LG G6 Initial Impressions

[ubizmo]

The back story: I was a BlackBerry user for a long time, up to and including the Passport, but eventually became frustrated with the fiddling needed to get certain Android apps to work on BB10. I didn't make the switch to BB Android. Instead, not long after I got the Passport, which I eventually sold, I picked up a OnePlus One, which I used with very few problems until just a couple of weeks ago--so almost three years of use. For the money it was a terrific phone. It still is, but it's in my son's hands now.

So after some reflection I decided to go for the OnePlus 5. It arrived and I really wanted to like it, but there were issues from the start. First there was the dodgy wifi. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, and even when it worked the range was terrible. I had to be pretty much in the same room as the router for it to work, and even then it would sometimes fail. Then I discovered that GPS didn't work at all. No amount of resets would fix these problems; I had a lemon.

Note that I don't think both of these problems are typical of the OnePlus 5, although judging from the forums a good number of people have the wifi problem. Anyway, I returned it and decided to try the G6, which I could pick up locally at a T-Mobile store.

On the whole, it's an attractive phone. It's quite sleek and feels small for a 5.7" screen phone. I feel more secure using it with a clear TPU case, which is what I get for all my phones anyway.

First quirk: When I activated the phone and put in my Google credentials I expected it to start downloading apps and settings from the OnePlus One. Didn't happen. It offered me the opportunity to restore from a previous LG device but since there wasn't any previous LG device for me this was useless. I don't know if LG's Android skin somehow overrides Android's backup/restore system but if so I'd prefer if they left it alone.

So it was manual setup for me.

Second quirk: I don't know if this is a generic Android thing. Keep in mind that my main experience with Android was CyanogenMod (and eventually LineageOS), which differs is various details. But when I went to find the default notification sound (for emails, messages, etc) I expected to find a "none" option, but it wasn't there. I had to choose a sound. I'm not a fan of this because I really don't like beeps and chirps alerting me to incoming emails, and I'll set any sounds that other apps make individually; but I like to default to no sound at all. Can't do it.

Third quirk: I've been using BlackBerry Hub+ for Android for a while now, as a subscriber. I have two email accounts in it. As I mentioned above, I'm unable to set the default alert to nothing, but Hub+ lets me choose no sound for the individual accounts. Problem solved, or so I thought. But on the G6 it just doesn't work. Instead I get a tone that I didn't choose and can't identify, on incoming emails.

On the plus side, LG's built-in calendar is pretty good, so I uninstalled the BlackBerry one. It doesn't do anything that I need that the LG calendar doesn't do. There are some other odds and ends of bloatware installed but it really isn't a lot, and I just disable what I don't need.

Also on the plus side, the G6 has superb wifi and GPS reception. Better than what I was used to on the OnePlus One and it also has better cell network reception. In places where I previously had marginal reception I now have a strong signal. This may be due to T-Mobile's new band 12 but whatever it is, I'm pleased. The OnePlus 5, during the short time I had it, did not excel in this area.

It's too soon to say much about the camera. I'm not that demanding anyway; I just want decent snaps, and as far as I can tell it works fine.

It's taking me a while to get used to finding the fingerprint sensor. Never had one before. The TPU case actually helps by creating a little crater for my finger to fall into.

That's it for now. I'll follow up as things occur to me.

 

[TrucItUp]

You cannot set the main notification to none but if you go into the settings for the messaging app and/or the email app individually you can set the notification. There to silent so that you do not get a ring for every single email.

 

[ubizmo]

You cannot set the main notification to none but if you go into the settings for the messaging app and/or the email app individually you can set the notification. There to silent so that you do not get a ring for every single email.

Yeah, I did figure that out, although it wasn't as straightforward as it should have been. As I wrote above, the Hub+ app lets you set each individual email account to silent, but on the G6 it doesn't work. I still got an alert tone, but not the default one I was forced to choose. There is, however, a deeper global setting that allows you to stop all sound and visual notification ("toast" messages, lock screen). Since I don't like these visual alerts either, I selected that option and finally got rid of the email alert tones. But if you wanted the visual notification but not the sounds, you'd be out of luck with Hub+.

As I say, this all worked fine on the OnePlus One. It's beyond me why it doesn't work fine on the G6. It's also beyond me why they'd remove the "none" option from the Android default notification sound list, unless that was just a CyanogenMod thing.

Another detail I've noticed, which may be another CyanogenMod thing: On my OnePlus One, under the Wifi option in the Quick Settings pull-down, you could tap just below the Wifi icon and get the list of available Wifi networks. You can't do that on the G6; you have to go through the regular Settings menus. Again, maybe that's just the way regular Android works and I was spoiled by CyanogenMod. I don't know.

One more: On the OnePlus, the Do Not Disturb button presented the option to choose one or more hours of Do Not Disturb time, after which the profile would return to normal. I found this incredibly useful but it's not there on the G6. Was that another CyanogenMod enhancement? I think there are apps that do this, so I'll have to find a good one.

 

[John Oliver1]

To find a list of available Wifi networks quickly just put your finger on the Wifi icon and hold it there and the list will pop right up.

 

[Thud Hardsmack]

Yeah, I did figure that out, although it wasn't as straightforward as it should have been. As I wrote above, the Hub+ app lets you set each individual email account to silent, but on the G6 it doesn't work. I still got an alert tone, but not the default one I was forced to choose. There is, however, a deeper global setting that allows you to stop all sound and visual notification ("toast" messages, lock screen). Since I don't like these visual alerts either, I selected that option and finally got rid of the email alert tones. But if you wanted the visual notification but not the sounds, you'd be out of luck with Hub+.

As I say, this all worked fine on the OnePlus One. It's beyond me why it doesn't work fine on the G6. It's also beyond me why they'd remove the "none" option from the Android default notification sound list, unless that was just a CyanogenMod thing.

Another detail I've noticed, which may be another CyanogenMod thing: On my OnePlus One, under the Wifi option in the Quick Settings pull-down, you could tap just below the Wifi icon and get the list of available Wifi networks. You can't do that on the G6; you have to go through the regular Settings menus. Again, maybe that's just the way regular Android works and I was spoiled by CyanogenMod. I don't know.

One more: On the OnePlus, the Do Not Disturb button presented the option to choose one or more hours of Do Not Disturb time, after which the profile would return to normal. I found this incredibly useful but it's not there on the G6. Was that another CyanogenMod enhancement? I think there are apps that do this, so I'll have to find a good one.

I use Aquamail and Nine email, both allow for individual notifications per account with no toasts. Hub+ was ok for the most part but turned out to use much more battery than it should have been. For WiFi networks you should be getting a notification in the shade for the network you're on or tap for available networks (or use the shortcut mentioned above). Do Not Disturb has a manual setting plus a schedule, and once engaged you can choose the duration.

 

[Thud Hardsmack]

Also, as a former long-time BlackBerry user, welcome to the club.

 

[ubizmo]

To find a list of available Wifi networks quickly just put your finger on the Wifi icon and hold it there and the list will pop right up.

Thanks, didn't know that one. Another minor difference between the G6 and CyanogenMod; I guess I'll be discovering more as time goes on.

 

[ubizmo]

I use Aquamail and Nine email, both allow for individual notifications per account with no toasts. Hub+ was ok for the most part but turned out to use much more battery than it should have been. For WiFi networks you should be getting a notification in the shade for the network you're on or tap for available networks (or use the shortcut mentioned above). Do Not Disturb has a manual setting plus a schedule, and once engaged you can choose the duration.

Thanks for the welcome from another BlackBerry refugee! I still read CrackBerry but I don't have much to say there anymore. I gave a lot of thought to the KeyOne but in the end decided against it for a number of reasons.

For the timed mute function I've installed Shush!, an app I used a few years ago. It's very simple. You turn the sound down in the usual way and a dialog pops up letting you pick a duration. That's all I need.

As for Hub+...I'm on the fence. I've paid for Aquamail, so that's available too. However, my main email is outlook (live), not Gmail. I know that Aqua supports this, because I've used it in the past, but what it didn't do then was bring over my outlook contacts and calendar. Hub+ does this. However, Aqua may have been improved since I last used it. I know Kostya keeps busy working on it.

Edit: I just checked and now see that two-way calendar and contact sync is available on Aquamail via EWS, and also that Kostya is no longer sole developer.

 

[Morty2264]

I'm sorry your experience with the OnePlus 5 wasn't very positive! Another workaround for the LG G6 silent feature is to download a "silent" notification, from the Zedge app, for instance. I've done this before for my G3; I think because I was trying to silence a messaging app.

Anyway, hope you enjoy your G6! LG's skin is a bit to get used to, from what I recall. But it's an interesting software and the G6, as you mentioned, is a physical pleasure to hold and behold.

 

[bobdob]

Second quirk: I don't know if this is a generic Android thing. Keep in mind that my main experience with Android was CyanogenMod (and eventually LineageOS), which differs is various details. But when I went to find the default notification sound (for emails, messages, etc) I expected to find a "none" option, but it wasn't there. I had to choose a sound. I'm not a fan of this because I really don't like beeps and chirps alerting me to incoming emails, and I'll set any sounds that other apps make individually; but I like to default to no sound at all. Can't do it.

May be a carrier thing. Mine (AT&T) has "Silent" at the top of the list.

Now, if only someone would give me the option to not make any boot sound, I'd be happy (one thing I miss about not having root is being able to make the phone quieter!).

 

[ubizmo]

May be a carrier thing. Mine (AT&T) has "Silent" at the top of the list.

It's very strange that T-Mobile would take that out.

Meanwhile, I'm increasingly pleased with the reception and battery life on this thing. The two are no doubt connected.

 

[Soundtallica]

Yeah, LG does weird things with volume on this phone such as not being able to mute the camera shutter sound unless you turn all sound off. But none of it really bothers me.

 

[ubizmo]

Edit: I just checked and now see that two-way calendar and contact sync is available on Aquamail via EWS, and also that Kostya is no longer sole developer.

Replying to myself here: EWS is not relevant to my outlook.com calendar and contact accounts, so unlike Hub+ Aquamail does not sync my calendar and contacts.

And honestly, I'm not seeing that Hub+ is taking a big bite out of battery life. Given my usage patterns, I generally have 20-30% left when I go to bed and put the phone on the charger.

Today I'll do some serious experimenting with the camera. I like the way the Gallery's "edit" option is a chooser for an external app, in my case Snapseed. Snapseed is far, far better than any built-in photo editing tools I've seen, so I prefer not to have them there taking up space. The only thing I've seen that comes close is the one-touch "enhance" button on my Lumia 640XL, which generally gives very good results. Even so, I've learned to use Snapseed to rescue many a poor photo, and to make many fair photos pretty good.

 

[ubizmo]

Can anyone comment on the failure of Google to restore apps and data? Did the rest of you experience or expect that?

 

[Thud Hardsmack]

Can anyone comment on the failure of Google to restore apps and data? Did the rest of you experience or expect that?

A couple years ago I found it to be a bit flaky, it restored apps and accounts but left out settings and fine tuning. Nowadays it's nearly a full restore unless an app has settings behind a password/login.

 

[Thud Hardsmack]

Thanks for the welcome from another BlackBerry refugee! I still read CrackBerry but I don't have much to say there anymore. I gave a lot of thought to the KeyOne but in the end decided against it for a number of reasons.

For the timed mute function I've installed Shush!, an app I used a few years ago. It's very simple. You turn the sound down in the usual way and a dialog pops up letting you pick a duration. That's all I need.

As for Hub+...I'm on the fence. I've paid for Aquamail, so that's available too. However, my main email is outlook (live), not Gmail. I know that Aqua supports this, because I've used it in the past, but what it didn't do then was bring over my outlook contacts and calendar. Hub+ does this. However, Aqua may have been improved since I last used it. I know Kostya keeps busy working on it.

Edit: I just checked and now see that two-way calendar and contact sync is available on Aquamail via EWS, and also that Kostya is no longer sole developer.

I only use Aquamail for my Gmail accounts - the app I highly recommend for Outlook/Exchange is Nine email, syncs calendars, tasks, and contacts plus groups them in the Contacts app. Calendars can also be displayed in-app or in your preferred calendar, although I'm not aware if it's supported in the Hub+ calendar. There's also a notes function, but I'm not sure if it syncs with Outlook or Onenote as I use Google Keep exclusively. Email handling is improved over Hub+ with three options per swipe left or right versus Hub+'s one option per swipe, but it doesn't have a bulk select which is my biggest gripe with Nine (seriously, why not?). However, it makes up for that somewhat with better email handling straight from the notification shade - if you use Twitter for Android it's the same method.

Secondly, I'm unclear what's missing from the built-in Do Not Disturb function - when engaged it silences all notifications until disabled, plus there's an option to only allow contacts marked as favorites as well as alarms. It ends when either the quick menu icon (second from left here), the set duration is reached (min 15 minutes max 12 hours), or the notification is tapped; and can be set up with per-day schedules of which can be more than one per day. I have an overnight and a weekend schedule myself.

 

[ubizmo]

The trouble with Nine is it doesn't support regular IMAP accounts. My work email is one of those.

As for Do Not Disturb, I don't see any option to select a duration when I activate it, which is what I want. Tapping the DND quick seeing icon turns out on until I tap it again to turn it off.

I tried the Alto email app, which is quite nice but doesn't sync calendar and contacts from Outlook.com. I know MailWise does it but has another major (for me) limitation: you can't adjust the email font size. At 64 I need this one.

 

[Thud Hardsmack]

The trouble with Nine is it doesn't support regular IMAP accounts. My work email is one of those.

As for Do Not Disturb, I don't see any option to select a duration when I activate it, which is what I want. Tapping the DND quick seeing icon turns out on until I tap it again to turn it off.

I tried the Alto email app, which is quite nice but doesn't sync calendar and contacts from Outlook.com. I know MailWise does it but has another major (for me) limitation: you can't adjust the email font size. At 64 I need this one.

Nine's lack of IMAP is why I'm running both Aquamail and Nine, although there's support for G Suite users. 9folders said last year it was coming but didn't set a date. I'd stick with Hub+ if Nine or Aquamail are lacking due to privacy and security policy. There's a post in a forum somewhere detailing the safety levels of a few clients but I don't have it bookmarked anymore.

For Do Not Disturb, to set an end time just tap the notification in the shade or set it up a schedule in Settings -> Do Not Disturb

 

[ubizmo]

For Do Not Disturb, to set an end time just tap the notification in the shade or set it up a schedule in Settings -> Do Not Disturb

If I tap the notification on the shade it just turns on DND and that's all. There's no end time option. In CyanogenMod I could select "for one hour", "for two hours" etc. Not on the G6. Yes, I can set schedules but that's not what I'm after. I want to be able to go into a movie, turn on DND for two hours and forget about it, knowing it'll revert after the designated time.

The Shush and Silence apps do this, in slightly different ways. The Silence app also had the ability to scan the calendar for keywords in appointments and go silent for the duration of those.

 

[Thud Hardsmack]

If I tap the notification on the shade it just turns on DND and that's all. There's no end time option. In CyanogenMod I could select "for one hour", "for two hours" etc. Not on the G6. Yes, I can set schedules but that's not what I'm after. I want to be able to go into a movie, turn on DND for two hours and forget about it, knowing it'll revert after the designated time.

The Shush and Silence apps do this, in slightly different ways. The Silence app also had the ability to scan the calendar for keywords in appointments and go silent for the duration of those.

There shouldn't be a notification until it's activated. What's your model/who's your carrier?