LG G Flex review

We had both the default Internet browser and Chrome installed on the LG G Flex. Between the two, I strongly recommend using Chrome. It's faster than the Internet browser, and it links up with your Google account so you can sync your browser history, bookmarks and more. It's also cleaner looking than the pre-installed Internet app.

One benefit of the Internet app, however, is that it quickly works with the QSlide apps on the phone, so you can use the browser while doing other things, like watching videos or sending messages.

It has its back, forward, home and bookmark buttons down below, while you can put in a URL, search term or do tabbed browsing.

The default browser is fast and reliable, but we still prefer Chrome for its overall design, UI and sync capabilities. If you're already a Chrome user, it makes syncing your bookmarks and everything else easy so that your browsing transition from desktop to mobile is smooth.

There are also other third-party browsers that you can download from the Google Play Store, but we'd recommend sticking with either the default browser or Chrome since they're reliable and perform well.

Contacts

Your contacts are handled by Google contacts. Since this is an Android device, and you need a Google account to access nearly every worthwhile feature on the phone, that's where your contacts will come from, too.

When you add or delete contacts to and from your Google account, it syncs across any and all devices that are synced with your Google account. So, for example, if you add a new contact on your Gmail tab in your desktop browser, it will get synced with your phone.

The nice thing about having Google Contacts, as it is with all Android phones, is that you never have to rely on your single device to store all of your contacts. That keeps you from having to write Facebook posts that say, "Hey, lost my phone last night at a bar. Need everyone's phone number. Thx."

On the LG G Flex, your contacts page has a few categorized tabs to help you get organized. They are your dialer, call logs, contacts, favorites and groups. If you have ever owned any Android devices in the past, you'll find that some of these items, such as favorites and groups, will be synced.

Unlike the latest versions of Android, you won't have business search or voice search integrated in with your contacts. It's not the worst thing in the world since you can access most of those things via Google Now, but they were nice to have in Android 4.4 KitKat.

Calling

The phone app takes you to the same app as the contacts, except the dialer is opened by default instead of the contacts tab.

Obviously, phone call quality will depend on your carrier and location more than the phone itself. Using AT&T in the San Francisco Bay Area, we found that phone calls were just as good as any modern smartphone. Calls were loud and clear, and our friends reported the same.

Speakerphone calls on the LG G Flex are excellent thanks to its curved design, which allows the speaker to be raised from the table just enough to bounce the noise off of it.

When you receive calls, you have the option to answer, decline or send a message, just like most other smartphones.

In short, there isn't much to know about calling since it's quite intuitive and so very similar to what you'd find on any other Android device.

And again, if call quality is of any concern to you, the blame hardly falls on the device. Instead, try a different carrier or location if it's at all feasible.