LG’s Optimus 4X HD and Samsung Galaxy SIII are the two top of the line smartphones currently available in the market. Both are the flagship phones of their respective companies.
Both smartphones are selling for around Rs 34,000 though you can get the LG Optimus for couple of thousand Rupees less as well. Here is a comparison of the two devices.
Incidentally, we have already reviewed the LG Optimus 4X HD and the Galaxy SIII. You can read more in our review section.
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Look and build
The LG Optimus 4X HD weighs 133 grams, as does the Samsung Galaxy SIII, but the former measures 132.4 x 68.1 x 8.9 mm (height x width x thickness); while the latter measures 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm. This means that the Samsung smartphone is bigger, broader and slimmer than the LG handset but is not any heavier. Also, the LG handset comes in black and white colours only; while the Samsung Galaxy SIII is available in white, blue and even red.
The Samsung smartphone has a few issues as well. Its plastic back panel does not enthuse much confidence. On the other hand, our reviewers had hailed the 4X HD for its good build quality.
In terms of key placement, though, Samsung Galaxy SIII seems to be far better than the LG handset. The Galaxy SIII, like most other Samsung handsets, has a home screen button just below the screen while the power key is on the right side and the volume rocker is on the left. On the other hand, the power key is at the top of the LG Optimus 4X HD, which makes it a bit difficult to reach.
Though we were critical of Samsung for making the Galaxy SIII quite like other handsets vis-à-vis build and looks, the Optimus 4X HD is not innovative either. All in all, the Optimus 4X HD has a good body that can withstand the usual jolts of life, but Samsung Galaxy SIII looks to be a winner vis-à-vis its looks and design.
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Display
The Optimus 4X HD has a 4.7 inch touchscreen display with 720 x 1280 Pixel Resolution which comes down to 312 ppi pixel density. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy SIII has a slightly bigger 4.8 inch screen with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution that translates to 306 ppi pixel density. Clearly, then, the LG handset’s screen must be minutely brighter.
However, we had earlier compared the screens side by side and the screen of Galaxy SIII looked brighter and better. The screen of LG, in contradiction to what the specs say, looks a bit dull and dark.
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Operating system
This is a table turner. Both handsets come with Android ICS pre-installed. However, Samsung has already made the next Android build -Android 4.1 aka Jelly Bean – available for the Galaxy SIII smartphone.
On the other hand, LG has recently made public the list of its handsets that are eligible for Jelly Bean upgrade, about which you can read here here.
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Processor
The Optimus 4X HD comes with an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core Processor with 1.5 GHz clockspeed; while the Galaxy SIII has an Exynos 4412 quad core processor with clockspeed of 1.4 GHz. On the Benchmarking front, the two processors, though, are weighed equally, with the Galaxy’s Exynos processor having a slight edge.
Many have opined that Exynos 4412 wins the battle against the Tegra 3 when it comes to sheer power, but a common user would not feel the difference much. What makes the Tegra 3 special for a user is that it opens the doors to many lucrative and popular games like Riptide GP.
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Verdict
In the end, it always comes down to price, at least in India. The Samsung Galaxy SIII is currently retailing in India for around Rs 34,000 and may be brought from some retail stores for about Rs 33,000. On the other hand, LG has just reduced the price of the Optimus 4X HD to Rs 27,000 from its earlier price of Rs 34,000.
This is a huge gap of Rs 6,000 which decisively factors in favour of the LG smartphone.