Review: LG G3 smartphone, LG's revolution

Table of Contents

2. Design:
3. Hardware
4.  QWHD fabric:
5. System and Applications
7.  Camera (Photos):
9.  Video Recording:
11. Conclusion:
13. Image gallery:
15. Technical specifications:

Recently launched in Spain, the LG G3 is the company's bet to become the manufacturer of the best smartphone Android currently on sale in the country. He is a direct competitor of Galaxy S5 from Samsung, X by Sony e iPhone 5S from Apple.

In addition to the robust specifications, it has a good attraction: depending on the discount at the operator, it can go for less than R$ 900,00. But is it worth the purchase? See our review below:

Strengths:

• It has one of the best screens on the market, with minimal bezel, excellent fidelity and resolution above 1080p.
• The camera is also among the best on the market, with laser focus;
• The design that prioritizes the screen is one of the highlights of the device;
• Minimalist interface with features that value the user experience;
• Battery capacity and good resource management ensure longer duration throughout the day;

Negative points:

• There is no seal against dust and water;
• Speakers are located on the back of the device;
• The plastic on the back scratches easily;

Tips:

• Screenshots: to capture screenshots, hold the “power” and “volume down” buttons simultaneously;
• Screenshots (second option): you can click the “home” softkey and drag your finger to the “QMemo” icon/app (it captures the screen image and allows you to edit it or write a message before sharing);
• Recovery mode: to access the “recovery mode” of the G3, turn the phone off and on by clicking “power” and “volume down” simultaneously. Release them when you see the LG logo.

Design:

More than an evolution of the previous model, the design of the LG G3 finally differentiates it from the models manufactured by the competitor Samsung and bring it closer to the smartphone One da HTC. Even though it is built in polycarbonate with a metallic look, it should win the hearts of consumers who aspire for devices with minimal bezels, maximum screen, and no plastically chromed corners. It may not have the “premium” finish of the iPhone 5S, but it's beautiful.

O G3 keeps the control buttons on the back of the device, which takes a bit of practice to get used to. There are no front or side buttons. And this is where we highlight a cool feature of the device: the Knock on. Instead of clicking a button, just double tap the screen to turn it on or off. You can even create a ringtone combination, which will act as the screen activation password. Very practical!

Just like in Galaxy S5, the speakers are located on the back of the device, requiring the user to make the traditional “shell” to hear the sound coming from them. THE LG G3 loses, in this regard, to the front speakers of the X e HTC One, which correctly direct the sound to the user.

 

Hardware

As for hardware, it is among the most powerful models on the market: quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400 Qualcomm MSM8975AC Snapdragon 801, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and support for microSD cards up to 128GB. There is an international version with 32GB of storage and 2GB of RAM, but it will not be sold in Spain.

Other features include WiFi AC, support for networks 3G e 4G/LTE Cat 4, Bluetooth 4.0 and removable battery 3.000 mAh. The list of sensors is also basically the same as in the competitors. Galaxy S5 e X, with the exception of the heart rate monitor.

If you value benchmark assessments, the results might confuse you a bit: the G3 got the best result in Quadrant e VEllamo, but lost in 3DMark e Antutu. See below:

 

 QWHD fabric:

One of the most highlighted items by the advisory of the LG it was the device screen. He has a display True HD-IPS + LCD de 5,5 inches, with resolution QWHD de 2560 × 1440 pixels (538 ppi). This equates to 77% more pixels what a screen Full HD traditional (QWHD: 1440p / Full HD: 1080p). There is no competitor with a better screen (including here the displays Retina from Apple).

The practical effect of this resolution, however, is apparently not perceptible to the human eye. Even so, it is a guarantee of the quality of the screen, which still faithfully reproduces the colors, with excellent brightness and contrast. Of course, we remember that this very high resolution, combined with the LCD technology present on the screen may be responsible for higher battery consumption than the screen Super AMOLED do Galaxy S5.

System and Applications

One of the great innovations of LG G3 is the care that the company has taken with the user interface (UI). It, by the way, was completely reformulated, prioritizing the simplicity of the design and ease of access to the device's functions. The result is an in-use experience that hasn't been seen in the company's models for a long time and that is somewhat reminiscent of the Android L, next version of the little robot system. To better understand the concepts applied to the UI, the LG developed the explanatory video, seen below:

 [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXKuASAD_4Y]

In addition to the design, there are applications and resources that add qualities to the smartphone. Among them is the remote control (with infrared), which can connect to any TV, Home Theater, Set-Top-Box (Cable TV) or other gadgets that have infrared controls. Depending on the LG TV model, it even allows you to use the smarpthone as a “pointer”, showing a movement and selection arrow on the screen (as if it were a mouse).

SmartWorld

Another app, the SmartWorld, lets you download and install new themes, custom icons, wallpapers, fonts, and apps specially selected by LG. The possibilities for native customization are numerous.

Contact us, Weather e Calendar

Os apps Contact us, Weather e Calendar also deserve to be mentioned. All were very well done, showing light years ahead of the original Android interface. In the author's personal opinion, they are also more interesting than the native options of Galaxy S5 e X.

Keyboard

O native keyboard smartphone can also be formatted to the customer's taste, changing color, size, style and adding or removing keys. It can even be configured to predict 1 or more languages ​​simultaneously.

Other Features

Native apps can be seen in mini windows resizable, similar to a PC or Mac. Another available resource is the multi-channel mode. It is now accessed through the recent apps menu (which also has more practical views than traditional Android). These two modes, however, only work with certain apps from LG and Google.

There is even a menu in the device settings completely dedicated to memory management. It helps free up space for the user by deleting temporary files and files from the downloads folder, as well as listing apps that have not been used for a long time.

Copied texts e screenshots captured are saved in memory and can be retrieved that way, up to a limit of 20 items.

 Camera (Photos):

With 13MP, the main camera of the LG G3 have a system optical stabilization with three axes, active autofocus and excellent color reproduction, making it one of the best on the market.

It has a very simplified menu, keeping away from the screen that infinity of features that most users leave aside. However, users who liked the add-on modes (downloaded via the internet) of Galaxy S5 e X, will miss this type of resource in the G3. It's really basic.

Both in videos and photos the results are excellent, with non-shaky images and minimal noise. Even in low-light environments, the camera manages to capture beautiful photos. In this regard, it can be said that it is better than the Galaxy S5, but competes with similar quality to X.

The front camera of 2MP is also worth mentioning, with a 1,4 micron sensor that reduces the noise level and makes “selfies” considerably better than on other devices.

The system active focus Here's how it works: the device continuously emits a single infrared laser (ie a beam of highly collimated light) whose reflection time is measured to calculate the distance to objects that are in front of the camera. This method is advantageous for dark scenes (because the phone itself produces the focus light) and close objects (because the limited power of the laser prevents it from maintaining its cohesion over long distances).

In ideal situations, this method is faster than the contrast autofocus used in other smartphones. In practice, the speed differences between the G3 and other phones are small but clearly noticeable, especially in dark scenes. Finally, it is worth noting that the LG implemented a dual-temperature flash system, similar to what appears in the iPhone 5s.

 Video Recording:

O LG G3 film in resolution UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels), which should be enough for any user who likes to make movies with the device. The filming experience in 4K loses in bitrate to Galaxy S5 (48 Mbps), as it is limited to 30 Mbps.

But, this makes the video files from the G3 are, on average, smaller, facilitating sharing.

Conclusion:

O LG G3 has plenty of features and qualities to be considered one of the 3 best smartphones Android of the market, along with the Galaxy S5 (Samsung) e X (Sony). Since it is often a matter of preference to define which one is the best, we can say that they will all bring similar hardware features, leaving the user to define whether he prefers the design and interface of 1 of them.

We have noticed that many sites make an unfair association between the high quality of the G3 and the negative reflection on battery consumption. In fact, battery management and its ability to 3.000 mAh seem to give more “gas” to the G3, compared to Galaxy S5, which has an admittedly more economical display technology and 2.800 mAh battery. In other words, on a day-to-day basis, it is likely that the G3 work longer away from the outlet than competitors like the Samsung.

Now, one question makes the LG G3 an undisputed winner: the launch price is R$ 2.229,00 (in titanium, gold and white colors), and this value can drop to R$ 900,00, depending on the plan contracted with the operator. The package includes the wireless charging dockstation, an item that would cost around R$200,00 if purchased separately.

It's cheaper than X da Sony (R$ 2.499,00), which the Galaxy S5 da Samsung (R$ 2.287,00) or the iPhone 5s da Apple (R $ 2.799,00).

Image gallery:

See below some images of the device and tests carried out by Techlifers:

Technical specifications:

See table with the main features of the LG G3:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With information from GSMArena.