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LG G2 Mini

What makes a “mini” version of a flagship smartphone? It varies. When Sony made a mini version of the Xperia Z1, they basically just shrank down the powerful Z1 into a smaller package. When Samsung wanted to make a mini version of the Galaxy S4 they basically just stuck the name onto some random mid-market device rolling off the production line. The third way is to make something look like its more expensive sibling, which is what HTC did with the attractive mini version of the HTC One.
So which approach is LG using? Are they shrinking down the impressive G2 into a smaller size? No. Are they sticking the “G2 Mini” name onto a random product from the LG factory? No. LG are doing the third thing.. the LG G2 Mini looks like the LG G2 on the outside, but on the inside it is a lot less powerful. This is quite an odd thing to do, because although the LG G2 is a powerful beast, it isn’t exactly a drop-dead-gorgeous phone like the HTC One.

LG G2 Mini

LG G2 Mini So what do you get with the LG G2 Mini? Apart from the signature control button on the back? Well, this version packs a 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage plus a microSD slot, a 4.7″ 540 x 960 pixel display, an 8 megapixel primary camera plus a 1.3 megapixel secondary one and Android 4.4. Oddly, if you live in Latin America then you’ll have a version with a faster 1.7GHz processor and 13 megapixel camera instead. Go figure. There is an LTE version with NFC which is nice, and a 3G version with no NFC which is not so nice.
There’s a quite pleasingly big 2440 mAh battery inside, and depending on region you might get a choice of black, white, red or gold colour schemes. But apart from all the usual Android features, there seems to be little else of note. LG says that the LG G2 Mini should be available from March onwards.

If this really was a mini version of the G2 then we’d probably suggest that it was worth a look. As it is, this is just another quite disappointing “mini” handset that delivers much less than it promises.