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| LG G6 review , Specifications and Price for LG G6 device |
LG has spent the past few years releasing handsets with gimmicks; technologies deliberately designed to set it apart from the competition and prove how innovative it can be. The LG G4 had an impressive manual camera and quality craftsmanship, while the LG G5 was modular. Yet, beyond showcasing pioneering spirit, these phones haven’t threatened the Samsungs and Apples of the world.
In a change of tack, LG said it created the G6 purely to give the people what they want. The result appears to be an all-rounder which manages to still offer LG’s signature pioneering originality in an appealing package.
The LG G6 has a world-first Dolby Vision HDR display in a solid, waterproof build with dual cameras, a speedy operating system and excellent battery life. Does all this mean it’s time for Apple and Samsung to start taking LG seriously? Or is the 18:9 display just another gimmick?
Design
The LG G6 is an attractive handset. Sure, it might not have the infinity edges of the curved Samsung Galaxy S8 but it does offer a larger display to body ratio than many phones on the market. Thanks to the 18:9 screen ratio, the LG G6’s FullVision display provides an extra 11.3 per cent viewing area over traditional 16:9 displays meaning you get a 5.7-inch display in the body of a 5.2-inch handset.
This smaller form factor also makes the LG G6 easier to use with one hand, especially with the rear-mounted home button and fingerprint sensor. The weight is balanced and minimal so one-handed side-on operation in bed works really nicely, but old habits die hard and we soon found ourselves back in familiar two-handed territory.
Display
The LG G6 display is what makes this phone stand out.
As we said, it offers an 18:9 ratio in that 5.7-inch LCD form, bringing with it a Quad HD+ display with 2880 x 1440 resolution, giving a PPI of 564, plus Dolby Vision and HDR10 support. This High Dynamic Range means a greater number of colours and contrast between light and dark, which results in a clearer picture. If you’ve splashed out on a 4K HDR TV, you’ll already know the difference this makes.
HDR is almost more important on smartphones than on TVs because constant phone pixel upgrades are tough for the human eye to see – some researchers believe we may have even reached the limit – whereas skin colour is something the brain picks up in finite detail. Ultimately the screen on the LG G6, with greater colour accuracy, creates a more convincing replication of reality. And despite being an LCD, you can see how the HDR range enhances the LG G6 screen over the OLED-toting Samsung competition.
Cameras
On the rear of the LG G6 are 13MP wide f/2.4 125-degree, and 13MP Standard OIS f/1.2 71-degree cameras. This dual camera setup is able to offer a wide variety of shooting options that make the LG G6 a lot of fun to play with. Primarily, the phone is smart enough to stitch images together so you can shoot in 18:9 to take full advantage of the handset’s display.
As you zoom between the angles of the two lenses, LG says the transition is seamless. In reality, there’s enough of a zoom-hop for you to notice when it’s switching, but the phone is so fast you can zoom in and out between the two without any worry of it slowing you down.
On the front of the phone is a 5MP Wide f/2.2 100-degree selfie snapper. This also shoots in 18:9 but causes a loss in resolution so we stuck to the full offering for the best selfie results. Check out the three modes compared.
Another option on the LG G6 is to go all the way up to UHD 16:9 video recording, or 18:9 at FHD. You can also record in FHD at 60fps when shooting 16:9. All of this sounds great but is a little overwhelming because you essentially need to decide if you’re going to capture in 18:9 for the phone, or stick to 16:9 for compatibility. It is worth bearing in mind that you can crop back to 16:9 in the future, if need be.
Hardware
The LG G6 doesn’t feature the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 830. Instead, it runs on the 821. This is because the chip was fine-tuned to work with the 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, LG G6's new screen and those cameras. The result is a super smooth experience and the LG G6 is blisteringly fast. The only downside in not going with the latest chipset might have been with battery performance, but this is clearly well optimised thanks to the LG G6's 3,300mAh unit.
For storage on the LG G6, you get 32GB onboard plus microSD expansion with support for up to a further 2TB. You also get a hefty 100GB of Google Drive storage thrown in. While the Korean version of the G6 gets a Quad DAC for lossless audio, we aren’t given that feature in the UK unfortunately – although you do get a good old 3.5mm audio port for headphones. Instead, we get full IP68 water and dust proofing, and the fingerprint sensor works even with wet fingers.
Battery
The battery life on the LG G6 is decent, to say the least. On our first day of use with brightness set to auto, location, sync and Wi-Fi turned on, plus heavy use all day, we were left with 41 per cent by bedtime. Overnight, Android 7.0 Nougat used its Doze mode, to preserve energy meaning we only chewed through 9 per cent in around seven hours. Day two had less use, but still ended with 28 per cent to spare. Day three – yup, there was a third day – managed up until 8pm before dying with battery saver automatically kicking in at around 4pm when there was 5 per cent left.
Software
Android 7.0 Nougat comes as standard with the UX 6.0 skin. The highlight being the voice-controlled Google Assistant, which comes pre-installed and is now easily accessible from the lock screen by saying “OK Google”. We mainly used this for dictating WhatsApp messages, which worked well every time - presuming you don’t like punctuation.
The LG UX 6.0 offers a way to take advantage of that 18:9 display. One fun trick is the ability to open two windows of equal size side-by-side. The LG Backup & Reset is also onboard to allow for saving to an SD card for peace of mind as it auto backs up when charging. Our only gripe? The app tray is no more, meaning you need to organise everything across your home screens much like Apple does with its iPhone. Also, that 18:9 screen often has black bars at the top and bottom as many apps don’t yet take advantage of the display space.
PRICE
£ 699
Rs. 56,500
$ 875
Data Source: www.wired.co.uk
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