- Mar 17, 2012
- 48
- 0
- 0
Hey folks,
I'm one of the lucky few [200] in the UK who gets the chance to test out the LG G4 before it makes it to the market through LG and the insiders.
For the next little while I'll try to come here every night and give a recap of my normal day's use of the phone; what I noticed, things I liked, things that annoyed me and so on.
The device came with an extra toy, the Tone INFINIM bluetooth headphones, so I'll be writing about that as well.
Hope you enjoy reading.
After a full day's use
HTC Sense IMHO is one of the most optimized Android overlays. So one of my biggest concerns with the LG G4 was the software [as I have long given up on cell phone cameras with HTC] but I have to say I am very pleasantly surprised and honestly the reviews I have read did not do LG and the G4 justice. Reviewers had me concerned about the software which I had no reason to be.
The build quality is plastic, there is no getting away with that when it's in your hand, but it's not flimsy. Well distributed weight and rests in the hand very well due to the curves.
I was explaining the front camera to someone talking through the MPs, auto retouch and the flash ring feature and we took a couple of selfies together. They really liked the hand gesture and kept jumping in to make the gesture to take the photos. They accidentally activated the multiple shots feature by making a fist twice and were completely blown away.
I'm coming from an HTC One (M7) and man was I blown away. My first impression was reports of it being massive are right but I have zero issues using it one handed. It is so balanced and hand fitting.
LG software is not in the way at all the way I use my phone (3rd party launcher, mostly Google's apps,...) Set it up once and forget about it.
And that camera! Coming from the M7 I'm pretty used to lugging my DSLR. But no more, no need.
It is plastic and plasticy plastic. It won't fool you in the hand but not tacky plastic either. I def recommend the leather over the plastic.
Day 2
I was catching up with my MA cohort at the UCL IOE and they had already seen my tweets about the G4 so the get together actually started with my old classmates eager to see the phone. The first reaction was to the size and everyone agreed it was too big. But started passing the phone around and by the end two were OK with the size and were pleasantly surprised by the weight (lightness) although one said she prefers more rounded corners. We took a bunch of selfies and everyone loved the quality of the front facing camera. They made me share it with them right on the spot which started a discussion about the screen. Two expressed concern about the battery life powering such a massive and bright screen and we discussed "away from the wall" times for our devices and the LG G4 had their Samsungs, iPhone, and Nokia bested. The on the desk wobble became a discussion which no one including me was in favor of and one was concerned with accidental push of back buttons while on the desk which she tried out and wasn't an issue. I had my Bluetooth headphones around my neck when I arrived and everyone agreed they look a bit too science fiction.
Day 3
With colleagues and other folks we were at Sticky Fingers and when the came out it was a good opportunity to show off the G4 camera and what it can do in the dark. Everyone was impressed but we still got into a banter about which camera's best. The iPhone 6 and the M8 did well but zooming in sold the camera to the other 3. Comments again were made about the size and the ladies agreed it was too big, not to use as they were impressed with the in hand feel, but to carry. One friend using an old Samsung asked about stylus features but many including myself disagreed on the benifits of a stylus on a phone. We noticed that when the phone is rotated 90° clockwise the front facing camera saves images upside down which became a laugh. It was around 9pm and batteries on many phones (except a friend's Sony Xperia Z3 Compact) were running thin. The G4 lasted through dinner but so many people played with it and so many photos were taken that it died on me on the way home.
I've found a little LG software quirk in that the notification pull down toggle for Location is all in or nothing so tapping it moves from Off to Full Hardware and Network connection and there is no way to tap and go from Full to only network like on HTC Sense.
more to come
I'm one of the lucky few [200] in the UK who gets the chance to test out the LG G4 before it makes it to the market through LG and the insiders.
For the next little while I'll try to come here every night and give a recap of my normal day's use of the phone; what I noticed, things I liked, things that annoyed me and so on.
The device came with an extra toy, the Tone INFINIM bluetooth headphones, so I'll be writing about that as well.
Hope you enjoy reading.
After a full day's use
HTC Sense IMHO is one of the most optimized Android overlays. So one of my biggest concerns with the LG G4 was the software [as I have long given up on cell phone cameras with HTC] but I have to say I am very pleasantly surprised and honestly the reviews I have read did not do LG and the G4 justice. Reviewers had me concerned about the software which I had no reason to be.
The build quality is plastic, there is no getting away with that when it's in your hand, but it's not flimsy. Well distributed weight and rests in the hand very well due to the curves.
I was explaining the front camera to someone talking through the MPs, auto retouch and the flash ring feature and we took a couple of selfies together. They really liked the hand gesture and kept jumping in to make the gesture to take the photos. They accidentally activated the multiple shots feature by making a fist twice and were completely blown away.
I'm coming from an HTC One (M7) and man was I blown away. My first impression was reports of it being massive are right but I have zero issues using it one handed. It is so balanced and hand fitting.
LG software is not in the way at all the way I use my phone (3rd party launcher, mostly Google's apps,...) Set it up once and forget about it.
And that camera! Coming from the M7 I'm pretty used to lugging my DSLR. But no more, no need.
It is plastic and plasticy plastic. It won't fool you in the hand but not tacky plastic either. I def recommend the leather over the plastic.
Day 2
I was catching up with my MA cohort at the UCL IOE and they had already seen my tweets about the G4 so the get together actually started with my old classmates eager to see the phone. The first reaction was to the size and everyone agreed it was too big. But started passing the phone around and by the end two were OK with the size and were pleasantly surprised by the weight (lightness) although one said she prefers more rounded corners. We took a bunch of selfies and everyone loved the quality of the front facing camera. They made me share it with them right on the spot which started a discussion about the screen. Two expressed concern about the battery life powering such a massive and bright screen and we discussed "away from the wall" times for our devices and the LG G4 had their Samsungs, iPhone, and Nokia bested. The on the desk wobble became a discussion which no one including me was in favor of and one was concerned with accidental push of back buttons while on the desk which she tried out and wasn't an issue. I had my Bluetooth headphones around my neck when I arrived and everyone agreed they look a bit too science fiction.
Day 3
With colleagues and other folks we were at Sticky Fingers and when the came out it was a good opportunity to show off the G4 camera and what it can do in the dark. Everyone was impressed but we still got into a banter about which camera's best. The iPhone 6 and the M8 did well but zooming in sold the camera to the other 3. Comments again were made about the size and the ladies agreed it was too big, not to use as they were impressed with the in hand feel, but to carry. One friend using an old Samsung asked about stylus features but many including myself disagreed on the benifits of a stylus on a phone. We noticed that when the phone is rotated 90° clockwise the front facing camera saves images upside down which became a laugh. It was around 9pm and batteries on many phones (except a friend's Sony Xperia Z3 Compact) were running thin. The G4 lasted through dinner but so many people played with it and so many photos were taken that it died on me on the way home.
I've found a little LG software quirk in that the notification pull down toggle for Location is all in or nothing so tapping it moves from Off to Full Hardware and Network connection and there is no way to tap and go from Full to only network like on HTC Sense.
more to come
Last edited:
))
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram