LG G2 in Australia: the rear-button phone with a 13MP OIS camera
When LG unveiled the G2 in August 2013, it immediately stood apart from the flagship crowd. Rather than placing the power and volume keys along the bezel, the company moved every physical control to the back of the device, just below the camera module. That single design choice defined the entire conversation around the handset and made it one of the most talked-about Android phones of the year.
Priced at launch around AUD $799 outright through Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, the LG G2 arrived in Australian stores during the southern hemisphere spring of 2013. It landed at a moment when consumers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were weighing the Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC One and the Sony Xperia Z1, and LG needed something genuinely different to win attention.
A rear key layout that changed daily use
The back-button arrangement on the LG G2 was a calculated risk. The power key sits between the volume rocker, with the camera lens directly above. LG argued that fingers naturally rest on the rear of a phone, particularly with the large 5.2-inch form factor, and therefore the index finger could find the controls without stretching or repositioning. After a few days of use, that argument mostly holds up. Picking the phone up from a desk in an Adelaide office, the index finger drops onto the keys without looking, and the muscle memory builds faster than expected.
The trade-off is real, however. When the device is lying flat, waking the screen requires either a double-tap gesture or pressing the rear key while lifting the handset. LG's Knock-On feature addressed this nicely, allowing a two-tap on the blank screen to wake or sleep the display. Australians using the phone one-handed on a tram through Melbourne's CBD quickly appreciated that gesture, since reaching for the rear button was not always convenient.
Build quality matches the flagship tier. The G2 uses a polycarbonate back with a subtle pattern finish that resists fingerprints better than glossy rivals. At 143 grams, it is lighter than the HTC One despite housing a larger 3000mAh battery, and the curved rear edge sits comfortably against the palm during long phone calls. Australian reviewers noted the slim 8.9mm profile, which slipped neatly into suit pockets during Sydney's spring business events.
A 5.2-inch IPS display that holds its own
The 5.2-inch screen on the LG G2 was, at launch, one of the largest full HD panels in the mainstream Android market. With a resolution of 1920 x 1080, the pixel density of around 423 ppi makes individual pixels invisible to the naked eye. Text in emails and RSS feeds looks crisp, while 1080p video scales without compromise. LG used a true RGB stripe IPS LCD rather than a PenTile arrangement, which gives the G2 cleaner edges than several AMOLED competitors from the same period.
Brightness peaks at around 450 nits, which proved ample on a sunny afternoon in Brisbane's King George Square. The viewing angles are wide enough that two people on a park bench in Perth could comfortably watch a clip side by side without colour shift. LG also built in a slim 2.65mm bezel that maximises screen area without inflating the chassis, and the front face is dominated almost entirely by display.
Colour accuracy leans slightly cool out of the box, but the software settings allow a warmer temperature profile. Australians who watch a lot of football or cricket on their phones often find the cooler default easier on the eyes during evening sessions indoors. The G2 also includes a reading mode that reduces blue light output, useful for late-night browsing before bed.
The 13MP OIS camera in practice
The headline feature of the LG G2 camera is optical image stabilisation paired with a 13-megapixel sensor. At the time, OIS was largely reserved for Nokia's Lumia 920 and 925, so LG's adoption made the G2 one of the first mainstream Android phones with the technology. The benefit is most visible in low-light situations, where the lens element physically compensates for hand shake, allowing longer shutter speeds without blur.
Indoor shots at a Melbourne restaurant under warm pendant lighting came out sharper than expected, and the G2 handled mixed lighting better than the Samsung Galaxy S4 from the same season. Daylight performance is also strong, with accurate colour reproduction and good dynamic range for landscapes taken on a coastal walk around Sydney's Bondi to Coogee track. HDR mode is reasonably restrained rather than oversaturated, which keeps clouds looking natural rather than posterised.
Video recording reaches 1080p at 60fps, with continuous autofocus that hunts less aggressively than earlier LG models. The rear-button layout is genuinely useful here, because pressing the volume down key while holding the phone in landscape triggers the shutter without awkward thumb contortion. Selfies come from a 2.1MP front camera, which is adequate for video calls over Wi-Fi but unspectacular for social sharing.
Snapdragon 800 power and battery endurance
Inside, the LG G2 runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 chipset paired with 2GB of RAM. The quad-core Krait 400 CPU clocked at 2.26GHz was the fastest Android silicon available in late 2013, and it showed in everyday use. App launches were brisk, multitasking was smooth, and games like Real Racing 3 held consistent frame rates. Storage options were 16GB or 32GB, with no microSD slot, a common compromise at the flagship tier that frustrated some Australian buyers used to expandable memory on mid-range handsets.
The 3000mAh battery is the most surprising element. LG engineered a stepped cell design that filled the curved interior efficiently, and the result was one of the longest-lasting phones of the generation. Heavy users in Sydney regularly finished a day with 25-30% remaining, while moderate users in regional areas such as Cairns or Hobart could stretch it well into a second day. The combination of efficient silicon and a generous cell set a benchmark that LG would chase in later devices.
Charging was slower than today's standards, but the G2 supported Qualcomm Quick Charge through an official accessory. Australian summer temperatures did occasionally trigger thermal throttling during extended GPS navigation, though the phone never became uncomfortably hot in normal use.
Australian pricing, carriers and software
LG partnered with all three major Australian carriers for the G2 launch. Telstra offered the handset on a range of plans with the device effectively subsidised over 24 months, while Optus and Vodafone ran their own bundles. Outright, the 16GB model hovered around AUD $799 to $849, and the 32GB version climbed toward $899. Retailers such as JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman stocked the device from October 2013, often with promotional gift cards attached during the pre-Christmas rush. For readers tracking more local launches and carrier offers, New Mobile Arrivals maintains an ongoing record of releases relevant to the Australian market.
Software was Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean at launch, with LG's custom Optimus UI layered on top. The skin is functional rather than elegant, with a heavier footprint than stock Android, though it adds useful touches such as QSlide apps, a clipboard manager and guest mode. Australians used to carrier bloatware from Telstra and Optus found LG's overlay relatively restrained. An update to Android 4.4 KitKat arrived in 2014, followed by Android 5.0 Lollipop later that year, extending the device's useful life considerably.
Network compatibility was strong, with 4G LTE support on the 1800MHz band used across Australian capital cities. Call quality on the Vodafone network in suburban Melbourne was clear, and the rear speaker reached a respectable volume for hands-free calls in a moving vehicle.
The 2013 flagship class was crowded, and the G2 had to fight for attention. The table below compares its core specifications with the Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC One (M7) and the Sony Xperia Z1, all of which were sold through Australian carriers in the same window.
| Feature | LG G2 | Samsung Galaxy S4 | HTC One (M7) | Sony Xperia Z1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 5.2-inch 1080p IPS | 5.0-inch 1080p AMOLED | 4.7-inch 1080p SLCD3 | 5.0-inch 1080p TFT |
| Processor | Snapdragon 800 | Snapdragon 600 / Exynos 5 | Snapdragon 600 | Snapdragon 800 |
| RAM | 2GB | 2GB | 2GB | 2GB |
| Rear Camera | 13MP with OIS | 13MP | 4MP UltraPixel | 20.7MP |
| Battery | 3000mAh | 2600mAh | 2300mAh | 3000mAh |
| Storage | 16/32GB | 16/32/64GB + microSD | 32/64GB | 16GB + microSD |
| Distinctive Trait | Rear buttons, OIS | Removable battery, microSD | Aluminium unibody | Water resistance |
The G2 leads on battery capacity and camera stabilisation, ties on processor speed with the Xperia Z1, and offers a larger display than the HTC One. Its missing microSD slot remains its biggest weakness against the Samsung and Sony alternatives, but the rear-button innovation and screen size gave it a clear identity in a competitive market.
For Australians considering an older flagship today, the LG G2 still represents one of the more interesting designs of its era, particularly for those who value battery endurance and a capable low-light camera. Readers curious about a more budget-oriented handset from the same generation can read the Canvas HD coverage for a sense of how the entry-level market was evolving at the time, then revisit the G2 to see how far LG pushed the flagship tier.