LG G6 -The best Android Experience – Review

This year flagship from LG, the G6 is a bit different from its predecessors. It does not have any crazy innovations or inventions. Instead, the G6 concentrates on pure smartphone experience. I have been using the G6 for over a month now and here are my thoughts.

Design

One look at the LG G6 and you know it is not a usual mobile. The design is unique and the uniqueness is mostly due to the unusual form factor of the display. The display has a 2:1 or 18:9 aspect ratio, while conventional mobile displays or computer monitors have 16:9. Though the screen is 5.7 inch diagonally, due to its aspect ratio, it appears very thin. It is easy to hold and handle with a single hand. The mobile is slightly thicker than other flagships and is also heavier. But it looks classy with its brushed aluminum design at the back covered by a Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Not just the looks, the mobile is durable as well. Though it has a glass back, It has survived 3 of my accidental drops on the hard floor during my review period, without any signs of the incident. The mobile has IP certified dust and water protection.

The bottom has a UBS-C port, speaker grills, and mic. The top has another mic and 3.5 mm audio jack. The left side has the volume rockers and the right has the hybrid SIM card slot. The power button is integrated with the fingerprint sensor at the back. Above the sensor is the dual camera setup with dual LED flash. The front has a metal earpiece, camera, sensors and the 5.7-inch display. The navigation keys are onscreen. The mobile is a bit heavy and thick, but the dimensions are ergonomic and feel very comfortable to hold and handle. The LG G6 is strong, stylish, sturdy and yet simple.

Display

LG G6 is one of the first mobiles to come out with an 18:9 aspect ratio display. It has a 5.7-inch display, but due to the aspect ratio, it is narrow and gives the mobile a thinner form factor. One handed usage on a 5.7-inch mobile is very much possible. The display has rounded corners on all sides which give it a nice aesthetic touch. It is an LCD panel, but a very good looking high-quality display which supports QHD resolution. The display is vibrant, colorful, bright and perfectly tuned for all lighting conditions. Due to its 18:9 or 2:1 aspect ratio, the rectangular display can be split into 2 equal squares. The software has so many features to leverage this aspect ratio, like split screen, square cam, landscape mode apps, etc… This unique aspect ratio is going to be the future and I am delighted that LG has started it off, with a positive note. LG G6 has a fantastic and futuristic display and it would be a delight to use.

Camera

Apart from the design and display, Camera is also unique on the LG G6. It has a dual camera setup at the back but with one 13 MP regular camera and a 13 MP wide angle camera. The regular camera has a f/1.8 aperture, optical image stabilization. The wide angle lens has 125 degrees of view and an aperture size of f/2.4. The wide display compliments the wide angle camera well and I must admit that it is quite addictive to click wide angle shots with the mobile. The camera UI is simple and intuitive to use. The square camera app is also integrated with the camera UI and there are 4 different modes in it. One mode also to click a square shot and preview it immediately at the bottom half. The second mode allows stitching of multiple square images. The 3rd mode is to stitch a photo from front and back camera. The last mode is to click called a guide mode which lets you click a shot and a sequence of shots to match the first shot.

The quality of shots is impressive. The camera is a great performer in challenging light conditions as well. The shots have good sharpness and details. It captures the colors accurately with excellent contrast and dynamic range. The wide angle lens is not great in low light and it also lacks OIS. The front is just a 5 MP sensor, but a high-quality hardware and software that can click pleasant selfies, under most lighting conditions.

Square camera samples

The mobile can shoot up to 4K videos on both its rear lenses, while the front cam can shoot 1080p videos. I enjoyed recording video on this mobile due to its manual pro controls, hi-fi audio recording and also noise reduction.

Wide angle camera samples

Picture credits – Ranjan Sharma

I enjoyed the LG G6 for its camera more than anything else. It is a delight to use and a owners pride to show off those wide angle shots, which is not possible from most flagship devices out there.

Hardware and Performance

LG G6 is powered by last year’s Snapdragon 821 and has 4 GB of DDR4 RAM and an Adreno 530 GPU. The specifications may sound dated, but the experience isn’t. Much like the other 821 powered devices, G6 is smooth, fast and responsive. Gaming experience is smooth and even the most graphically intense games do not show any signs of frame lag of stutter. If I had to complain, It has 64 GB internal storage. You can expand the storage by up to 2TB, but that will cost you extra and also cost you the dual sim capability of the mobile.

LG G6 supports Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC, USB OTG and FM Radio. The high fidelity Quad DAC in the mobile makes the music experience magical. It is one of the best audio chipsets, I have ever experienced. Overall, the performance of the LG G6 is smooth, stable and effortless.

Software

LG G6 runs on Android 7.0 with LG UX 6.0 skin on top. It has no bloatware and all the apps that come installed with it complement the mobile with rich features. LG UX 6.0 has a very interesting visual design. The icons are rounded and compliment the rounded display corners. The smart-bulletin replaced Google Now page on the extreme left of the home-screen. The settings are stacked and grouped in tabs. LG G6 has a huge list of features like a Content lock based on fingerprint lock, Knock gestures, App Trash, Weather Animation of Lock screen, SOS Mode, Smart Doctor App, LG Health App, etc. I have covered them in detail, here. LG UX 6.0 is easy and intuitive to use.

Also, Read – Top 20 Highlighting features of the LG G6

Battery

This is probably the first LG mobile to seal the battery within the body. LG G6 sacrifices the removable battery for water proofing the mobile. It has a 3300 mAh battery which can last for a whole day, in spite of heavy usage. Under moderate usage, it lasts a bit on the second day as well. I get about 5 hours of screen-on-time regularly which is impressive. G6 supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and the stock charger can charge the mobile fully in less than 2 hours. It also supports wireless charging.

Verdict

I tried really hard, but am unable to find one point to complain about the LG G6. This is an excellent mobile for sure. It has a sensible design, fantastic display, excellent camera arrangement, smooth performance and a good battery performance. Unfortunately, the mobile was launched at a price of Rs 52k and now it is available for Rs 38k. If only the launch price had been Rs 38k, LG would have sold the G6 like hot cakes. Now the G6 competes with Honor 8 Pro or the latest Oneplus 5. The Oneplus 5 has the latest specifications, a massive 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage. Oneplus 5 may have won the spec war, but LG G6 has a better experience with its better camera, water proof, Hi Fi audio DAC and the interesting aspect ratio. LG G6 moves on to be a highly recommended smartphone, by Gadgetdetail.