LG Optimus GJ review: Wild child

Wild child

GSMArena team, 12 August 2013.

Google Now gets it done

Google Now was first introduced in Jelly Bean 4.1 and is constantly being updated by Google to be smarter than ever.

It's accessed by swiping up on any of the on-screen controls and gives you a short overview of information it believes is relevant to you. Going to work the same route every morning? Google Now will let you know there's a big traffic jam on your usual way to the office and will offer an alternative route.

It can interpret a lot of things from your search history as well. If you've been searching for, let's say, your favorite football team, Google Now will prepare a card showing you the next match the team is playing and will provide you with score updates once the game begins.

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Google Now is always improving

If you allow it, the service can also scan your email for upcoming flights, deliveries or restaurant reservations and let you know when they are due. There are also numerous kinds of cards like birthdays (yours and those of your contacts and friends in the Google+ social network) and what distance you've walked in a particular month.

Google has also integrated Voice Actions. They can handle stuff like sending messages (SMS or email), initiating a voice call, asking for directions, taking a note or opening a site. Google Now can also launch apps, check and manage your calendar and look for nearby places of interest and stuff like movie theater listings.

Synthetic benchmarks

The LG Optimus GJ boasts a quad-core Krait CPU cores clocked in at 1.5GHz, 2GB of RAM and the Adreno 320 GPU. Although this configuration is the same as the one found on the somewhat dated Optimus G, it's still robust enough to hold its own under most circumstances.

There are superior quad-core processors around - the Snapdragon 600 chipset is a fine example, powering the likes of the Galaxy S4 and the Optimus G Pro, and so is the Cortex-A15 on the Samsung Galaxy S4, so the GJ isn't going to rival those top flagships.

In Benchmark Pi (which is all about single-threaded performance), the Optimus GJ scored right around the Xperia Z flagship and its variants. Linpack adds multi-core performance into the equation, and again the GJ comes in alongside the Xperia Z devices.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    132
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    147
  • HTC One
    151
  • Sony Xperia SP
    184
  • Sony Xperia ZR
    264
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    264
  • Sony Xperia Z
    264
  • LG Optimus GJ
    266
  • HTC Butterfly
    266
  • Oppo Find 5
    267
  • HTC One X+
    280
  • LG Optimus G
    285
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    305
  • HTC One X (Tegra 3)
    330
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    350
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    359
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    362
  • Nexus 4
    431
  • Sony Xperia L
    435

Linpack

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    788
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    743
  • HTC One
    646
  • LG Optimus GJ
    638
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    631
  • Sony Xperia Z
    630
  • Sony Xperia ZR
    627
  • HTC Butterfly
    624
  • LG Optimus G
    608
  • Oppo Find 5
    593
  • Sony Xperia SP
    348
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    214
  • Nexus 4
    213
  • Sony Xperia L
    191
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    189
  • HTC One X+
    177
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    175
  • HTC One X
    160
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    141

AnTuTu, Quadrant and Geekbench 2 are all compound performance benchmarks, all of which test the system as a whole. The GJ posted some very respectable results considering its pedigree. Although it was outclassed by some of the newer flagships, it isn't expected to compete with them directly.

AnTuTu

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    24716
  • HTC One
    22678
  • Sony Xperia Z
    20794
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    20743
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    20056
  • HTC Butterfly
    19513
  • LG Optimus GJ
    19396
  • Sony Xperia ZR
    18288
  • Sony Xperia SP
    15874
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    15547
  • Oppo Find 5
    15167
  • Sony Xperia L
    9746

Quadrant

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    12376
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    12105
  • HTC One
    11746
  • Sony Xperia Z
    8075
  • Sony Xperia ZR
    8073
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    7912
  • Sony Xperia SP
    7897
  • HTC One X+
    7632
  • LG Optimus G
    7439
  • Oppo Find 5
    7111
  • LG Optimus GJ
    6714
  • HTC One X
    5952
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    5916
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    5450
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    5170
  • Nexus 4
    4567
  • Sony Xperia L
    4279

Geekbench 2

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    3227
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    3040
  • HTC One
    2708
  • Sony Xperia Z
    2173
  • HTC Butterfly
    2143
  • Sony Xperia SP
    2105
  • LG Optimus GJ
    2319
  • Sony Xperia ZR
    2071
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    1995
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    1845
  • LG Optimus G
    1723
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    1661
  • iPhone 5
    1601
  • Sony Xperia SL
    1073

We ran both of the GLBenchmark benchmarks in off-screen mode at a fixed resolution, which lets us test raw GPU power. The Optimus GJ didn't disappoint, scoring as towards the middle of the pack with some respectable numbers.

GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung I9500 Galaxy S4
    43
  • Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
    41
  • HTC One GPE
    41
  • HTC One
    37
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 GPE
    33
  • LG Optimus GJ
    33
  • Google Nexus 4
    32
  • Sony Xperia ZR
    32
  • Sony Xperia Z
    31
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    31
  • Sony Xperia SP
    31
  • Apple iPhone 5
    30
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    30
  • LG Optimus G
    21
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    17
  • HTC One X
    11

GLBenchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
    17.1
  • Samsung I9500 Galaxy S4
    17.1
  • Apple iPad 4
    16.8
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
    16
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 GPE
    15
  • LG Optimus GJ
    14
  • HTC One GPE
    13.9
  • LG Optimus G
    13.9
  • Sony Xperia Z
    13.5
  • Sony Xperia Tablet Z
    13
  • Sony Xperia ZR
    13
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    12.8
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    4.9

But most games will probably want to run at native resolution, so we're including Epic Citadel, which uses the Unreal Engine 3. Unreal Engine is popular with mobile game makers, so it's a pretty important test. The benchmark was run at the highest quality setting and yet the LG Optimus GJ did as well as the rest of the flagships in our chart.

Epic Citadel

Higher is better

  • Sony Xperia ZR
    57.2
  • Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
    57.1
  • HTC One
    56.4
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 GPE
    55.8
  • Sony Xperia Z
    55.6
  • HTC One GPE
    54.2
  • Nexus 4
    53.9
  • Asus Padfone 2
    53.4
  • LG Optimus G
    52.6
  • LG Optimus GJ
    52.5
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    41.3
  • Oppo Find 5
    38.6

Our browsing benchmarks have the GJ in the middle of the pack again, with Vellamo and Browsermark 2 throwing HTML 5 into the equation.

SunSpider

Lower is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    810
  • Samsung Ativ S
    891
  • Apple iPhone 5
    915
  • Nokia Lumia 920
    910
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    972
  • HTC One X+
    1001
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    1011
  • Motorola RAZR i XT890
    1059
  • Sony Xperia SP
    1116
  • HTC One
    1124
  • LG Optimus GJ
    1139
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    1192
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    1290
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    1312
  • Sony Xperia ZR
    1310
  • Sony Xperia Z
    1336
  • LG Optimus G
    1353
  • HTC Butterfly
    1433
  • Nexus 4
    1971
  • Oppo Find 5
    2045
  • Sony Xperia L
    2539

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

  • LG Optimus G
    2555
  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    2438
  • Sony Xperia SP
    2263
  • HTC One
    2262
  • LG Optimus GJ
    2190
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    2107
  • Sony Xperia Z
    2093
  • Sony Xperia ZR
    1831
  • Sony Xperia L
    1809
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    1801
  • Oppo Find 5
    1797
  • Nexus 4
    1794
  • Nokia Lumia 920
    1774
  • Nokia Lumia 820
    1760
  • Samsung Omnia W
    1632
  • HTC Butterfly
    1475
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    1247

Vellamo

Higher is better

  • Sony Xperia SP
    2497
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    2418
  • HTC One
    2382
  • Sony Xperia ZR
    2253
  • Sony Xperia Z
    2189
  • Sony Xperia ZL
    2186
  • HTC One X (Tegra 3)
    2078
  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    2060
  • LG Optimus GJ
    1947
  • HTC Butterfly
    1866
  • Oppo Find 5
    1658
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    1641
  • Sony Xperia L
    1640
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    1568
  • LG Optimus G
    1522
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    1468
  • Nexus 4
    1310

The Optimus GJ provides some great performance, but with one important caveat: the device tends to overheat quickly, likely due to its watertight chassis. LG combat this by automatically underclocking the processor and lowering the screen brightness whenever the temperature reaches a certain threshold. There is no way to adjust or disable this feature.

This results in performance which doesn't accurately reflect the above benchmark results - many of the benchmarks scores dropped by 10-15% after just several minutes of usage.

Reader comments

  • AnonD-181602
  • 02 Sep 2013
  • 4iY

Thanks for the review I'm going to put this one on my must have list of waterproof phones LG collection.

  • AnonD-181191
  • 01 Sep 2013
  • vrX

Logged in to say this. GJ Bu!! (Hope someone understands.. Lol)

  • blanket81
  • 22 Aug 2013
  • v0q

dont buy lg... lg always making false promises... still no update on lg 3d max its been a year... stuck with gingerbread....