LG G6 phone: full, in-depth review
LG’s G series has been getting better and better over the years. The modular G5 was an interesting phone that turned out to be great value once the price dropped (plummeted). Now here’s the G6 which brings a spec sheet and features that aim to take on the best on the market. It might not look too fancy at first glance, but there’s a lot going on. We suspect the big question will be, ‘Is it the phone to get right now, or should you bother waiting for, what history suggests, will be a big price drop in a few months?’
Key specs
5.7in, 1440 x 2880 LCD screen, 32,64GB/4GB RAM, 2.35GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 821 CPU, Adreno 530 GPU, Dual 13MP rear cameras (regular and wide-angle) plus 5MP front camera, microSD (dual SIM slot on some models), USB-C, IP68 dust/waterproof, Android 7, Google Assistant, 3300mAh battery, 149 x 72 x 8mm, 163g.
Design and handling
Lets face it. It’s not much to look at. It’s a shiny, black (also available in “silver”) box that’s a bit chunky not unlike the disappointing Sony Xperia X Performance. How... ev... er... Phone aficionados will appreciate what LG has done here. The company has focused more on function than form – running more-than-usual usability tests with the public. As such we still have a big, 5.7-inch screen but it takes up a large 80 per cent of the front face – the top and bottom bezels are small compared to competitors. And yet the phone is also much narrower compared to competitors while retaining a useable bezel (so that your fingers don’t interfere with the screen when you’re holding it). That’s because the screen is ‘longer’ than usual. It has a 18:9 aspect ratio instead of the usual 16:9 and this allows for some nifty features that we’ll mention below.
As for the thickness, social media is rife with stories of how users aren’t fussed about super-thin, hard-to-hold phones and would rather have bigger batteries. While the 3,300mAh unit here isn’t the largest on the market, if there was a screen-area-to-battery-size competition, this would do well. The upshot is that this large-screen phone is comfortable to hold even if you have small hands. And if you don’t like the look of it, a case will easily cover that without increasing bulk. We approve.
The power button
One thing we weren’t initially convinced about is having the rear-mounted fingerprint reader at the back double as a power button. This means it’s only easy to press the button and turn on the phone if you’re firmly holding it at the same time. If it’s lying on the table or you’re holding it differently this can be tricky. However, LG’s knock code gets round this. By entering a combo of 6-10 taps around the screen, you can easily unlock it. It works very well. Problem solved.
It’s also worth noting that the fingerprint reader is exceptionally fast and accurate. No matter what orientation, when we tapped it the phone instantly unlocked. However, it wasn’t so comfortable with damp fingers.
The screen
The screen itself is an LCD unit – strange considering LG’s owning of the OLED TV space. It’s high quality but the colours don’t pop like they do on some AMOLED competitors. We could also notice a bit of light bleeding through the bottom of the screen on some occasions but it’s not distracting. The screen does emulate the TVs in that it supports Dolby Vision and HDR 10 – this means that colours and contrast can be superior to other screens. Certainly the demo reels we saw were impressive and few won’t be impressed with the video reproduction on offer here. However, at the time of testing, the Netflix app would only let us watch content in HD – not 4K and not with Dolby Vision. It’s early days though and we expect apps to catch up quickly.
One curious design choice is that while Gorilla Glass 5 is used on the back of the phone, the older, weaker Gorilla Glass 3 is used on the main screen. That’s another reason to use a case with this phone.
The speakers
Don’t expect too much from the speakers. They don’t get particularly loud and they get quite muddy quickly when playing treble-rich and bass-rich music. We say they but it’s really only speaker one at the bottom. Also, the whole phone vibrates in your hand when the volume is turned up – more than we’ve noticed on competitors. It lends itself to headphones.
This carries through to speakerphone usage. While we could make out what was being said, it wasn't as loud-and-clear as competitors.
Performance
The G6 uses the same components as the expensive Android flagship Google Pixel XL and also the HTC U Ultra. While it sped along as expected when performing day to day tasks there was definitely some slow down when playing basic games like Angry Birds. We suspect that this was partly down to the not-quite-final versions of our phones’ hardware but it could be due to LG’s heavy tinkering with the raw, Android 7 Operating System. We'll update this as we learn more.
Software
Android 7 is included and it comes with the excellent Google Assistant. We were seriously impressed with this on the Pixel XL and it feels some distance ahead of competitors to the point where we actually use it regularly. Unfortunately it is not compatible with Google Daydream VR yet, though.
Previous users of LG’s phones will be happy that the old penchant for using cheap-looking, unsophisticated icons has gone and, for the most part, it feels like stock Android. LG adds some nice touches though. The knock-to-unlock code (as mentioned above) is still there and works well. You can also get the phone to automatically choose different ringtones for your favourite contacts. A weather animation can appear on the lock screen and Smart Settings can automatically adjust settings/open apps when you’re at/away from home or connect an audio device. A Smart Doctor app can manage memory, keep things ticking along optimally and diagnose problems. You can easily set the size of icons to be bigger or smaller and some apps can run in separate windows – so you can do things like watch video and access social media at the same time. Not all of these features are unique and some can be replicated with third-party apps, but they’re all nicely integrated into the OS and simple to turn on and off.
An 'LG Friends' app lets you connect with physically-nearby friends who have a compatible phone. An LG Health app offers the usual health-tracking trimmings including a pedometer.
The other area LG has focused on is making the most of its 18:9 screen, especially the fact that it can easily be divided into two, equal squares. At a basic level you can adjust the screen sizes of apps although some, like Google Maps navigation, will instantly work better because they can display more of what’s ahead. But the main area where the 'benefits' can be seen is with the camera..
LG G6 camera review
The LG G6’s camera is generally very good but it’s not perfect. Low light performance is excellent. Shots in dimly-lit rooms looked downright well-exposed. We tried side by side shots with a top-performing-in-this-area Google Pixel XL and frankly the G6 was a bit better. However, the Pixel still handles dark scenes better – but not by much.
We did notice though, that despite the High Dynamic Range capabilities of the screen, and the good low-light performance the camera could lose detail in bright areas (blow-out highlights) more than we’ve seen in recent times.
The main feature is dual cameras. One is a regular camera while the other is wide-angle. If you zoom with the wide angle it effortlessly zooms into the other camera. To be frank we didn’t use this much and in some ways it feels a bit of an unnecessary, expensive addition, but it’s there and doesn’t get in the way.
LG also makes use of the square screen features: there’s a square cam which gives an instant square preview beneath your photo. There are various other square-based filters that provide some interesting effects. But nothing earth shattering. One of our favourite features was social media integration. A slide-out bar lets you quickly publish to your favourite site which is particularly useful when taking a 360-degree picture and publishing it on Facebook.
The selfie cam has some nice features but is let down quite badly in terms of quality – a real shame. It’s only five-megapixels and it looks it. Shots were grainy and overexposed and frankly the worst we’ve seen from any camera for quite some time. However, the ‘Say Cheese’ shutter works well as does the Fist-shutter which counts-down to a picture when you make a fist.
Video performance is generally good. At 4K the dynamic range is impressive with detail being captured well in bright and dark areas. In very dark rooms it captured impressive detail albeit very grainy. Image stabilization was average rather than great, though. We found that we preferred shooting at Full HD at 60 frames-per-second as the video was smooth but it did lose it’s low-light prowess. However, we were again a little disappointed with the audio which seems to have Microphone Gain ramped right up – you can hear a great many things but there’s not much body to the sound – it’s a bit tinny and little clicks and pops really jump out.
Battery
The 3,300mAh battery is a reasonable size. We found it easily lasted a full day and could even stretch to two under light use and utilizing LG’s impressive Power Saving features. It also uses Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3 and can fill half the battery in 30 minutes.
Other features
The G6 is IP68 certified which means its dust resistant and can be submerged in (fresh) water at 1.5m for up to 30 minutes. We had no issues using it in a shower and a steam room. Although when we came out and tried to charge it we were told that water was in the USB port and charging was stopped. We had to put it in a container full of rice for a few hours to fix this. However, that was no fault of the phone. This is a great feature to have.
Conclusion
We’ve been on the search of the perfect phone for some time and we had high hopes that this was it. It very almost is. It rivals HTC’s and Google’s own Android flagship phones and costs a lot less at $1,008. But we are a bit disappointed by the audio and some of the photo quality. We suspect that blown-highlights can be fixed in a software update but that won’t fix the Selfie camera which is downright poor.
Nonetheless, it does everything else really well, brings some interesting features to the market and as such is a compelling choice. But be wary if buying… on the one hand, if you buy through Telstra before May 9th you’ll get a ‘free’ 43-inch Full HD LG TV. Now on the surface that sounds great but it’s not the most expensive TV and you have to be on at least a $95 per month plan for two years to get it (total spend $2,280). It also raises a red flag… LG has a history of slashing the price of its flagship phones after only a short time. The G5 fell below $700 quickly and can now be had for under $600 despite costing the same as this at launch. If LG can afford to give away a TV with this phone, it’s making a high margin on the G6. If you’re buying it now be prepared for a price drop to sting you later.
However, the big question for now is, should you buy it at full price? Well it’s not quite as well rounded as the more-expensive Pixel XL but that had a mediocre-battery-life. It also isn’t as pretty as the large, feature-poor, expensive HTC U Ultra. The excellent Huawei Mate 9 is available for a similar price and that has a potentially superb camera (but one that is poor in low light). The Mate 9 is also much larger than the G6 despite having only a 2mm-larger screen and battery life is comparable despite its 4,000mAh battery. Another recent favourite is the Oppo R9s Plus which is much cheaper but much bigger and not as powerful.
So there’s not one phone to rule them all at the moment and that leaves the G6 is as a good a choice as any flagship on the market right now. What really tips the balance in its favour is the “Back to Basics” approach of making the phone more comfortable to hold, and it really is. Time will tell if this is the day-to-day phone we use moving forward - for now it is. But right now, it’s a great choice and a recommended buy.
Comments
Post a Comment