Back to the Future: LG G2 Smartphone Puts the Buttons on the Back

aNewDomain.net — On Wednesday, Aug. 6, at an event in New York City, LG Electronics USA unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the LG G2.

The LG G2 is a unique phone because it puts all of the buttons usually found on a smartphone on the back, right under the camera lens. LG claims the buttons were placed there due to how smartphone users typically hold their phones, with their index fingers extended to support the phone.

The layout sounds awkward, but in practice it is actually relatively easy to use. Given the chance to test the phone for a few minutes, the buttons seemed easy to press, making it a cinch to hold the phone and use the power button and volume controls.

Image credit: Shawn Ingram

Of course, placing the power button on the back of the phone makes it difficult to turn the device on when it’s laying flat. This is why LG’s KnockOn feature lets you tap the phone twice to wake it up. The feature is one of many useful software features of the phone.

Perhaps the biggest software feature is Guest Mode. This lets users set a second pattern unlock to launch into a home screen that only displays a few apps with no access to their email accounts or passwords. It’s an especially-useful feature for users with kids that like to fiddle around with their phone.

The LG G2 sports a large 5.2-inch 1080p IPS display that looks great at first glance. LG uses a dual routing touch sensor on the display that let the company cut down on the bezels surrounding the display, making the phone only 2.7 inches wide with 0.1-inch bezels. This size makes the phone surprisingly easy to hold in one hand.

LG also put a big emphasis on the G2 camera. The phone features a 13MP sensor with optical image stabilization which helps make photos less blurry. OIS also helps the phone take better low-light photos, though we were unable to test it in low-light conditions.

The LG G2 uses the latest quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. The processor can reach speeds of up to 2.3GHz per core and Qualcomm claims it is more power efficient than its other processors.

Image credit: Shawn Ingram

The phone also sports a 3,000 mAh battery that LG fit in the thin device by making the battery denser with a two-step design that uses as much spec as possible inside the phone.

The LG G2 will come to all four major U.S. carriers soon (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile). There is, however, no release date or price for the smartphone yet.

Based in Brooklyn, NY Shawn Ingram is a freelance reporter who spends his days immersed in the latest smartphone and video game news. When he’s not playing with some new gadget or game he’s usually found in front of his laptop plugging away at some new short story or novel. You can find him on Twitter at @shawn_i.