LG is making a comeback with their G Series Smartphones and this will bring back the excitement that the Cookie did just 6 years ago.

  The best thing about smartphones manufactured by Asians is that they can load the phone with an insane amount of good stuff (that’s comparable to or even greater than US and EU-made phones) and still sell them at one third the price that Apple iPhones are being sold. But this time the Korea-based phone manufacturer dared to raise eyebrows when it plans to sell the G4 at around $800 – $1,000 which is surprisingly more expensive than the iPhone 6 and HTC One M9! However, they’ll give you a lot of the good stuff for the amount you’ll be paying, like upgraded screen and a more advanced camera, longer battery life, RAM, core processor speed and the new leather coating which is not available in any other phones.

The Design

Honestly, the leather back overlay for the LG G4 is kind of a step backwards, because you may get that nagging feeling that you’re purchasing a Louis Vuitton bag or boots instead of a smartphone; which is awkward – and that’s an understatement. Just wait ‘till it’s your turn to go shopping for this thing!

The huge 5.5-inch Quad HD display absolutely kills it! From the moment I touched the second-series prototype LG G4, I never wanted to put it down again and I even had this silent enthusiasm to ask the attendant if I could take it home with me, which was inappropriate and rude to a certain extent. Still, with all the emotions aside, there’s nothing NOT to like about the G4. It is as a premium brand quality as any other phone in the market!

The plastic, ceramic and metallic versions of the G4 is not so terrible, in fact, they are comparable to the other top mobile phone manufacturers. However, I have to say that HTC, Samsung and Apple does it slightly better. Keep up the good work LG, you’re almost there!

I think that the main goal of LG is ergonomics as that’s what I’ve concluded when handling the G4 smartphone. It feels easy and light to the touch compared to other smartphones out there. The battery is also better in two significant ways: 1) it packs more power than other phones at 3000mAh and, 2) it’s removable.

I actually prefer the removable battery design over the unibody chassis that other phone manufacturers have added to their latest design features. The point is Lithium-Ion batteries can only last so long and after using it for 8 months on, their power factor is reduced by 18% or more, depending on how often you use your phone. Replacing the old battery with a new one is one way to go, of course, you can also use two or more batteries in reserve to lessen the charging time.

Massive phones have become the trend nowadays and if you don’t have one of those in your pocket or shoulder bag, then you’re certainly the sorest person to ever walk this Earth. But the bulky and wide horizontal surface makes them unwieldy, so the designers came up with an ingenious idea – make the edges curved to compensate for ergonomics! And it worked. Even the designers at LG realized this fact and included it in the G4.

The G4 has neatly tucked away all of the inconvenient pesky keys on the back of the phone just below the 16 megapixels camera; while most phone manufacturers have these in the front and sides of their phones.

The Display

Okay, our contenders for the maximum resolution on their respective phones’ display starts with Apple iPhone 6 (750 x 1334 @ 326 ppi) which is the lowest among the 6th gen smartphones on the market. Next we have HTC One M9 (1080 x 1920 @ 441 ppi), then comes the other Korean-made Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (1440 x 2560 @ 557 ppi) which is more or less similar to the LG G4’s resolution [2560 x 1440 (Quad HD) @538 ppi].

The new Quantum IPS display on the LG G4 is probably the best I’ve ever seen to date, and I think it competes more with its homegrown rival, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge than Apple or other brands. I find the 5.5-inch display a bit difficult to navigate (makes you wish you had a stylus pen actually), but again, the screen will take your attention away from other inconveniences.

Deeper reds and brighter blues, that’s what’s mostly the QUAD HD does which means it has cinema quality images and videos. It should feel like blu-ray on a smartphone, yeah, that’s just how amazing this phone is. Apple had better watch its back, because Samsung will not be the only rival in the block soon, HTC, Lenovo and especially LG will want a huge chunk of the smartphone market!

The LG G4 also sport a new unlocking feature called, the “Knock Code.” It works differently with the security PIN and the swipe code that you may have already seen in other smartphones. The Knock Code works by tapping a couple of times on particular areas of the LG G4’s screen to wake it up from sleep. It is a more efficient way to unlock the phone and it’s much ‘cooler’ in my opinion.

Pros

•    Superb camera
•    Elegant leather back
•    Color-rich display

Cons

•    Camera launcher could be better
•    No QuickCharge technology
•    Jury is out on leather durability

Initial Verdict

Whatever the decision-making block did in LG for its latest G4 smartphone concept, they did it so well, because they focused on 3 things: a) great camera for photos, a colour rich display and excellent design features. It’s so much better than Apple’s iPhone 6 and HTC One M9 that it is, by far, the only one I could find worthy to compete with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. I’m definitely getting the LG G4 when it opens up for sale next month and you should too!