LG G4

Get headphones/earbuds. They are gonna blow away any type of speaker.

Yes, because they're convenient and appropriate to wear all the time. :p

I wonder what display mode they used on the S6 in those comparisons too, because you can change that in the settings on Samsung phones to mute the saturation and look more realistic, which is nice. Does LG give you that option?

Regardless, I'm sure the display will be more than adequate, so I think we're grasping straws at this point on phone displays. I'm still more than happy with my M8s display even though it's nowhere near as nice as any newer Samsung AMOLED phone. And I'm sure the G4's will be better than my M8s too even outside of resolution (which I don't really care about at this point and would actually rather have 1080p for better performance).
 
Waiting for some full reviews but the overall package looks nice. Im interested is seeing how the 808 stacks against the 810. I imagine it would fair rather well in day to day. Sidebar, I would love to see a 3GB ram android phone with an 808, 1080 screen and 3000mAh battery.

I think the exterior looks pretty sharp and the leather backs are a nice touch. Nice to have something other than glass (Samsung, Sony..)

From what I have seen though, not too impressed with what they did to 5.1, my word they uglified it. Currently rocking stock 5.1 and overall I am very satisfied with the performance/capabilities and and even warmed up to the aesthetics.
 
On a galaxy S4 still....depending on whether I would be able to install a custom rom or just plain stock 5.1 (on AT&T), I would buy this phone...the removeable battery and sd card alone make this an attractive option over the S6.
 
On whether or not this display is quantum dot, LG expressed that the Quantum display is similar to a quantum dot display, but more advanced and thinner with incell touch... So it may be a non-answer, but LG did also say that the backlight could be turned off for deeper blacks, which would pretty much throw it under the quantum dot display category.

As for why I kept saying that LG cherry-picked the photos for the display test and asked for independent reviews and why I said maybe LG is just better at showing strawberries, and then you Johnny question whether I realized it's cherry-picked... Darp Darp Darp Darp! Of course I want to know the details of the tests. I don't even know what the hell you're arguing about when I'm probably even more curious than you about this display! That said, the phones were placed in front of the bloggers/reporters where they could pick up and play around. I'd be surprised if no one changed the display settings to photo realistic. Since we don't know that, I would have to assume it uses the default settings out of the box, whichever mode that is.

As for performance, LG and Qualcomm expressed that the G4 is faster in daily tasks... First, what is daily tasks? Just launching the camera faster doesn't mean daily tasks... Obviously the Exynos will benchmark better, so I'm going to assume that what would likely be true is similar to that multitasking test PhoneBuff did yesterday on GS6 vs M9 vs iPhone 6, where M9 wins with GS6 coming last place. Versus the 810, with the 2 big cores clocked higher, it'll win in single threaded tasks.

And now new ideas, is this now the enthusiasts phone?
 
another random thought. LG has confirmed that they are going to be making a WP flagship device this year. G4 with Windows 10 for Phone, anyone?
 
Bout as much of an upgrade as the G3 was from the G2, which is to say not much as well. :p

They had A LOT of the same fluff for the G3 and it turned out to be very ... lack luster. I can imagine every aspect of the G4 to be very lackluster.

One thing I do like is their decision to go with the 808 except for the fact it comes with a very lack luster GPU. If the rumor about them going with a WP8 design is true this will hurt the performance since that OS relies a lot on GPU acceleration.
 
Well I still have my G2 and after trying custom Roms I'm back on stock rooted experience which is just great. My friend has the G3 and she says battery life is worse.
 
Well I still have my G2 and after trying custom Roms I'm back on stock rooted experience which is just great. My friend has the G3 and she says battery life is worse.

Yeah, I'm on the G2 as well.

I orginally had issues with the battery, until i factory reset, and it's been near flawless ever since.

As well, for the first I'd say week or so of lollipop hitting the G2, it was god awful. But now they've fixed most of the glitches and such, now it works like butter.


I skipped the G3, because I just love my G2. Other than not having an SD slot and not a removable battery, it's everything I need.


However, I will definitely be getting the G4. Because I'm hoping the browser is speedier and more responsive.


Like right now, I'm on my phone typing this. For some reason, the new lollipop kind of glitches with words. It puts two of the same words in a row, or even adds new ones when I'm deleting a typo.

Very odd. It seems to be getting better, but not quite there though.

Looking forward to the G4, i was hoping for a better battery. 3,000 is good, but another 500 would of been that much better.
 
I'm keeping a close eye on this one. I have one account that I can upgrade as soon as late-May. Still not sure what phone I would like to get. Anything will be an improvement over the large turd that my Galaxy S3 has become.
 
I like, that they didn't fall with the idiocy of bigger numbers with each generation. Even 1080p is enough for 5-6" screen, 808 is also enough, as 810 looks like it sucks balls. But, they improved what really matters - camera and battery life.

If more phone makers would follow that way, we could have actually concentrate on things that matter in modern smartphone, and not that everyone goes "waaaaah 4K screen", and battery that would power that screen for 15 mins.

Defo considering this phone at my next upgrade, when my contract ends in September.. IMO much more complete package for my needs than S6.
 
I am leaning towards getting the G4, currently have a G2. I like the way LG keeps the bezel small and also the camera improvements. The reservation is whether the larger phone will be practical. Too bad LG doesn't have small and large product lines for smart phones like the other manufacturers.
 
I am leaning towards getting the G4, currently have a G2. I like the way LG keeps the bezel small and also the camera improvements. The reservation is whether the larger phone will be practical. Too bad LG doesn't have small and large product lines for smart phones like the other manufacturers.

I don't think any manufacturer has a small smart phone that is worth a damn anymore...do they? Every good and flagship device is honking huge now. My wife wanted a small-ish phone, and had to settle for a Moto X 2013 to get the size she wanted.
 
I don't think any manufacturer has a small smart phone that is worth a damn anymore...do they? Every good and flagship device is honking huge now. My wife wanted a small-ish phone, and had to settle for a Moto X 2013 to get the size she wanted.

Sony Z3 Compact and Samsung Galaxy Alpha are about the only decent offerings at the moment for higher end specs in a smaller 4.x" phone.
 
Assuming it's still built on TSMC 20nm Snapdragon 808 is a better match for that. It's like my experience with higher clocked 22nm Intel Haswell i5-4300U that's slower overall due to throttling than lower clocked 14nm Broadwell Core M 5Y10 that has consistent performance. Always suspect Intel turbo clock is bordering on being a scam. The throttling is probably the culprit for the intermittent lag that gets blamed on Android.
 
I'd take an LG phone over Samsung, even though they are the 'little brother' and often accused of copying. G2 was a fantastic phone, ahead of any of its competitors, and LG does what it can to advance the tech and innovate with far less resources than Samsung.
 
So some reviews are trickling in from Pocket Now, Engadget etc. They usually boast about the screen and camera and how it has removable battery and Micro SD slot. On the software and battery side, it seems fine, not bad, but okay. On the design side of things, I definitely like it, especially the leather. As far as performance, it's fine, again not the best but okay.

I guess I just feel like I'm starting to agree with the folks who been saying "most expensive mid-range phone of 2015" I feel like this is somewhat accurate since the battery life & software aren't much of an improvement (some test show regression) and that the only huge thing is the camera. one can even argue putting the 808 instead of the 810 CPU makes it midrange. if you compare PC CPU's or GPUs this makes sense. If you bought a 780ti vs a 770 GPU, the 780ti is top tier while the 770 is mid to high range, so you could carry the analogy over to the 808 vs 810 discussion. I understand the 808 is more efficient, not as much thermal/throttling issues and probably helped battery life in this case. I'm sure day to day actions, you won't notice those 2 missing cores, but why pay $200 (2 year contract price) for a "mid-range" phone when you can get something for the same price that is cutting edge.

When I look at the S6, I see better software and battery. The design is definitely an improvement over previous Samsung designs, which is the main reason why I never considered Samsung and had an HTC for the last 2 years. The screen seems to be brighter than the G4, which will be beneficial outdoors and more accurate. The camera is really good, with the G4 beating it out slightly, partly due to it's smaller aperture size by a small margin. Lastly, I don't care about Micro SD or removable battery.

Point of this? I don't know, just typing out my thoughts haha! I guess I'm considering the S6 now. If both phones perform everyday the same, regardless of what CPU/GPU is inside then for me, it just comes down to who has the best battery life and secondary, who has the better camera.

So, do you guys think the S6 and G4 will perform the same on everyday tasks and who do you think has the better battery life and camera? The battery tests, for both phones, have been both positive and negative, which doesn't help me decide!

Some links to the reviews..Still waiting on Anandtech and MKBHD full review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FwIc_TziV8

http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/07/lg-g4-review/

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8559275/lg-g4-review

http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/133801-lg-g4-review-a-balance-of-phone-meets-phablet
 
Some thoughts to add to the above...

I feel like things have gotten to the point that game changing elements will be few and far between for a while. Nearly all the manufactures can do good screens, good battery life, good build quality. Good being relative and always changing based off of what the competition is doing. So choice becomes personal at that point with few negatives and pitfalls associated with that choice.

That being said, some manufacturers will venture out and try something radical (you could argue the Samsung edge is radical at this point) and others will stay home in their comfort zone (looking at you HTC M9).

With such few elements being truly ground breaking or OMGmusthazit worthy it will come down to price, the ability of the phone to function in a day to day basis and in my mind, the software longevity on the phone. The jump between 4.4 and 5.1 is huge in my mind. I will only get a phone if I know I can get updates. The S6, HTCm9, and LGG4 have all hit and Google now starts talking about Android M. Sure, they will all probably get M, at some point, plus all the craptastic extra stuff the OEMs feel we need.

I welcome the day when manufactures offer their extra stuff as an app I can download if I want. Do people really buy a phone because of the junk the OEMs add to it on top of Android? Or do OEMs just do this as an a way to control the upgradeability of the phones software?

As a design statement I like the G4. I wish it were a bit different in some ways, but there is not one phone out there I dont say this. With apple, its take it or leave it. With Android its shop it around and see what you cant live with. I am waiting for a few more reviews but from what I see of the G4 I like. The one thing that has me concerned is the software on it. I need to see how close to a stock experience I can get, and even then I will be at the mercy of my carrier AND OEM.

Still trying to get a handle on the of how close to stock I could get teh G4 If I jumped. If I went S6, it would be a plain S6. HTC drops the M9 then tempts us with the E9+. Moto with drop their new X in a few months. Gah, its all a mess.

Should have got the HTC M8 GPE when I had the chance.
 
I don't understand why people say the 808/418 is soooo midrange. Really people? I still am using my Note 3, with its "lowly" 800, and it still flies right along, despite the crappy 5.0 Lollipop update. Still does things far faster than I ever thought capable of. Plays games, videos, music like a champ.

I just think it's silly how people get wrapped up so much in the vague improvement that the 810 is over the 808. Just enjoy the powerhouse phone that it is (and, it is too). I, for one, am very much looking forward to acquiring this beautiful piece of technology, and I certainly won't worry about missing out on "What could have been". LMFAO.
 
I think because they see the 808 as an older processor yet you are paying the same price as something that has the latest and greatest CPU/GPU and comparable camera and battery capacity.

Would any of us want to pay the same price for a computer that has the same specifications in every regard, but the CPU/GPU combo is from last quarter? Probably not, I wouldn't. Yes, they probably perform the same for everyday tasks but technically it's not as good when you run benchmarks or maybe encode some video etc...

So because of that, some argue that the phone should be cheaper than it's competitors and not considered flagship.

I'm fine with having the 808, I don't need the bragging rights of the 810 or Samsung CPU :)
 
If the G2 and G3 are any indication, this phone will be free to $100 on contact on most carriers in just a few months anyways. I bet it drops price fast.
 
Regarding the Snapdragon 808 vs 810, I think the latest Smartphones are overpowered for what we use them for. So the 808 is a good choice since battery life is more important.
 
G4 design is better than S6. Its curved, easier to hold, less bezel, bigger screen, and I won't be swayed by 'premium' looks since the G2/3/4 are handsome devices as well.

As for software the G4 UI is not bad, TouchWiz isn't that much better, and at least LG phones have root and Dev support. They are also usually cheaper.
 
About a year away from an upgrade from my G2... been very happy with it, like it tons better than my HTC One I had before this phone. I'm interested to see what the G5 will bring to the table next year. Also interested in Google Fi.. will this work with any android phone or only nexus devices?
 
About a year away from an upgrade from my G2... been very happy with it, like it tons better than my HTC One I had before this phone. I'm interested to see what the G5 will bring to the table next year. Also interested in Google Fi.. will this work with any android phone or only nexus devices?

At the moment, it will only work with the Nexus 6. Hopefully, it will expand beyond that, but I suppose I can't blame Google for wanting to force folks to use its money phone, although this kind of monopoly through that service kinda sours the taste for me.
 
Android Central Review:

http://m.androidcentral.com/lg-g4-review#content

Summary
"The G4 is competent across the board, and exceptional where it really matters. And it stands a good chance of being one of the best Android phones of 2015."

CNET Review:

http://www.cnet.com/products/lg-g4/

Conclusion:
"Compared to the Samsung Galaxy S6, the G4 falls just short. Though we like the G4's UX 4.0 more than TouchWhiz, and its throwback features like expandable memory and a removable battery, the Galaxy S6 is still better. It's brighter, takes great photos and has a longer-lasting battery. In addition, Samsung has been forward-thinking and reactive to user trends. It has integrated fingerprint scanning and a new design (two if you include the novel-looking S6 Edge). When all's said and done, the G4 is a great phone for the now -- but the S6 is a great phone for the now and beyond."
 
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I'm going to have to go in-store and mess with a G4. I definitely think I'm going to get one. The removalable battery and sd card is a huge + in my book. It sounds like a good phone also.
 
Trying to get a handle on the battery life. Some reviews praise it other slam it. The negative ones dont seem to be happy with any battery period, so thinking the G4 does well/above average.

Most reviews seem pretty positive. Camera seems to hold its own. I would like to see how fast it operates though, that is one thing that still amazes me about my wife iPhone. Thing will take pictures like crazy. My two year old was playing with it and we turned the camera around, I think we have 378 selfies now that took him about 18 seconds to make.

Personally I'm not to hung up on the plastic. I bet it would survive a fall with much more grace than any of its metal and glass competitors. Interested in seeing the leather in person.

I did read in a review that the LG ui sandwiched the pull down notification and quick settings into a single tab. Apparently some of the items can be turned on/off, but the menu behaves as a single windowshade, rather than the double pull down with everything being squished to facilitate fitting in one screen. If something like that is baked into the OS, what is the likely hood of being able to get it back to stock (outside of rooting/new OS)? Really like notification behaviour in 5.1 and would hate to lose it.

Come on demo models.
 
Given the variances in reviews, my guess is that it comes down to a matter of personal preferences. I'm really eager to try the G4, but I won't deny that the GS6's actually functional fingerprint reader spoiled me a bit. As the iPhone 5s showed over a year earlier, a good fingerprint reader makes life a lot easier -- you can lock down your phone without having to tap out a code every time you want to check email.
 
On the battery life discrepancies on the reviews, it looks like it's one of those real world vs benchmarks thing. Sites who base their battery life opinions on benchmarks seems to hate it saying it lasts shorter than the GS6, but sites who base their opinion on real world tests love it and saying it lasts way longer than in the GS6. I trust those real world tests more.
 
Given the variances in reviews, my guess is that it comes down to a matter of personal preferences. I'm really eager to try the G4, but I won't deny that the GS6's actually functional fingerprint reader spoiled me a bit. As the iPhone 5s showed over a year earlier, a good fingerprint reader makes life a lot easier -- you can lock down your phone without having to tap out a code every time you want to check email.

I wish more phones had this! There was speculation that Nexus 6 had it at one point in the dimple on its back but was removed due to time constraints.
 
I wish more phones had this! There was speculation that Nexus 6 had it at one point in the dimple on its back but was removed due to time constraints.

It is hard to implement in a way that would make it quite secure. Apple spent a good amount of time developing theirs and when Samsung tried to jerry rig one on their phone it was terrible.
 
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