Slightly curved ergonomics, laser autofocus, QHD display, 16MP camera, “All Day” battery life, MicroSD card expansion. The LG G4 seems to be the picture perfect flagship this year. On paper, it simply cannot be beat. The LG G4 has been taking up space in my pocket for some time now. I’ve had plenty of time to get to know LG’s 2015 flagship. Do the paper specs match up to the overall experience?
Hardware
Remember when everyone said plastic phones were awful and no one should ever buy them because they’re a menace to society? Well, LG doesn’t really care what you have to say anyway. The LG G4 is plastic and glass and not much else. Starting on the front, you are met with the gorgeous(and I mean gorgeous) 5.5inch 2560x1440 QHD display. Above and below the display you have your handset earpiece and front facing camera up top, with an LG logo down below.
On the back, you have some options, you can get a “metallic” back cover that’s just plastic. Or you can opt for LG’s highly advertised Genuine Leather backings in a variety of colors. I opted for the metallic grey backing, as I don’t see a huge appeal for having a leather backed phone. Personal preference, I guess. The back houses a mono speaker grille, G4 logo and AT&T stamp. The speaker sounds okay. It struggles with the low and high end, because it is a mono speaker after all. The G4’s speaker isn’t the worst I have heard, but it isn’t very good either.
Adding to that, you have your power button and volume rocker that have become synonymous with LG in recent years. The power and volume buttons aren’t super clicky, but the volume buttons are textured to differentiate themselves from the power button. Above that, you have your 16MP camera which is flanked by the laser autofocus and dual LED flash. The top of the device has an IR blaster and microphone, while the bottom has another Microphone, headphone jack, and MicroUSB charging port.
If you look hard enough at the device, you will notice the entire phone actually subtly curves to a sort of crescent shape, much like the LG G Flex line. It’s very minuscule and something you don’t notice using the device, but it is there. The phone also contours from the center-back of the device to the edges, allowing your hand to have a more natural grip on the G4.
Plastic devices aren’t bad, when they are done well. The LG G4 is indeed plastic, with flimsy removable backs(the plastic one anyways) and less heft than a premium built device. These decisions don’t really bother me the way they used to. I might be going soft, but the LG G4 feels nice in the hand.
On paper, the G4 is a pretty moderate monster of a smartphone. LG opted for the Snapdragon 808 rather than the 810 due to the thermal issues that have been highly reported. The battery inside the G4 is a user replaceable 3000mAh battery. A 3000mAh battery is the minimum for a phone with a 2560x1440 display these days.
Software
With all of these specs, one would expect the LG G4 to perform admirably. Unfortunately, for the AT&T variant of the G4, that is simply not the case. Constant stutters, lags, and freezing are common in my usage with the LG G4. Looking into the issue, at any given moment my G4 has 800MB to 1.1GB of RAM free, the phone isn’t uncharacteristically warm, and background apps are normally kept in check. LGs “Restrict Idle Apps” feature was actually listed as one of the apps with the most usage.
I have yet to have a day of consistently smooth performance in over seventy days of use with the LG G4. Screen blackouts, lockups, and freezing are the norm more so than regular acceptable performance. For example, I was unable to watch a 1080p YouTube video over WiFi. The G4 stuttered, lagged and then completely froze for a few minutes during my attempt. Touches won’t register roughly a fourth of the time, adding to the frustration. Things like this should not happen under any circumstance.
In my extended two months of use with the LG G4, I was constantly in awe and frustration with how sluggish the G4 was. In no world, universe, or multiverse should a $600+ flagship be as inconsistent and sluggish as the LG G4.
I have never had a more frustrating experience with a flagship than what I have experienced here with the LG G4. In my reading(reviewers read reviews too!) about the LG G4, I have yet to see someone have this negative of an experience. The international variant seems far better equipped to handle daily tasks than the AT&T variant. Factory resets, clearing apps constantly, and daily restarts have all failed to relieve any of the aforementioned issues with the LG G4. Form a performance standpoint, the LG G4 is a flat out dud.
LG Optimus UX 4.0 is LG’s skin over the top of Android Lollipop. The skin is a little like TouchWiz in terms of presence. Instead of offering up nifty little tricks that add to the stock experience like Motorola, LG has chosen to puke their skin all over the phone. Optimus isn’t all bad. You have lock screen app shortcuts, Quick Setting toggles that you can customize, and Knock Codes. All of these are immensely useful and enrich the user experience. Quickly having a preset dock on my lock screen does save time getting into Twitter, Google+ and my camera. Quick Settings living right with the notification pulldown is really convenient, too. Knock Code is LG’s great security feature that allows you to set a “Knock” pattern on your device to unlock it. Adding to that, you can double tap your screen to wake the device(easily my favorite add on feature ever). If you so desire, you can add or rearrange the software buttons too. Home button on the left, why not? But LG has gone a little too crazy with their Optimus skin. Gone are the Material Design-inspired colors and animations. LG has foregone those for their own spin on things. It isn’t bad, but it just is not my cup of tea.
With the inclusion of an IR blaster, you can use the LG G4 as a remote for your various TVs in your home. Setup was super simple, just add a room, add a device, and tap until it works. I’m not one to normally utilize this feature. But when my Harmony remote died, this saved me. You have QuickMemo+, a S Note style app, without the stylus. LG and AT&T have also partnered together to add some pretty awful bloat to the G4. You have your collection of AT&T apps, WildTangent Games, Password Keeper, Lookout Antivirus, and Uber to name a few. Uber is definitely useful for most. But if I want apps downloaded to my device, I’m a big boy I can do it myself thank you very much. This is something every carrier phone is stricken with, and it doesn’t seem to be getting better anytime soon.
Battery Life
Battery on the LG G4 is surprisingly average. Two and a half hours of screen on time throughout 10–16 hours of use was my norm before hitting 15%. Those numbers aren’t impressive. With that super high density 2560x1440 display running things, battery life is a compromise rather than a feature. This is seemingly the standard for these QHD phones(Samsung Galaxy S6, Nexus 6).
What the LG G4 has that the Nexus 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 do not, is a user replaceable battery. Through a free promotion, I snagged a spare battery and battery charger(a separate charger specifically for the battery) free of charge. This was a lifesaver during my trip to New Orleans when I was away from a charger for 18 hours while using my phone heavily.
If you can get to an outlet, the G4 does support Qualcomm’s Quick Charge feature. Grab a compliant charger and you’ll be from 15% to 80% in less than an hour. One of the quicker recharge cycles I’ve seen this year. Wireless charging is supported, but not out of the box. You’ll need to buy a separate back that supports it. LG’s official cover is still MIA as of this review.
Camera
The highest touted feature of the LG G4 can’t disappoint, right? A 16MP sensor with a f/1.8 aperture and professional DSLR-like controls. What’s not to love?
The LG G4 camera is easily, without question the high point of this phone. The G4 camera has three main modes: Simple, Auto, and Manual.
Simple mode is dead simple as the name implies. Tap to take a photo. The G4 does the rest. This mode will focus and expose the photo for you. Allowing you point and shoot with no fuss.
Auto Mode, my favorite camera mode, allows you to operate the flash, change modes to Panorama or Dual Shot, and record videos. Tap to focus, then capture your shot. Little fuss here, but Auto mode offers minimal control to get a great shot.
Manual mode is exactly what is sounds like. A no hand holding manual camera taking experience. Change the ISO, Exposure, Shutter Speed, White Balance, even manually focus if you want. This mode also supports RAW image capture. If your heart so desires, you can pull these photos into Lightroom or Photoshop and really fine tune your image.
Enough about the modes, onto the photos. Photos on the LG G4 were remarkably crisp, full of detail and color. Pull focus on a close subject, and the rest of the shot will blur with a classic DSLR feel. Take vibrant, color accurate landscapes with or without HDR mode and get great results nearly every time. Just take a look at these sample photos I took throughout my extended use with the G4.
Even the selfies are great, with that 8MP front facing shooter. Here’s a picture of not my face, but a cool mug I got as a gift.
You can take 4K video with the LG G4 at 30fps. In my video recording experience, it was actually really impressive. 4K is always impressive though, right? You have 1080p and 60fps as well as a SloMo mode. Pretty basic for a video mode in a smartphone.
Conclusion
There are so many things the LG G4 could have done to set itself apart from the pack. Samsung threw out everything they had ever designed and started from scratch to create something beautiful. Motorola is impressing everyone with their ergonomic and functional design. LG seems to be playing it safe with plastic. It’s not a bad thing, but it doesn’t wow anyone. The screen is gorgeous, the battery life is decent. What really soured the entire experience was the software and fluidity of the device. I have never experienced this much jank and stuttering on any phone I have ever used. It turned a great device into a frustrating hunk of glass and plastic I often wanted to put into a blender. Not even the class leading camera could save the poor software experience for me.
