Finally got my hands on a retail version of a LG G6.
I’ve already reviewed this thing from the inside with the teardown video, and now that
I have the retail version, it’s time to put it through the rest of my tests.
It’s time we find out if that gigantic screen is going to compromise the overall structural
integrity.
Let’s get started.
[Intro]
My durability tests are a pretty good indicator of how well cell phones are going to hold
up over their normal life span.
As always, we’ll start with a scratch test.
These Mohs picks will tell us what the screen is made of.
Some phones are plastic like the Galaxy S7 Active or the NoPhone.
Both of those scratch at a level 3.
Luckily the LG G6 is using tempered Gorilla Glass 3 on the display, which means it won’t
scratch until a level 6; just like most of the other smart phones these days.
Now, even though it is using tempered glass, it’s not invincible.
And I’ll talk more about that in just a second.
Down here at the bottom of the phone, the LG logo is underneath the glass so it won’t
ever rub or scratch off.
There is no physical home button on the front of the device so we’ll mosey on up here
to the 5 megapixel front facing camera.
This is also protected by that same Gorilla glass 3 and it should be scratch resistant
as well.
Now one thing I really like about this phone is that everything is completely flush; nothing
protrudes past the glass layer, including the metal earpiece grill.
From a design perspective it looks absolutely amazing, but that also means if you set the
phone face down on a granite countertop or tile, granite is a Mohs 6 or 7, the phone
might get damaged by the rock since there’s no protective lip on the device and granite
is harder than glass so a screen protector would definitely be a good idea with this
phone.
Now the back of the LG G6 is a little more interesting.
The fingerprint scanner and home button are back here, ideally centered exactly in the
middle of the phone.
As I scratch this scanner, it does not have the same rubbery texture that I found on the
Motorola G5, so theoretically it might scratch a little bit easier.
But even with a plethora of superficial scratches on the scanner, it still functions perfectly
fine and recognizes my finger.
So scratching isn’t something to be super worried about.
The LG G6 has two cameras, a 13 megapixel wide angle camera, and a 13 megapixel regular
camera with the optical image stabilizer that I talked about in my tear down.
Both of these are protected with the same piece of scratch resistant glass.
And once again I love the completely flush design, but because it’s flush, anytime
you set it on a table or countertop, that glass is going to be rubbing right up against
the surface of whatever you set it on since there’s no lips to protect it.
So personally I would get a case or even a skin to raise the surface of the phone, just
enough to protect that camera when you set it down.
The skin I applied here on this G6 is from dbrand.
The first time I heard the name dbrand I thought it was just someone’s initials, but it actually
stands for de-branding a cell phone, as in covering the logos or the carrier branding.
Kind of clever.
Thanks to dbrand for sending me this skin.
I’ll put a link in the description if you want to check out any of their other skin
variations.
And now my personal favorite, checking the material quality.
We learn that the back panel is glass from my tear down video; it took quite a bit of
force for me to shatter.
Now it’s time to see what the sides are made of.
The gleam of metal shows through on both of the volume buttons.
Down the length of the side is also real metal.
Definitely no coating or paint here; just the good old premium feeling, cold hard metal.
Even up here next to the headphone jack is metal.
And over here, the SIM card tray is metal as well.
It’s nice when companies pay attention to the little details.
Down here by the USBC port at the bottom we find more metal.
This phone is water resistant with USBC and a headphone jack.
We are definitely in the future.
Now when it comes to the flame test, this phone did roast slightly faster than average.
The pixels started to turn off at 6 seconds instead of the normal 8 or 15 seconds like
we’ve seen on some other devices.
Basically this just means that your phone will toast 5 seconds sooner than everyone
else’s during the apocalypse.
But I mean you’re probably going to be dealing with bigger issues at that point anyway.
Now one thing I want to point out before the bend test is that the rear glass on this phone
is tucked inside the metal frame which means that during the bend test it is going to be
adding strength to the device.
HTC missed out on that little trick when it came to the U Ultra; that glass was just resting
on top of the frame.
So let’s see if this design trick helps the G6.
I’ve never had an LG phone fail my bend test…yet.
Me and the G5 had a couple disagreements, but it didn’t fail the bend test either.
And with the solid metal frame of the G6, it’s not surprising that there’s almost
no flex to this phone.
Even when bending from the front or the back.
If you remember from my iPhone 7 bend test...that flexed enough to break the watertight seal.
But even after bending this LG G6, none of the seals are broken.
So this phone passes the bend test with flying colors.
My only issue would be that while the completely flush design is aesthetically pleasing to
look at, it leaves the camera lens and screen very exposed to scratching, but a simple case
or screen protector would solve that problem easily, lengthening the lifespan of your device
significantly.
And that’s what we’re all about, plus it will look fly like a G6.
[Music playing]
Thanks a ton for watching.
I’ll see you around.