LG G Pro 2 review: See you 2morrow

Synthetic benchmarks

LG G Pro 2 is powered by what until recently was the standard-setter in chipsets, Snapdragon 800. The four Krait 400 CPU cores are clocked at 2.26GHz, with an Adreno 330 graphics chip @ 450MHz and 3GB of RAM. According to the system status apps, about 200MB of RAM are reserved for the GPU, while the rest is available to the OS.

The LG G Pro 2 runs the latest Android 4.4 KitKat. The OS is supposed to be lighter and more responsive thanks to Project Svelte, which optimizes memory usage and overall system performance. KitKat also support the latest OpenGL 3.0, so you can enjoy the best graphics to date.

Until we get a chance to test the overclocked Krait 400 in the latest Galaxy S5 or the newer generation Cortex A5x, the standard Krait 400 CPU clocked at 2.26GHz is still the reigning champ. The single-core performance varies across devices but consistently holds on to the top of the charts.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

• LG G Flex
  99
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  99
• LG G2
  99
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  104
• Sony Xperia Z1
  115
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  115
• HTC One Max
  131
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  132
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  132
• LG G Pro 2
  141
• LG Nexus 5
  146
• LG Optimus G Pro
  147
• HTC One
  151
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  166
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  183
• HTC One mini
  293
• Sony Xperia C
  374
• LG Nexus 4
  431

In the multi-thread Linpack test, the LG G Pro 2 isn't the best performer we've seen, but still among the top achievers.

Linpack

Higher is better

• LG G Flex
  1102
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  1081
• LG G2
  1054
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1034
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  1010
• Sony Xperia Z1
  1004
• LG G Pro 2
  818
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  791
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  788
• LG Optimus G Pro
  743
• HTC One
  646
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  413
• LG Nexus 5
  393
• HTC One mini
  320

GeekBench 3 is where the LG G Pro 2’s raw processing power shines. The phablet easily matched the rest of the S800 gang, meeting our expectations.

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2968
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2937
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2670
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2638
• LG G Pro 2
  2585
• Apple iPhone 5s
  2561
• LG Nexus 5
  2453
• LG G Flex
  2254
• LG G2
  2243
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  2172
• HTC One
  1972
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1869
• LG Nexus 4
  1288
• Sony Xperia C
  1079
• HTC One mini
  887

The G Pro 2 aced the Quadrant test, but fell a tad short of its peers on AnTuTu.

Quadrant

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  21618
• LG G Flex
  20521
• Sony Xperia Z1
  20388
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  20052
• LG G Pro 2
  20010
• LG G2
  19815
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  18177
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  12446
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  12376
• LG Optimus G Pro
  12105
• HTC One
  11746
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  11404
• LG Nexus 5
  8844
• Oppo N1
  8099
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  7153
• HTC One mini
  6048

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

• LG G Flex
  35831
• LG G2
  35444
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  34527
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  32162
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  31109
• Sony Xperia Z1
  30850
• LG G Pro 2
  29603
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  29185
• Samsung Galaxy S4
  27613
• HTC One
  26389
• LG Nexus 5
  25097
• LG Optimus G Pro
  20056

Now let's move on to the GPU testing. We ran GFX Benchmark T-Rex (GFX 2.7, OpenGL 2.0 test) and Manhattan (GFX 3.0, OpenGL 3.0 test) in both 1080p off-screen and on-screen, which is also the native screen resolution for the current crop of Android flagships. The G Pro 2 matched the Snapdragon 800 competition on this test. Naturally, the LG G Pro 2 does worse in the on-screen tests compared to the 720p devices, but is once again on par with the rest of the S800 crowd.

GFX Benchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26.3
• LG Nexus 5
  23
• Sony Xperia Z1
  23
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  23
• Apple iPhone 5s
  23
• LG G Pro 2
  22.9
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  22
• LG G Flex
  22
• LG G2
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  16
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  15
• HTC One max
  14
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  6.4
• HTC One mini
  5.6

GFX Benchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p on-screen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  37
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  34
• LG G Flex
  33
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26.7
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  25
• LG G Pro 2
  24.1
• LG Nexus 5
  24
• LG G2
  23.1

GFX Benchmark 3.0 Manhattan (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  9.9
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  9
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  8.9
• LG G Pro 2
  8.7
• LG Nexus 5
  8.5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3.7
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  1.9

GFX Benchmark 3.0 Manhattan (1080p on-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  10
• LG G Pro 2
  9.2
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  4.7
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  4.0

The LG G Pro 2 did great in the 3DMark graphic benchmark too, outperformed only by the Galaxy Note 3.

3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  19134
• LG G Pro 2
  16728
• LG G Flex
  16068
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  15481
• LG G2
  14464
• LG Nexus 5
  13510
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  9650
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  4807
• Sony Xperia C
  2590

The Adreno 330 GPU in the LG G Pro 2 did pretty well at Epic Citadel, too. Its score is very close to the Galaxy Note 3 and Xperia Z1.

Epic Citadel

Higher is better

• LG G Flex
  56
• Sony Xperia Z
  55.6
• Sony Xperia Z1
  54.8
• LG G Pro 2
  54.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  54
• Asus Padfone 2
  53.4
• LG Nexus 5
  49.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  49
• Alcatel One Touch Hero
  43.5
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  37.2
• Motorola Moto G
  34
• Huawei Ascend Mate
  33.2
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  32

The LG G Pro 2 has demonstrated top performance so far, but what happens when it comes to web benchmarks? The JavaScript performance is on par with the other Snapdragon 800-powered smartphones. The overall browsing performance (BrowserMark 2) is top notch too, beating every smartphone we've tested so far, but the Galaxy Note 3 Neo.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  403
• LG G Pro 2
  535.5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  567.9
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  587
• Apple iPhone 5
  694
• Apple iPhone 5c
  704
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  750
• LG Nexus 5
  827
• Sony Xperia Z1
  845
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  855
• LG G2
  908
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1011
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1046
• HTC One
  1174
• HTC One mini
  1375

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  3549
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3172
• LG G Pro 2
  3048
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3041
• Apple iPhone 5
  2825
• Apple iPhone 5c
  2799
• Oppo N1
  2769
• LG Nexus 5
  2745
• LG G2
  2718
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2600
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  2438
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2419
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2398
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  2314
• HTC One
  2262
• HTC One mini
  2164
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1801

The LG G Pro 2 runs Android 4.4 KitKat and the latest LG Optimus UX glitch-free, posting overall better numbers than an Android 4.4-running Galaxy Note 3. Even with the new crop of flagships just around the corner, the LG G Pro 2 will be able to hold its own. After all, the Snapdragon 801 chipset has the same hardware with just a little higher clock speed.