English
With an overall DxOMark Mobile score of 73 points the LG G2 high-end smartphone sits in joint sixth place in our rankings alongside the Nokia Lumia 925, and one point ahead of the older generation Apple iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S3 models.
Newer handsets including Nokia’s Lumia 1020 at 74 points and the Samsung Galaxy S4 with 75 points occupy fourth and third places respectively, rank slightly above the new LG G2.
Looking more closely at the individual scores for stills and video, the G2 is a much stronger contender if basing the results purely on its photo-capabilities. It achieved a strong score of 77 points in our DxOMark Mobile Photo category, the same as the Sony Xperia Z1 and just one point less than the current Apple iPhone 5S, which are ranked joint second.
Unsurprisingly perhaps, the G2’s 13-Mpix camera is capable of more highly detailed images across the image field than the current crop of rivals using 8-Mpix sensors. Autofocus is fast and the G2 has accurate exposure in a wide range of conditions including extremely low light, while noise levels remain low.
Outdoors, with good lighting, images are very sharp and colors are vivid and pleasing in most circumstances. In some situations, for instance, clear afternoon skies, white balance inaccuracies resulted in images with a cool blue tint.
In low-light levels, edge acutance is high, though low contrast detail is heavily smoothed as a result of substantial noise reduction. Even then, some low frequency chroma noise is still visible at times. We also observed color shading under some indoor lighting types. But images are well exposed due the G2 selecting longer shutter speeds than many rivals are capable of. However, such a long exposure time will cause motion blur on moving on objects.
The G2 achieved a DxOMark Mobile Video score of 64 overall, lower than most competitor’s handsets at this level but still on a par with the Nokia Lumia 1020.
However the minuses mirror that of the photo results with generally low detail rendition in low lighting, white balance inaccuracies, albeit under tungsten lighting predominantly together with the addition of color fringing to dark areas of high contrast scenes.
Photo Pros
- Very good detail preservation outdoors. More detail visible than on most 8Mp smartphone cameras
- Very low noise levels in all lighting conditions.
- Good edge preservation in low light.
- Good overall exposure. In extreme low light, images are still well exposed, unlike most non-OIS camera phones.
- Very fast autofocus, mostly repeatable.
- Good behavior with flash.
Video Pros
- Efficient stabilization for handheld motion.
- Low noise levels.
Photo Cons
- Visible color shading with some indoor lighting.
- In low light conditions, low-contrast details are completely smoothed out, producing a cartoon-like effect.
- Slight white balance bias occasionally noticeable outdoors.
- OIS software bug: Visible motion blur while nothing is actually moving (phone on tripod with a still photo scene).
Video Cons
- Video stabilization unable to compensate walking motion.
- Overshoots visible when refocusing.
- Low frequency color fringes in dark areas of high contrast scenes
- White balance inaccuracies, especially under tungsten illuminant.
- Texture preservation poor in low-light.
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