We already mentioned the eye-grabbing 5.5" displays with 16:9 aspect ratio of both devices. However, this is where their similarities end, as the two are completely different from one another - one is an IPS LCD, while the other is uses the AMOLED technology.
The display of the LG Optimus G Pro is of the True HD IPS Plus variety and packs a Full HD resolution. This results in a staggering pixel density of 401 pixels per inch even at this size. LG also claims that the Optimus G Pro screen produces 100% accurate color rendition and is faring a lot better than its rival in that aspect.
The Galaxy Note II can't hold a candle to LG's offering in terms of resolution and pixel density - 720p resolution, making for just 267 pixels per inch. However, it's an Super AMOLED display, meaning colors are very saturated (with the option to tune then down if you prefer) and blacks are truly deep.
Through the course of our testing we can safely confirm that on the Optimus G Pro images look indeed great. Colors pop and are represented very accurately. Still, the Galaxy Note II has better contrast (since the black pixels turn off) and the colors are oversatured (which is plus or a minus, depending on who you ask).
Taking a closer look at the two screens with a digital microscope we shot the matrices of both screens. You can clearly see how much bigger the Note II pixels are, which results in a lower perceived sharpness.
Samsung Galaxy Note II and LG Optimus G Pro screens up close
We put the LG Optimus G and Galaxy Note II through our usual display tests and here's how it scored. You can find more about the testing procedures here.
Display test
50% brightness
100% brightness
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
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
Sony Xperia S
-
-
-
0.48
495
1038
Samsung N7100 Galaxy Note II
0
215
∞
0
402
∞
LG Optimus G Pro
-
-
-
0.41
611
1489
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
0
174
∞
0
330
∞
HTC One X
0.15
200
1375
0.39
550
1410
Nokia Lumia 920
-
-
-
0.48
513
1065
Nexus 4
0.22
314
1447
0.45
608
1341
LG Optimus G
0.14
197
1445
0.33
417
1438
Apple iPhone 5
0.13
200
1490
0.48
640
1320
However when it comes to sunlight legibility, the Galaxy Note II has a slight advantage against the Optimus G Pro, despite the extra Wacom digitizer that it employs.
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 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
Samsung Galaxy Note II 2.307
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 4X HD 1.691
HTC One V 1.685
LG Optimus Vu 1.680
HTC Desire V 1.646
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
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
Winner: LG Optimus G Pro. While the better contrast of the Galaxy Note II makes everything appear punchier and its sunlight legibility makes it the better choice outdoors, we believe productivity is key here and the LG Optuimus G Pro has the upper hand with its higher resolution.
Battery life
We test battery life in three important categories - talking on a 3G network, browsing the web over Wi-Fi and watching videos. Then we take those numbers, plus a standby reading and give each phone an endurance rating - it's our own estimation how long would the phone last on a single charge, if you do an hour of each activity per day and leave to rest in the standby for the rest of the time.
It's important to note that while both phones have very similarly sized batteries - 3140mAh for the Optimus G Pro and 3100mAh for the Note II - the LG's phablet uses a next-gen chipset, while the Samsung Galaxy Note II has the best of the outgoing generation of Exynos 4 chipsets and a more efficient AMOLED screen of lower resolution.
Calling is generally a test of how efficient the modem of each phone is - the screen is off and the CPU has nothing to do. The LG Optimus G Pro scores a major victory here, beating the Galaxy Note II by nearly 4 hours. The Optimus G Pro's score is so good, it nearly matches our all-time champion - Motorola RAZR MAXX.
Talk time
Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS) 21:18
LG Optimus G Pro 20:45
Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX 20:24
Motorola RAZR i 20:07
Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 16:57
Sony Xperia Z 16:03
LG Optimus G 15:30
Nokia Lumia 620 14:17
Oppo Find 5 14:17
Google Nexus 4 14:17
HTC One X+ 13:31
Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos 12:45
Huawei Ascend P1 12:30
HTC Butterfly 12:18
Samsung Galaxy Note 12:14
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam 11:58
Samsung Galaxy Premier 11:30
Asus Padfone 2 11:20
HTC Droid DNA 11:07
HTC Windows Phone 8X 11:07
Samsung Wave 3 S8600 11:07
Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus 11:06
HTC Desire X 11:03
HTC One X (AT&T, LTE) 10:35
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 10:20
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB) 10:15
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 10:03
HTC One V 10:00
Meizu MX 4-core 10:00
Samsung Galaxy Express 10:00
HTC One X 9:57
HTC One S 9:42
Samsung I9103 Galaxy R 9:40
HTC Sensation XL 9:30
Nokia Lumia 810 9:05
Nokia Lumia 710 9:05
Acer CloudMobile S500 9:05
Motorola Atrix HD 9:04
HTC Vivid 9:02
Nokia Lumia 920 8:56
Nokia Lumia 610 8:51
HTC Rhyme 8:48
Apple iPhone 5 8:42
LG Optimus 3D Max P720 8:42
Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V 8:41
Meizu MX 8:39
Samsung Galaxy S II 8:35
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 8:28
Nokia Lumia 800 8:25
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 8:23
Nokia Lumia 510 8:22
BlackBerry Z10 8:20
HTC Desire V 8:20
Samsung Captivate Glide 8:20
Sony Xperia T 8:15
HTC Rezound (LTE) 8:10
Samsung Galaxy Note (LTE) 8:02
LG Optimus Vu 7:57
LG Optimus 4X HD 7:41
Apple iPhone 4S 7:41
Samsung i937 Focus S 7:25
HTC Evo 4G LTE (LTE) 7:21
Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G 7:14
Nokia Lumia 820 7:09
Sony Xperia acro S 7:09
Samsung Rugby Smart I847 7:09
Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro 6:57
Nokia N9 6:57
HTC Radar 6:53
Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos 6:53
BlackBerry Curve 9380 6:52
Sony Xperia E dual 6:42
Samsung Galaxy S III mini 6:22
Samsung Galaxy Pocket 5:54
Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T (LTE) 5:53
Sony Xperia ion LTE 5:52
Sony Xperia P 5:33
Nokia 808 PureView 5:16
LG Nitro HD (LTE) 5:16
HTC Titan II (LTE) 5:10
BlackBerry Bold 9790 5:00
Pantech Burst 4:46
With such a good start we were expecting to wait a long while before the web browser test completes on the Optimus G Pro, but it was over pretty quickly - 6 hours and 40 minutes to be precise. That's an hour and a half over what the regular Optimus G did, but over 2 hours less than the Samsung Galaxy Note II. Even though white screens are more taxing to AMOLED displays than LCDs, the lower resolution of the Samsung smartphone helped it to the convincing victory here.
Web browsing
Apple iPhone 5 9:56
Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS) 9:12
Apple iPad mini 9:05
Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 8:48
Nokia Lumia 810 8:20
Asus Padfone 2 8:20
Nokia Lumia 610 8:01
HTC One X+ 7:56
Sony Xperia E dual 7:42
Samsung Galaxy S III mini 7:38
Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX 7:23
HTC Radar 7:17
Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos 7:09
Samsung Galaxy Express 7:09
Motorola RAZR i 7:06
Apple iPhone 4S 6:56
HTC One V 6:49
LG Optimus G Pro 6:40
Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus 6:40
HTC Droid DNA 6:40
Samsung Galaxy Premier 6:40
Motorola Atrix HD 6:40
BlackBerry Curve 9380 6:40
Sony Xperia Z 6:37
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 6:35
BlackBerry Z10 6:27
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB) 6:27
HTC Butterfly 6:24
Samsung i937 Focus S 6:15
Nokia Lumia 510 6:13
HTC Windows Phone 8X 6:01
Sony Xperia ion LTE 5:56
Samsung Rugby Smart I847 5:53
Pantech Burst 5:51
Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G 5:45
HTC Desire V 5:44
HTC Evo 4G LTE 5:41
Nokia Lumia 920 5:40
Samsung Wave 3 S8600 5:34
Oppo Find 5 5:33
Sony Xperia T 5:33
Samsung Captivate Glide 5:33
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam 5:28
Samsung Galaxy Note LTE 5:24
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 5:23
HTC Sensation XL 5:20
Meizu MX 4-core 5:19
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 5:17
Sony Xperia acro S 5:16
HTC Rezound 5:16
HTC Desire X 5:16
LG Optimus G 5:15
HTC Rhyme 5:08
Samsung I9103 Galaxy R 5:07
HTC One X (AT&T) 5:03
Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro 4:50
LG Optimus Vu 4:49
HTC Vivid 4:46
Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos 4:45
Meizu MX 4:35
Google Nexus 4 4:34
Nokia N9 4:33
Acer CloudMobile S500 4:32
Nokia Lumia 820 4:24
Samsung Galaxy S II 4:24
Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V 4:20
HTC One X 4:18
Nokia 808 PureView 4:14
LG Optimus 3D Max P720 4:10
Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T 4:10
Nokia Lumia 800 4:07
HTC Titan II (LTE) 4:05
HTC One S 4:03
BlackBerry Bold 9790 4:02
LG Nitro HD 4:00
LG Optimus 4X HD 3:59
Sony Xperia P 3:59
Nokia Lumia 710 3:51
Nokia Lumia 620 3:50
Samsung Galaxy Pocket 3:47
Samsung Galaxy Note 3:35
Huawei Ascend P1 3:23
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 3:01
The two phablets' 5.5" 16:9 screens offer great video-watching experience so it's natural to assume that many users will be doing a lot of movie playback on them. The LG Optimus G Pro went on for 8 hours and 40 minutes before its battery went from 100% to 10% (some video players refuse to play at under 10% battery charge, so this is our cut-off point), which is not a bad achievement, but couldn't come anywhere close to the Note II's time of 11 hours and 27 minutes.
Video playback
Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS) 16:35
Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX 14:17
Apple iPad mini 12:51
Samsung Galaxy Premier 12:51
Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 11:27
Apple iPhone 5 10:12
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 10:01
Samsung Galaxy Express 10:00
Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus 10:00
Nokia 808 PureView 9:53
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam 9:42
Samsung Rugby Smart I847 9:34
HTC One S 9:28
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB) 9:27
Apple iPhone 4S 9:24
HTC Evo 4G LTE 9:07
BlackBerry Z10 8:44
LG Optimus G Pro 8:40
Nokia N9 8:40
HTC Butterfly 8:28
Samsung Galaxy Note 8:25
Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos 8:11
HTC One X+ 8:11
Motorola RAZR i 8:11
Samsung Galaxy S II 8:00
Samsung i937 Focus S 7:55
Samsung Wave 3 S8600 7:52
Samsung Galaxy S III mini 7:46
Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V 7:45
Asus Padfone 2 7:38
Huawei Ascend P1 7:38
Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G 7:33
HTC Droid DNA 7:30
Samsung Galaxy Note LTE 7:30
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 7:30
Nokia Lumia 610 7:23
LG Optimus G 7:16
Meizu MX 4-core 6:33
Nokia Lumia 620 6:32
HTC Windows Phone 8X 6:27
Sony Xperia E dual 6:27
Nokia Lumia 810 6:27
HTC Desire V 6:26
HTC One X (AT&T) 6:26
Nokia Lumia 820 6:25
Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos 6:25
Nokia Lumia 510 6:23
LG Optimus Vu 6:23
Samsung I9103 Galaxy R 6:21
Nokia Lumia 920 6:19
HTC Sensation XL 6:12
Samsung Galaxy Pocket 6:06
Samsung Captivate Glide 6:04
Sony Xperia ion LTE 6:03
Samsung Galaxy Nexus 6:02
Sony Xperia T 6:01
Motorola Atrix HD 6:01
HTC Vivid 6:00
HTC Radar 5:54
Nokia Lumia 800 5:52
HTC Titan II 5:50
BlackBerry Bold 9790 5:47
HTC One X 5:45
Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro 5:44
Sony Xperia Z 5:39
Sony Xperia acro S 5:38
HTC Desire X 5:38
Pantech Burst 5:38
Meizu MX 5:27
HTC Rhyme 5:23
HTC One V 5:20
Acer CloudMobile S500 5:18
Oppo Find 5 5:18
Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T 5:18
BlackBerry Curve 9380 5:09
HTC Rezound 5:03
Google Nexus 4 4:55
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 4:30
Sony Xperia P 4:30
LG Nitro HD 4:17
LG Optimus 4X HD 4:14
LG Optimus 3D Max P720 3:28
Nokia Lumia 710 3:27
In the end, the LG Optimus G Pro scores an endurance rating of 50 hours, which came notably short of the Samsung Galaxy Note II 69 hours score. Surprisingly, the Galaxy Note II turned out to also have more efficient stand-by, despite its last-gen chipset. You can read about more our testing methodology here.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note II. We were surprised by the margin of the victory the Samsung phablet achieved here, given the almost identical batteries. Obviously, the 1080p resolution is quite power-hungry and the newer chipset just can't make up for it.
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