LG G4 : Lots of hits and misses

LG has finally revealed their answer to the super hit Samsung Galaxy S6 and the HTC One M9/M9+ and boy, the leaks were spot on. The new flagship from LG looks awesome in that leather back, has a brilliant 2K resolution display with extremely high color accuracy, has a new f/1.8 16mp rear camera that can take detailed photos in low light conditions. Similar to the HTC One M9+, the LG G4 can take 2TB microSD card. LG G4 will be coming in the month of May and there is no dates set, no pricing set. From what we see, Samsung is going to have a clear winner this time around, unless LG G4 is priced agrressively (which we doubt). LG will take the runner up spot and HTC may end up in distant third thanks to the average and minimal design changes YoY.

lg_g4_brown_leather.jpg

Design

G4 is made using ‘oh-so-boring’ plastic all around and the respite is that users can change the rear panel. LG will sell four panels ; Genuine Leather Brown, Genuine leather Black, Metallic Gray, Ceramic White. The only rear panel that looks good is the brown leather panel and the same is evident as LG is using this panel in most of its promo photos/videos. Now, while the leather panel looks premium, the wear and tear for leather is rather high and expect fading and blackening on the edge and areas that come in contact with sweat/moisture from hand. The design too is more of an evolution than revolution as LG G4 looks similar to LG G Flex2 . In short, its the G Flex 2 with wider body, less flexibility, smaller curvature and rectangular corners (G Flex 2 had rounded corners). Good thing though is that the battery can be replaced by user and users have a choice of buying the rear panels (have to see how much the leather panels cost).

lg_g4_rear_colors.jpg

While we comment LG for providing HDMI slim port with 4K video playback support (when connected to 4K HDTV), unfortunately the USB port is version 2.0 and in the year 2015, for a flagship phone this is downright pathetic! Wi-Fi supports 802.11ac and there is Bluetooth 4.1 LE. Wireless charging is not supported out of the box and one need to buy the QuickCircle case.

Plastic body
Interchangeable rear panels (four options at launch)
Curved body
Volume and power control buttons on the rear panel below camera
Wireless Charging (optional, need QuickCircle case)
148.9 x 76.1 x 9.8 mm
155 grams
Nano-SIM card slot
microSD card slot (upto 2TB)
HDMI Slim port with support for 4K video playback
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.1 LE (APT-x)

Display

This would be one of the trump cards from LG. The 2K resolution on the G3 was beyond stunning and LG has managed to make that panel look old, thanks to the G4’s QuadHD quantum display. The resolution is set to 2.5K but with massive jump in color gamut, the content looks accurate and when compared to Galaxy S6’s Super AMOLED display, this one is absolutely spot on in color reproduction. Do note that GS6’s display may look more vibrant but that is due to over saturation of images that has a nasty side effect of inaccurate color reproduction. Folks at one popular tech website used an image of fresh strawberries to check display. While G4 managed to make the image look lot closer to the same in real world, GS6 gave the strawberries slight orange tint. The display is slightly curved on y-axis (not to the extent of G Flex 2) and it makes the phone look good too.

5.5” panel with a resolution of 1440×2560, more than 3.5 million pixels, 25% more brightness 50% more contrast 50% improved color accuracy when compared to LG G3’s 2K resolution display, LG G4’s display is without a doubt the best display panel we get at this time. Using Android 5.1 Lollipop on this display will be a visual treat!

5.5” size
2560 X 1440 resolution
IPS panel
538ppi

Camera

Another trump card! The 16mp rear camera has improved optical image stabilization, f/1.8 lens, 1/2.6” image sensor, improved auto focus (called laser auto focus) is again one of the best cameras that you will see in smartphones this year. We cannot say that this is the best out (till we personally review the camera) but its definitely up there among the best.The biggest feature is the ability to manually change every setting (shutter speed, white balance, ISO, exposure), check the histogram on the fly and saw images in RAW format for post-processing. Coming to video recording, the LG G4 can record images in 4K resolution (be ready to buy a huge microSD card slot that is fast enough to record massive video recording data on the fly).

The front facing camera has 8mp lens and it will take stunning selfie photos. LG has configured lot of gestures (close fist to take a selfie, open and close fist to take four selfies in a row). LG says that they have blurred the line between pro-cameras and phone camera. That is an overstatement but LG G4 will definitely shame most point and shoot cameras.

16mp rear camera, 8mp front facing camera
Optical image stabilization 2.0
Front camera
Laser auto focus
f/1.8 lens
1/2.6” sensor
Save images in RAW format
Full manual settings mode
Color spectrum sensor
Panorama mode can create a 106mp image
2160p video recording
Rear Camera
f/2.0 lens
gesture shots

Under the Hood

This is one area where G4 has disappointed. LG G4 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 808. Unlike the other top end Snapdragon 8xx series chips and the Exynos 7420 on Galaxy S6, the 808 comes with six cores in 2+4 configuration. As a result, LG G4 is nowhere near to the performance levels of a Galaxy S6. The worse part is that in some benchmarks, it even lags behind yester year LG G3 and G Flex 2.

This does not mean that the phone will be slow but given how heavy Android Lollipop is (compared to KitKat) and how the game and app developers are pushing the boundaries, it will certainly have the effect in long run. For simple day to day tasks, the G4 will be just as powerful as the Samsung Galaxy S6.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 ( two Cortex A57 cores @ 1.8GHz+ four Cortex A53 cores @ 1.44GHz for CPU, Adreno 418 GPU)
3GB RAM
32GB internal memory
3000mAh battery

Software

LG G4 comes with Lollipop 5.1 out of the box and has LG’s Optimus UX 4.0 overlay. LG has taken Samsung’s path and kept the OS much closer to stock with subtle changes. Overall, the UI looks pretty good and has much needed features for multi tasking, gesture control (KnockOn, Knock Code etc). LG is giving users 100GB of Google Drive storage space (free for 2 years after which you have to pay to continue using 100GB of space on Google Drive). The Camera application that LG has included is brilliant and has massive feature set. There is no themes application for LG’s launch which is a little bit disappointing. With Smart Notice, you can automate routine tasks, get personalized recommendations on weather. Gallery application is much faster and intuitive on G4 and now includes search by date function. EventPocket calendar app is also very good addition.

Android Lollipop 5.1
LG Optimus UX 4.0

Conclusion

To be brutally honest, we are a little bit disappointed with the G4. A flagship is a device that does not compromise and one that showcase what a company can do. LG had lot of time to create a device that can stand up to Samsung’s flagship. Instead, the LG G4 is yet to be seen on the market, is inferior to Galaxy S6 in more than one area, has all plastic design. The only way LG can take on the GS6 now is by create huge price difference between LG G4 and Samsung Galaxy S6 else its going to be a massive win for Samsung.