockscreen that lets the user glance under the lockscreen, the AnswerMe feature that one can use to directly answer the phone by lifting it, and much more. At a first peek, the LG G2 gives you more functionality and flexibility than the HTC One.

On the other hand, the HTC One focuses more on social media with its BlinkFeed that constantly delivers the latest updates. Although you can choose another widget panel as the homescreen, the BlinkFeed will still be there. All in all, the HTC One’s  Sense 5 keeps things a little more simple, yet the customization lacks compared to the LG G2.  

Multimedia Gallery

The LG G2 has a pretty standard Android multimedia gallery. It’s easy to locate your pictures due to multiple sorting options. However, the HTC One goes a step beyond with its Zoe mode that really renders life to the multimedia gallery. Zoe also gives the user a ton of great tools for photo editing. So HTC One is surely more endowed in the multimedia department.

Audio and Video

The video player interface of the LG G2 is straightforward and easy-to-use. It has a great live preview feature for videos, as well as the option to use swipe for going forward or backward. It also offers good support for all video file types. The same can be said about the music player, which comes with an equalizer.

On the other hand, the HTC One has an even simpler video interface, and has some issues supporting some file types, such as MOV or DivX. However, the HTC One does win on sound quality with better speakers.   

Camera

• The LG G2 has a 13 MP camera with optical image stabilization that renders very sharp images and true-to-nature colors. The optical image stabilization means less blurry images, especially in low-light conditions.
• On the other side, the HTC One has only a 4 MP camera but these are actually ultrapixels, larger than regular pixels. This camera behaves really well in poorly lit environments due to the aforementioned ultrapixels, but seems to deliver less color accuracy.

Thus, the LG G2 seems the better option in terms of camera capabilities.  

Battery life

• LG has equipped the G2 with a very beefy 3000 mAh battery, which surely outlasts the 2300 mAh battery on the HTC One.

 Of course, the G2 has more power and a bigger screen that needs the extra battery life. Still, it definitely surpasses the HTC One on battery life. 

Final verdict

Both devices are clearly playing in the same league. While the LG G2 surely has more power, battery life and more customization, the HTC One has a splendid design, solid build and great multimedia features. To the every-day user, the differences between these two flagships can be negligible.

• Both are spectacular in their own respect and choosing any of them wouldn’t be a bad bet at all. But with the new HTC One Max on its way, a new comparison will surely be required.  

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