LG Goes Back To Basics With the LG G6

So LG is looking to make sort of a comeback this year. While the G5 initially excited people with it is modular capabilities, in execution, it left a lot to be desired. However, a new year and new opportunity and LG are hoping that the G6 will “fly like a G6” in your pocket…Might as well go ahead and get that joke out of the way. Here are our hands-on.

So the first thing I noticed about the LG G6 is the feel of it in hand. LG has joined the metal and glass build party with the G6, and it has a premium quality feel to it. The feel is much better than last year’s G5. The new build is also IP68 water and dust resistant so you can take it in the shower or rain with you, get it wet and it will keep on ticking.  Now for this new design, LG did have to sacrifice the removable battery.  This feature was a competitive differentiator for LG, but they have decided to join the rest of the non-removable battery club and included a 3300 mAH battery which LG claims it should get you through the day and into the next. The battery is also Quick Charge 3.0 using USB Type C charging.

The battery is going to have a lot to power as the LG G6 is no slouch. The device comes with a 5.7 inch IPS QHD+ display,  Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, 4GB of LPDDR4 Ram, 32 GB of internal storage with micro SD card support up to 2TB, 5 MP Wide Angle front camera, Dual 13 MP rear facing cameras a headphone jack with a standard DAC. It will run Android 7.0 nougat with Google Assistant build in. LG is bringing to specs you would expect with a flagship smartphone for 2017 and a key focus on display this year.

Big Display, Small Body, Cinematic Experience

While the screen is 5.7 inches, it comes in a new 18:9 aspect ratio and gives you about 80% screen-to-body. This screen design lets LG give you a large screen with a more compact phone but also gives a much more cinematic view of content. LG touts that this will enable movies to be view as the director intended them to be. Apps have the ability to be resized for this new ratio, and it will be the first phone to support both Dolby Vision and HDR 10. These features will make the LG G6 one of the best entertainment viewing experiences.

Dual 13 MP Cameras with Wide Angles and New Modes

You will not only be able to watch content well on the LG G6 you will be able to create great content as well. The dual 13 MP rear facing cameras fit flush on the back of the device creating no camera hump. One lens has an F stop of 1.8, and 71-degree angle view while the other camera has an F stop of 2.4 and 125-degree wide angle view and both can record UHD 4K video with EIS 3.0 video stabilization. The cameras come with a much cleaner UI and take advantage of the new screen ratio with having your most recent picture available to scroll through on the left side.

LG also created some new grid mode which lets you take a snapshot and preview it right away, Grid shots to put multiple video and image clips together. Match shot enables you to take two shots organized side-by-side, and Guide shot lets you use an image as a guide to take photos of the same composition. The same modes are also available in the wide-angle 5 MP front-facing camera with a 100-degree wide angle view.

The LG G6 will also come with Android 7.0 Nougat with Google Assistant. They will be the first OEM to launch with Google Assistant that isn’t a Google-branded product. LG has updated their UI on top of Android 7.o called UX 6.0. By default, the phone is set to have all your apps on the home screen, but you can change the settings to add an app drawer for a more familiar feel. The software is not final yet so not much we can say on it until we get some more time with it.

LG has kept everything else as standard as you would expect with a rear power key/fingerprint sensor, kept the volume buttons to the side of the phone, speaker at the bottom of the phone and decided to maintain the headphone jack this year. There won’t be dedicated DAC for the US models, but you will not have to worry about buying new headphones.

While it looks like LG has played it safe this year with the G6, it has also brought a device that will be competitive when brought to the market within the next few weeks. Pricing is not detailed yet, but it should fall in line with other flagship phones of 2017. Will LG have a winner here with the G6? Only time will tell. Share your thoughts and let us know if you this the LG G6 is something you would like to have “fly right” into your pocket.