LG Optimus G Pro review: Proceed to checkout

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GSMArena team, 8 March 2013.

Display

The eye-catching 5.5" True HD IPS Plus display of Full HD resolution is definitely one of the LG Optimus G Pro's key selling points. LG is keen on making lots of noise about how the colors are rendered, pitting it against Samsung's AMOLED displays. Long story short, LG claims the Optimus G Pro's display shows 100% accurate colors, unlike AMOLED screens.

Here's what the screen looks like through the eyes of our digital microscope:

LG Optimus G Pro Review
LG Optimus G Pro screen up close

Of course, we took it for a test drive ourselves and we can safely confirm that the images indeed look great and colors pop, especially the reds. The display is impressively sharp too, thanks to the amazing pixel density of 400 ppi.

So, the screen junkies that we are, we decided to take out the Galaxy S III and put its Super AMOLED 720p screen next to the True HD-IPS+ 1080p LCD of the G Pro. The S III has better contrast and oversaturated colors (which is plus or a minus, depending on who you ask).

LG Optimus G Pro Review LG Optimus G Pro Review
A head on image of the two screens

The LG Optimus G Pro's screen is more reflective and there is contrast loss when you're looking at the screen at an angle. It's a minor thing though, the G Pro screen is excellent overall.


Check out the reflective surfaces and viewing angles

We also compared the Optimus G Pro to the regular Optimus G. The smaller phone has a screen of 318ppi and, while you can't quite see individual pixels, you can still notice jaggies on curves and diagonals.

The Optimus G Pro's screen has about the same contrast though it's brighter. It has a noticeable advantage in viewing angles, the Optimus G screen starts showing a shift in contrast earlier and the effect is much stronger. The Optimus G Pro screen is a bit more reflective though and it's sunlight legibility is worse.

Display test 50% brightness 100% brightness
Black, cd/m2 White, cd/m2 Contrast ratio Black, cd/m2 White, cd/m2 Contrast ratio
LG Optimus G Pro - - - 0.41 611 1489
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express 0 201 0 364
HTC Butterfly 0.14 173 1200 0.45 501 1104
Sony Xperia Z - - - 0.70 492 705
Oppo Find 5 0.17 176 1123 0.51 565 1107
LG Optimus G 0.14 197 1445 0.33 417 1438
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 0 174 0 330
Nokia Lumia 920 - - - 0.48 513 1065
Apple iPhone 5 0.13 200 1490 0.48 640 1320
Nexus 4 0.22 314 1447 0.45 608 1341
HTC One X 0.15 200 1375 0.39 550 1410

Sunlight contrast ratio

  • Nokia 808 PureView
    4.698
  • Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
    3.419
  • Samsung Omnia W
    3.301
  • Samsung Galaxy S
    3.155
  • Nokia N9
    3.069
  • Samsung Galaxy Note
    2.970
  • HTC One S
    2.901
  • Samsung Galaxy Express
    2.861
  • Samsung Galaxy S II
    2.832
  • Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
    2.801
  • Huawei Ascend P1
    2.655
  • Nokia Lumia 900
    2.562
  • Sony Xperia Z
    2.462
  • Samsung Galaxy S III mini
    2.422
  • Motorola RAZR i
    2.366
  • Apple iPhone 4S
    2.269
  • HTC One X
    2.158
  • Nokia N8
    2.144
  • Oppo Find 5
    2.088
  • BlackBerry Z10
    2.051
  • Apple iPhone 4
    2.016
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
    1.955
  • Samsung Galaxy Camera
    1.938
  • HTC Butterfly
    1.873
  • Sony Xperia V
    1.792
  • Sony Xperia U
    1.758
  • LG Optimus G
    1.753
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    1.691
  • HTC One V
    1.685
  • LG Optimus Vu
    1.680
  • HTC Desire V
    1.646
  • Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
    1.632
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    1.552
  • LG Optimus 3D
    1.542
  • Nokia Asha 302
    1.537
  • Nokia Lumia 610
    1.432
  • Gigabyte GSmart G1355
    1.361
  • Samsung Galaxy Grand
    1.321
  • HTC Desire C
    1.300
  • LG Optimus L7
    1.269
  • LG Optimus L9
    1.227
  • Meizu MX
    1.221
  • Sony Xperia E dual
    1.203
  • Samsung Galaxy Pocket
    1.180
  • Sony Xperia tipo
    1.166
  • Samsung Galaxy mini 2
    1.114

The capacitive sensor on the screen is very sensitive and will detect touches even if you're wearing gloves, using a long fingernail or an improvised stylus (like keys, some pens, etc.). Unfortunately, there was also a fair number of accidental taps as the screen is a bit too receptive.

We should note something we ran across during benchmarking the Optimus G Pro. After an intensive benchmark the screen refused to go over 92% brightness due to "temperature restrictions". The back of the device was warm, but not unpleasantly hot. It cooled off pretty quickly and the screen went back to full brightness, but it's something to keep in mind when running intensive games.

Reader comments

  • Egemen Bac
  • 02 Jun 2023
  • xDE

Since this is the first time I have used lg optimus g pro in 2014,and it was at&t version but, the alarms and ringtones are all Sony xperia. That was my dream mobile phone!

  • asad
  • 03 Sep 2016
  • 6Pc

How i activat 3g or 4g on my lg G pro mobile plzzzz plzz say me i activated but not show on uper screen bar plzz say me

  • Becca
  • 28 Mar 2016
  • qKJ

The quick remote is on my lock screen like 5 times. I've been trying for months to find out how to get it off ! When i go to the shortcut setting for the lock screen it is showing that i don't have any ! Please help me !