This review focuses on the expected performance of the ATLAS and CMS detectors at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), together with some of the highlights of the global commissioning work done in 2008 with basically fully operational detectors. A selection of early physics measurements, expected to be performed with the data taken in 2009/2010 is included for completion, together with a brief reminder of the ultimate physics potential of the LHC.