LG Optimus G E970
After getting a Nexus 4, my brother needed a more powerful smartphone, so I decided to pass it down to him, and shop for a new one. $300 unlocked was my maximum price, so that ruled out pretty much all the phones I wanted (SGS4 GPE, HTC One GPE, Sony Xperia Z).
I was about to buy another Nexus 4, but I discovered that the AT&T LG Optimus G E970 had exactly the same hardware, but added an SDCard slot and LTE support. It could even be reflashed to accept Nexus 4 ROMs.
Best of all, it could be found in mint condition on Swappa for only $200, far less than the more popular Nexus 4. The SIM unlock for T-Mobile cost just $10.
In this guide, you too can turn an LGOG into a Nexus 4 with LTE and an SDCard slot.
- E970 Comparison with Nexus 4 - Why get an LGOG E970 instead of a Nexus 4? Well, there's a lot of good reasons.
- E970 SIM Unlock - You will need to be on the stock ROM to unlock your LG Optimus G, so do that first if you are even thinking about switching carriers in the future.
- E970 Rooting - Rooting the stock ROM is the first step to modding your device.
- E970 FreeGee - The FreeGee app roots and installs custom recovery to your LGOG in a full package. (oddly, there is no known manual rooting method...)
- E970 Radios - The E970 LGOG can run it's stock radios, and also Nexus 4 radios. Some of them offer better performance than others, but your experience will vary, from ROM to ROM, from carrier to carrier.
- E970 MultiROM (Not built yet) - While you can install MultiROM after doing the Nexus 4 conversion, it's probably better for us to slightly modify it to work with the LG Optimus G.
- E970 Porting Nexus 4 ROMs - The best way to run Nexus 4 Custom ROMs (if the more labor intensive method) is to port them yourself.
- E970 Nexus 4 Conversion - Alternatively, you can install a Nexus 4 partition scheme onto your LGOG, effectively transforming it into a Nexus 4. This allows you to receive Google's OTA updates, and removes one step to installing Nexus 4 ROMs.
- E970 Miscellaneous Mods
Note: All non-Android projects have moved to the BASLQC Wiki.
- Introduction - A quick intro to the rationale and ideals of this guide, and smartphone modding in general.
- General Setup - Learn how to install and run the tools you need to succeed.
- Device Guides - Customized, fully decked out guides for rooting each and every device we could find.
- General OS Customizations - General customizations that work on all devices of a specific OS.
- General Guidelines - The ideals that you should uphold while working with and editing this guide.
- Device Guide Templates - Templates and general guidelines for creating customized guides for a device.
- Linux - Run a full desktop OS on your little mobile device; research is being made to make it comfortable to use in the mobile space.
- Glossary - Contains all the crazy acronyms and word soup that you'll need to wade through when using this guide.
- Android Buying Guide for Modders - While modding can fix up an outdated device, it will make your life easier to buy the right device from the start.