One of my favourite devices last year was LG’s flagship, the LG G2. With the perfect blend of style, functionality and unique features, it offered almost everything in a sleek package. Fast forward a year and LG have introduced this year’s flagship, the LG G3. Like last year the LG G3 brings a usual array of new features but also puts LG ahead of its rivals in several ways.
Like many manufacturers, LG have made two versions of the LG G3. The UK version (and some European models) come with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage whilst the global version and selected European models come with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. With the LG G3 launching around the world, is this the Android phone of the year? Let’s take a closer look:
LG have been kind enough to lend us a European Prototype for this review with 2Gb RAM and 16GB internal storage. As it’s a prototype handset, our findings may differ from actual retail models.
Design
One of the highlight design features on the LG G2 was the relocation of the hardware buttons to the back of the phone. This allowed LG to keep the phone slim and in the G3, LG have kept to the same design.
The rear buttons have been redesigned to make them easier to find with the volume keys recessed slightly. This allows you to find the power button easily and whilst with the G2 I often had to turn the phone around to find the power button, the redesigned buttons solve this.
On the front of the G3 is the main standout feature. The front display has 74% screen to size ratio and features one of the smallest bezels on the market. The 5.5 inch display sports 2K resolution and is the first widely available mainstream consumer smartphone to make the jump to this resolution.
Sporting 543 pixels per inch density, the LG G3 screen is one of the best on the market but at the moment there’s just not enough content to make use of the high res display. The preloaded video shows off the stunning abilities of the display and whilst there isn’t much content available now, the LG G3 is future proofed for the next generation of content.
One area where the LG G2 let us down was in the locked down design. The LG G3 solves this by offering us a removable back cover which provides access to the removable battery cover and microsd expansion slot. The 3000 mAh battery offers satisfactory battery life (see our LG G3 Battery Review for more info) whilst the microsd card lets you expand the storage by up to 128gb.
From a stylish and unique design, the G3 ticks the boxes in the looks department. But how do the Android OS, LG’s interface and the impressive specs match up?
Software
The LG G3 runs on the Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system with LG’s custom interface running on top. The software has been heavily tweaked to offer an LG style experience yet unlike past devices, it is actually very pleasant to use. In fact, it quickly grew on me with LG adding a range of features that complement the Android experience.
Let’s take a closer look at the LG G3 software as well as a lot of LG’s unique features including Knock Code, Knock On and Dual Window:
Camera & Video
The camera is another key area where the LG G3 stands out. It comes equipped with a 13MP sensor with backside illumination along with laser auto focus which LG claim allows the camera to focus within 0.274 seconds. In reality the LG G3 camera is rather impressive, accurately focusing on images relatively quickly and producing images that are sharp and vibrant yet warm and accurate.
The camera comes with a range of options with quick access from the toolbar to the flash, different modes (Auto, Magic Focus, Panorama and Dual mode) and the front facing camera with other settings like the self-timer, image sizes and quality, HDR mode and voice input hidden behind a further toggle. The voice input allows you to say things like cheese, smile etc to automatically capture the image.
Here’s a few LG G3 camera samples:
Laser autofocus is not the only noteworthy camera feature on the LG G3. Like Nokia (and now Microsoft Mobile), LG have adopted optical image stabilisation within its flagship devices. Optical image stabilisation helps ensure that images captured in low light or with shaky hands remain in focus and stable – the result is images that capture detail regardless of the conditions.
Here’s a few low light sample shots from the LG G3:
Like it’s rival flagship devices, the LG G3 comes fully equipped in the video recording arena. It sports 4K UltraHD video recording at 30 frames per second (fps) , full HD and 1080p at 60 fps and 720p slow mo recording at 120 fps.
Here’s a 4k video sample from the LG G3 -
Here’s a 1080p video sample from the G3:
Overall video quality is impressive and audio comes out crisp and clear. The use of OIS+ and laser autofocus helps ensure that the scene you want to capture is accurately reflected in the images and video you capture.
Performance
There’s no such thing as a perfect smartphone and despite the LG G3 coming very close, the performance is the big let down. However I’ve spoken with a few people that have either the retail model or the European 3GB prototype version and their findings differ from mine. On paper the LG G3 should be best in class – the 2.5GHz quad core Snapdragon 801 processor and 2GB RAM should offer enough to prevent major lag and/or freezing.
In practice, I experienced significant lag with the handset struggling to handle the transitions on the display with everything else being asked of it. Simple things like opening the recent apps menu or the apps drawer could take a few seconds to action. One area that was rather annoying was the recent apps area which seemed hit and miss – sometimes it would display the apps whilst other times it would say no recent apps, even though we had just been running some. When it displayed no recent apps, closing the app drawer and reopening it usually forced the LG G3 to correctly display the apps.
However, the ability to change the Android runtime from Dalvik to ART and turning off the majority of transitions helped improve the performance. As an advanced user, taking these actions was simple enough but for the majority of users, this would be considered an alien concept.
Overall performance was a let down but having used a retail version as well, it’s likely my issues were down to prototype hardware and software. Even with the issues we’ve identified, the overall performance is satisfactory and the lag is not much more than that experienced with other rival devices. The performance issues are manageable, especially with the other features that make the LG G3 appealing.
Battery
The LG G3 comes equipped with a removable 3000 mAh battery which is quoted as offering all day battery life. The G3 uses microusb v2.0 to charge and also comes with wireless charging built in which means you don’t need to be plugged in to top up your battery.
We’ve covered the LG G3 battery separately my experience with the battery is one of mixed results. For low to medium usage the G3 is more than capable of powering through a full day or two but for heavy usage including gamers, it’s a little disappointing with heavy usage resulting is 14 hour battery life.
There’s no doubt that the high resolution display has an impact on the battery life. When the display is turned on for large parts of the day, it dramatically reduced the overall battery life. For gamers it’s even worse as the graphics chip has to work much harder to power games on the 2k display than it would have to on a full HD one.
Nonetheless the ability to remove your battery means you can carry a spare. This means heavy users can easily get through a 24 hour period with heavy usage by carrying a spare battery. Whilst it’s not ideal to need a spare battery, it’s a small price to pay especially as rival devices may not come with the ability to swap batteries.
Conclusion
The LG G3 has a lot going for it. It’s a stylish phone that shows how doing things differently doesn’t necessarily mean you will fail. Whilst other manufacturers have made the conscious choice of following relatively similar design strategies, LG are content with doing things differently and it pays off.
Overall the LG G3 takes the best handset of 2013 and improves it further – the addition of a removable battery and expandable memory show that LG listens to feedback from its customers and tech reviewers. The result is a handset that ticks most boxes – whilst the performance (at least on our device) needs some work, there’s very little to fault with the LG G3.
Given its left a lasting impression on me (which is difficult for any smartphone to do), the LG G3 is one of the standout phones of the year so far. There’s still a lot of devices set to be announced before the year is out but in terms of specs, design and overall experience, the LG G3 sets the benchmark that other devices need to aspire to.
Here’s a collection of LG G3 Hands On Images:
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