Hi guys,
After having the G4 on test from LG for a couple of weeks, I would like to submit my review of the phone.
Design
The G4 is a lightest phone that I have held in a long time. Coming from an all metal phone, I had some reservations that I wouldn't like the feel of a plastic phone again but I have to admit, it really hasn't bothered me at all. The feel in the hand is comfortable and the slight curve to the handset fits nicely when the phone is held to the face. This is the first phone that I have had with the volume and power button on the back of the phone. I won't say that I am completely comfortable with it yet as I still do have to turn the phone around to locate the buttons...my finger seems to naturally rest on the the camera lens than buttons. Even though the speaker is at the back to the phone, I find it loud and comfortable to hear with no distortion.
Display
The display in bright and even in bright sunlight is easy to read. The auto brightness mode adapts really well to changing light around you and is never too bright at night which I found could be a problem on other phones. I found that I didn't need the phone to be on full brightness which is also a help in the the battery life department. The viewing angles are good and the colours look excellent on videos and
Battery Life
Having used the phone for 3 weeks, I have been impressed with the battery life. I wouldn't say that I am a power user as such but I do have days of medium to heavy usage. I have found that the battery will last a full day with me taking and making a number of phone calls, syncing my email every 10 minutes from 7am until 8pm, taking a number of photographs with them syncing up to dropbox etc. I am taking the phone off charge around 7-8am and not returning it to the charger until 9-10pm which I think is perfectly acceptable. Weekends are even better with me not charging it at all from Saturday am until Sunday evening. Of course these are my personal views and everyone is going to have a different experience but mine has been most pleasing.
Camera
Well this is the main point that has been marketed the most with this phone and what I do most with my phone on a working day so I needed this to be on point. I have come from a phone which uses ultra-pixels so going back to a higher mega-pixel count would show of my work better if the quality was as good as marketed. Well I have been massively impressed. The images have been really crisp and clear with detail. The phone comes with a colour sensor and a laser autofocus which work really well and have assisted with some close ups that I have taken. There are a number of different mode to play with in the camera – Simple, Auto, Manual.
Simple just offers a tap on the screen to take a photo option
Auto allows a tweaks to the settings before a photos is taken
Manual is a powerful mode which allows for changing of shutter speeds, ICO setting and others which assist in making the perfect picture.
I have never used manual settings before so that was a nice thing to explore and I ended up with some really great images.
Low light performance is good and again with the tweaks available in the manual settings, you can get some great images.
Front facing camera is very good and with some great software, it takes some really great selfies. The lens is not wide angled which may be a problems if you try to fit a great number of people in your shot but it has real great quality. The software will soften your pictures which is nice and there are options that allow for voice activated self timer or a really smart feature of taking a picture by making a fist at the camera.
Software
The software is LG's version of Android. I find the skin really simple and easy to use but there is a number of areas where you can personalise the experience from making your own vibration pattern to the normal downloading of different themes and ringtones. There is the ability to run certain stock apps in dual screen mode such as calendar and the stock browser. I find the whole experience really clean and there are just things that you will use on the phone that will make you just think 'why haven’t other phones done this'. The ability to set tasks based on location such as turning on / off your wifi, opening navigation apps when you connect to your cars bluetooth. I have found this excellent and while there are stand alone apps for this, having it built into the software experience is outstanding.
Call Quality
Phone call quality is good using the 02 network in the UK. I have found the hearing the other party on the call fine and there have been no complaints that I can't be heard. The phone connects well using bluetooth and there have been no real issues with the phone.
Overall
I have found the phone really easy to use and I have enjoyed used it. The camera and battery as really important to me and this phone has not disappointed in that department. There is the odd thing that I would change or adjust such as the making the HDR in auto mode a little more aggressive as I find some pictures do come out a little dark but other than that but nothing that can't be addressed via software updates. I'm really happy with the phone in the hand and I would recommend the phone .
After having the G4 on test from LG for a couple of weeks, I would like to submit my review of the phone.
Design
The G4 is a lightest phone that I have held in a long time. Coming from an all metal phone, I had some reservations that I wouldn't like the feel of a plastic phone again but I have to admit, it really hasn't bothered me at all. The feel in the hand is comfortable and the slight curve to the handset fits nicely when the phone is held to the face. This is the first phone that I have had with the volume and power button on the back of the phone. I won't say that I am completely comfortable with it yet as I still do have to turn the phone around to locate the buttons...my finger seems to naturally rest on the the camera lens than buttons. Even though the speaker is at the back to the phone, I find it loud and comfortable to hear with no distortion.
Display
The display in bright and even in bright sunlight is easy to read. The auto brightness mode adapts really well to changing light around you and is never too bright at night which I found could be a problem on other phones. I found that I didn't need the phone to be on full brightness which is also a help in the the battery life department. The viewing angles are good and the colours look excellent on videos and
Battery Life
Having used the phone for 3 weeks, I have been impressed with the battery life. I wouldn't say that I am a power user as such but I do have days of medium to heavy usage. I have found that the battery will last a full day with me taking and making a number of phone calls, syncing my email every 10 minutes from 7am until 8pm, taking a number of photographs with them syncing up to dropbox etc. I am taking the phone off charge around 7-8am and not returning it to the charger until 9-10pm which I think is perfectly acceptable. Weekends are even better with me not charging it at all from Saturday am until Sunday evening. Of course these are my personal views and everyone is going to have a different experience but mine has been most pleasing.
Camera
Well this is the main point that has been marketed the most with this phone and what I do most with my phone on a working day so I needed this to be on point. I have come from a phone which uses ultra-pixels so going back to a higher mega-pixel count would show of my work better if the quality was as good as marketed. Well I have been massively impressed. The images have been really crisp and clear with detail. The phone comes with a colour sensor and a laser autofocus which work really well and have assisted with some close ups that I have taken. There are a number of different mode to play with in the camera – Simple, Auto, Manual.
Simple just offers a tap on the screen to take a photo option
Auto allows a tweaks to the settings before a photos is taken
Manual is a powerful mode which allows for changing of shutter speeds, ICO setting and others which assist in making the perfect picture.
I have never used manual settings before so that was a nice thing to explore and I ended up with some really great images.
Low light performance is good and again with the tweaks available in the manual settings, you can get some great images.
Front facing camera is very good and with some great software, it takes some really great selfies. The lens is not wide angled which may be a problems if you try to fit a great number of people in your shot but it has real great quality. The software will soften your pictures which is nice and there are options that allow for voice activated self timer or a really smart feature of taking a picture by making a fist at the camera.
Software
The software is LG's version of Android. I find the skin really simple and easy to use but there is a number of areas where you can personalise the experience from making your own vibration pattern to the normal downloading of different themes and ringtones. There is the ability to run certain stock apps in dual screen mode such as calendar and the stock browser. I find the whole experience really clean and there are just things that you will use on the phone that will make you just think 'why haven’t other phones done this'. The ability to set tasks based on location such as turning on / off your wifi, opening navigation apps when you connect to your cars bluetooth. I have found this excellent and while there are stand alone apps for this, having it built into the software experience is outstanding.
Call Quality
Phone call quality is good using the 02 network in the UK. I have found the hearing the other party on the call fine and there have been no complaints that I can't be heard. The phone connects well using bluetooth and there have been no real issues with the phone.
Overall
I have found the phone really easy to use and I have enjoyed used it. The camera and battery as really important to me and this phone has not disappointed in that department. There is the odd thing that I would change or adjust such as the making the HDR in auto mode a little more aggressive as I find some pictures do come out a little dark but other than that but nothing that can't be addressed via software updates. I'm really happy with the phone in the hand and I would recommend the phone .
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