A little review of the Droid Maxx vs the LG G2

[Garemlin]

These are both pretty popular devices right now to those not wanting an S4 or Note 3. I have both and am currently putting them both through their paces to decide which one is a keeper.

First I will say I am guilty of being a Moto fanboy. I'm currently trying out the Maxx. I first tried the Moto X. Really liked it but when it came down to it the screen was pretty much a 4.3" with what you lose with the onscreen buttons. If I am paying full price I am getting a much bigger screen. Especially at the $599 price point


Next I got the LG G2 which I still have. When I took the X back Best Buy still had not got the Maxx in stock. Well actually they got it in on a shipment as I was playng with the G2 in the store. But I already had it in my mind I was gonna try the G2. I REALLY love this phone. It is fast, the screen is gorgeous and it has a ton of really cool features. Knock on, tons of customizing options, quick remote, customizible task bar toggles, slide aside for multi-tasking. The list goes on. Reception is right on par with every Motorola device I have owned. I live in a fringe area and get awesome data reception. With a 3000mAh battery I was expecting a little better battery life I must say.


When I saw that VZW dropped the price of the Maxx from $649 to $499 I had to try it out. So I now have 45 days to try it out and still have almost a month left with the G2. So I have been comparing. Unfortunately I can't do it on network because the G2 uses a micro SIM and the Maxx a nano SIM.


First reception. I noted what I was getting with the G2 before activating the Maxx. Maxx reception is better. I am picking up 4G out here when I was only getting 3G with an occasional 4G flicker with the G2. Though the 3G signal of the G2 was stronger at 88dBm than the Maxx's 4G signal at 116dBm. I also ran a simultaneous Speed Test on wifi and these were the results:


G2: 13.98mbs down and 1.86mps up
Maxx: 17.71mps down and 4.9mps up


Today I decided to keep them both strictly on wifi and use them both almost equally. Battery life on the Maxx is leaps and bounds above the G2 even though there is only a 300mAh difference in size. See screenshots below.


One other area that the Maxx excells is sound output. Notifications and rings are way louder and much more easy to hear in a noisy environment. I used the same tones while testing this.


Now here is where the honeymoon ends. The display. What can I say. The G2 display is sooooo gorgeous. Whites are whiter. Blacks are blacker. Colors are more accurate. And viewing outside in the sunlight is not an issue. Sitting side by side with the same image on the screen the image on the G2 is noticeably bigger. Also when you set them side by side the Maxx screen looks faded and whites actually look grey. And for some reason even though they are the same size displays when you subtract the screen area used for the onscreen buttons on the G2, the G2's display just looks bigger.


Camera image and features on the G2 blow the Maxx out of the water too. I took some night pictures and they looked incredible. I do have to admit that I like the wrist twist to activate the camera on the Moto phones and the easy of taking a picture. Though the rear button placement on the G2 makes selfies pretty easy. LOL


Performance-wise they are both pretty fast phones. But if Quadrant has anything to say about it the G2 blows everything out there out of the water by almost double. See the screenies below.


All in all these are both awesome phones. The G2 is feature packed, has a gorgeous screen, is fast as all whatnot, and excellent reception. And I really love the rear button placement. After getting used to it, it feels natural and makes you wonder why no one thought of it before. But the Maxx excels in the two most important areas to me. Better reception and outstanding battery life. The G2 is no slouch in either department, but the Maxx is better. Period. And one point for me too since I am not renewing a contract is price. The Maxx was $649 but has dropped to $499. The G2 was $599 but has dropped to $549. Unfortunately Best Buy does not do competitors 30 day price guarantee anymore. Still have not decided which one I will end up keeping. The reception, battery life and the price are better on the Maxx. And I just love Moto phones. If the Moto X had a 5" display I would probably still have it. But if I choose the Maxx I have a feeling I will miss many of the features I have grown to love on the G2.


Decisions, decisions, decisions



G2 battery life screenshots

Droid Maxx battery life screenshots

G2 Quadrant Standard results

Droid Maxx Quadrant Standard results

 

[Garemlin]

Day 2 update:

Well the Maxx obviously in battery life by a mile. With both strictly on wifi this is where I am at now:

G2:
28h 25m off charge
5% battery left
Screen on time 2h 36m

Maxx:
28h 36m off charge
37% battery left
Screen on time 4h 55m

Quite a difference. At this rate I should potentially get several more hours on the Maxx before it needs charging. I'm gonna do a little experiment tomorrow streaming video all day from Flixter on both devices.

 

[Garemlin]

So day three here is what I did. I charged the G2 last night and then shut it off. Charged the Maxx overnight and started at 100% with both. I streamed about an hour worth of video on Flixter, downloaded about 2G worth of movies from Flixter simutaneously, streamed Pandora for about an hour with an audio visualizer operating to keep the screen on and played about a half hour of candy crush. All of this was strictly on wifi with GPS, and BT on and the brightness still pegged.

Here is where I am at:

G2:
5h 32m off charge
30% battery left
Screen on time 4h 9m

Maxx:
8h 19m off charge
65% battery left
Screen on time 3h 48m

I think the difference on the times being off charge is I woke up at 3:30 and think I must have taken the Maxx off charge not realizing it.

 

[Clamshell]

Thanks for taking the time to do this. I'm sure a lot of us are considering these 2 phones. I know I am. For me the better battery life and sound of the Maxx will win out.
Wonder if the off contract price will come down more during the holiday sale season? Or if this is as low as it gets?

 

[jntdroid]

At $500 off contract, the Maxx is a steal. Best Buy is still doing $750 though...

 

[FoxKat]

Wonder if I can get $499 for my S4??? I'd flip (back) to Motorola in a heartbeat if I could take the jump to the MAXX. I'm disappointed in the screen differences, though without the other to compare to I suspect I'll not feel slighted with the MAXX's screen. From what I've experienced at the Phone Center Stores, the MAXX looks beautiful. Also on-screen buttons are only there when using apps that require them, but disappear when viewing video and pictures full-screen, correct?

The most important things for me are battery life, performance (i.e. no lag, multi-tasking), ergonomics (physical design, built-in features, etc.), build quality (Motorola is still second to none IMHO), and last but certainly not least radio performance (Cellular 3G/4G, Data, WIFI, Bluetooth, NFC, and anything else they come up with). In these areas I still think Motorola has for the most part been the dominating force, except perhaps in performance - though benchmarks are a poor example of real-world performance. Unfortunately I think that for many the camera and screen are the highlights of their phones, so Motorola has gotten a bad rap for those.

Convenience aside, camera quality and performance isn't all that important and so it's secondary for me. I don't use the phone's camera for archival photography. I have the Nikon Digital SLR for that. Until the day when the phones can produce images comparable in quality and accuracy to the SLR, I will remain satisfied with the phone for spur of the moment photography and videography, and will use the SLR for those times when it really counts.

Finally, I'd suggest (if not done already), that you look at screen settings to see if the MAXX isn't set to reduced brightness or color saturation in order to preserve power consumption. I wouldn't be surprised if the real differences aren't that pronounced. Frankly I have been quite impressed with the MAXX's screen at the stores, though I haven't had the opportunity to compare it to the G2.

 

[bkdodger]

Good review and thoughts G! Thank you for posting up for us...I just can't get over the screen and camera of the Moto phones...they are solid devices but leave me with no WOW factor...as everyday workhorse ..reception..battery and reliable then yes Moto MaXX...but I like to date the exciting girl...the one that shines in every crowd..LOL
I don't have the radio issues as I live in NY (so I can't complain nor say one is better)...battery life for me is important...I do have to say for the limited time I played with G2 it was impressive...other than the shiny back which a good case would take care of it...I'd go that way if only choosing between the two devices...I actually have the best of both worlds ..NOTE 3 !!! Hehe

 

[Garemlin]

At $500 off contract, the Maxx is a steal. Best Buy is still doing $750 though...

Price match my friend. Price match. I got mine at Best Buy.

 

[Garemlin]

FoxCat: Screen brightness is pegged to 100% and auto turned off. Also the Maxx does not have onscreen buttons. That Moto X does. So you are getting the full screen. It just isn't as purdy as the G2. That is the issue for me. As I said I kinda wish I had got the Maxx first. I would have never even paid attention to the G2. If the reception was lousy on the G2 this would be an easy choice. But it is pretty close to Motorola. Battery life goes without saying.

Maxx still at 45% with 5h 12m screen on time and 12h 22m off the charger
G2 at 14% with 4h 31m screen on time and 9h 34m off the charger

I normally do not care about phone camera quality but the G2 takes such a nice pic. But if I am taking actual pics I don't use my phone anyway. It is for quick spur of the moment shots.

 

[Garemlin]

Thanks for taking the time to do this. I'm sure a lot of us are considering these 2 phones. I know I am. For me the better battery life and sound of the Maxx will win out.
Wonder if the off contract price will come down more during the holiday sale season? Or if this is as low as it gets?

It just dropped $150. Would not plan on anymore of a drop. $500 for this phone off contract is a great price considering just a few weeks ago people paid $300 on contract.

 

[jntdroid]

Price match my friend. Price match. I got mine at Best Buy.

They'll do that for full retail?

 

[Garemlin]

They'll do that for full retail?

Absolutely. Bought my Bionic, Razr, G'nex and Razr Maxx there and they price matched them all.

 

[jntdroid]

Absolutely. Bought my Bionic, Razr, G'nex and Razr Maxx there and they price matched them all.

Well I'll be darned, they said they would do it... now I just gotta sell my current one. How have I not known about this? I've bought a few devices from Best Buy over the past few years, outright, and they're always $100 more than Verizon.

 

[Garemlin]

Well I'll be darned, they said they would do it... now I just gotta sell my current one. How have I not known about this? I've bought a few devices from Best Buy over the past few years, outright, and they're always $100 more than Verizon.

At least $100 more. Full retail on the Maxx is still $749, Moto X is $699, LG G2 is $699 and the Note 3 is $799. I have never had an issue getting price matches at Best Buy. I have even done them from amazon.com. In fact several years ago when I bought my JVC D-ILA Lycos 55" TV they matched a smaller online retailer. Saved me over $1000.

 

[BlueLions81]

Thanks. Very interesting review. I currently have the Maxx and I'm still inside of Verizon's 14 day trial. I'm still deciding whether to keep it or exchange it for another phone. This helps me decide between the LG and the Maxx. The other two phones I'm thinking about swapping it out for are the S4 or Note 3. Not sure if I should keep it or not. I like the Maxx alot, but I'm worried about it being updated and the non-removable battery. I've never had a Samsung or LG. My only other phone was a Droid Bionic. Is the Maxx a good phone to keep for 2 years or would be better off getting a different phone?