LG G4, full analysis and opinion

LG G4, analysis and opinion

Analysis note

Specifications

Operating system Android 5.0 Lollipop
Size 5.5 inch
Resolution 2560 x 1440
Cameras 16/8 mpx
Capacity 3000 mAh
Memory internal 16 GB, 32 GB

A risky bet

They say that the risk does not win, and I think that it is what no doubt must have thought in LG to get hands on with this LG G4design. Knowing the change of course of Samsung with its Alpha range that finally resulted in what is now the Galaxy S6, and bet continuist in terms of materials and design of other competitors such as Sony and HTC, to continue betting on a terminal of high-end polycarbonate with removable lid is, without a doubt, a rather risky.
With only few exceptions, this year has witnessed some releases 'more of the same', at least in what has design is concerned. Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge has perhaps been the most innovative bet, but has too many similarities to Apple's iPhone to be able to categorize it breaker.
The HTC One M9, is almost indistinguishable from the One M8, and the so-called Xperia Z4 is a carbon copy of its predecessor. Even other models apparently most revolutionary Android LG Flex 2, or YotaPhone 2, does not cease to be mere updates of their predecessors.
In this flat and little surprising panorama scene enter LG G4, a smarphone whose classical forms make it, curiously, one of the most amazing releases within the high range of the 2015.

Photo Gallery LG G4

A breath of air... classic

The first thing that is perceived, and draws the attention of the LG G4 in a first contact is its peculiar back cover leather cover. An idea that reminds us to experiments that held Motorola in its day with the Moto X and bamboo and leather finishes.
In this case the Korean brand committed to a very fine layer of leather of 1.5 mm, with a double Center seam overlying flexible plastic rear cover. The result is a warm and pleasant to the touch feel, unlike the cold touch of metal or glass, neither better nor worse, and more satisfying than traditional polycarbonate.

On the LG G4 hand is very ergonomic and comfortable handle (148.9 x 76.1 x 9.8 mm) and all despite its generous 5.5 inch screen, which speaks very well of the optimization work done by LG.
Opposite the G4 is not much larger than a Samsung Galaxy S6, and it seems a miniature if we face it to iPhone 6 Plus, with which we must not forget, share screen size. It isn't too heavy, even though its 155 grams not position it within the lightest smartphones.

The leather cover is available in various colors: black, camel, yellow and Burgundy. A small órdago of Korean brand that surely will not convince many. Personally I like to, but I have to admit that after two weeks of testing, in which I have not had any setback, it still generates me doubts its durability and resistance to possible scratches and grazes with the passage of time.

Something similar happens with the rest of the body, not with the screen - protected by glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3 +-, but with the sides of the polycarbonate structure, embellished with a layer metallic effect in dark - a magnet by the way for all the footprints, with many ballots to scratch if not walk with certain precautions.
Anyway if you not a fan of leather, the LG G4 also is available in metallic grey plastic, ceramic white or gold, with one free texture with a surprisingly subtle cross pattern that becomes difficult to distinguish at a glance this G4 from its predecessor, the LG G3.

The G4 has a slight curvature in the screen, alrederor of 0.3 mm. It has nothing to do with the LG G Flex, but it is significant enough to make it feel more comfortable in the hand, in addition to better adapt to the face when it comes to speak, make it more comfortable to carry in the Pocket and protect it possible scratches screen when slipped it upside down on a table.

Like its predecessors, the G4 LG continues to locate the volume controls and the Start button in the back, just below the camera and flanked by LED flash and the color spectrum sensor. For those who try it for the first time the location of the controls will be of the most unusual, and it is difficult to get used to, so much so that many of which we have lived with them at other times we still do not see it very clear, at least in my case.
It is true that when it comes to talking on the phone it is very comfortable to have the volume controls at the height of the index finger, but for the rest of the tasks at my quite unnatural and uncomfortablestill finds me. I suppose that, like so many things, it is a simple matter of taste.

What if miss is a fingerprint reader on the power button, a more widespread element that streamlines the tasks of terminal unlocking. Unlock LG G4 can perform, in addition to with regular patterns of blockage or code, using the Knock Code, a combination of two to eight strategic hints at previously established areas of the screen.

This release system is quite practical, although LG G4 can be a living hell. Why? Simple, by the curvature of the back that make the terminal more comfortable to hold with the hand, but that makes him a "tumbler" when poyado on a flat surface. Rolling is such that it is almost impossible to answer a message or even interact with the menus if we don't have the G4 caught in the hands. A small handicap which must be taken into account. At least, and that is no consolation is because you don't want to, the camera does not protrude a millimeter of the telephone plant.

Despite the absence of buttons on the front of the phone, LG has made a generous bevel at the bottom, apparently just to show off the brand logo. However the rest of the space are well optimized, with a few very small bezels on the sides and on top, which houses for selfies of 8-Megapixel front camera and the speaker.

At the top we enter the infrared sensor, as well as a noise-canceling microphone. It is positioned below, connector microUSB and headphone (not included). To find the speaker have to leave up to the lower back, where a small opening, poorly located and easily obstaculizable with the hand almost dedes any position, gives way to a quite powerful but lacking in nuance and absent bass sound.

To find the rest of connections of the LG G4 have to remove the back cover, not without care and always making use of the small notched on one of its sides. Inside, in addition to 3,000 mAh battery, find, one above the other, the Micro SIM slot (which no Nano, as it is becoming usual lately), and micro SD card reader which allows you to extend up to 2 TB, the scarce 32 GB of internal storage (of which only 24 GB are free after the installation of the system operating).

Photo Gallery LG G4: design and screen

Screen with cinema-quality

The screen is no doubt one of the most important element of this new LG G4. Not only by its size, 5.5 inch, that positioned it above that of the Samsung Galaxy S6 or the HTC One M9, and match it with the iPhone 6 Plus.
5.5 inch screen incorporates LG Quantum IPS technology with a Quad HD, 2 K of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels resolution and 538 ppp, in a panel type LCD IPS.
According to figures from LG, the screen of the LG G4 has 25% more brightness, 50% more contrast, and a wide range of colors more than the of the previous LG G3 with LCD QHD display.

Thanks to Quantum IPS technology and to match the standard DCI used in studies of cinema in Hollywood, the screen of the G4 offers deeper saturation in the red and blue. According to LG shows 98% of the color gamut DCI, with a slight loss of green color saturation.
That may sound like technical jargon has its motivation in the form of seeing colors, where Red is the color that the human eye can more variations, so showing a wider in this color range of shades the screen becomes deeper in what color to be concerned.

Our practical experience with the LG G4 screen has been nearly perfect. Highlights its high level of detail and richness of color, with perhaps slightly saturated bright colours in the range of reds/Pinks but within a certain naturalness, without being excessively exaggerated or annoying. Something that could have been fixed with the use of color profiles, something unfortunately does not count.

The LG G4 screen 2K is large enough to comfortably watch videos and has an almost perfect angle of vision without loss, without appreciable chromatic variations even from angle ends. An aspect of this that outperforms the Samsung's Super AMOLED screen, although it must be recognized that if we talk to contrast the LG G4 (1055: 1 in our tests), is behind the proposal from Samsung and equals the results of the iPhone 6 or 6 Apple Plus.

Despite the fact that as far as levels of brightness at sight do not seem to differ too much from other models, the display from the G4 (522 cd/m2) far outstrips the measurements to the Galaxy S6 Edge (296 cd/m2) and the iPhone 6 (422 cd/m2). something that is endorsed on the good behavior of their screen with direct sunlight, allowing that it's not necessary to resort to maximum levels of brightness to make legible texts and images in full sun.
In short, an excellent screen that LG are allowed the luxury of looking front to other current proposals, and that it can compete openly for being the best mobile display today, title that could well hold the S6 from Samsung.

Contained power

Under the hood, the G4 LG incorporates processor 64 bit hexa - core 1.8 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 808. If you are aware the world chipset will be surprised you as they will make us surprised the absence of Snapdragon 810, which benefit is considered the more powerful the Qualcomm processor to date.
However the 810 has experienced more than one problem of overheating, so LG has opted for a chipset of the same generation, but apparently less capacity. That Yes, both Qualcomm as LG say that the 808 was the processor intended for the G4 from the beginning, something that fails to be very credible.

But, what is the difference between 810 and 808? The analysis of the LG G4 shows that reality is somewhat unclear because performance tests show no difference of consideration between the two. If we take as a reference AnTuTu 64-bit, the LG G4 obtained 49.833, while the HTC One M9 with 810 processor exceeds 55,000 points in some pruebad. However, the LG Flex 2 with the same processor stays at just 46.353 points.

These results do not cease to be a reflection of what is perceived in every day. It is true that a Snapdragon 810 offers slightly better gameplay and a video playback smoother HD due largely to its GPU 430 Adreno GPU, but it is not so obvious to notice the difference.
What if it is more evident are the high energy requirements the Snapdragon 810 which make the battery discharge significantly faster that the 808 to porta LG G4, does what indicate that after the serious problems of the LG G3 battery Korean brand has preferred not to risk sacrificing part of the power for a better autonomy. A decision by all accounts successful, especially if we take into account the behavior demonstrated by the processors Snapdragon 810.

Is true that, in performance tests, Qualcomm processor not can nor cough you to the Exynos of 64-bit and 8-core of the Galaxy S6, but generally can not put you any but to the performance of the LG G4. During testing we have not observed any problems in this aspect, nor we have suffered no "space heater" out of the ordinary. The LG G4 allows you to enjoy games of last generation without disheveled and maintaining an adequate frame rate, while high screen resolution suppose impediment for this.
The rest of the features of the LG G4 are quite similar to its predecessor: 3 GB RAM DDR3 and 32 GB of internal storage. It is or Yes, while Samsung got rid of many of its internal elements to be able to "get" into its fine chassis metal and glass, the LG G4 clings to elements like 3,000 mAh battery is replaceable - so you easily can exchange it for another fully charged-, in addition to also include compatibility with the Wireless charging Qi.

The only drawback is that this requires a new amended back cover still is not available (although attest that exists, since I had the opportunity to see him in his presentation). For those who have problems of space the G4 LG keeps slot microSD with which it is possible to expand up to 2 Tb of additional storage memory. In addition, to not be not outdone in this aspect, the device also incorporates up to 100 GB of storage in the cloud of Google Drive for two years.

Photo Gallery LG G4: benchmark

Autonomy without surprises

Replaceable 3000 mAh battery in combination with a less demanding processor and a better optimized display, have managed to largely solve the problems of the LG G3 battery. But make no mistake, this is not a panacea.
Battery of the LG G4 supports a day of intensive without excessive problems, little less than 11 hours of intensive mixed use (video, photography, games, navigation, social networks etc.) in our tests. A time that within a use moderately every day, has helped us to come up with good reserves at the end of the day.

Does not have any fast-charging system, although the full battery charge starting from zero lasts less than 1 hour and 50 minutes. A time significant if we consider the greater capacity your battery against, for example, the 2,550 Galaxy S6 mAh.

A camera in capital letters

Despite not making great fanfare in what hardware is concerned, LG G4 can boast of having one of the most powerful of the current panorama cameras. Less than 16 MPX with opening main camera nothing f1.8 and optical stabilizer OIS 2.0 3-axis up to 2 degrees (twice as the LG G3), with which we have been able to get some of the best photographs we have ever made with a mobile phone. That Yes, with some nuances.
With daylight, we find images rich in detail, with excellent presentation and very natural colors. While, at night and in other low-light environments, images stand out due to their low level of noise and the possibility of attaining good images without resorting to flash. An important aspect since flash LG G4 shows a clear tendency to underexpose the image, so you should avoid it.

One of the novelties of the camera of the LG G4 is your new sensor color spectrum adjacent to the camera, able to distinguish between natural and artificial light and adjust the white balance accordingly, helping to improve low-light images.

However, can be seen occasionally sensor seems to compensate lighting problems not perceptible to the naked eye, adding a slightly yellow veil to the photographs. A small mistake that seems easily solventable with a software update.

The new application of the Chamber of the G4 has with three usage modes: simple, basic and manual, allowing it to meet the needs of all kinds of photographers, from amateur to expert photographers.

LG G4 against iPhone 6

Simple mode makes all the hard work autonomously, leaving that the phone is who decides absolutely everything, supported approach to automatic laser that was so popular in the G3 and that ensures that photos should be at least focused, even when shooting from improbable positions.

Basic mode allows any extra, although nothing otherworldly license: flash, HDR (on/off), image format (16:9, 4:3 or 1:1 for image and UHD, FHD, HD or slow in the case of video), panorama mode, shot by voice, timer (from 3 to 10 seconds), and dual mode (two photos simultaneously with the main and rear camera).

Although it was the manual mode that has dazzled us in this review of the LG G4 thanks to a set of functions allows us total control over appearance as the focus, white balance, shutter speed, exposure compensation or the ISO.

In both modes, it is important to indicate that it is difficult to get good pictures in low light of objects or people moving without resorting to flash. In these situations the G4 camera tends to lengthen the time of exposure, a good solution for scenarios static but little productive to, for example, a photo of a child. Comparatively in this situation specific 6 iPhone camera, despite not achieving such good results, is more effective, as well as of the Samsung Galaxy S6 plus the evening and even outperforms the outcome.

For those who know what they are made manually of the LG G4 will allow them creative almost total control to capture some really spectacular pictures. Even, it is possible to save the images of the LG G4 in RAW format (DNG format of 20 MB per photo, opposite the 6 MB of media images in JPG), which further increases if the possibilities when editing images on the computer.

The front camera has been updated with a 8 Megapixel for selfies lens and includes a mode of firing through gestures: a photo if we open and close the hand, and a sequence of 4 images if we do it two times in a row. It also has a dynamic regulator to soften skin tones in real time.

Like the Samsung Galaxy S6, G4 LG has a quick access to camera mode by pressing in this case twice the volume down button. Access is significantly slower and also only works if the screen is off. It can be configured to capture a photograph just activate the camera, but I do not recommend to activate it because in most cases we have no defined frame and only get a blurred photo to delete.

Photo Gallery LG G4: photos from camera

UX 4.0, according to LG Android Lollipop

As you might expect, the LG G4 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop and has all the latest features of the operating system from Google. However, LG always like to include things from their own harvest in their systems operating, some more useful than others.
LG G4 has an colorful Material Desing renamed as UX 4.0-based interface, with Fuchsia and blue electric neon type. Fortunately, this we are always predominant colors since it is a bit annoying, especially with high brightness.

The overall experience with UX 4.0 is softer in UX 3.0, with a more simplified design and fewer steps for the different options. For example, you can drag and drop quotations from social networks directly in the calendar or the image gallery is automatically sorted in albums based on the time and place taken.
Smart Notice, a smart with real-time information on notifications widget that tells us of the State of the time, is located in the upper part of the screen the birthday, and offers suggestions for our day to day. Nothing new and, luckily, easily dispensable.

If we drag the start screen of LG G4 clockwise you access Smart Bulletin, a collection in the form of cards, which are updated dynamically with information from different applications such as calendar, music player or the application of the remote distance.
One of the most interesting functions of UX 4.0, and some used, is Smart Settings, that allow to automate routine tasks TWITTERFEED-style, such as turn on or turn off the WiFi when entering or leaving home, or open the music application to connect headphones. Very useful, although somewhat limited since it only has 8 formulas.

Also useful Smart Cleaning, that scans is the temporary files, the downloads folder and applications not used, to free up space in the internal memory of the LG G4. Another option that has been interesting is the possibility to rescale the size of the keyboard, ideal for facilitating the sending of messages with only one hand.
In addition, UX 4.0 maintains features from the previous version of the coat of customizing Android for LG as the Notes application Quick Memo, the double screen to be able to use two applications simultaneously, the remote control by infrared or, thank you LG for remember fans of the frequency-modulated,... the FM radio!

Photo Gallery LG G4: UX 4.0 Android Lollipop 5.1

Connectivity to the height

No objection in this regard, since the G4 LG has all the connectivity options applicable to all next-generation smartphone that boasts: LTE 4 G Cat 6, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual band compatible 4.1 Bluetooth, USB 2.0, WiFi Direct/Miracast and NFC.

Is it worth?

It is difficult to answer this question after this analysis of the LG G4. Sincerely I value very positively the risky bet of the Korean firm, since it would perhaps be easier to follow the current canons and planting battle using the same weapons, but LG has opted for a different route, something very. But, it is sufficient to say that Yes it is worth buying this LG G4?

As we have seen in this analysis of the LG G4, the quality of your screen, your excellent camera and maintain features as the microSD card slot or the removable battery, in a classic design with distinctive elements such as leather premium, are the great values of the ship insignia of LG. Without, however, the rest of the hardware and software are not overly impressive, since it does not add any differentiating factor of weight against its most direct competition.

	LG G4	Galaxy S6	HTC One M9	iPhone 6 Plus
Screen	5.5 inch	5.1 inch	5 inch	5.5 inch
Resolution	2560 x 1440	2560 x 1440	1920x1.080	1920 x 1080
Resolution	534 ppp	577 ppp	441 ppp	401 DPI
RAM	3072 MB	3072 MB	3072 MB	1024 MB
CPU	6 x 1, 8 GHz	8 x 2, 1 GHz	4 x 2.0 GHz	2 x 1, 38 GHz
High	149,1 mm	143,4 mm	144.6 mm	158.1 mm
Width	75.3 mm	70.5 mm	69.7 mm	77.8 mm
Thickness	8.9 mm	6.8 mm	9.6 mm	7.1 mm
Weight	155 g	138 g	157 g	172 g
Main camera	16 MP	16 MP	20.7 MP	8 MP
Front camera	8 MP	5 MP	4 MP	1.2 MP
Image stabilizer	Yes	Yes	not	Yes
Battery	3,000 mAh	2,550 mAh	2.840 mAh	2,915 mAH
Price 16 GB	-	-	-	799 euros
32 GB price	699 euros	699 euros	849 EUR	-
64 GB price	-	799 euros	-	899 euros
Price 128 GB	-	899 euros	-	999 euros

Price of the LG G4 part of 649 euros in versions with plastic cover, rising to 699 euros for the version with top, a price that is not far in excess to their competition, so this aspect also favors the LG G4 already than other options may result, at least at first glance, more attractive.

That Yes, a rebate fast in price as it happened with the LG G3, could turn this LG G4 into all a best selling, skills and virtues not missing this.

G4 LG or Samsung Galaxy S6?

Our assessment

Design 8 810
Screen 9 910
Hardware 7 710
Software 8 810
Camera 9 910
Battery 7 710
Connectivity 10 1010
Quality/price 8 810

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