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Just when you think Apple's got a hold on the mobile market with its revamped iPhone 6 and collosal iPhone 6 Plus and not one, but two big Korean rivals rock up with compelling alternatives. Last year Apple successfully fought off the lacklustre Samsung Galaxy S5, but in 2015 as well as having a revamped and far more competetive Samsung rival in the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 EDGE, fellow Korean manufacturer LG has continued to improve its own range with the newest installment - the LG G4.
For many –– including KYM –– the LG G3 was THE Android handset of 2014. It had the looks, the specs and the features. Compared to HTC’s One M8 and Samsung’s Galaxy S5 there really was no competition –– the G3 wiped the floor with both of them in almost every regard. This is why there has been SO MUCH anticipation about the G4 for the past several months. How would LG improve it? What would the specs be like? How would it compare to the excellent and now widely available Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 EDGE?
Clad in stylish, stitched leather and sporting an eye-catching curved design, the G4 certainly looks the business while being a leathery Yin to Apple's metal and glass Yang. But more than this it packs one incredible touch display, some clever camera trickery, and a slick new UI based on Android Lollipop.
The LG G4 is now available in the UK; we put our review sample through its paces and are very impressed with what we’ve seen; you can read our full review here. But LG couldn’t possibly cause Apple any trouble in 2015/16 could it? In a word: No. But that doesn’t mean LG should be written off as not worth mentioning, as next to Samsung it is easily the best Android manufacturer currently operating in the mobile space (and, yes, we do mean that –– LG is better than HTC, Sony and Motorola at present).
Apple's iPhone 6 Plus continues to impress though, the exterior has been refined over earlier models and the extra large size provides and extra large battery cell for oodles run-time. Then of course you have Apple's iOS platform and all its cohesive glory. Whether you dig Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus will depend largely on how committed to Android or iOS you are. A lot of people hate Apple and everything it does. The same could be said for some ultra-hard-line Apple freaks. But for those on the fence, the floating voters out there, of which there are literally millions, choosing between Android and iOS has never been more difficult with handsets like the Galaxy S6, LG G4 and iPhone 6 Plus around.
So how do the two compare? Let's find out.
LG G4 specs
- Screen: 5.5-inch QHD 1440x2560 Quantum IPS, 534 ppi
- Dimensions: 148.9 x 76.1 x 9.8mm
- Weight: 155g
- Processor: Qualcomm's Snapdragon 808 64-bit hexa-core chip
- RAM: 3GB LPDDR3 RAM
- Storage: 32GB flash, microSD card up to 128GB
- Wireless: Wifi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, USB 2.0
- Front camera: 8MP, f/2.0
- Rear camera: 16MP, f/1.8
- Battery: Built-in 3000mAh
iPhone 6 Plus specs
- Screen: 5.5-inch Retina HD 1920x1080 display, 401 ppi
- Dimensions: 158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1 mm
- Weight: 172g
- Processor: 1.4 GHz dual-core A8 chip with 64-bit architecture and M8 motion coprocessor
- RAM: 1 GB LPDDR3 RAM
- Storage: 16GB, 64GB or 128GB of flash memory
- Wireless: LTE, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac MIMO, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC.
- Front camera: 1.2MP, f/2.2
- Rear camera: 8MP, f/2.2
- Battery: 2915 mAh
LG G4 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Design
Let's face it, these two phones couldn't be more different in the design department. The iPhone 6 Plus is all glass and aluminum with curved, rounded edges. And Apple has really beat the phone flat–just 7.1mm thick across its entire girth which runs 158.1 x 77.8mm. The iPhone 6 Plus comes in three different colors: white, gold, and space grey.
On the flip side of the iPhone 6 Plus design aesthetic you have the LG G4. What's impressive about it is that though it comes in at quite a bit thicker than the iPhone 6 Plus at 9.8mm (at its thickest–it has a curved back that is 6.8mm thick at its thinnest), LG has impressively gotten the same sized display (5.5-inch) as the iPhone 6 Plus into a body that is almost 10mm shorter and almost 2mm less wide. That means the LG G4's bezels take up less surface area, which means the actual display is what makes up more of the device.
Of course the LG G4's build material is very different too. There's no aluminum here. Plastic still rules with the G4 coming in Metallic Gray, Ceramic White, or Shiny Gold. But for those that want to go more rustic–or cowboy–the G4 also comes with an optional leather back available in black, brown, red, sky blue, beige, or yellow.
I personally like my phones to feel like 21st century devices, but I suspect there are lots of people the soft leather backing will appeal to.
LG G4 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Display
Both phones feature a 5.5-inch display, but the LG G4 clearly wins here. Its QHD 1440x2560 Quantum IPS with a whopping 534 ppi its the iPhone 6 Plus' Retina HD 1920x1080 display at 401 ppi to shame. The LG Quantum IPS is really pretty impressive with a whole host of improvements over earlier-gen technology; the colour, brightness, and contrast are all in a whole other league.
Still, inside Apple’s closed ecosystem the iPhone 6 Plus’ 5.5in 1080p display is as good as it gets and the panel, while no way near as detailed as the G4’s, is still a VERY impressive setup with excellent colour reproduction, brightness and clarity. Also, Apple hasn’t changed the display resolution on its latest iPhone, either, so if you’re worried about missing out of something when upgrading you needn’t be — QHD will no doubt debut aboard the iPhone 7.
LG G4 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Cameras
Ah, cameras. They've become a key feature of every smartphone. Apple heavily touts the performance of its cameras on the iPhone 6 Plus. The rear camera on that device is the first iPhone to sport optical image stabilization and will snap pics at 8MP with a f/2.2 aperture. 8MP doesn't sound like a lot, but Apple has done a lot on the software end to really fine tune image capture on the rear camera's sensor. As for the front camera, sadly all you get is a weak 1.2MP. Selfies no like!
Then there's the cameras on the G4. Lets start with the 8MP, f/2.0 camera. Oh, sorry–did you think that was the rear camera? Nope. That's the front one. That's right, it's got an 8MP sensor–which is 6.8MP better than the iPhone 6 Plus' front camera (and matches the iPhone's rear camera). LG knows people love selfies and they've packed the megapixels in so you can get even more vain. Then there's the back camera. It's a whopping 16MP, f/1.8. That's double the sensor of the iPhone 6 Plus' camera and also a much better aperture.
As well as having a wider aperture than even Samsung's Galaxy S6 (f/1.9, in case you were wondering), the LG G4 has a host of other photo tricks up its sleeve. It feature OSI 2.0 (with the addition of a third axis to the module), infrared filters to reduce nasty interference, super-fast laser autofocus, and a set of advanced colour sensors to pick up ambient light and adjust a host of camera settings on the fly to net the best results. Seriously, this thing will have analysed the scene by the time your shot fires off and had already adjusted the white balance and LED flash to make the results as good as possible.
LG G4 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Processor, RAM, Storage, and Battery
Finally we get to the internals and, sad to say, Apple fans, the LG G4 beats the iPhone 6 Plus on almost every metric. Its Qualcomm's Snapdragon 808 64-bit hexa-core chip–that's six cores–offers three times the cores found in the iPhone's dual-core A8 chip. And RAM? The G4 also has three times the RAM at 3 GB LPDDR3 RAM versus the iPhone's 1 GB LPDDR3 RAM.
When it comes to battery, however, both phones are pretty similar. At 3000mAh, the G4's battery is a bit more than the iPhone's 2915 mAh, but when it's that close the thing which will really distinguish between battery life usage is how well the software is optimized. Apple usually wins in that department, but I can't say for sure in this case because I haven't used a G4 for long.
The one area the iPhone 6 Plus does clearly win is in storage. It's available in 16, 64, or 128GB models. The LG G4 only comes in 32GB–but you can expand that via removable storage up to 128GB.
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