If you follow me on my social media channels, which you probably should, then you already
know that my Lumia 950, which was my daily driver, died on me a few weeks ago, and so
I decided to buy an LG G6 instead.
And if you are wondering why I chose the G6 instead of something like a Galaxy S8 or a
OnePlus 5, and how holds up against the competition about 4 months after its release, then I'm
Marton from TechAltar and you've come to the right place.
*Intro*
It seems to me like in the internet the dust has kind of settled on the flagship smartphone
market of the first half of this year, and the verdict online goes a little something
like this.
If you want the most futuristic device on the market, then just get the Galaxy S8, but
if you don't mind trading a copycat design for really good value, then just get the OnePlus
5.
But I would like to add the LG G6 to this conversation.
For a start, it's actually currently cheaper in most countries than even a OnePlus 5.
I bought mine for 479 EUR in Germany, but they are currently available for as little
as 424 Euros on Amazon.
At this price, the G6 is up against midrange phones, which makes this a crazy good deal.
But the price isn't the only good thing about the G6.
The phone really has two main standout features: the tall screen and the dual camera.
First, let's talk about the screen and the body in general.
Now, a ton of reviewers said that it felt like a not-so-polished version of a Galaxy
S8, and I certainly see where that would come from.
This phone has a very similar tall screen with very narrow bezels, and a glass sandwich
design, but it's thicker than the S8 and it doesn't have the same striking curves and
edges.
But, you know what?
In my book that is a win for the LG.
While the S8 design might be the one your heart desires, I think it is the G6 design
that your rational brain should convince you to get.
The S8 is the most fragile phone ever made according to some people on the internet,
and while I don't know if that is entirely true, I personally know two people who cracked
their curved screens.
Plus just look around on YouTube and you will see that people like Jaime Rivera from Pocketnow,
as well as Jon Rettinger from TechnoBuffalo have already broken theirs.
So for clumsy old me, and I imagine, most other people as well, the fact that the LG
G6 is certified drop and shock proof, while also giving you a really firm grip with the
thick sides makes this a less desirable, but a much more durable phone than the S8.
Still, as with any other phone, I did experiment with cases, and I found a nice and very simple
one from Minimal that I linked below, but I eventually ended up going back to sticking
an Ungrip on the back of my phone for that added flexibility.
If you don't know Ungrip yet, then make sure to check out my video about it right here
and let me know what you think about it.
Anyway.
Functionally, the G6 still offers all of the benefits of this 2017 design trend.
The tall screen is high-res, bright and huge while also being easy to navigate with one
hand, except for maybe that top part of course.
And while my heart weeps for the loss of a replaceable battery, we did get really premium
build quality and also waterproofing in exchange.
So, yeah, I really like the body here.
The other main selling point of the G6 is the wide angle camera.
And I initially thought I might take a few shots with it and then it would kind of fade
away, but over the last few weeks, I actually took about 30% of my photos in this mode.
Which is pretty crazy, but as it turns out, a wide-angle camera lets me take a lot of
photos that simply wouldn’t have been possible with any other phone, and they make just about
anything look dramatic.
So, to me, a camera guy, this is the actual main selling point of the G6.
Now, the image quality of either of these rear cameras is pretty good, but not quite
on the same level as that of the best competitors like the Galaxy S8, the Google Pixel or recently
even the HTC U11.
Photos in good lighting usually work well, but the dynamic range could use a boost, low-light
shots are fine but not striking, and while photos look great at first glance, which is
really all you need for social media, zooming in often shows you images that just aren't
as clean as they should be.
Again, there are no glaring issues, but when looking purely at image quality, there are
better options out there.
Also, that front facing camera looks like it's straight out of a 2014 phone, so if you
love your selfies or your vlogs, this is probably not the phone for you.
Videos shot on the G6 on the other hand are actually very good looking, thanks in part
to the optical image stabilization as well as a dedicated manual mode for videos.
So that's good.
And while we are at manual modes, LG has actually put together what might be my favorite camera
app of any phone yet.
It is very logically laid out, I don't have to tap a button or swipe around to switch
between photos and videos, it has a fantastic manual mode that let's you get as granular
with settings as you want, and the photo previews next to the viewfinder are just the best.
Apart from that ugly back button that looks like it's straight out of the jelly bean days,
I really wouldn't change a thing about the app itself.
So the camera is really a huge hit and somewhat of a miss at the same time.
If all you are looking for is the highest quality photos, then the G6 won't be the best
pick for you.
But for me, image quality is, well, good enough, and the wide angle lens plus the great app
far outweigh any of the shortcomings.
Everything else on the G6 falls into the category of "good enough", and doesn't really warrant
any in-depth coverage.
While performance with the Snapdragon 821 and 4 GB of RAM might not make this the fastest
phone on the planet, I have yet to find any task that the phone didn't handle with ease.
Keep in mind, I don't play games on my phone, so your mileage may vary, but web browsing,
social media and the UI in general all feel very zippy.
And while we are at the UI, I would call LG's software skin inoffensive.
I am not madly in love with it, and as a creature of habit, I did end up slapping a launcher
on it, but I have also never found it to get in the way too much.
Apart from a few minor annoyances, the built in apps work well and look quite modern, and
there are a few handy tricks, like the optional button to bring down the notification shade,
which is very handy for a phone this tall.
So overall, it does the job.
Battery life is what I would call slightly above average.
I have so far always gotten through a full day without issues, and I usually get a little
over 4 hours of screen-on time by leaving everything on its default settings, so there
is really nothing to complain about.
Overall, I think I would prefer this phone over most other flagship competitors even
if it wasn't priced as aggressively as it is.
But with the recent price cuts, I think the tall but durable design, coupled with the
wide angle camera make this one of the best deals in tech right now.
So this really means two things.
First, if you are looking for a great phone right now, go ahead and buy the G6.
Second, the LG V30 will be released in less than a month here in Berlin, and if LG takes
this existing phone, improves its image quality, and puts a newer processor in it, and then
actually doesn't mess up the marketing around it, like it did with the G6 which was barely
promoted at all, then I think it will create an even more exciting package.
I will of course also cover the V30 event, so if you are interested in my coverage, the
be sure to follow me on my social media channels, I am TechAltar everywhere and I post a ton
of cool behind-the-scenes sort of stuff over there, and also subscribe to me on YouTube.
And let me know in the comments below or over at Twitter what you thought about this vide,
and I will see you in the next one.
Bye!