LG G3 In The Spotlight
The LG G3 continues on from the successful G2. LG has been in the shadow of Samsung for years and has never really gained a foothold in the smart phone market. The quiet secret known by those in the know that LG are capable of producing impressive smart phones is likely to be completely uncovered with the release of the LG G3.
Design
The design is sleek with a slim bezel, rounded corners and a curved back with a metallic look to it and similar buttons that were present with the LG G2 before it. The back is actually plastic in order to allow for wireless charging but the metal film over the top of it can trick the eye into thinking it's really metal when it isn't. The phone in the hand feels luxurious.
The brushed aluminium appearance comes in a number of different color choices like Metallic Black, Shine Gold, Moon Violet, Silk White or Burgundy Red.
Both the power button and volume rocket control are located at the back of the phone. This is a design choice that takes a little getting used to at first but can seem like it always should have been there once it has become to feel normal. LG clearly likes this design approach as several of their recent smart phones have used the same design language.
Display
The bezel is thin enough to have a large 5.5-inch screen without it making the smart phone feel huge in your hand. There are no physical buttons on the front of the phone with LG opting for on-screen controls instead. This does make the front of the phone look like it's one large 5.5-inch panel, for better or worse. The front is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
The latest Quad HD 2,560 x 1,440 resolution is 538 pixels per inch on the True HD-IPS + LCD capacitive touchscreen display. This is top of the line currently for smart phone resolutions. Clearly at this level you're not going to be able to distinguish individual pixels (let's face it you couldn't do that at 300 ppi) but it does help with Ultra HD movie clips and zooming deep into HD photos and being able to still see all the detail properly.
The colors are more natural tones as compared to the more vibrant and artificial colors for the Samsung Galaxy S5. With displays, it comes down to a preference of what you prefer to look at rather than which display type is better.
Specifications
Android 4.4.2 KitKat is included with the phone. The UI skin that comes with LG is very flat and clean. It is not unlike those that have been recently seen on HTC and Asus models. The approach is designed to make things simple and as such the interface feels less cluttered that others.
The popular Qualcomm MSM8975AC Snapdragon 801 chipset is used and the Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400 processor. The phone is certainly no slouch for speed.
There are two version of the G3. A 16 GB version sporting 2 GB of RAM and a 32 GB version with 3 GB of RAM. A microSD card up to 128 GB can also be slotted in. For heavy users or people who just like to keep a lot of apps running in the background, the more expansive model will be the one to buy.
The battery is 3,000 mAh and the G3 weighs 149 grams.
Software Extras
LG has a Smart Notice box which updates on local relevant data like new local weather changes and reminders about missed calls.
There is the LG Health app which is a fitness tracker. The phone does seem to lack the heart rate monitor and UV sensors that are starting to become more common with top-shelf phones so it's unclear how useful the app will be. It does try to count steps though.
There are the KnockOn and Knock Code features from the G Pro 2. This does tend to accidentally get turned on when the screen is facing your thigh when carrying the phone around in your pocket. This could be a battery drain unfortunately.
Clip Tray is like an enhanced Windows clipboard for help copy and pasting information around Android. QuickMemo is also useful for adding quick notes.
Smart Keyboard
The Smart Keyboard needs special mention. It can be adjusted to take up different amounts of screen real estate by adjusting its height. Especially useful for people will larger or smaller fingers. The Swype facility also works with the keyboard for people who prefer this type of entry method.
Communications
The G3 supports 4G LTE, 3G and 2G communications via a micro SIM card. The 4G LTE is category 4 for 150 Mbps downstream and 50 Mbps upstream data flow.
Dual band Wi-Fi is supported up to the latest ac 802.11 standard. DLNA supports wireless beaming of the on-screen display. Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth 4.0 can help connect to the PC. NFC is ready for payments and a Wi-Fi hotspot can be setup to tether that fast 4G connection to a laptop. There is also an infrared port too.
Cameras
The rear-facing camera is a 13 megapixel shooter for shots with a maximum resolution of 4160 x 3120 pixels. The number of megapixels is a little disappointing compared to other models like the 20.7 megapixel Sony Xperia Z3, but the LG G3 does come with an infrared laser beam feature that can measure distances from the subject to the lens and adjust the focus accordingly. A neat trick. There is also a dual LED flash which will help with both low-light and night photography.
The front-facing camera is a capable 2.1 megapixel shooter.
The number of included camera modes has been radically reduced from 16 to just four. This is because LG figured that only those 4 were really used by people anyway.
Overall
The LG G3 impresses across the board. The looks, the modern twist on the Android OS, laser focus rear camera, Quad HD display, processor and storage. The only let-downs may be the lack of health-related sensors and the 13 megapixel camera instead of something more like 15 or 20 megapixel like other top smart phones are including now. But in fairness, the majority of smart phone owners don't even need a shooter that high tech.
