When the LG G3 came out, everyone took notice. It was big. It was fast. It was beautiful. Talks of a new King of Androids were buzzing. And it looks like the G3 is set to take the throne. I know this review is a bit late, but here is my take on the LG G3. Let the review commence.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
The LG G3 comes in a high quality glossy gold box with a metallic finish. My review unit came with a USB cable, two kinds of chargers, and the manual.
BEASTLY BY NATURE:
The LG G3 comes with top of the line specs, complete with all the bells and whistles you expect with a flagship phone. The 2.5GHz quad core Snapdragon 801 processor and 2GB of RAM makes the phone fly and run smooth. The Adreno 330 GPU enables the G3 to play any graphic heavy game you can throw at it. Finally, the 5.5 inch quad HD IPS display with 1440 x 2560 resolution, complete with an eye popping 534ppi, makes images and HD videos sharp and crisp.
LG G3 Specs:
- 5.5 inch Quad HD IPS display, (1440 x 2560, 534ppi) Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- 2.5GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor
- Adreno 330 GPU
- 2GB of RAM
- 16GB of storage (+microSD up to 128GB)
- 13MP main camera with laser AF, OIS, dual-LED flash
- 2.1MP front camera
- 3G, HSPA+, LTE
- WiFi , Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC, USB OTG
- 3000mAh battery (removable)
- LG Optimus UI based on Android 4.4.2 KitKat
PREMIUM LOOKS:
LG didn’t try to reinvent the wheel on this one (they did that last year), instead they focused on making better what they did right. Like the phone that came before it, the G3 is a beautiful phone. The design, materials used, and the finish shouts “premium.” The build quality is very impressive. The phone is very solid and very well made. The design looks simple, but very elegant.
The bezels that surround the screen are tiny. And the absence of any physical button in front only made it appear even smaller.
Like the award winning G2, the back is where the action is. It holds the power and volume keys, camera, flash and laser autofocus light. The back buttons were a bit of an adjustment for me (I never had a G2). But to my surprise, it was intuitive and not as awkward as I thought it would be. I actually thought I’d flip the phone over when I pressed the power button. Thankfully, it didn’t happen. In fact, the back buttons were very responsive, and not at all difficult to use. It actually made sense if the buttons did function that way, especially for a large phone.
PERFORMS LIKE A CHAMP:
By now, I’m guessing you already have an idea what we all already know. The G3 is fast. And I mean really fast. And it’s also very smooth (buttery even). Navigating through the phone is a nice experience. I mean, to me, my Moto G is very smooth. But after I handled the G3, my eyes took a while to adjust, making my daily driver seem jittery. I don’t know how to describe it. Maybe it’s the quad HD screen. OR the processor. Or the RAM.
The 3000mAh battery is rated to have standby times of 565 hours on 2G and 553 hours on 3G, and talk times of 19 hours on 2G and 21 hours on 3G. It definitely gave me more than a day with average to heavy usage.
BENCHMARK SCORES:
I ran the G3 through the usual benchmark tools I use. Again (although it doesn’t need to be mentioned for this phone), benchmark scores are not indicative of performance or user experience.
PRETTY INSIDE AND OUT:
The new G3 is all about simplifying things. And because of this, LG released a new GUI along with the G3. Needless to say, it looks beautiful. They made several changes to achieve a simpler and more visually appealing interface. Flat graphics, a new set of icons and a toned down color scheme were used to create a more modern and mature look.
LG even put in a small set of customization features. Its more than what others have. At least its there if you like to change something.
MADE FOR SHOOTING:
The G3 uses a 13MP main camera with laser auto focus. Focusing is indeed faster and more accurate. And photos are sharper because of it. Colors came out well too. The camera interface is much simpler than before, putting the focus on shooting.
Here are some sample photos. You may click on them to see a bigger version. I resized the photos in Photoshope. No cosmetic changes were applied.
KING OF THE HILL:
The G3 is the phone that shows LG is finally serious about competing against Samsung, Sony and HTC. It is beautiful, powerful and overall a great smartphone. The top of the line specs, camera performance, and the newly minted user interface definitely gives the G3 a strong chance to claim the Android throne. The LG G3 is now available nationwide.
2 Comments
We used to asked the same questions with the Galaxy S3,S4,
Note 4 all the way!