Questions on initial LG G3 problems

[DaniAntonG]

Hello everyone,
I am going to buy a new phone and it is basicaly between the LG G3 and the Sony Xperia Z2 (or 3).
Looking at reviews from when the phone was launched i picked up the following potential problems:
-Laggy sometimes (maybe due to screen)
-Overheating
-Not excellent battery life (not bad though)
-Camera with washed out pictures

I wanted to know your opinion on those topics and whether LG has released updates to fix them and whether they managed to do it or not.
Im also interested in the durability of the phone (especially as the Z2 is meant to be quite durable) to see whether it is okay or not.
Thanks a lot!

 

[HollyDolly]

Hello everyone,
I am going to buy a new phone and it is basically between the LG G3 and the Sony Xperia Z2 (or 3).
Looking at reviews from when the phone was launched i picked up the following potential problems:
-Laggy sometimes (maybe due to screen)
-Overheating
-Not excellent battery life (not bad though)
-Camera with washed out pictures

I wanted to know your opinion on those topics and whether LG has released updates to fix them and whether they managed to do it or not.
I'm also interested in the durability of the phone (especially as the Z2 is meant to be quite durable) to see whether it is okay or not.
Thanks a lot!

I'm coming from the Moto X and just bought the LG G3. It's taken me a bit to adjust to the G3, because the Moto X is stock, clean Android with no nonsense UI added. But actually, the G3 is not a bad phone at all. It's not as impressive as so many reviews claim, IMO, but it's probably the best Android on my carrier at this time. Plus, I got a great deal on it, so I keep telling myself that for that alone, it's worth keeping.

As far as the issues you listed:

1. Lag: Haven't noticed this and I have maybe about 100 apps on mine? One thing I constantly do on ALL my phones is clear app cache on the big memory eaters (Facebook, tumblr, twitter, dropbox) nightly (I know, it's a bit OTT but it's a habit). And, I make sure to close all apps running in the background if I'm not using them. So no lag for me, and I've even played some games on the phone.

2. Overheating: Yes, I've had this. But one thing I noticed is the phone gets warm quickly if the battery is below 30%. If it's over 50% and you're watching Youtube or playing a game, it's not too bad at all. But the first time I let the battery run down to below 30%, the area behind the camera got so warm that when a call came through and I put the phone to my ear, it burned a little. I've since tested the phone for overheating with the battery percentage above 50%, as stated above, and it's fine. It might get slightly warm with longer use, but not HOT like the first time. Also, I contacted LG customer service about this and, besides the fact that the guy was useless and argumentative, he basically said it's probably some app that I'm running. I told him I have the EXACT apps on my Moto X and never had this issue, but he said LG is not aware of any problems so no fixes are coming.

3. Definitely NOT excellent battery. My battery can drop 10% in 20 minutes by me just doing simple searches on Google chrome. But once it drops below 50% - with no battery saver on - it seems to last a bit longer. But from 100% to 80%, it can nosedive in no time at all. Mentioned this to LG customer service, apparently....again, it's me, not their equipment.

4. The camera so far, I like. I've taken a few photos and it doesn't blow my mind, but coming from the Moto X camera, it's a step up. The pictures can be quite crisp in bright lights and where there are lots of colors. But otherwise, it's just...meh.

The phone itself is lightweight and a bit flimsy. I still haven't bought a case for mine because I wasn't sure if I was going to keep the phone, but I'm looking into cases now. It has removable battery and allows for SD expansion, so that's a plus for me. I'm probably going to replace the back cover with a Qi wireless charging back, so that I can charge my phone that way.

OH, and you should know, the LG AC adapter that comes with the phone will take HOURS to charge the phone. Mine said it would take 7 hours the first time I went to charge it and I nearly went to return it the same night! But, I decided to use my Moto X charger instead and it charged up my phone in 1.5 hours (from 20% to 100%). Granted, that's a lot longer than my Moto X used to take, and I'm not crazy about that, but perhaps it's also the battery itself...I'm not sure. But wireless charging would be very handy for this reason.

Hope this helps and sorry I have no input on the Z3!

 

[belodion]

(Holly: I don't understand the sloth of your LG charger. Mine has always charged quickly, say an hour or two from 25-30% to 100%, even though I'll be using it while charging, and using a higher brightness setting while charging. Perhaps you got a duff charger?)

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[erwaso]

I've read that it takes long to charge the first time then gets faster each time after.

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[kjharrison]

My phone charges fast with the charger it comes with. A charge lasts about 18 hours.

I normally use Nova Launcher, but the new LG launcher is fine. I also like the LG health tracker a lot (I'm a big walker). In, fact, I prefer it over the Google Tracks app.

Also, this phone is fast and reliable. I don't have a heating issue, but I'm not a gamer.

 

[doggy2965]

You will not experience any of those problems at a level that will bother you. I buy almost every New phone and the LG G3 is by far the best phone on the market. Of course there's always something new around the corner.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[HollyDolly]

(Holly: I don't understand the sloth of your LG charger. Mine has always charged quickly, say an hour or two from 25-30% to 100%, even though I'll be using it while charging, and using a higher brightness setting while charging. Perhaps you got a duff charger?)

Posted via the Android Central App

I'm not sure? But I've read others have issues with the charger. I thought perhaps it was the phone itself, but I tried charging the Moto X with the LG charger and the charge time increased by 5 hours! The Moto X charger works fine for both.

 

[Statastic]

The G3 is a good phone, but it felt a little rushed. The battery charges really fast, but its durability isn't very good. Yes, the phone can be laggy even when you turn animations off and it does get warmer than it should get. The screen is very overrated, dull, and average at best. Not comparable to an iphone, samsung, or Sony experia screen even though it is quad hd. But the phone does have an amazing keyboard, a great build, nice camera, and also the knock on, knock off works great!!! Its just all about what you want and will feel comfortable with though.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[belodion]

I'm not sure? But I've read others have issues with the charger. I thought perhaps it was the phone itself, but I tried charging the Moto X with the LG charger and the charge time increased by 5 hours! The Moto X charger works fine for both.

I'd get that changed if they'll agree to do it without you having to send the phone and everything back....if only because one day your Moto one might fail and you'll want another charger in reserve.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[HollyDolly]

I'd get that changed if they'll agree to do it without you having to send the phone and everything back....if only because one day your Moto one might fail and you'll want another charger in reserve.

Posted via the Android Central App

I bought my phone from Best Buy and I doubt they'll open a brand new box for the charger alone. I can call LG but the one time I did (about something else), they were completely not helpful. I have 2 Moto chargers, but I'll call Best Buy and ask about the charger. They probably will want me to switch phones and I'm not going down that road...

Sent from my XT1056 using Tapatalk

 

[belodion]

OP: If it's of any help to you, I've had my G3 for three-and-a-half months and have experienced no trouble from it except three minor glitches, easily put right. I don't experience the problems you mention. I'm using an unlocked D855-EUR currently on its fourth update, v10l.

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[meyerweb#CB]

I've had my Sprint version for about 3 weeks.

Yes, some lag, but not due to screen. It's due to some poorly coded LG apps. Using an alternative launcher and keyboard gets rid of most of the performance issues.

No overheating issues here.

When the screen is off, battery life is simply amazing. With the screen on, it's very dependent on brightness. With reasonable brightness settings, I think it's on par with other recent phones. I've gotten as much as 24 hours with 3 1/2 hours of screen on time and an estimated 3 hours of use reamining. 13 - 14 hours with that screen on time and several hours remaining is typical for me. Come to think of it, the only difference between those times is when I took it off the charger. If you count nighttime sleep time, you can easily get 24 hours + out of it.

No issues with the camera at all. It's excellent (for a cell phone) in my opinion. Close to the S5 in daylight, and much better in low light. Close to the One M8 in low light, and much better in bright light. A better overall experience than either of those. (And I'm a serious amateur photographer, with probably $8K in photo gear.)

LG has just released an update for the international version which appears to resolve the lag issues. It'll be a while before it gets through the US carriers, however.

Durability? I haven't dropped mine other than on carpet, but it seems to me to be sturdily built.It may not be as solid as the metal jacketed HTC One, but then it's also very light for a big screen phone, which is a plus to me. And it won't dent like the One when you drop it.

Those who complain about the screen probably haven't found the adjustment for contrast in Accessibility settings. Mine charges as fast as any other phone I've used.

The simple truth is that none of the current flagships are bad phones, nor are any of them perfect. I chose this over the Galaxy S5 largely because the S5 is so bloody ugly, and because I love the giant screen. It also feels a lot better in my hand than the S5. The S5 has a better screen, though, especially outdoors. The One M8 is a very good phone, too, but I didn't like the slippery metal case, nor all the wasted space on the front of the phone for the speakers (If I listen to music on my phone I use earphones) and that ugly black space at the bottom of the screen. Nor the non-replaceable battery. The Moto-X might have been my choice if it didn't have such a small, non-replaceable battery and no SD card support.

Weight what's important to you, and figure out which phone best meets YOUR requirements.

 

[Joltcola1234]

If your G3 is taking hours and hours to charge, then something is wrong with your charger or your phone, plain and simple (or there is something draining the battery heavily while it's charging).

My G3 charges lightning fast with the AC adapter that came with it. Most nights my battery is around 20-30% when I start to charge it, and it's fully charged to 100% in less then 90 mins without fail, every time.

If you phone is taking 5, 6, 7 hours or more to charge, something is wrong (probably with the charger) and I'd try out a different charger.

 

[lrrowley]

Meyerweb really has it down.
Mine charges pretty quickly with the stock charger, but I have seen a few people post that apparently it's slow the first few times. I don't really remember how mine was.
The camera is great. Focuses quickly and takes quick shots, even with HDR. The shots are really crisp too.
My wife has the Galaxy S5 and I'll admit that the screen looks better in some ways like brightness and color. But the white on the S5 looks dingy compared to the G3, and I can tell that the G3's screen is sharper. I stream a lot of Netflix, hulu+, and other apps and I really appreciate the extra pixels.
Is this as fast as a Nexus 5? No, but it's still fast. I rarely have stutters or lag and I'm pretty persnickety about it. Or it could be that I came from the Galaxy S4 and that phone has major lag problems.

 

[DaniAntonG]

Thanks a lot to everyone who answered. In terms of specs I think LG -is the best phone for me (even more than the z2 with same price). The only thing which concerns me is the overheating.. I see a lot of people complaining about it and many others saying they have no issues so I wonder whether this is just chance or due to the model and version (16 vs 32)

 

[Google10]

My phone takes like five seconds to snap a picture no matter which settings I use... I tried to snap like five quick pictures in a row at a game yesterday to get one good one, and I ended up with one picture. What's the trick for burst shots?