LG G4: Are you getting one?

[tardus]

I can't wait to order the G4. My g3 has been close to perfection. I actually love the lg skin, rear buttons, removable SD... Things Sammy doesn't have. The camera and faster 64 bit CPU, and shipping with 5.1...all good! Lg is on the right path.

 

[GrooveRite]

I can't wait to order the G4. My g3 has been close to perfection. I actually love the lg skin, rear buttons, removable SD... Things Sammy doesn't have. The camera and faster 64 bit CPU, and shipping with 5.1...all good! Lg is on the right path.

I feel the same way

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[mhettrich]

Lack of fast and wireless charging killed it for me. My Nexus 6 is serving me fine still anyway. Looks like a great phone otherwise though.

 

[psychotron]

I'd love to, but I'm still a year out from my next upgrade so I'm trying very hard to ignore the fact that it exists. Just hope the G5 is just as awesome next year.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[xetaray]

I'd love to, but I'm still a year out from my next upgrade so I'm trying very hard to ignore the fact that it exists. Just hope the G5 is just as awesome next year.

Posted via the Android Central App

Yeah, hopefully they don't [language removed] it up like Samsung did this year with the S6. If LG becomes the last bastion of removable battery and SD card slot, then I'd be fine with that.

 

[roaduardo1]

Title says it all... Many folks love to speculate, discuss and debate about a device but we also like to see the pouring of support over those who will be picking up LG's latest flagship.

Sound off in the thread below and feel free to mention what draws you to this device.

First of all, my hat's off to LG for retaining Micro SD support AND a user-replaceable battery. Apparently those feature's aren't as "niche" as some would suggest or else a company like LG wouldn't provide them on their latest flagship.

If Samsung neuters the Note 5 by removing both Micro SD support and a user-replaceable battery then I'm deff going to grab a G4. The true value of those two features are almost intangible.

 

[doggy2965]

I can't wait to order the G4. My g3 has been close to perfection. I actually love the lg skin, rear buttons, removable SD... Things Sammy doesn't have. The camera and faster 64 bit CPU, and shipping with 5.1...all good! Lg is on the right path.

Agree

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[xetaray]

If Samsung neuters the Note 5 by removing both Micro SD support and a user-replaceable battery then I'm deff going to grab a G4. The true value of those two features are almost intangible.

Considering how the S6 and S6 Edge have been selling like gangbusters, that's almost guaranteed to happen.

 

[roaduardo1]

Yeah, hopefully they don't [language] it up like Samsung did this year with the S6. If LG becomes the last bastion of removable battery and SD card slot, then I'd be fine with that.

I hope Samsung has a strategy of keeping those two important features on the Note series. Keep the S series for those that prefer style over substance and the Note series for those that prefer substance over style. Going with the design they went with on the S6 just seems like they've capitulated to the minority cries from some high profile journalist and those consumers who wanted something that looks like an iPhone. Yes, let's move our main flagship more in line with our biggest competitor and remove two of the most practical features that's traditionally separated us from them.

This is why I'm hoping their gambit will pay off by keeping the Note series intact with Micro SD and a user-replaceable battery. If not, LG's gonna see a lot more sales.

 

[roaduardo1]

Considering how the S6 and S6 Edge have been selling like gangbusters, that's almost guaranteed to happen.

That's what I mean about style over substance. The S series has traditionally been catered to those "general" Android users who prefer style whereas the Note series seems to have been geared more towards the "power users". If they keep Micro SD and a user-replaceable battery on the Note 5 then this massive style change on the S series will appear even more brilliant.

 

[roaduardo1]

I feel the same way

Posted via the Android Central App

It's also kind of funny/ironic to see how it's not been that long since Samsung released this ad:

 

[LeoRex]

First of all, my hat's off to LG for retaining Micro SD support AND a user-replaceable battery. Apparently those feature's aren't as "niche" as some would suggest or else a company like LG wouldn't provide them on their latest flagship.

If Samsung neuters the Note 5 by removing both Micro SD support and a user-replaceable battery then I'm deff going to grab a G4. The true value of those two features are almost intangible.

The battery... I think that will be retained with the Note 5... the SD card, not so much. OEMs are moving away from SD cards at an increasing rate.

First... there is a cost savings associated with removing the slot needed for the SD cards. It makes packaging easier and they can make the phone a little bit more compact and cheaper to make

Second... SD cards are slow and unreliable. Ignoring the fact that there the market is filled with cards that are low quality and/or counterfeit, even good cards have a high failure rate. The tech just doesn't seem, to me at least, well suited for phones as opposed to something like a DSLR... where file operations are more serial and straightforward. I've had more than my share of card failures over the years and I will avoid using them whenever I can.

Lastly... advancements in both internal and cloud storage are making them increasingly more archaic. Chips are getting cheaper and we are seeing more phones with 64G to 128G and fewer with 8G or less.

Now, I know there are people whose personal use is made easier with removable cards... whether it is large video or music collections they carry around, or they are in areas where data connections aren't always available. But oftentimes when technology changes course, there will be peope who get screwed a bit.... fans of physical keyboards is an example that comes to mind. To those people, my only advice is to adapt, unfortunately.

 

[GrooveRite]

I've had more than my share of card failures over the years and I will avoid using them whenever I can.

I think I might be the only lucky guy to have never had card failures since 2010. Prior to that year, I used to buy Kingston, PNY, etc. from Newegg and many of those cards ended up with read/write issues and failures. I learned my lesson and bought Sandisk and didn't see any more problems on that front. Only problems I've ever had with SD cards since then is when I've dropped my phone HARD and the card dismounted as a result. Nothing a quick readjust didn't fix. I think the problems many users have had with ANY cards have been because they've used their cards to store apps/app data to it. I've never done that which could be indicative of why I've never had problems since my Samsung Epic 4G. If they do move away from SD Cards....I won't purchase another device until they come with AT LEAST 128gb minimum internal storage at a fair price.

 

[psychotron]

I think I might be the only lucky guy to have never had card failures since 2010. Prior to that year, I used to buy Kingston, PNY, etc. from Newegg and many of those cards ended up with read/write issues and failures. I learned my lesson and bought Sandisk and didn't see any more problems on that front. Only problems I've ever had with SD cards since then is when I've dropped my phone HARD and the card dismounted as a result. Nothing a quick readjust didn't fix. I think the problems many users have had with ANY cards have been because they've used their cards to store apps/app data to it. I've never done that which could be indicative of why I've never had problems since my Samsung Epic 4G. If they do move away from SD Cards....I won't purchase another device until they come with AT LEAST 128gb minimum internal storage at a fair price.

Nope, you're not alone. I use SanDisk exclusively as well and can't recall the last time I had an issue with one, but its been a few years at the very least.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[roaduardo1]

First... there is a cost savings associated with removing the slot needed for the SD cards. It makes packaging easier and they can make the phone a little bit more compact and cheaper to make

Second... SD cards are slow and unreliable. Ignoring the fact that there the market is filled with cards that are low quality and/or counterfeit, even good cards have a high failure rate. The tech just doesn't seem, to me at least, well suited for phones as opposed to something like a DSLR... where file operations are more serial and straightforward. I've had more than my share of card failures over the years and I will avoid using them whenever I can.

Lastly... advancements in both internal and cloud storage are making them increasingly more archaic. Chips are getting cheaper and we are seeing more phones with 64G to 128G and fewer with 8G or less.

Now, I know there are people whose personal use is made easier with removable cards... whether it is large video or music collections they carry around, or they are in areas where data connections aren't always available. But oftentimes when technology changes course, there will be peope who get screwed a bit.... fans of physical keyboards is an example that comes to mind. To those people, my only advice is to adapt, unfortunately.

It might be cheaper for manufactures to do away with Micro SD but the consumers have to eat higher prices for larger internal storage options whereas before it was nice because you could buy a 16GB model and just slap a 64GB card inside. The market may be filled with low quality cards but there are many more good ones that offer great performances. We can't rely on the cloud exclusively. Cloud services will NEVER be as reliable as having your own media stored locally on board your device. With the cloud you're at the mercy of data coverage. For those that are close to home and who work around great coverage this isn't an issue but what about those that aren't and who may want to have a large media library during long road trips or flights where they may not have WiFi? Backing up data onto an SD card is so convenient in many scenarios like when switching devices.

When it comes to Google's aggressive push towards cloud services it's not just a matter of consumers easily adapting, they're being forced to. It's like trying to find the last bit of water in the desert. Micro SD is a lovely oasis.

 

[roaduardo1]

Nope, you're not alone. I use SanDisk exclusively as well and can't recall the last time I had an issue with one, but its been a few years at the very least.

Posted via the Android Central App

Same here. I've used PNY and SanDisk with no issues. There are likely millions of other consumers who've experienced similar satisfaction.

 

[LeoRex]

Same here. I've used PNY and SanDisk with no issues. There are likely millions of other consumers who've experienced similar satisfaction.

(Two of the cards I've lost were from those very two brands). Everyone loves them until they die on you and you lose something important. I lost a whole vacation's worth of photos a while back when the card we had in our camera went south without any hint of it failing.

I understand where you are coming from, but that doesn't change the fact that the industry is moving away from SD cards and it will happen sooner rather than later.

 

[roaduardo1]

(Two of the cards I've lost were from those very two brands). Everyone loves them until they die on you and you lose something important. I lost a whole vacation's worth of photos a while back when the card we had in our camera went south without any hint of it failing.

I understand where you are coming from, but that doesn't change the fact that the industry is moving away from SD cards and it will happen sooner rather than later.

Oh no doubt. Nobody is deputing the fact of where the industry is moving. But it's still worth lamenting publicly how Micro SD is going to be a big loss for many users who dearly depend on it. Backing up to the cloud is great but it's also great to have yet ANOTHER way to back things up and that's with Micro SD. Doesn't hurt to have another backup plan like that.

This is why I salute LG for doing what it's doing. Keeping Micro SD support and a user-replaceable battery on its latest flagship is admirable indeed.

 

[anon8380037]

I agree with LeoRex, though I probably have far less knowledge to base an opinion on, but this is just my opinion.

Sd cards are, or will become more of, a bottleneck. I noticed a difference when I took mine out of a Note 3, so never put one back. Could be because of the app storage as said ^^, and now that I understand more how apps have to work with cards.

I don't believe in cloud services for the major part either.
I will keep a little there, documents, pdf's, some photos, important notes only I can decipher.
I'm old enough not to want to rely on ota data retrieval from someone's servers. I'm sure many are like me.

So I'm thinking now also the Note 5 will not have an sd slot. They have 6 months longer than the S6 to tool up and make 128gb phones more reasonably priced. There are probably other factors for sure, materials maybe, and even newer chip technology.

I don't think the majority wants to spend much more than $700 on a large volume flagship phone anymore, I could be wrong. Having a removable battery will give people confidence in it's longevity.

They could charge a premium for extra spec, finishes and a new Edge of course. So a Note 5 64gb as tier one, then a 128gb, and maybe a larger one?

It's transition time folks, cards are dying out on premium phones and 128 gb phones are increasing, but at a price just now.

I know this is a G4 forum, but I don't think many on the Samsung Note forums can face this yet.

If the G4 holds up well in practice over the next few months, LG should probably continue to take over the removables mantle in the near future.

 

[illdini]

If the industry is moving away from SD cards, then why does Samsung (of all companies) still make them?