MWC 2013 is in full swing and we’ve already witnessed an abundance of announcements and new devices, including the LG Optimus G Pro. We’ve pitched the Optimus G Pro against the Galaxy Note 2 and the Droid DNA already, and now it’s time to see how the LG flagship fares against the exotic Oppo Find 5.

I said “exotic” because Oppo is a new player in the international mobile industry, one that relatively few consumers outside China are familiar with. But Oppo is determined to impress the world, and their best effort, the Find 5, is by all means an impressive piece of tech.

Let’s analyze how the Optimus G Pro and the Oppo Find 5 do against each other.

Specs

Display

The displays of our two contenders are quite similar, save for the obvious difference in size. Just like the Droid DNA, the Oppo Find 5 (world’s second full HD smartphone) features a 5-inch LCD panel with the excellent pixel density of 441ppi.

The Optimus G Pro offers a slightly lower density, but that doesn’t mean you will be left longing for a better panel. Quite the opposite – we’ve found the display of the Optimus G Pro to be very crisp and very vivid.

It’s a draw this round (unless the extra half inch of screen real estate is important for you.)

 

Design and build quality

Ever since we’ve first seen the Oppo Find 5, we’ve been enamored with the elegant, yet understated design of the Chinese handset. Its minimalist, clean cut shape is somehow Xperia-esque, and we say this in a good way. The Find 5 looks and feels premium, and we’re happy to see that Oppo did away with the physical hardware button.

On the other side, the Optimus G Pro looks nice, but LG won’t get many points for the originality of the design. More than a few commenters have pointed out that the Optimus G Pro looks a little too much like the Note 2. With that said, the G Pro does have a few redeeming qualities, namely the interesting holographic pattern on the back and the multi-color notification LED underneath the home button.

We’ll hand this round to the Oppo phone, which we think it looks and feels better.

Hardware, camera, and battery

The Optimus G Pro takes the lead here, thanks to the beefy processor it houses underneath that glittery back plate. The Snapdragon 600 is the chipset that we expect to see in most flagship devices going into 2013, and the G Pro is one of the first phones to use it. In contrast, the Snapdragon S4 Pro chip of the Oppo Find 5 is very capable, but (in theory) not as powerful as the 600 model. It's rather odd, but the benchmarks we did during our hands-on time with the two phones have yielded almost identical scores.

Both phones have 2GB of RAM and similar storage options, but only the Optimus G Pro offers the possibility to extend the storage space via microSD. The battery is another department where the G Pro vaults ahead the Oppo – not only is the battery removable, but it’s more than 600mAh larger than the unit on the Find 5.

The distinction between the two phones becomes less obvious when it comes to the cameras. Both phones have 13MP shooters, with autofocus and LED flash. We haven’t seen samples taken with the Optimus G Pro yet, so we’ll not be making any sweeping judgments for now. We’ll just note that LG brags about its Photo Sphere-like panorama mode and dual recording mode, while Oppo is keen to point out the HDR mode and slow-motion abilities of the Find 5.

Spec for spec, the Optimus G Pro is the better phone hands down.

Operating system and software

One think I personally didn’t like about the Oppo Find 5 is the tacky look of its user interface. The UI tries to combine elements from iOS, Android, and Oppo’s own design ideas. The result is gaudy in my opinion, and I especially dislike Oppo’s widgets, which look rather amateurish.

The Optimus G Pro sports LG’s Android 4.1.2 implementation, dubbed Optimus UI. We are not particular fond of it here at Android Authority, but we have to admit that LG has backed some smart little apps into the OS, including a multi-tasking feature similar to Samsung’s Multi Window.

Overall, the Optimus G Pro is more polished, better looking, and arguably more functional than Oppo’s effort.

Pros and Cons

Optimus G Pro Pros

• Better processor
• Larger display
• SD card, larger removable battery
• Better OS
• Wireless charging supported

Optimus G Pro Cons

• Bigger and heavier
• Plasticky design

Oppo Find 5 Pros

• Nicer design
• Crisper display
• Lighter, more compact
• Cheaper
• No physical button

Oppo Find 5 Cons

• Slower processor
• No SD card, smaller battery
• Poor OS

Hands-on video

Wrap up

The Optimus G Pro is obviously a generation ahead of the Oppo Find 5. But things move so fast in the mobile landscape that the difference is actually not that important. In other words, the Optimus G Pro is the better phone, but the Oppo Find 5 is not far behind it.

The biggest issue with the Oppo Find 5 is the software. If Oppo improves in that area, its future is bright. Meanwhile, the Optimus G Pro shapes up to be the new king of the hill in the Android world, or at least to share the title with the HTC One. That might change when the Galaxy S4 comes out, but until then, LG’s new flagship is our recommendation.