Hey what is up guys.
Muwen360 is here and welcome back to another video.
So the LG G4 has been out on the market for about 4 months after its debut.
And I think at the 4 month mark, it’s a good time for me to take a look at the device
again and give you guys more of a long-term review which I think is very helpful to a
lot of consumers out there.
But anyways, with recent announcements from manufacturers like Motorola, Samsung as well
as the impending launch of the new iPhone, how well has the G4 aged?
How is the overall performance and experience when it’s not shiny and new anymore?
Well let’s find out in my video review as we revisit the LG G4 – four months later.
Stay tuned.
So for this video, my structure and format is pretty simple.
I’m gonna discuss with you what’s awesome, what I like about the phone.
And of course I’m also gonna cover some of its shortcoming and needs for improvement.
The biggest change with how I’ve used my G4 since my initial review is the addition
of the leather back covers.
One of my complaints in the initial review was that the G4 kind of feels cheap with all
that plastic, but now after using the leather backs, it feels a lot more premium like a
premium as it should be.
I have the orange one on here which looks really nice and here are some of the other
colors.
And the size of the patinas will vary as you can tell depending on the color you get.
LG says the type of leather that were used to make these backs is handcrafted, genuine
full grain leather.
Color is added onto the leather by employing a vegetable tanning process which is an age
old tradition that requires skilled craftsmen to produce and dye the leather.
The colors of the leather on the G4 are rich with warm tones that look authentic and change
over time to reflect your own unique style.
Most importantly, vegetable tanned leather is environmentally friendly and can be recycled
easily, since no harsh chemicals are used.
If you want to learn more the process which I think is quite fascinating, you can hit
up the link the description or the click the on-screen annotation.
And it’s refreshing to see LG has decided to use leather instead of metal, which have
become standard across the industry.
Though I will say the these leather back cover are a little pricy but you get what you pay
for.
And if you want your to look and feel more premium, adding leather is definitely the
way to go.
So the G4, even to this day, checks pretty much all of the boxes for all of the things
that you would want to have in a smartphone.
It’s got a beautiful Quad-HD 5.5 inch Quantum IPS display, with excellent color reproduction
and accuracy.
And I just found out recently that the display is calibrated to DCI standards for color expression,
used actually by top Hollywood studios.
So the display is still excellent which makes watching videos and playing games a blast.
Though I will say the screen doesn’t get as bright as some of its competitors, which
makes it a little bit difficult to see under direct sunlight.
And it doesn’t get as dim either.
It’s not a big deal and overall my opinions in regard to the display has not changed from
my initial review and it remains to be one of the best smartphone displays ever created.
In terms of hardware, everything is fine, the G4 does not bend in case you were wondering.
I’ve taken good care of the G4 by using screen protectors and cases so once you wipe
off the fingerprints, it looks brand spanking new.
The 5.5 inch form factor is again fantastic for media consumption.
It’s really comfortable to hold and easy to grip thanks to that subtle curvature.
But for me, it’s a little big for my hands at least in terms of single hand use.
But again this is just for me personally since my hands are not the biggest.
So I use the G4 mostly at home as kind of a mini-tablet.
When I’m out on the road, I usually resort to something smaller, around 5 inch, 5.1 inches
is the sweet spot for me.
Don’t really have anything else say about the hardware, the rear keys are easy to get
use to and easy to use.
The position of the speaker is not ideal, it’s back firing but the quality and the
volume is okay.
Moving on to software, it runs LG’s UX 4.0 skin over Android 5.1 lollipop.
The interface is clean, modern and still runs very fluid and fast.
I’ve noticed very little lag or stuttering if any, during my time using it.
And so the software has not bogged down over time and hopefully it can stay that way.
Some apps do crash occasionally but that’s not LG’s problem, because all Android phones
experience it to some degree.
But LG wasn’t kidding when they said Qualcomm worked with them closely together to make
sure that the software and hardware are fined-tuned and optimized perfectly and that translates
to a very pleasant user experience even after 4 months.
But LG’s track record with software updates is questionable and I have yet to receive
a single update for my G4 even after 4 months.
but LG is making strides here with the promise of frequent security updates because of the
stagefright vulnerability and hopefully LG can deliver the Android M update before the
end of the 2015 when it comes out later this year.
Oh and the camera remains to be of its best features.
A 16 megapixel rear camera and 8 megapixel selfie camera capable of producing some beautiful
pictures and videos.
Manual mode was kind of cool at first but I haven’t really used it much since.
I’m fine with just using auto mode to take pictures.
So the G4 probably has of the best cameras in a smartphone if not the best.
Battery life and endurance has been steady over these past four months.
I usually get 5 and a half hours of screen on time and it gets me through the day just
fine.
And if that’s not the case for you, you can always swap out the battery or use a quick
charger to rapidly recharge.
Having the ability to add up to 2 TB of additional storage has come in handy because the 32 gigs
of internal storage wasn’t quite enough.
So on the whole, after 4 months of use, the G4 as held up pretty well.
If you’re someone who is looking to buy a flagship device today at a cheaper price
than some of its competitors, the G4 should be near the top of your list thanks to recent
price cuts from carriers like T-Mobile where you can pick up a G4 for only $480 full retail.
But with the rumored LG G4 Pro on the horizon, carrying some beastly specs including a Snapdragon
820 and possibly a new design, you’ll probably want to hold picking up a G4 this fall.
Even if the G4 turns to be superior in someways to whatever the rumored G4 Pro ends up being,
you’ll almost certainly get a better deal on the older phone, once the newer one hits
shelves.
So if you don’t have one already, I’m gonna recommend you wait a bit.
If you do, you can still feel good about owning one of the best Android phones of 2015.