LG G6 test

Smartphone class S ("Mercedes" scale A, B, C, E, S)

Rating scale 1-6 (6 - excellent)

Admission

The LG G6 is hope that LG will regain its share in the premium smartphone market. After the sales failure of the G5 model, the Korean company withdrew from the modules and this time it is experimenting only with new screen proportions. The G6 is to be a viable alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S8. Its exceptional resistance to drops, dust and water is tempting. Unfortunately, an unfavorable change is the increase of the price to PLN 3,299. The incomparable budget of both companies for the promotion of their new flagships may also be a problem. Samsung is a marketing roller, and LG hopes that the smartphone will sell without much marketing support.

The main advantages and disadvantages of the LG G6 smartphone

Advantages

Defects

Set - 3

The LG G6 kit is completely basic, which is disappointing at a price much higher than previous G-series models. The box only contains a charger with a detachable USB C - USB A cable. It charges with a current of 1.8 A. Adding to the headset would be in this case, very appropriate - especially since Samsung adds high-quality AKG headphones to the S8, Apple also adds good headphones.

Update: It turned out that our headset did not have headphones because it was a test kit. However, the customer who buys the phone in the store or from the operator will receive headphones.

Construction - 6-

LG G6 together with Samsung S8 started a new, very important trend among smartphones, which will stay with us for good - super thin frames around the screen, combined with more panoramic proportions of the display. This allows you to achieve a much larger screen size without increasing the size of the phone. The LG G6 is the size of a standard 5.2-inch phone, despite the fact that its screen is 5.7 inches.

The dimensions of the device are 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9 mm. As a reminder, the LG G5 has dimensions of 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 with a 5.3 inch screen. It is worth noting that the newer model is noticeably narrower, but it fits well in the hand .. LG showed that the phone with a large display can be convenient to use, also with one hand.

The quality of workmanship is at a very high level, worthy of a flagship device. The edges are metal, the back is glass and slightly rounded at the edges. The G6 is the first LG flagship to be sealed to the IP68 standard. This means that you can submerge the phone to a meter and a half for 30 minutes.

The G6 has a power button located on the back of the case - similar to previous models. It also plays the role of a fingerprint reader. If you have a fingerprint lock set, you don't need to press a button, just touch it. The reader works fine.

The phone has a standard headphone jack and it offers surprisingly good quality sound. On the lower edge we find USB C and a speaker. It is monophonic and can be covered relatively easily when watching movies or playing. However, it is extremely loud and offers clear sound, even at maximum volume. What it lacks is some low tones.

I rate the quality of the LG G6 very highly. It is true that Samsung managed to achieve even smaller frames in the S8, but the LG flat screen also has its advantages and can be liked. You just have to remember that LG for the first time gave up the removable battery, which it offered in its top models for the longest time of all manufacturers. In addition, the black, glass back of the housing is very fingered. In addition, LG and Samsung showed the class of constructing smartphones, which most manufacturers can envy them.

Display - 6

The screen is undoubtedly the most important element of any smartphone. Its diagonal in the G6 is 5.7 inches, and the resolution, due to the changed, more panoramic 18: 9 aspect ratio, is 2880 x 1440. The screen is taller and narrower. The pixel density is 564 PPI. The most important parameter is the ratio of the screen area to the entire phone area, which is as much as 80%, while in the LG G5 it was as much as 10% worse. Samsung in the S8 got a little thinner frames and has a better result by 3.5 percentage points.

Since the smartphone is de facto narrower by more than 3 mm compared to its predecessor, which had a diagonal of only 5.3 inches, it is very comfortable to use, having a very large screen at your disposal. This is a new quality in the world of smartphones.

The screen supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision technology. The display has a wide range of brightness adjustment with a large maximum value. There were also great viewing angles and saturated colors.

The 18: 9 aspect ratio, or 2: 1 aspect ratio, allows you to divide the screen into two equal-sized squares. This facilitates multitasking.

The screen has Always on mode enabled by default, which allows you to easily check the time, battery status and notifications. The difference in battery consumption overnight is small. While a smartphone without this feature uses 1 or 2 percent of the battery overnight, it consumes 4 percent in Always mode. There is also a reading mode that reduces blue light in three ranges and allows you to switch to black and white display.

CPU / Memory / Specs - 5-

The latest LG G6 received the Snapdragon 821 - a quad-core chip, half of the cores clocked at 2.35 GHz and the other half at 1.6 GHz. Compared to the LG G5 from last year, which had Snapdragon 820, the difference is the increase in the clock speed of the two cores from 2.15 GHz to 2.35 GHz, because both the other two cores have the same clock speed and the graphics system has not changed and still this is Adreno 530. The processor supports 4 GB of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of space for the system and user files. The memory can be expanded with a micro SD card.

LG G6 scored less than 140,000 points in the Antutu benchmark and 58 frames per second in the Epic Citadel graphics test.

The problem is that the S8, which is only PLN 200 more expensive than the G6, has the Snapdragon 835, which offers a result of 172,000, better than LG by 23%. The S8 is also the first smartphone on the market with Bluetooth 5.0. The G6 should be much cheaper than it, and it is not.

LG G6 connectivity is based on LTE category 11/12 600/150 Mbps, WiFi ac dual band, Bluetooth 4.2 and NFC. GPS, GLONASS and BDS are on board. There was also an FM radio, which is especially rare in flagship models. The higher-quality DAC will not be available on the LG G6 in the European market.

For comparison - Galaxy S8 offers LTE category 16 1024/150 Mbps, Bluetooth 5.0, and is additionally equipped with support for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.

LG G6 is equipped with a set of sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, digital compass, barometer and fingerprint reader.

System, Home screen - 5+

LG G6 works under the control of Android in the latest, seventh version. The system is dressed in a manufacturer's overlay, which I like in the previous models. It's minimalist and doesn't try to modify the things that work for Android. The manufacturer even gave up the Smart Bulletin screen, which occupied one of the desktops.

System applications include:

Additionally, the manufacturer decided to install the following third-party applications:

Evernote, unfortunately, cannot be uninstalled, it can only be force stopped or disabled. The other two apps can be removed without any problem.

Built-in functions include splitting the screen between two applications, capturing drawing and annotating screenshots with Capture +. There is also QSlide, i.e. the ability to run selected system applications in a window.

The user can set any combination of system buttons displayed on the screen. In addition to the basic three, that is: back, home and application switching, you can optionally add three additional buttons: notification expansion, Capture + and QSlide. There can be up to 5 icons on the bottom bar. Expanding notifications on the bottom edge can be handy on such a slim and tall screen - it will always be at hand.

Another option is Smart Settings, which allow you to change the status of settings such as WiFi, Bluetooth and sound profile, depending on whether you are at home or away from home. We can also choose the application triggered by connecting headphones and a Bluetooth device.

Smart Doctor optimizes the operation of your smartphone by deleting temporary files, freeing up RAM space, and optimizing power consumption. In addition, it allows you to test all sensors built into the phone.

The sound recorder is also exceptionally extensive, allowing you to control parameters that I did not know so far on any other smartphone.

The LG on-screen keyboard also allows for far-reaching personalization.

During the tests, I have not encountered the necessity of restarting or freezing the device even once. My only remark concerns the phone application. It has several tabs and the number can only be selected on the dedicated tab of the numeric keypad. There is no shortcut to call up the numeric keypad on the call or contact log tab. The application also asks for a default number for a contact every time we choose it.

Camera - 5-

The LG G6 has two cameras on the back, one with an ultra wide-angle lens and the other with a narrower, standard field of view. Unlike the older G5, both cameras have the same 13 megapixel resolution. The main camera has a brightness of F / 1.8 and the wide-angle F / 2.4. The wide-angle camera, like sports cameras, does not have autofocus or optical stabilization, which is not a problem in the case of a short focal length. The standard camera focuses using phase detection and has optical stabilization.

The matrices used in both cameras are Sony IMX258. They are not dedicated to top smartphones. Sony put them in the Xperia XA model, and Samsung in the Galaxy J7 Prime. This choice was probably dictated by the size of the matrices - the need to place two next to each other, under the screen and the motherboard or the battery. Sony at MWC demonstrated the construction of Xperia XZ Premium and explained why it must have wide frames above the screen - a new sensor recording slow-motion in 960 frames took up the entire thickness of the phone and would not fit under the screen.

The most important thing, however, is the appropriate matrix software, and LG apparently has no problem with that. It squeezes a lot out of these matrices. The photos are heavily processed - they are sharpened. This usually makes them look good, even on a full-screen computer. However, sometimes artifacts appear where they are not needed, such as in a blurred part of a photo.

You can also see that the wide-angle camera offers a much less detailed image, which can be seen in the branches and leaves of distant trees that merge into a single mass. After all, I used the wide angle willingly and often, because it gave a perspective unique in the world of smartphones. Just like sports cameras, it allowed you to capture in the frame what was not normally possible. For example, when cycling with a regular smartphone, it is difficult to grasp the steering wheel, and the wide angle of the LG G6 can capture much more bike and route at the same time.

In terms of the quality of photos, the LG G6 is a step backwards from even the G4, which has a very good camera. The current one does not offer so much detail or such a tonal range. However, it is much more universal and versatile, due to the possibility of choosing a viewing angle between 71 and 125 degrees.

LG should be commended for the camera app, which has been the best Android camera app since the G4. We find in it:

Additionally, you can switch to:

The quality of video recordings is at a very high level. UHD quality is just great. FHD recordings just look good and have very effective stabilization. During recording, you can switch freely between the two cameras by changing the angle of view. The exposure changes smoothly, and the focus of the standard camera works very well.

The front camera has a resolution of 5 megapixels, which is below average today. Its strong point is the ability to switch to wide-angle mode, but the quality is slightly below expectations for a flagship smartphone.

To sum up - a brighter lens with a narrower field of view gives a nice blur of the background when shooting close up, has efficient autofocus and takes great macro photos. Although the wide-angle camera does not have stabilization or autofocus, its field of view is often very practical. If you add the best manual modes for photo and video to that, we have a super versatile photo and video capture tool.

Sample pictures:

Sample video:

Battery - 4+

Despite the super thin frames and small thickness, the LG G6 has a 3300 mAh battery inside. The battery life is about 8 hours of surfing the Internet and 10 hours of watching movies. This is still more than the two previous G Series models, but not as much as suggested by battery capacity. This is partly due to the Always on function, which additionally charges the battery and the size of the display itself.

LG G6 lasts up to two days of moderate use, in good range all the time, and one day of intensive use.

The Korean flagship also features Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging, charging half the capacity in 30 minutes. Wireless charging is unfortunately only available in the US.

Summary

The build quality of the G6 is at a very high level, much higher than its predecessors. For example, waterproofness is very nice. The system overlay is user friendly. The screen makes a phenomenal impression. The battery provides comfort. The camera is incredibly versatile. There is hardly anything to complain about. Almost, because the price of the phone is the highest of all LG flagships for many years and is PLN 3299 on the free market. At the same time, there are no accessories in the box, not even standard headphones. The performance is comfortable, but by over 20% lower than the only PLN 200 more expensive Galaxy S8. The camera, although it will satisfy 99% of users, focused on a multitude of functions, not on quality, which has dropped a bit compared to the G4. However, it should be emphasized that LG has learned its lesson from its own mistakes. The experiment with the G5 model has failed. The successor - LG G6 - is an almost perfect device that belongs to the world elite of smartphones.

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