Please pardon the long backstory. Last year, when I switched from a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 to the original HTC One, I immediately fell in love with it, so much so that it broke my heart when it died last January.
I knew no other phone would ever match up to it at that time and among the 2013 phone generation, but I didn’t want to just buy the same phone all over again. So I bought what I thought was the next best phone available – Google and LG’s Nexus 5.
I did like HTC’s Sense, and really hated Samsung’s TouchWiz. I’ve also tried out one or two custom ROMs, but it was my first time running a phone on stock Android. I actually liked it so much that right then and there I told myself I’d stick with the Nexus line of phones from then on, or flash any other phones with stock Android.
Additionally, the screen was just gorgeous. It was both crisp and bright, and the colors seem natural. In fact, even as recent as two weeks ago, my phone, now almost a year old, still catches the attention of some of my friends, with some remarking they thought I bought one of the new phone iterations.
Recently, I also switched from a Samsung LCD TV to an LG, and also immediately noticed the stark difference in the way colors are represented (Disclaimer: I never bothered with the settings and just left them at the default ones, so it just might be that and not the product itself). Samsung’s TV kind of reminds me of AMOLED screens in phones, with emphasis on contrast and color ranges, while LG’s was just more natural and in my opinion, more accurate.
Finally, the Actual Story
For the holidays, I wanted to buy myself a cheap tablet that I could use to test the apps I was developing. My initial budget was around Php 7000 (approx US $156), so I wasn’t shooting for the popular ones (like Samsung’s Tab 4 or Apple’s iPad/iPad Mini), just a budget 7” tablet with decent specs.
My first choice, of course, was last year’s Nexus 7 from Google and Asus, but it was both hard to find and costs a little over what I wanted to spend. I found lots of choices among tablets manufactured by Lenovo, Asus, or Acer that’s just worth as cheap as Php 4000 (approx US $90). I had ultimately decided on Asus’s Memo Pad HD7, but on my way to the ATM to withdraw cash, I saw an advertisement for the LG G Pad 8.3.
It was 8.3”, so obviously the screen was significantly bigger. It also had a resolution of 1920x1200, i.e. Full HD, compared to the 1280x800 of my other choices. Plus, it was LG, so I just knew the display would blow me away.
It ran Android Kitkat with a planned upgrade to Lollipop. Reviews were good, with the drawbacks mainly focused on its average camera and lack of LTE functionality, both non-issues in my case.
The problem was the price tag. Even though it was a year old, it was still priced at Php 17000 (US $380) at the local LG outlet, and Php 12000 (US $270) without official LG warranty from a reseller, way above the budget I set. Still, it really caught my attention, so I pitched it to my wife.
Luckily, like myself, my wife fell in love with LG’s screen-making capabilities and choices, from our TV to my phone, so she had no problems believing it was a much better choice than the Memo Pad, and even worth more than the extra Php 5000.
Initial Impressions
We both expected the screen to be brilliant, and it really was. Physically, the device was surprisingly pretty and felt sturdy, thanks to the thin sheet of metal lining on its back, which I find to be very fingerprint resistant.
Even though the processor was slightly below today’s standards for flagship products, with the help of its 2GB RAM, the tablet is fast and navigating its menus is a breeze, with no lags when playing games.
Since it has Android 4.x, I haven’t encountered an app that wouldn’t work on it. The GSMArena review says its sound quality isn’t the best, and I’m not the best at reviewing sounds anyway, but I can tell you one thing – it’s speakers are adequately loud.
Finally, I find its battery life to be very good, maybe even excellent, considering its huge and bright screen. I’m not a heavy tablet user so your needs may vary, but I ran the game I’m currently making, Hoop Flick, on the tablet. The game isn’t optimized yet so it’s a bit of a battery hog. One five-minute session on it takes about 5+% off of my Nexus 5, but when I ran it for over an hour when I showed it to my brothers, it only used up about 15% of the tablet’s battery, which really surprised me.
Other Features
As I mentioned earlier, I had wanted to flash it with stock Android, but I wanted to try out LG’s features first since it was my first time owning an LG phone/tablet (the Nexus 5 doesn’t count since it didn’t have the LG line of apps).
After all, these manufacturers often have great ideas – memorable ones include using Samsung’s S Voice to snooze an alarm by shouting “Snooze!”, or HTC’s Zoe.
For LG’s lineup, I was excited to try the Knock feature (double tap to sleep/wake the phone) as well as other features I’ve heard so much about, in particular, “QSlide” and “Slide Aside”, which, respectively, allows you to minimize a supported app to a window for multitasking or put an app to the background and quickly bring it back to the front by three-finger swiping.
Its lockscreen is beautiful. The Swipe option, simple as it may be, is unique on an LG product as it gives you a peek of what’s inside as you swipe. The Knock option is unique, but I found this to be unreliable at rare times. The pattern option, an Android staple and a favorite of many including myself, has been tweaked to look differently on the LG (you can pick between Balloons, Dewdrops, or the default).
They were all well and good, but what really surprised me was a simple app that was so useful, I ultimately decided to stick with LG’s stock rom.
QPair
The idea for QPair is quite simple, and yet I find it so practical. Basically, you pair your tablet with any phone that has Android 4.1 or above. Once you do this, you’re set.
When someone texts you on your phone, you receive a pop-up on your tablet with an option to reply to the message. When someone calls, you also receive a notification, with options to reject with or without a message. Oddly though, there’s no option to answer the call. You can also enable the option to forward Social Network notifications.It basically turns your tablet into your phone. T he only thing it won’t be able to do is answer calls, everything else your phone can do, your tablet now can, too.
It sounds like a gimmick more than an actual, helpful feature, but think about it: when at home, you can leave your phone plugged in (almost) all the time. You would rather use your tablet to browse the internet, play games, and watch videos anyway, this time, you wouldn’t have to worry about missing important texts/emails/calls.
When away or on the road, the usual setup when you need to access the internet is to enable Mobile Hotspot on your phone and connect your wifi-only tablet to it. it’s a simple process that only involves you fishing out your phone to turn on the hotspot, and beyond the initial setup, your tablet should connect automatically and you’re good to go.
With QPair, it’s even simpler. You can keep your phone in your bag/purse/pocket. On the tablet, open the QPair app and switch on the Internet sharing option. That’s it, everything else is done behind the scenes. It even has the option to ring your phone, in case you get too comfortable and forgot where you left it.
QPair uses bluetooth to connect the two devices, so my fear was that it would be a huge battery drain. On the contrary, it extended my phone’s battery life significantly, due to the fact that I almost never have to operate it.
In the screenshot, the phone had been on for about 13 hours with everything (NFC, bluetooth, GPS, wifi, LTE) on and with 68% battery remaining. Moreover, the biggest battery drain comes from widgets and WiFi, no “Screen” or QPair/Bluetooth among the top 5 (Screen was #9 on the list!).
I’ve always wanted to buy an Android tablet ever since tablets came out, but I never saw the point in having one considering I already have Android phones that could do anything. If not for the need to test my apps in a tablet setting, I would not have considered buying one this year.
But now I do, and tablets are awesome companions.
Conclusion
I know QPair isn’t a groundbreaking, earth-shattering killer app. It may not even be unique. But it does what it does well, and has really made me appreciate my tablet so much more.
The description also says QPair can be installed and should work with other tablets, even non-LG ones, but I couldn’t test it. Besides, being a “native” app specifically designed to my device is a plus, and rewarding I felt I should reward LG for doing such a good job by using their UI.
All in all, I’m very happy with the LG G Pad 8.3. I know it will help me become more productive at my work and in my app-making hobby.
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