Last year was a hard one for LG with the failure of it’s G5 but the company’s courageous move to rejuvenate their flagship with another update which appears to be way more better than the previous device is a good move.
The LG G6 is such a big deal for those seeking a cool device which is way better than the previous so-called “Modular” LG G5 which was a bit of flop in the sales market.
Now looking more beautiful with newer body design, taller in length and it’s curved screen is a very good one. Although a LG G6 Plus variant would feature more additional gingles, we stand to see what amazing smartphone has to offer us yet.
As i’ve said earlier about the device, I said it’s taller featuring a nice “18:9 aspect ratio” 5.7 Inch display screen which isn’t by any means complex at all.
As big as it seems, it’s easy to hold even with a single palm.
Gone are the days of the LG G4’s leather back casing and the so-called Modular Smartphone – The LG G5 which wasn’t a success alongside LG V20.
After an extensive outing with the Smartphone, i realise that LG’s innovation isn’t limited considering the new ways the company rebranded it’s flagship’s design and core functions.
Bold but not Huge
Most of us aren’t comfortable carrying a tablet all around the city because it wouldn’t ever fit into our small hands or pockets but that’s the invention of Phablets as it’s the case with the LG G6.
As small as it seems, it has a convenient 5.7 inch display in a small body frame with little bezels which makes the excessive up and bottom bezels in previous models to be ditched.
As comfortable as possible, I was able to navigate the device while holding it with the same hand.
Most people would get used to this because unlike other large phablets which you can hardly fold your hands around, LG probably thought that not everyone has big hands.
Aside the wonderful display it boasts of, the device’s new look features a beautiful solid aluminium frame at the back and a Gorilla Glass at the front. Coloured in platinum, white and black.
Now simpler than ever, it’s even more elegant and looks unque when held. I tried it with a colleague as it looked great.
A dual camera lens at the back partitioned by the device’s flashlight and the the fingerprint just few ways below that. Unlike the older G Series where the volume control and power buttons are laced at the back of the device, this time, it’s a way newer technology and redesigns.
At the bottom edge side of the the device is where it’s USB-C port which is actually waterproof is located. The single speaker and the device’s mic also resides at the location.
And coming to the right edge is where the device’s SIM tray is located. Most Android device makers have adopted this new trend whereby batteries are locked way inside the device and so the back covers are irremovable.
Tthe left edge has the two volume keys while the top edge is where the 3.5mm headphone jack resides.
Samsung, LG are few of the companies that still retains the headphone jack while newer phone makers like Essential Products had even followed Apple to ditch the headphone jack in favor of wireless earbuds.
LG did make the design so unique although not entirely unique. For example, it’s thinner bezel, the rounded corners of the screen and it’s glass frame makes the device taller but not actuall taller but the screen ratio because of the management of the device’s physical frame.
The black color looks more attractive to me when looking at the screen unlike the white or platinum as a result of the little black gap which is visible on the non black color of the device. Even though the black gap is still present on the dark colored LG G6, it’s visually appealing.
Jjust that both the platinum and the black all serve their purposes front and back. whichever you’d want. Since the black hides away the black gap between the bezels and the screen, the platinum hides away fingerprints.
LG’s claim about the G6’s size is that they wanted to make bigger devices but that could still be held with just a hand in convenience. That was proven…but to some point. For example, i was able to navigate the device with the same hand i used to hold it (because my hands are big.) while a colleague found it hard to do the same (because she had smaller hands).
The device although is very pocket friendly afterall, it’s not a tablet we’re talking about. It’s flat eough to fit into your back without anyone noticing ou’re carrying an object and it’s weight is very minimal.
Unlike the Samsung Galaxy S8 with it’s big 5.8 inch screen and curved edges which fits very well into one hand and into the pocket, LG might not be very perfect doing this yet. Iphone 7 Plus isn’t a competitor in this league because the LG G6 beats it with it’s petit frame and a huge screen.
All in all, the device’s new look is well crafted and simple enough to make anyone WOW. As we’ve wanted it. no more unnecessary modularity, leather or some gimmicks. It’s just a thoroughly made Android phone which stands at the high end of quality.
LG G6 has a 5.7 inch display
The device features a 5.7 Quad HD display with a powerful resolution of 2880 x 1449 which is very big and huge enough to brighten anything you throw at it.
It’s very fast and it’s calibration is very fast enough to accept touch commands as quick as possible.
Apart from the 564ppi, the device’s extra height which allowed rooms for the 18:9 ratio aspect takes it to a whole new dimension.
The screen also inherits the always-on functionality from the G5, with a slightly altered setup lower down on the screen with a new default font. It still displays the time, date and apps that you have notifications for.
The rounded corners really help the display; they make it feel more contained, almost like the display has been penned in for fear of it becoming to large. This is to positive effect, and we found that everything from homescreen swipes to typing long messages was a joy on the larger display. There was a lot of room for error here, but in terms of pure presentation, LG has absolutely nailed it.
Latest Android OS and other cool apps
We all loved Android Marshmallows 6.0. But the LG G6 Boasts of the latest Android Nougat 7.0 which is installed along with the device. The device also feature some security patch installations making it right up to date like it should be.
The device’s UI is very beautiful and brightened. Thanks to the LG G6 UX software. The device’s color scheme is customizable via themes presented by LG themselves.
The device’s big screen is a good one that can be used for app screen splitting. It also activates the long press of the Android menu key.
LG’s own applications such as QuickMemo+ works well with Google Drive. LG Health, a Tasks app, and the company’s messaging application, Music, File Manager and calendar application are just the few applications that the company natively own to the device.
All LG’s native applications uses the 18:9 aspect ratio of the device. Hence they take up the entire screen making it look amazing enough.
LG’s Square Camera is a big add up but it’s separated from the device’s core camera application. The Square camera interestingly splits the device’s screen into two wherefore the top half square format pictures and the lower half for previews or custom shots.
Another is the Grid Shot which works cool. The square is broken down into quarters, each filled with a still image or a three-second video clip, which when put together tells a neat little story.
Creativity is needed to boaster the functionality. The ending result can be shared on Facebook or Twitter with Videos intact. Apple as big as they are haven’t even found a way around this similarity in their own Live Photo features.
Other features in Square Camera include Match Shot, which is like Grid Shot but with two pictures instead of four, and Guide Shot for matching photos using a handy transparent overlay, so people can capture the same pose or composition on multiple occasions.
As usual, long pressing the Home Button on-screen pops out the Google Assistant Application. Being the first device to use the Assistant aside the Google’s own Pixel phones is a good one.
It’s user interface is quick enough and nice. Fitting well into the rounded corner of the display makes it amazing too. The LG’s own UX 6.0 comes with piles of customizations especially when dealing with theming.
Also, beautiful icon packs and colors are just few ways of expressing the unique beautification of the device’s user interface to whatever you’d prefer.
Camera is amazing
If there is another amazing feature of the LG G6, it’s the camera. Being able to cover wide angles and shoot at accurate motion rates makes it more exciting. When I did a little bit of a road trip with the device hands on, I took a number of pictures to see how the device camera faired.
The device’s dual rear-cameras are 13-megapixels. Although one has a hightened wider-angle lens while the other doesn’t.
The 125-degree wide-angle lens doesn’t have optical image stabilization and it has an f/2.4 aperture, while the 71-degree standard lens has OIS and a far better f/1.8 aperture.
Now while taking pictures in low light for example, the device offers two different experiences where the standard angle lens produces images with more details and less noise while the other doesn’t.
The device’s camera also worked wonders while taking evening shots as it’s good in low light. If taken in the better lighting conditions, it’s crystal clear enough to make you feel amazing.
The camera brightens up colors when taking pictures in lighting environments. Although not as bright as the Google Pixel XL which is labelled a camera phone, the LG G6 used in many locations shoots the right images.
Aalthough the native camera doesn’t include an editor, I tried using a third party application like Makeup Plus and it looked amazing when using the natural filter which doesn’t add up too much of effects to the image.
I found taking pictures with the device’s camera amazing and it’s wide angle mode makes for new opportunity explorations.
There is a manual mode for both images and videos and the settings can be adjusted to get the very right color quality you want.
Now coming to the front of the device, it’s front camera which is a 5 megapixels has a single 100-degree, wide-angle lens, and just like the rear camera, the dual camera modes are alternated using a button on the device’s screen.
Here, you can ditch a third party application as it features some cool filters which can be manually adjusted to get the right tones and colors you want for your shots.
While capable enough, selfies taken with the G6 can’t match those of the Huawei P10. The wide-angle lens makes it easy to take great group shots, though, and goes along way to redeeming the front cam’s ability.
Four most recently taken pictures can be previewed on the screen of the native camera app using the top edge or side edge in landscape. This might be cool s it often save the stress of having to go to gallery to preview shot images.
Audio output doesn’t sound too amazing
After listening to High end smartphones like Samsung Galaxy Note 8, iPhone 7 Plus or even mid-end smartphone like Infinix Hote Note 4 Pro, I realised that the LG G6 Lacks way behind in the audio output quality which isn’t expected of such a beautiful device with it’s stunning graphics.
The absence of stereo speakers, Dolby Atoms or a standard Dolby Audio tweak makes the single speaker which resides below the device quite boring. I didn’t say the device’s speaker is bad pr terrible but it’s just not comparable in qualitative output to the rest competitors.
Memory space’s limitation might not be a good thing although there is a chance to upgrade memory space with a MicroSD which resides right beside the the SIM tray. Only the versions sold in South Korea has Quad DAC. The variants in Europe or Africa neither feature Quad DAC or Wireless charging while the latter feature is only available in the variants sold in US.
3200 mAh Battery isn’t bad
Okay one bad thing LG did was that the battery is irremovable. Yeah unlike the LG G5 whose battery is swappable, this is not the case with the upgrade because it’s all sealed up together.
This isn’t the first time we’ll be seeing that happening in the Android phone league. The likes of Samsung Galaxy S8, Huawei Honor 8 all have sealed up batteries. This makes up for the IP68 water and dust resistance.
The option to ditch removable battery might be a good one for end buyers because of it’s liquid and dust resistace because having to take the phone for a repair or totally changed because you accidentally dropped it into a liquid might not be at your best interest.
While doing my trial with the LG G6, the battery is quite strong not very strong especially with my usage. Although not everyone is a heavy user like i do claim on here regularly, the truth is that you might want your device to accompany you during some long periods maybe during a long travel or long walk down the street.
You might wanna play games, listen to musics, take pictures, surf the web and play videos or stream them from the web directly. Either way, the LG G6 isn’t entirely disappointing but could disappoint. Starting my review in the morning with a full battery lasted me till evening while having 10% remaining after doing everything i’ve listed above.
Unlike the iPhone 7 plus which doesn’t have a strong battery, the LG G6 is supposed to fill in that gap of longer battery lifespan but that might not be the case.
What made up for this is the wireless and fast charging. Buying the US variant gets you the one with wireless charging which isn’t included overseas. But using the supplied charger and it’s USB-C cable charged the 3,200mAh battery to a full degree under an hour and 30 minutes. That might not be an absolutely bad deal though.
Editor’s Take
The LG G6 features the latest Android OS and comes bundled with the Google Assistant software which gives you an edge over holding back on updates.
Faster processor is a good combination with the software which is alread embeeded into the device. But ot’s Snapdragon 821 processor might not be here forever. Assuming you’re tryong to use this device for a long time let’s sat 2 or 3 years, it’s still a good idea because it’s hardware and software are both up to date.
We’d expect an update in the processor of Snapdragon from 821 to Snapdragon 835 actually but that doesn’t mean when such update is rolled out will affect your device’s efficiency.
But the best so far is the 821 which is tried and tested for great results making the LG G6 a device that would last long enough.
Should you buy it?
If you’re looking for a sleek device that features a big screen but still contained within a small body frame, then the LG G6 is your bet. If you want a device that is dynamic rather than being gimmicky or too complex in design etc, then the LG G6 is your best choice
It’s priced behind the likes of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 which is a huger phablet although not to be compared in features but both sits at the high end.
Concerning software, the device comes with enough to make it work fine. The Google Assistant application being bundled alongside the device rather than being installed from App store is a good one.
Anyway, it’s a really good companion and fits well into a single hand. Although the speaker isn’t entirely fabulous, you might opt for the headphone jack which is present right above the device. All in all, it’s a really good phone which is way better than all other LG G-Series members.
Enjoy a Massive discount for these BlitzWolf® over-ear Gaming Headphones
Sleek design with Hi-Fi audio output all under the US$50 price mark
This is our take on the Infinix Note 4
It’s 2017 and Infinix Note 4 becomes the upgrade of the older Infinix Note 3 which we expected to be the next big thing in the Infinix Note series but well, we have written all we’ve seen about the device together in this post article.
iPhone 7 Plus: Brilliant gadget but expensive
Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus is a massive phablet that comes packed with full premium features. Although expensive in comparison to others, it’s amazing battery life is worth it all and it’s hidden features are what we crave for
Infinix Note 3 is a cool cheap Android phone
Infinix Note 3 is a very cool phone that is packed with some good feature at relatively low price. Considering it’s 4500mAH battery capacity, one could expect some really nice upgrade from the previous version of the phone
All we know about the Huawei Honor 8
Huawei is well known in Nigeria and we can boldly compare their awesome phones with the likes of Itel smartphones, Tecno and Infinix all being the top tiers in the Nigeria mobile market. With the launch of many successful devices such the Mate S and Honor 7, Huawei is definitely an amazing mobile phone company […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.