There is a new LG flagship device in town, the LG G2, and while it screams top of the range, we thought it would be worth seeing how it stacks up against LG's most popular smartphone at the moment, the Nexus 4, to see whether it really is worth going for the top of the range offering or whether you can stay mid-range and still enjoy life.

Design and screen

The big difference here is that the LG G2 features a huge 5.2-inch Full HD display screen with a 423ppi resolution. That's going to be noticeably better and bigger than the Nexus 4's 4.7-inch screen with a 320ppi. Whether you are watching video or looking at Pocket-lint on the web, everything should be much easier to see (it's a bigger screen, dah) and crisper.

Power and specs

The new LG G2 features the new top of the range Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and all the might that brings. In previous outings we've seen that the processor is capable of running 4K movies (over kill admittedly) and 7.1 sound, something LG is using here to offer 24bit 192khz music if you want it. In comparison the Nexus 4 is decidedly mid-range on the processing power coming with still capable but no way near as fast Snapdragon S4 Pro. Both devices have the same amount of RAM; 2GB.

Camera

Yep, the G2, as expected is better here too, featuring a 13-megapixel camera on the back and a 2-megapixel camera on the front. The G2 rear camera also comes with OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) and that should in theory mean that you'll get better pictures that aren't as blurry, even if you tend to move when you press the shutter button (think when you are drunk).

In comparison the Nexus 4 has no OIS and only comes with an 8 megapixel camera. We've found from our tests at Pocket-lint that the Nexus 4 camera is pretty hopeless, let's hope the image processing is much better on the new smartphone.

Software enhancements

The Nexus 4 delivers a stock Android experience, and that means you'll already be on Android 4.3. The LG G2 comes with Android 4.2.2 but a number of enhancements from LG to deliver over and above what Google does already.

A lot of these features aim to take some of the faff out of using your phone. Some are new, while other are direct copies from other phone manufacturers like Samsung.

Features include Plug & Pop that automatically recommends multimedia apps when you plug in your headphones, and Answer Me which allows you to answer the call by picking up the phone and putting it against your head.

Extras

Neither of the devices has microSD card support, however both feature NFC. Additionally the LG G2 also comes with LTE-A which is the next generation of 4G chipsets, however this is currently likely to only benefit US readers rather than those here in the UK.  Other things to note are that the LG G2 has ditched all the buttons on the side in favour of a single rocker switch on the back of the phone. 

Conclusions

It was always obvious that the G2 would be better than the Nexus 4, but it looks like LG has added plenty here to see it as a worthwhile upgrade if you like your Nexus 4 but are looking for more, especially within the LG family.

There is no word yet on whether LG will offer a Google Edition of the device, but if it does, like the Samsung and HTC offerings, it would mean you lose the software enhancements.