LG G3 Review: Is It Still the King of the Hill?

LG G3 Review: Is It Still the King of the Hill?

It's our LG G3 review!!!
It’s our LG G3 review!!!

Still the King of the Hill?

We took our sweet time with our review for the LG G3 because we wanted to be absolutely sure with what we’re going to say about this phone, just like how it took us more than 2 months to come out with our review of the Samsung Galaxy S5. It turned out to be a good decision on our part since we were really able to take LG’s newest flagship and push it to its limits! Our review had us using the phone not just in the Philippines but also in Hong Kong and in Spain while we were on vacation, lol.

Before anything let’s quickly review the specs!

LG G3 Spec Sheet

  • 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor
  • Adreno 330 GPU
  • 2GB/3GB of RAM
  • 5.5-inch IPS display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 1440 x 2560 resolution
  • 16GB/32GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 128GB
  • 13-megapixel camera with phase detection/laser AF, OIS, dual-LED flash
  • 2.1-megapixel secondary camera
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, USB OTG, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
  • 3G, HSPA+, LTE
  • 3000mAh battery (removable)
  • Android 4.4.2 KitKat
  • SRP: P31,990 (16GB) and P35,990 (32GB)

Last year the LG G2 got our nod as the best global smartphone for 2013. For 2014 can the LG G3 follow suit? Read on to find out.

Click here to read our LG G3 Unboxing and Initial Impressions

Hardware: Absolutely Best in Class

LG G3 with the Quick View Circle Case
LG G3 with the Quick View Circle Case

Among all the flagship devices out in the market today we believe that the LG G3 has the best hardware design philosophy in terms of aesthetics and ergonomics. The went against the trend and didn’t go for the aluminum or dual glass body and instead stuck it out with plastic. However they used some sort of faux metal finish which really makes it look insanely better compared to the glossy plastic that most manufacturers use for their devices. Because they avoided the metals the LG G3 manages to keep a thin and very light profile.

LG also kept and refined the Rear Key feature which the introduced with the LG G2. There are no buttons along the sides and the only ports you will find at the ones for the headphones and the one for data transfer/charging. At the back we have a more centered and tactile Rear Key set-up. It’s easier to feel and press down on the three buttons (volume rocker, power lock).

Rear Key FTW!
Rear Key FTW!

If you didn’t like the Rear Key of the LG G2 we strongly advise you guys give the G3’s set-up a try. It feels so much better and you’ll get used to it fairly quickly. In fact you’ll miss it when you shift back to devices without it.

Those are the good things. There are some issues that you might want to take note of as well. For example, most Android manufacturers are shipping flagships that are very durable. Both the Xperia Z2 and the Galaxy S5 are water resistant. You don’t get that with the G3. It’s the price you have to pay if you want the phone to still look crazy stylish and cool.

Display is Gorgeous and Spacious

More than the back, the front side of the LG G3 is what truly makes it best-in-class. LG reduced the bezel width to an insanely slim level to the point that it almost looks like the screen is from edge-to-edge. They also eliminated the spaces from the top and the bottom giving for space for the screen without increasing over-all surface area. In fact the LG G3 sports a generous 5.5-inch display and this totally blows away the 5.0-inch screens of other global flagships without adding too much bulk!

5.5-inches of awesomeness.
5.5-inches of awesomeness.

The front looks clean, minimalist, and sleek as they took out the buttons. All you’ll find there is the LG logo proudly emblazoned at the lower center position beneath the glass display.

In terms of resolution, the LG G3 boasts of 1440 x 2560 pixels which actually has more pixels than the usual Full HD displays we’ve seen with other flagships. Unfortunately you can’t really tell the difference too much yet since there are rarely any apps which scale up to that level of graphics, hehe. The only good thing about this is that at least your G3 will be future proof when it comes to display capabilities.

Lastly, the color reproduction is one of the best but we felt that Samsung’s Super AMOLED display has the edge when it comes to our preference for contrast and saturation.

Software: Best LG Has Ever Shipped But Not THE Best for Android

LG's Best Attempt Yet
LG’s Best Attempt Yet

On the software front, LG has made their best attempt yet at a custom ROM for Android. The icons look fresh and modern unlike the kiddie icons offered by Samsung. This is their cleanest and smoothest UI but we still kinda prefer vanilla Android in terms of simplicity and straightforwardness. You can actually get a little lost in the way they do their notifications bar (Android has sooooo many menus and options these days). We also find it weird that they have so many ways to do multi-tasking. One way would have sufficed.

Note though that LG has a notorious record for software updates. Hopefully they’ll address this with the G3 so that when the newest Android version comes out we can get their custom variant without having to wait for months.

Performance: 95% to Perfection

When it comes to performance, the LG G3 has a lot of things going for it but there are still some instances wherein you feel some lags. This is evident when you try to switch in between applications. It’s not a deal breaker and most people will overlook it. If you think about it though it’s kinda annoying considering this baby already has 3GB of RAM in it!

Antutu Score
Antutu Score

The G3 scored well over 30,000 on the Antutu Benchmark Test and you feel the power when you do single apps that require a lot of graphics and animation processing like gaming. The phone only starts to slow down slightly when you start doing multi-tasking.

LG Customizations: Some of Them are Actually Useful

You can customize the bottom tray! Wow.
You can customize the bottom tray! Wow.

LG made some significant hits with some of their software/hardware features. There are two that we love the most. First is the customizable bottom tray. You can assign and re-arrange the controls here. It’s so awesome that all Android phones should have it, hehe. This also lets you program in some of the software features that LG has to offer in a quick access spot like multi-window or QNotes.

Second is the Knock Wake/Code. Tapping twice on the screen automatically wakes up the device. You can unlock it as well using a pre-programmed knock on different parts of the screen. Pretty nifty. After using the G3 for more than a month I started knocking on the display of the Xperia Z2 trying to wake it up! Lol.

Camera: Laser Focus Does the Job Well

The camera has high points and low points. The biggest pro is the laser focus feature. Focusing is blazingly fast on the G3 because it actually shoots out a laser at the topic so that you can quickly focus on it on your viewfinder. It’s almost instantaneous!

In terms of cons, we observed that photos taken in outdoor have a tendency to be washed out a little if you have strong sunlight. As usual photos taken in low-mid light aren’t the best that you can get (nothing overly different compared to the quality of photos taken by other smartphone flagships in the same dark lighting conditions).

Check out some of the sample shots we took:

Lucky us! We were in the middle of a protest rally while shopping in Puerta del Sol in Madrid.
Lucky us! We were in the middle of a protest rally while shopping in Puerta del Sol in Madrid.
Flamenco dancer performing in the street in Madrid, Spain
Flamenco dancer performing in the street in Madrid, Spain
Templo Debod. An Egyptian temple at the heart of Madrid.
Templo Debod. An Egyptian temple at the heart of Madrid.
New shoes!
New shoes!
Nice facade!
Nice facade!

The front camera is also nice but it pales in comparison to the front facing cameras of selfi smartphones offered by local brands. Here’s a sample shot taken with the front facing camera:

With my wife at Plaza Espana in Madrid, Spain
With my wife at Plaza Espana in Madrid, Spain

Notice how the sunlight in the background gets washed out and overexposed?

Anyway, over-all it’s still a pretty good smartphone camera. We won’t go as far and say that it’s the best camera in an Android smartphone but it’s definitely still competitive.

Battery Life: It Can Go the Distance

We were pleasantly surprised that the G3 could still deliver outstanding battery life despite having a big display with lots of pixels in ’em. On the average we were able to get at least 10 hours (super heavy usage) before it ran out. With light-medium usage levels we got this up to 15-17 hours. Definitely impressive.

Oh, the battery is removable but we haven’t found a store yet selling any spare batteries so you really can’t take advantage of this yet. This leads me to my main pain point right now with LG…

Ecosystem: LG Needs to Catch Up

All we have right now is this case.
All we have right now is this case.

LG Philippines seriously has to step up in bringing more accessories for the G3 to our shores. The Quick Case is available but only as a bundle. You can’t actually buy different colors from LG shops. If you want cases there are also only a few stores offering them in malls. As usual Capdase already has and you can get them in Digital Walker branches but we haven’t seen cases yet from the usual and trusted third party sources like SGP (Spigen), Otterbox, and Speck.

More than the cases though, the two wearable techs that they released — the LG Lifeband Touch and the LG G Watch aren’t also available yet in the Philippines. This is when both Sony and Samsung already have their fitness bands and smart watches out in the market.

The battle of gadgets is no longer just limited to the smartphone but the whole ecosystem. Samsung leads in this aspect followed by Sony. LG PH has to catch up and bring those wearable techs and accessories here ASAP.

Verdict: It Still Manages to Edge Out the Competition

Two thumbs up!
Two thumbs up!

So the big question… is it still the King of the Hill?

Personally I think it manages to still slightly edge out competition on the merit of the hardware design (the display is just gorgeous and the build is so unique). However the gap is not that big anymore compared to last year. If LG Philippines wants to keep this lead though they should seriously think of the ecosystem already and not just the phone otherwise competition might get ahead of them in terms of novelty and innovation.

Before we end this review though let us just stress that at this level of devices, it will really boil down to your personal preferences and needs. If you’re the type that does water sports a lot then obviously the G3 wouldn’t make sense. However if you just want a unique and stylish phone that you bring with you daily to the office, this is probably your best bet yet. 🙂

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