After two years with the HTC One M7, I realized it was time for a change. On one hand, the all-metal phone was the best smartphone I've ever had, especially after owning two BlackBerrys (the Curve and the Bold), and the HTC EVO 3D; I even took great photos with the Ultrapixel camera. On the other hand, I've come to realize that I wanted expandable storage and that as good as the M7 was, I needed the upgrade.
Ultimately, after spending some time thinking about the M9, and giving it serious consideration even with its flaws on the camera end, I chose the LG G4. After two weeks, here are my thoughts:
Power and volume buttons on the back just makes sense: I never gave much though to back buttons when I bought the G4. But as soon as I got my hands on the phone, it became clear that this is a great idea. On the M7, the power button on the top left hand corner was such a pain to press, especially after two years of ownership, because it was so small and too recessed to use without having to push down hard; the volume buttons tended to get in the way, especially during photography. On the G4, the power and volume buttons on the back are nice and large, easy to press on when necessary, and placed in the best place ergonomically, in my opinion. Every phone maker should adopt this placement. Just makes sense.
KnockOn just makes sense: The very ability to just tap on and off the screen is simply elegant and sensible. Makes it easier for me to press on the power button less often. Also just fun to do on a lazy day in Cabo during a much-needed vacation.
The plastic isn't bad at all: Let me say this: I prefer metal on my phones. From a look-and-feel perspective, metal phones seem more solid to the touch and can make a phone appear to be premium. At the same time, I will admit that this is purely irrational. After all, headphones made by Audio-Technica, Bose, and Beats are considered to be premium (sound quality of the last two notwithstanding), yet all three brands use plastic. Same is true with other premium products by major brands. Put simply, the digs on plastic, especially from me, are pure hogwash. [The fact that almost all of us put our phones in often-cheap plastic cases further reveals the illogic.] One of the great things about the G4 is that it is a well-polished smartphone with great build quality. My G4 has a plastic back (blue in this case), but it feels as solid as a M9 or S6. The thin bezels make the G4 a stunner in the looks department. The G4 is no M7. But then, no phone is. The G4 is gorgeous.
Touchscreen is working fine: I know some folks have had issues with the G4's touchscreen sensitivity. So far, I haven't had any issues. Anything is possible. Right now, however, it responds well.
UI: Not Sense, but not Touchwiz, either: I'm no stock Android fan, so I have never found myself scrapping the skins on my phones after buying them. Sense, on the other hand, was probably the best user interface I have ever used; smooth as butter, appealing to the eye, and offering useful tools such as Blinkfeed. This fact made me hesitant to switch from HTC to LG, whose UI didn't appeal to me at all up to the G4. I thought I would end up getting Nova Launcher. Didn't happen. LG's UI isn't anything like Sense. But it isn't offensive as TouchWiz continues to be. Even better, as it turns out, LG offered up some useful tools within the skin. The LG Health app is a glorified pedometer, but one that I've found useful enough to ditch my old-school pedometer (and also skip on buying a Jawbone UP4, which, by the way, often fails to work as advertised, as my wife can attest). The remote control software is far more-intuitive and useful that the one that HTC embedded in Sense. The notifications work perfectly fine. Simply put, LG's skin isn't bad at all, and is quite good.
Call quality: Fine: It's a half-notch below that of the M7, which had the best call quality on a phone I've ever had (which is saying a lot given that BlackBerry Bold's call quality was top of its class for its time). Certainly some of this is a matter of the carrier; I'm on Sprint, which does a good job for my purposes. But there's still the phone itself. On that front, the G4's call quality was crystal clear. Most of the issues I had were due to the fact that I was vacationing in Cabo, where cellphone service is not great at all. Today, I've had three meetings back here in the states and the G4 had done right.
The camera, yes, the camera The camera on this phone is a beast. Does great with low-light photos and in well-lit situations. The manual controls, once you figure them out, make photography on phones as fun as it is on a traditional DSLR. I do miss being able to put together Zoe videos as I did with the M7; LG's Memories tool isn't all that useful on that front so far. But I never did enough of those anyway -- and I have enough video and still photo editing software (including Sony Vegas Pro and Lightroom) to put together something if that is what I chose. How good is the camera? My mother, who runs a photography shop on the side so she can have something to do once she retires in a few years, just bought herself a G4 and used it during a photo shoot alongside her Cannon kit. She is pleased with the G4's results.
These are my initial thoughts. I'll offer more over time.
Ultimately, after spending some time thinking about the M9, and giving it serious consideration even with its flaws on the camera end, I chose the LG G4. After two weeks, here are my thoughts:
Power and volume buttons on the back just makes sense: I never gave much though to back buttons when I bought the G4. But as soon as I got my hands on the phone, it became clear that this is a great idea. On the M7, the power button on the top left hand corner was such a pain to press, especially after two years of ownership, because it was so small and too recessed to use without having to push down hard; the volume buttons tended to get in the way, especially during photography. On the G4, the power and volume buttons on the back are nice and large, easy to press on when necessary, and placed in the best place ergonomically, in my opinion. Every phone maker should adopt this placement. Just makes sense.
KnockOn just makes sense: The very ability to just tap on and off the screen is simply elegant and sensible. Makes it easier for me to press on the power button less often. Also just fun to do on a lazy day in Cabo during a much-needed vacation.
The plastic isn't bad at all: Let me say this: I prefer metal on my phones. From a look-and-feel perspective, metal phones seem more solid to the touch and can make a phone appear to be premium. At the same time, I will admit that this is purely irrational. After all, headphones made by Audio-Technica, Bose, and Beats are considered to be premium (sound quality of the last two notwithstanding), yet all three brands use plastic. Same is true with other premium products by major brands. Put simply, the digs on plastic, especially from me, are pure hogwash. [The fact that almost all of us put our phones in often-cheap plastic cases further reveals the illogic.] One of the great things about the G4 is that it is a well-polished smartphone with great build quality. My G4 has a plastic back (blue in this case), but it feels as solid as a M9 or S6. The thin bezels make the G4 a stunner in the looks department. The G4 is no M7. But then, no phone is. The G4 is gorgeous.
Touchscreen is working fine: I know some folks have had issues with the G4's touchscreen sensitivity. So far, I haven't had any issues. Anything is possible. Right now, however, it responds well.
UI: Not Sense, but not Touchwiz, either: I'm no stock Android fan, so I have never found myself scrapping the skins on my phones after buying them. Sense, on the other hand, was probably the best user interface I have ever used; smooth as butter, appealing to the eye, and offering useful tools such as Blinkfeed. This fact made me hesitant to switch from HTC to LG, whose UI didn't appeal to me at all up to the G4. I thought I would end up getting Nova Launcher. Didn't happen. LG's UI isn't anything like Sense. But it isn't offensive as TouchWiz continues to be. Even better, as it turns out, LG offered up some useful tools within the skin. The LG Health app is a glorified pedometer, but one that I've found useful enough to ditch my old-school pedometer (and also skip on buying a Jawbone UP4, which, by the way, often fails to work as advertised, as my wife can attest). The remote control software is far more-intuitive and useful that the one that HTC embedded in Sense. The notifications work perfectly fine. Simply put, LG's skin isn't bad at all, and is quite good.
Call quality: Fine: It's a half-notch below that of the M7, which had the best call quality on a phone I've ever had (which is saying a lot given that BlackBerry Bold's call quality was top of its class for its time). Certainly some of this is a matter of the carrier; I'm on Sprint, which does a good job for my purposes. But there's still the phone itself. On that front, the G4's call quality was crystal clear. Most of the issues I had were due to the fact that I was vacationing in Cabo, where cellphone service is not great at all. Today, I've had three meetings back here in the states and the G4 had done right.
The camera, yes, the camera The camera on this phone is a beast. Does great with low-light photos and in well-lit situations. The manual controls, once you figure them out, make photography on phones as fun as it is on a traditional DSLR. I do miss being able to put together Zoe videos as I did with the M7; LG's Memories tool isn't all that useful on that front so far. But I never did enough of those anyway -- and I have enough video and still photo editing software (including Sony Vegas Pro and Lightroom) to put together something if that is what I chose. How good is the camera? My mother, who runs a photography shop on the side so she can have something to do once she retires in a few years, just bought herself a G4 and used it during a photo shoot alongside her Cannon kit. She is pleased with the G4's results.
These are my initial thoughts. I'll offer more over time.
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