With the LG G6, LG tries to come back to reality from the future imperfect modular flagship it launched last year, the G5. It was a brave attempt no doubt, but it did not click with the masses.
The G6 is back in line with previous flagships like LG G4 and its predecessors, hoping to give some competition to the likes of Samsung and Apple.
The G6 boasts of a 5.7” screen at 564 ppi and Gorilla Glass 3 protection (while Samsung S8 uses Gorilla Glass 5), so your screen will still crack if it hits the floor from your shirt pocket. Surprisingly LG hasn’t used its OLED screens which worked much better when used in the G Flex series. The major differentiator on this screen is the aspect ratio of 18:9 while all other phones have 16:9. The 18:9 or 2:1 is a new standard for smartphones and all apps videos would not work full screen on your device, they will run with black borders on both sides effectively negating the larger screen that you chose to buy with the G6. LG does give you an app scaling option which rescales the app in 16:9 but some apps tend to look stretched.
Hardware wise with the Snapdragon 821 (the S8 has the latest 835 SoC), 4GB RAM, 32GB ROM (expandable upto 2TB via Micro SD card), Dual Sim VoLTE 4G, 3300 mAh battery, IP68 (water and dust proof) certified. The phone comes in 2 colors, Ice Platinum and Astro Black.
The 13MP dual rear camera with 125 degree wide angle lens captures everything you really need thanks to the extra fisheye lens. Photos look amazing in daylight and satisfactory in low light. Front 5MP camera can capture selfies when it detects a face automatically. New photo modes include Grid shot for 2 x 2 images, Match shot for combining 2 images besides the standard HDR, Burst, Panorama. Google Pixel and S8 however are still way ahead in terms of camera tech.
Android 7.1 out of the box with LG’s own UI on top, it hasn't changed much from last year except for some some of the visuals. It is snappy though and app switching works smoothly even when you have more than 10 apps running in the background. Audio quality is great with a good pair of earphones thanks to 32bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC and the loudspeaker doesn’t disappoint as well. On a heavy usage day, battery might last just over 12 hours , otherwise it can stretch upto 16 hours. When will we ever get a smartphone that makes us forget about the battery is the real question.
The G6 has ironed out the kinks from 2016 but is it a contender for flagship of the year? Not really is the answer. The LG V20 (much lower priced now) Goole Pixel, S7 edge and definitely S8 are still better phones in the same price segment. Overall I can't really see a good enough reason to upgrade to the G6.
★★★☆☆
Pritesh Khilnani
LG G6 at CeX
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