Sony Xperia Z2 vs LG G2

Introduction

The Sony Xperia Z2 is the new kid on the flagship block: a device of cutting-edge style and top-notch internals, it will end up on store shelves along with the rest of the flagship smartphones, and today we compare it with one such phone - the LG G2.

The Xperia Z2 has got time on its side - as the newest device it has the newest of everything, but most notable is its Snapdragon 801 engine running alongside 3GB of RAM. The LG G2, on the other hand, has just the slightly slower, yesteryear Snapdragon 800, but it has aged nicely as LG has cut the price of the G2 hugely.

In terms of design, the difference between the two is huge: the glass body of the Z2 gives it a decidedly premium appearance, while the G2 looks much more utilitarian with its glossy plastic shell.

Despite all these differences, though, the two handsets share a similarly sized window to the world: a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS LCD display is on both. You might be wondering: are the differences between the two worth the big price difference? We’re here to answer that, so read on.

Design

The Xperia Z2 features a stylish design with a body made out of glass, while the G2’s plastic build is much less inspiring. The Z2 has also got protection from elements on its side.

The Sony Xperia Z2 features an elegant evergreen design with glass on both the back and front, and it’s all constructed admirably well, while the LG G2 is made out of utilitarian glossy plastic, and it just does not feel well put together with that occasional creaking sound from the back of the phone.

In terms of size, the Xperia Z2 is noticeably taller and also slightly wider than the G2. This is due to the larger bezels surrounding the 5.2” display on the Sony handset. Neither is super slim: the Xperia Z2 measures 0.32 inches thick, while the G2 is a bit thicker at 0.35 inches.

Even though the Xperia Z2 impresses more with its stylish appearance, the LG G2 also has one eye-catchy element that is truly unique. This element is the peculiar positioning of all its physical buttons on the back, in a place where your fingers naturally lie when you hold the phone in portrait orientation. Right below the main camera, LG has positioned a power/lock key, gracefully encircled by an LED light that blinks in different colors to notify you about missed notification. The volume buttons are located around the lock key, but while clicky, they also feel wobbly and overall not particularly well made.

The Xperia Z2, on the other hand, can brag with its meticulous attention to detail as it sports beautifully crafted metal buttons. The round lock key on the right is particularly eye-catchy, but it can also be just a bit too small and shallow. The other buttons are also on the right: there’s a volume rocker with a curved shape (but it also has a muted response), and a dedicated two-way camera shutter key that is actually nice to press.

It’s also worth mentioning that Sony introduces stereo speakers in the Z2. They are located inconspicuously on the front in the form of tiny strips right next to the top and bottom borders. The top one hides a colorful secret - an LED notification strip that will blink in different colors whenever you get a new message or an update. The G2, in contrast, has just a single speaker on the bottom.

Moreover, the Z2 has one clear advantage over the G2, and that is its resistance to the elements. The Z2 is protected from dust and water (IP58-certified), and it can withstand submersion in up to 5-feet (1.5-meter) deep fresh water for up to 30 minutes.

Display

Xperia Z2 and G2 both feature 5.2” 1080p displays that have vivid colors. Neither is perfectly color-accurate, but the Z2 is a bit more likable with its better balanced and less cold tones.

Both the Sony Xperia Z2 and LG G2 feature 5.2-inch displays with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, and both use IPS LCD technology. The two are very sharp with pixel density of 424ppi on both, enough to not notice any pixelization and read even tinier fonts with ease.

Despite all the similarity in screen size and sharpness, there’s also one thing that differs on the two and it’s the colors. Sony’s IPS LCD display boasts vivid colors with whites that do not look too cold, but it’s also true that the Z2 has a much wider color gamut than standard, and this makes colors a bit unnatural. LG’s G2 colors also look rather overblown, but on the other hand it has a very noticeable blueish tint.

We ought to say that this new Xperia Z2 display is a huge step up for Sony on its own, as the company has had sub-par displays in its last couple of its top-shelf offerings, and now finally offers a display that has good viewing angles. The Z2 is also the first Sony smartphone to come with the new Live Color LED tech, that is all about having red and green phosphor lights in addition to the traditional blue LEDs on the screen. These lights along with custom color filters are what makes possible to have a brighter display with more uniform light. Outdoors, both do a decent job as they get sufficiently bright and reflections are reduced, so it’s possible to use them under the bright sun with too huge of an effort.

The Xperia Z2 has also gotten two new display options: you can now choose to enable or disable glove mode, as well as adjust the color temperature to your liking. The G2 does not allow you such fine control over the colors.

Interface and Functionality

The outer style of the Z2 is complemented by the clean and sleek Xperia UI, while the Optimus skin on the G2 is a bit too cartoony.

The Sony Xperia Z2 arrives with the latest version of Android, 4.4.2 KitKat, with Sony’s Xperia custom user interface on top. The LG G2, on the other hand, is being updated to KitKat in some markets, but unfortunately our unit is still running on the dated Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

The actual difference in the looks of the interface, however, comes mostly from the different skins that the two phones use. Sony’s Xperia UI is clean and light, with little clutter and a pleasingly uniform design language with modern iconography and snappy animations, all combined leaving a distinct feeling of a Sony Android experience. LG’s Optimus UI, on the other hand, has this cartoonish visual style that is uniform in itself, but comes in dissonance with the vastly different looks of pure Google aesthetic within some apps, and lacks that flow and refinement.



The Z2 is not all that rich in terms of added apps and tweaks and tricks, but this also means that its also more gimmick-free. The G2, on the other hand, is just stuffed with little features and settings, some of which are good, but others seem over the top.

Most basic operations on the two phones are different in looks, but similar in functionality. The phonebook app is rich and detailed on both, and it conveniently supports swiping between tabs (we also love little details in LG’s Optimus skin like the capability to call a contact directly without accessing its file).

The virtual keyboards on the two phones have a different style, but the typing experience is good on both as buttons are well spaced, and typing is fast and easy on the big, 5.2” displays. The Z2, however, with its larger size, is less comfortable for single-handed typing, an issue that is not all that apparent on the G2.

Processor and Memory

The Snapdragon 801 system chip aboard the Z2 along with 3GB of RAM gives it an advantage in the spec race, but the G2’s Snapdragon 800 is a great performer as well.

The recent arrival of Sony’s Xperia Z2 gives it the advantage of being equipped with the latest and most powerful Snapdragon 801 system chip, but while the LG G2 has yesteryear’s Snapdragon 800, the difference between the performance power of the two is not immense. In fact, for common daily tasks, both feel very zippy, and it’s a rarity to have something stutter.

It’s also true, however, that the Xperia Z2 is the more future-proof phone, with its latest internals. The Z2 sports the quad-core Snapdragon 801 chip running at 2.3GHz and features a plentiful 3GB of RAM. The LG G2 has its Snapdragon 800 run at 2.3GHz as well, but has a lower amount of RAM - 2GB.

For gaming, you have the Adreno 330 GPU on both handsets, and both are capable of running the latest and most graphically intense titles in admirable detail and with smooth framerates.

Internal storage is 16GB on the most basic model of the Xperia Z2, while the G2 has double that allowance, with 32 gigs on board. You can, however, expand the memory via a microSD card on the Xperia Z2, while you cannot do this on the LG G2.

Internet and Connectivity

Both feature 4G LTE connectivity and other essentials, but the G2 has got an IR blaster, which is a nice extra.

Sony has taken the sensible decision to go with just one built-in browser (Chrome) on the Xperia Z2. This comes in contrast with the LG G2 and many other phone manufacturers who bundle-in two browsers. In the case of the G2 we have a custom LG browser and Chrome, that you have to pick between. The browsing experience itself is excellent on both devices - pages load and render swiftly, and scrolling around and zooming in and out is free of slowdowns and stutters.


In terms of connectivity, the Xperia Z2 and G2 are similarly well packed with 4G LTE on board, but the Xperia Z2 has just a slight edge as its 4G LTE modem supports higher download speeds (up to 150Mbps on the Z2 vs up to 100Mbps on the G2). Other connectivity options include dual-channel Wi-Fi, GPS, and NFC on board of both.

The LG G2 also has an infra-red (IR) blaster baked-in, and you can use it as a remote control for your TV, or other electronics. It’s a great addition for the times when you just can’t find the TV remote. The Xperia Z2 does not have such an option.

Camera

The camera of the Xperia Z2 captures great images with lively colors. The G2 is also a good camera phone, but pictures on it appear a bit colder and slightly less pleasing.

The Xperia Z2 comes with a 20-megapixel camera, while the LG G2 sports a 13-megapixel main shooter. The Xperia Z2 has the advantage of having the largest sensor of any Android phone - its 1/2.3” backside-illuminated sensor is nearly 30% bigger than the 1/3.06” sensor on the G2. In terms of optics, the Z2 sports a wide, 27mm G lens with f/2.0 aperture, while the G2 has a 'slower' f/2.4 lens with slightly narrower focal length of 29mm.

In terms of ergonomics, the G2 is clearly the one that is easier to use because of its more compact size and convenient location of the volume down button that you can use to snap pictures with. The larger Z2 is not all that comfortable, but it does have the advantage of a dedicated 2-way shutter key with nice travel.

The camera app on the Xperia Z2 opens swiftly and you have the option to go from a locked device directly into the camera by holding the dedicated camera shutter key. The app has large, separate buttons for still and video capture in the Superior Auto shooting mode, but you can also go into Manual mode where controls are different and you have control over settings such as ISO, white balance, and so on. Sadly, these manual settings are hidden a bit deeper in the menus than we’d like, so it’s not all that convenient to quickly make adjustments.



The G2, on its part, features a slightly better optimized camera interface with settings that are within quick reach. Unlike the Z2, it features lots of shooting modes that you can manually switch between.

In the default Superior Auto shooting mode, the Sony Xperia Z2 shoots 8-megapixel photos made by pixel processing of the 20-megapixel feed from the sensor for better overall quality. We prefer having these high-quality 8MP photos instead of not-so-good 20MP ones, and they are also smaller, so you can share them around quicker. You can still shoot full 20-megapixel images (without this processing benefit) in Manual mode, but they tend to turn out lacking in sharpness, with some artifacts, and are also noisier than the 8-megapixel images. That's why we have shot our Z2 camera samples for this comparison in the Superior Auto mode at 8 megapixels.

The actual quality of captured images on both is among the best out of a smartphone. The Z2 outperforms the G2 by just a bit, as its photos have consistently impressive, vivid (but slightly over saturated) colors with great contrast and impressive dynamics. The Z2 has its issues, though: it tends to soften detail around the edges of the image slightly, and there are some artifacts that can be noticed, but those are rather minute details. The G2, in contrast, captures images that are rich in detail (we’d say richer than the Z2), but comparing the pictures, you see that colors on the G2 are often muted, at times skewing towards yellowish, and with the occasional overexposing of images, they tend to look as lacking in vibrancy and liveliness.

Indoors, in low light, the two cameras capture very different images. The optical image stabilization on the G2 allows the handset to shoot without firing the flash without blurring images terribly, and that naturally translates to pictures without the usual blue-ifying effect of LED flashes. The Xperia Z2 in contrast uses the flash in even a relatively well-lit room, but colors are not strongly distorted. One huge plus of the Z2 that becomes even more obvious indoors is the sharp detail - while the G2 blurs details noticeably, images on the Z2 have a much sharper appearance.

The Xperia Z2 and G2 both have 2-megapixel front-facing cameras that are good enough to satisfy your urge for a selfie, or for a video chat with friends or family.



In terms of video, the Xperia Z2 is capable of recording 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160 pixels) footage at 30 frames per second, while the G2 can only shoot at up to 1080p. For those few who actually have a 4K monitor, the difference comes in much finer detail and texture in 4K videos, and it is also a nice option for people who do post-processing. It also has the capability to record HDR video, which highlights details that would be otherwise lost in some conditions. The G2, on its part, can record 1080p at either 30fps or 60fps (you have the same choice for 1080p videos on the Z2), but its most sizable advantage is that it has optical image stabilization (OIS) that works a bit better than the electronic one on the Z2.

The actual quality of the recorded footage? It’s great, sharp and smooth on both devices, but we prefer the colors on the Xperia Z2 that look closer to reality, while the G2 videos have a bit colder and muted appearance. The Z2 also has the much faster auto-focus, which is of crucial importance for video.

Multimedia

With large vivid displays and excellent codec support, both are excellent for video on the go. The speakers on the Z2 are much better than the one of the G2.

With large, sharp and vivid screens, the Z2 and G2 have the right base for a great media experience - be it to watch a movie on the go or browse through photos. Sony packs a great gallery app with impressive visual style that is also rich in functionality with features like pinch to zoom to resize thumbnails. The G2 gallery has a different aesthetic, and while we prefer the one on the Z2, LG’s gallery also supports pinch to zoom and is very functional.


The Z2 also has an excellent video player with eye-catchy looks and a featured preview of the latest played video running on top. The G2 again lacks such visual flare, but in terms of functionality both are similarly capable and run all common video codecs.

For music, the Z2 has the Walkman player, again fitting nicely with the impressive visual style of the Sony UI, but also rich in options. The G2’s music player is equally capable of playing back and categorizing your music.

The Sony handset comes with front-facing stereo speakers that sound much cleaner (with even some depth to the sound) and much louder than the one on the G2.

Call Quality

Call quality is slightly above the average for both handsets. The Xperia Z2 has an unnatural metallic rumble to voices in the earpiece, with audible annoying side noise, with slightly better output from the mics. The G2 on the other hand has issues in reverse - its mic sounds unclear to callers, while the earpiece is fine.

Battery

Both the Xperia Z2 and G2 come with large, long lasting batteries, but the 3200mAh battery on the Z2 is one step above the LG handset. In fact, the Z2 scored so well in our battery test that it ranks among the longest lasting phones out there with battery longevity of 8 hours and 10 minutes, while the G2 scores 6 hours and 48 minutes.

The juicer on both is sealed and there’s no way to swap batteries on the go. The two also have energy conservation modes to get the most juice out of the battery when it starts getting low. In Sony’s case, it is called Stamina mode, while on the LG phone it’s ‘Battery saver’. Both do things like switch off mobile data and even put brakes on the processor to work in a more battery-efficient (and slower) way, but neither is as radical as the Ultra Power Saving Mode on the Galaxy S5.

Conclusion

The Xperia Z2 feels like the superior device in this battle of the 5.2-inch Android flagship phones. It’s got a sleek style to both its outwards appearance and software, a great overall performance, great camera and a super long lasting battery. The LG G2 is also a great performer that does not lack much in processing power, but its design feels less refined and the camera is a bit less capable.

However, when it boils down to value-for-the-money, the LG G2 has got price on its side, as it can be found for an off-contract price of $400 (€350), while the Xperia Z2 can be had for a much heftier price north of $600 (€600). So do we have a winner in this Android battle of giants? If price is not a concern, the Xperia Z2 has got a clear advantage, but if you don’t want to pay the full cost of a new flagship, the G2 is one of the best value-for-the-money offers that still pack flagship-like specs.