After the success of G4 Stylus, renowned tech-giant LG is expanding its product portfolio with another big-screen sensation, Stylus 2. Packed with mind-boggling features, the new beauty from the company is an ideal pick for users who’re shopping on a tight budget and are looking for a device that offers good internals with a sturdy profile. It sits right behind heavily priced Note 4 and 5, and is the only phablet that ships with a sleek and responsive Pen Stylus, and runs the latest Android out-of-the box. Clearly, LG has given a great prospect, with a slight bargain when compared to heavily spec’d phablets.
But the thing that interests us the most is its pricing. LG has unleashed the beast at Rs. 19,500, and is promising a spectacular phablet experience with seamless performance. For an averagely spec’d device, the price is high, but when you know its LG, you have to believe that anything is possible, even an entry-level phone turning into a real world performer!
Let’s have an in-depth look on what we get with LG Stylus 2:
Display and Visual Experience
On paper, the display bundled with LG Stylus 2 is pretty weak. The device bears a 5.7-inch HD IPS display that offers nothing more than 258 pixels per inch. It neither comes with added Gorilla Glass protection nor includes a 2.5D curved glass for improved aesthetics. It’s a simple and clean HD IPS panel that you usually see on sub-10k smartphones.
However, the real life experience with Stylus 2 is way above entry-level. On seeing and using the device in real life, we were wondering does these numbers really matter or it’s just the majestic charm of LG. It has to be latter as we didn’t witness any issues while playing games or watching movies on this phablet. The colour output was really good and the screen looked perfectly sharp from a normal viewing distance or even close up!
Design and Build Quality
Surprisingly, LG Stylus 2 features a dope profile, weighing just around 145 grams and tipping on the scale at 7.4mm. The device flaunts a nice look, fits nicely in hand, and boasts a unique hairline finish on the plastic back, which feels a little slippery but is rather inoffensive. We liked the idea of spacing out components evenly for retaining a sleek and slim profile, even on a device accommodating a big battery under the hood.
Stylus 2 stands out on the design front, and makes a great package with right elements at the right place. Clearly, LG has done its home-work, but unlike G5, it still features power and volume rockers on the back panel, right next to your index finger.
Hardware and Performance
Though there’s nothing fancy about the hardware of LG Stylus 2, it’s important to note what’s on-board is pretty much enough to keep things up and running without any glitches or heating issues. The device uses a quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor running at 1.2GHz, and promises slick user-experience on moderate usage. It has 1.5GB RAM at its disposal, and is paired with Adreno 306 GPU for handling medium level games with least hiccups.
In our opinion, Snapdragon 410 for a 5.7-inch phablet can be slow and annoying at times. It can handle continuous use of stylus, but constant web-browsing might create some serious problems. However, overall, we’ll give full marks to LG for ensuring slick performance with an entry-level chipset. Throughout our testing phase, it worked perfectly and handled routine apps as well as graphic intensive games seamlessly.
Camera Output
The camera bundled with LG Stylus 2 is not highly advanced but is good enough to keep you happy and satisfied. The device, just above its rear buttons, features a 13-megapixel shooter with LED flash. It comes with features like HDR, Touch Focus, geo-Tagging, face detection, and is capable of producing pretty vibrant shots in all environments, indoors or outdoors!
Simply put, we can say, it’s pretty impressive how Stylus 2 delivers picture-perfect snaps with fine details and minimal noise. The colours are bright and natural, and focus speed is also pretty decent, if not blazing fast as on other phones. Plus, HDR mode adds a punch into colours and gives a lifelike touch to the image by enhancing brightness and contrast levels.
Whether in artificial or low light, the 13MP rear and 8MPs front-facing snapper of this phablet lives up to your expectations with picture-perfect shots.
Stylus
The titular pen Stylus featured with LG Stylus 2 is another point of attraction. It adds a dash of class and gives a nice grip for jotting things down in a matter of seconds. As soon as, you’ll take the Stylus in your hand, LG’s pop menu with a bunch of quick access options (Pop Memo, Capture+, QuickMemo+, Pop Scanner) will show up. The menu allows you to take quick notes and cannot be customized with apps other than those featured in the usual suite of LG’s stylus friendly applications.
Battery Life
For a big display, Stylus, and top-tier internals, LG Stylus 2 brings a much needed 3000 mAh battery in the house. The device accommodates a big battery, which in our opinion, should deliver sufficient amount of charge to keep things up and running for more than a day. On standard brightness level, continuous video playback on this phablet lasted for 11 hours and 30 minutes! This is absolutely unbelievable, and is a clear sign that LG has given a perfectly equipped phablet for big-screen lovers who are always into games, movies or weekly TV shows.
Bottom Line
Summing up, we can say, LG Stylus 2 is a disappointment on spec-sheet but a performer in real life. The device, even with entry-level specifications, manages to cater all your needs without any snags or performance issues. It not just looks good or performs smoothly, but also makes a great package for business-class users who always need something to jot down items or ideas!
