First impressions
In an attempt to cover all the bases I’ll break this down into sections of what I’ve looked at so far.
Screen
Wow. Very impressed with the display quality of the phone, but I’m still yet to be sold on having this kind of resolution (QHD) on a phone display, even at 5.5”, as it comes across as an unnecessary power drain what with the processor having to move all those extra pixels around. That being said, the colours just ‘pop’ without being overblown, and the photo I took of my back garden looked better on the screen than it did in person…
Camera
Initial use of the camera has also left me suitably impressed, particularly the speed in which it focuses and take the picture. Using the Nexus 5 I would frequently miss photo opportunities because the camera didn’t open and/or focus quickly enough. I don’t think I’ll be having that issue with the G4. I’ll post a few of the images I’ve taken, so I hope you like photos of dogs and gardens (but mainly my dog)…
LG Software
I’ve read previously that LG were never particularly good with their Android builds, and they had a tendency to be a little slow or juddery. So far, I’ve not noticed any issues, moving around between apps and screen shows no noticeable lag. Their launcher is ok, and to be honest there are so many other options for launchers out there (Google Now, Action Launcher 3, even Nokia’s Z Launcher), that would never be a deal breaker for me anyway. Aside from the slightly different layout on the settings menu (which starts off tabbed, but can thankfully be changed to a list view), you can avoid any of LG’s apps anyway, just using whatever favourites you might already have.
Hardware
It’s a big phone, there’s no escaping that fact, but considering the 5.5” screen size, it doesn’t feel that large. This is likely helped by the curved back of the device so it’s sits quite happily in your hand. Unless you have large hands though, don’t expect to use it one handed. It’s certainly more ergonomic than the Nexus 5 I normally use, although that is in a Spigen Slim Armor case which adds a little extra girth to the proceedings. The model I’ve got is the plastic one, and plastic it is, feels a little cheap if I’m honest, but no worse than any other plastic smartphone out there. Given the choice, I’d go for a leather back, as it can’t feel any worse than the plastic does, and should stop the phone feeling a little less slippery. Hopefully LG plan on releasing these as standalone purchases once the phone is out.
Device storage is 32Gb, with the option of adding an SD card. System takes up 8.91Gb of the on device storage, leaving you ~23.09Gb to do with as you wish, a definite improvement over the 16Gb options we used to have, and I’m glad all the manufacturers are starting to use this as a minimum now.
Summary
So far I’m pretty impressed with the quality of the G4. Yes, the plastic on the back feels a little cheap, but at least if you scratch it up it’s easy to replace, unlike a lot of other devices out there without removable backs. I’ll update with battery life and other bits as time goes on (and pictures, lots and lots of pictures :smileyhappy:)
