[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Here are my first impressions of the LG G4 after a day of using it the way I normally would.
1) The phone is big. It's slightly bigger than the G3 but it's easier to hold than other 5.5-inch phones. The leather back definitely does help with grip. The brown one seems to offer the best grip but my black one is also pretty grippy, even if it's a little bit smooth.
2) The screen is drop-dead gorgeous. The first time I powered it on, I thought I was looking at an AMOLED screen. Colors are really vibrant, contrast is amazing, screen is very bright (perhaps brighter than I need it to be) and there's a lot of detail.
3) The phone flies throughout the UX. Whatever LG has done to their typically bloated G UX, it's faster, snappier and to me, more aesthetically pleasing than previous versions. I love how it's possible to change the app icons in the home screen to your custom ones. Honestly, despite having a Snapdragon 808, it feels like it has a non-overheating 810 or even the Exynos 7420. I put it next to a Galaxy S6 Edge and the G4 not only kept up with it with a 0.5 second difference but when it came to Chrome and the camera, along with some other apps, the G4 was actually faster.
4) The speaker is......surprisingly good for a rear-facing unit. It actually sounded clearer and better than the downward-firing unit on the S6 and actually sounded nearly as good as my M7, while only the M9 so far beats it in quality partly due to Dolby software but mainly because its front-facing.
5) The camera is killer. If you're an amateur, the Auto mode is simple enough to use but most importantly, it's fast. AF was really quick and taking photos look less than a second from focus to fire. The manual mode is just pure icing on a delicious cake. I managed to take some nice shots with the manual mode. OIS 2.0 did a fantastic job of stabilizing my shots and recording video as well.
6) Battery life is good but not great. It lasted pretty much the whole day for me on a single-charge with 5 hours of SOT but with a quick-burst of charging power in between. Bear in mind that's with 40-50% brightness and 4G LTE switched on for nearly the entire day. It might get great battery life if you're frugal, but the bonus is that you can easily swap it out for a freshly charged one.
7) On the topic of battery, standby time is killer. I went to bed with an 82% charge and when I woke up 7 hours later, my charge was...82%. The battery hardly drained at all. That was with Wi-Fi off, but by comparison, my old phone (HTC One M7) drained about 5%, even with Wi-Fi off and the Extreme Power Saving mode enabled.
8) The leather backs are simply nice to hold and they feel good.
9) Performance in games was alright. It's not on the same level as a non-throttled G Flex 2 or HTC M9, and definitely the S6, but for the games I play (Temple Run 2, PPSSPP, etc.), it runs alright. No stuttering, no hiccups, nothing.
10) Multitasking is a breeze. All my apps stayed in memory and switching between apps was extremely snappy and quick.

[oldschoolsig]

Glad you like it.... I just got my extra battery and charger and now like it that much better.

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

The extra battery is definitely something that is very useful for the G4.

It has marginally better battery life than the G3 but ultimately, in use, it really doesn't last as long as the S6 (but it lasts a bit longer in lighter use with a lot of standby), so it's a great asset to have.

[oldschoolsig]

I usually get 4 hours sot on my g3, and I'm close to hitting 5 hours on g4.

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

I usually get 4 hours sot on my g3, and I'm close to hitting 5 hours on g4.

I got 5.5 hours of SOT on my G4, admittedly with a small charge in the middle as I was syncing data from my PC.

Performance-wise, it's almost like the 2013 Moto X in terms of philosophy. Doesn't have the most cutting-edge hardware but has extremely well-optimized software that makes it keep up or even slightly outperform handsets with beefier specs.

I applaud LG for not continuing the specs race and instead, innovate in more meaningful and important ways like software and the camera. Honestly, at this point, all our phones are already stupidly fast.

[tardus]

Agreed. LG did a really great job with the G4!

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Agreed. LG did a really great job with the G4!

Same here. The G4 is the best phone they have ever made.

Sadly, it doesn't seem to sell as well as the G3. Then again, lots of people bought the G3 and maybe they didn't feel that the G4 was worth the upgrade.

I could care less, however. I came from the M7 and the G4 is a nice refreshment as it has the 2 things that were missing from my M7; expandable storage and a removable battery. The camera is also night and day.

[SAVAGE420]

Awesome review. Have a Galaxy S4 now for 2 years (RAD phone IMO....). Im for sure getting the LG G4 this weekend.
I wanted to stay loyal with Samsung and get a S6, but i have NO choice as im jumping ship now that i know you cant put an sd card in the samsungs and no batt changing. Screw paying a TON extra for more gigs...IMO Samsung messed up on that one.

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Awesome review. Have a Galaxy S4 now for 2 years (RAD phone IMO....). Im for sure getting the LG G4 this weekend.
I wanted to stay loyal with Samsung and get a S6, but i have NO choice as im jumping ship now that i know you cant put an sd card in the samsungs and no batt changing. Screw paying a TON extra for more gigs...IMO Samsung messed up on that one.

They did put UFS 2.0 storage, which is pretty damn fast, but really, makes only a difference for apps.

For media like photos, videos and music, the difference is miniscule. Hence, why I didn't bother with the storage speed.

[dpham00]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

Sent from my Verizon LG G4

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

Sent from my Verizon LG G4

Thanks!

I saw you have the Verizon version of the LG G4? Any differences besides the usual Verizon stuff compared to my international (H815) version?

[Fred Wilson2]

Besides the usual Verizon bloatware, Verizon also removed a fair amount of funtionality from the G4. It's been posted here, what they removed.

Fred

[dpham00]

Thanks!

I saw you have the Verizon version of the LG G4? Any differences besides the usual Verizon stuff compared to my international (H815) version?

I have used both the h815 and Verizon. The differences are discussed here :

http://forums.androidcentral.com/lg-...rnational.html

Sent from my Verizon LG G4

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

I have used both the h815 and Verizon. The differences are discussed here :

http://forums.androidcentral.com/lg-...rnational.html

Sent from my Verizon LG G4

Wow, that's quite a significant change.

[Almeuit]

Glad you're enjoying it .

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Glad you're enjoying it .

Thanks!

It really is an awesome phone and is an excellent alternative to the Galaxy S6 for those who are left with a sour taste in their mouths over the lack of expandable storage and a removable battery in the S6.

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Silly me.

How could I talk about the camera when I don't have test shots?

Here are some test shots that I took in the first 3 days after I got the G4. I'm not the world's greatest photographer but I did use manual mode in some (evident by the warmer than usual white balance) and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed at what this camera can do.

[GrooveRite]

Great write up thanks to a great choice in device! Welcome to the 'carrier free' experience! ☺

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Great write up thanks to a great choice in device! Welcome to the 'carrier free' experience! ☺

Heh, thanks!

I've actually been in the "carrier-free" experience since my first Android device, the humble Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-i9100G, which is still with me.

It's nice to not be bound to contracts and rules.

[GrooveRite]

Heh, thanks!

I've actually been in the "carrier-free" experience since my first Android device, the humble Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-i9100G, which is still with me.

It's nice to not be bound to contracts and rules.

This is my first (H815) experience carrier free so I NOW KNOW what you guys have always been clamoring about, lol! I've seen the light!

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

This is my first (H815) experience carrier free so I NOW KNOW what you guys have always been clamoring about, lol! I've seen the light!

Being carrier-free is a great experience.

From my friends, however, T-Mobile is a very close second...if you can get their service.

[GrooveRite]

Being carrier-free is a great experience.

From my friends, however, T-Mobile is a very close second...if you can get their service.

I have the H815 with a TMO sim and its running beautifully! Testing TMO's network has made me realize that I finally have to let go of Sprint. To many years of paying for poor service. Time to move on.

[Almeuit]

I have the H815 with a TMO sim and its running beautifully! Testing TMO's network has made me realize that I finally have to let go of Sprint. To many years of paying for poor service. Time to move on.

Yeah that is how I felt. Some get good speeds but I didn't. I got 3g most of the time and if I got LTE it was very slow.

[Aflaaaak]

Sorry if this is a total noob question, but is it possible to buy an unlocked U.S. market phone and use it on Verizon, without Verizon "customizing" it?

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Sorry if this is a total noob question, but is it possible to buy an unlocked U.S. market phone and use it on Verizon, without Verizon "customizing" it?

You may not be able to use Verizon's LTE as they operate on different bands

Furthermore, Verizon runs on a CDMA network