Don't scoff when it's smaller

The LG G2 Mini Dual is a premium smartphone that is much more affordable than the original G2 and has pleasing performance and features.

G2 Mini has smaller footprint, is lighter, and has smaller display and display resolution. It uses a less powerful processor and has less memory and storage, but it is much cheaper and can handle all the usual smartphone tasks well.

G2 Mini gets its power from a Snapdragon 400 Quad-Core 1.2GHz processor. Compare that to the 2.26GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 of the G2. The Mini has 1 gigabyte of RAM (working memory) while the original G2 has 2GB.

You get 8GB of internal storage, expandable with a microSD card, while the original G2 has 32GB internal storage even without the card.

The Mini is 129.6x66x9.8mm and the LG G2 138.5x70.9x8.9mm, so the Mini is a little thicker, but it’s lighter – just 121 grams compared to the 143 grams of the G2.

The Mini features a 4.7-inch display with 960x540-pixel resolution, while the larger G2 uses a 5.2-inch display with Full HD 1920x1080-pixel resolution.

The Mini comes with and eight-megapixel camera and has a 1.3-megapixel front camera, compared to 13-megapixel main camera and 2.1-megapixel front camera of the G2.

The G2 Mini Dual maintains the design heritage of the Rear Key, first introduced in the G2. The design puts the power button at the back and places volume buttons above and below it. LG explains that the design allows use of the index finger to lock and unlock the phone easily, since the buttons are located where you normally rest that fingertip. With the control buttons at the back, the Mini has no buttons along its edges – what LG calls “minimal design”.

If you’re not used to locking and unlocking the screen by touching a rear key, you can use the KnockON function to lock and partially unlock the screen. To lock, just double-tap an empty area on the Home screen or the status bar on any screen (except the viewfinder). To partially unlock, double-tap the centre of the screen and then swipe the screen.

There’s an even quicker way to unlock the screen – the Knock Code function. This new consumer-centric feature allows you to wake up the phone and unlock it in one step by tapping a combination on the screen. The bottom half of the screen is divided into four parts. You set a pattern for unlocking by tapping one or more parts in any order you wish and the phone will remember it. Each part can register up to eight taps. LG says there are more than 86,000 “knock” combinations.

In case you forget your combination, you can also set a four-digit password to unlock the phone. No one can factory-reset the phone unless they know your Knock Code, because it requires that code.

It’s good that G2 Mini comes with the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system, which has an optimised user interface.

There are two SIM card slots and you can easily assign one SIM card for talk and another for Internet connection.

The display uses IPS panel technology for clarity and colour and it’s good for composing photos. The 8MP camera captures good-quality photos in a well-lit environment.

There’s an interesting mode called Guest Mode to give you peace of mind if you ever loan your phone to someone. You can set the “unlock pattern” by drawing with your finger on the screen and then set up access to certain apps for your guest. This mode protects your privacy.

The Mini is a good music player as well. I tried it with it using my Razor in-ear phones and the music sounded powerful, clean and with a good level of bass. And the Plug & Pop function spots your earphones and recommends apps, such as Music player or Video player for you to choose from.

The quad core processor is powerful and the apps, menus and touch screen all responded well in my test.

G2 Mini comes with several interesting and useful apps. One of them is QuickRemote, which can be used as a universal infrared remote control. There’s an infrared port on top of the phone. You can easily set it to control your TV, Blu-ray player or a DVD player.

LG G2 Mini Dual retails for Bt9,990.

 

KEY SPECS

 

Operating System: Android 4.4.2 KitKat

Networks: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz, UMTS 850/900/1900/2100MHz

Chipset: 1.2GHz Qualcomm Quad-Core MSM8226

Display: 4.7-inch qHD IPS (960 x 540 pixels)

Memory: 1GB RAM

Storage: 8GB eMMC / SD Card Slot 

Camera: Rear 8.0MP / Front 1.3MP

Battery: 2,440mAh (removable)

Size: 129.6 x 66.0 x 9.8mm 

Weight: 121g