More 'nitpicky' questions if I were to switch to an LG G4...

[ackmondual]

1) If I were to keep this in a belt clip with the screen facing out and the top of the phone facing up, can I check the time without taking it out?

On my Galaxy s4, the power button is on the side spine, towards the top, so I can still access it by pressing down on that.

I do have a (normal) watch that I often use to check time, but still... it'd be nice to use the G4 as a backup. Not to mention check notifications. Speaking of which....

2) Having a Notification bar button when you need to reach for those buttons anyways?
The ability customize the soft/virtual, home buttons looks neat. Having a button (on the "Android home buttons row") so you can show the notification bar on the bottom is a nice alternative to having to swipe down from the top of the screen. However, won't you have to reach up there anyways to tap on those buttons?

For example, if I want to turn on GPS, I would press the button to reveal the Notifications tray (on the bottom), but then I'd need to reach way up to tap on the GPS button to enable it. Doesn't that in part defeat the purpose of having such a button in the first place?

3) Can you still simulate the menu button by long pressing the square button (aka task switcher)?
Or did they completely do away with that since the menu button is always going to be embedded in each app? (via 3 vertical dots or 3 rows of horizontal lines)

4) Is it possible (and easy) to update to Marshmallow (6.x) if it comes with 5.x (Lollipop)?
I hear 6.x makes a world of difference towards battery life and other functionality... for the better. This will be a T-Mobile compatible phone on their network.

 

[LeoRex]

1) If I were to keep this in a belt clip with the screen facing out and the top of the phone facing up, can I check the time without taking it out? The G4 has 'double tap to wake', so a quick tap-tap on the screen and it fires up the lockscreen.

2) Having a Notification bar button when you need to reach for those buttons anyways? Yes, you would have to reach to the top to act on those buttons, but it's one less time.

4) Is it possible (and easy) to update to Marshmallow (6.x) if it comes with 5.x (Lollipop)? It is both possible and easy.... There is already an OTA for the G4 out there for most carriers, so it'd just be a matter of you getting the notification, and then allowing it to do its thing. Of course, I would recommend you do a factory reset after the upgrade... for me, with phones that I've owned that take OTAs, major upgrades always end with a reset... fewer issues that way.

 

[Mooncatt]

1) If I were to keep this in a belt clip with the screen facing out and the top of the phone facing up, can I check the time without taking it out? The G4 has 'double tap to wake', so a quick tap-tap on the screen and it fires up the lockscreen.

Another alternative is glance view. With the screen off, swipe down on it and keep your finger on the screen. It'll display the time and any notifications you might have. It turns off immediately when you remove your finger.


To answer #3 about the menu button, it's app dependent. Some apps respond to holding the recent app button for a menu, and some don't, but the G4 itself is capable of it.