The LG G3 is one of the best-looking phones we've ever seen. With its super-high-res 5.5in 2,560x1,440 IPS display and ultra-thin bezels, it's not only gorgeous to look at, but its simple, clean design also makes it supremely comfortable to hold.
Like its predecessor the G2, the G3 has its power and volume buttons on the rear of the phone, which takes some getting used to, but does mean you don’t press them accidentally when using the phone one-handed. We particularly like the G3's smooth, curved back, which fits perfectly in your palm. Its metallic finish isn't real aluminium as on the HTC One (m8), but it doesn't attract fingerprints and provides a decent amount of grip compared to the sometimes-slippery G2. We prefer the design to that of both the One (m8) and Samsung Galaxy S5, but it's the G3's screen that really makes it stand out from its competitors.
With a resolution of 2,560x1,440, the G3 has a massive 3.68 million pixels crammed onto its 5.5in display, giving it an astonishing pixel density of 534 pixels-per-inch (PPI). To put that figure into perspective, a 5.5in phone with a 1,920x1,080 resolution would have just 2.07 million pixels and a PPI of 400. That's almost double the number of pixels in the same amount of space, giving the G3 a much crisper and clearer-looking screen than that of any other top-end smartphone.
Text was noticeably sharper on the G3 than on phones with Full HD displays, and we had no problem at all reading headlines and smaller body copy on web pages such as The Guardian and BBC News running in Desktop mode. Even Full HD phones force us to zoom in occasionally, but we felt no such need with the G3.
We measured the G3's black levels as 0.56cd/m2, which isn't particularly deep, but we found this made little difference to the clarity of text as the screen's high brightness of 417.32cd/m2 really makes letters stand out against its clean white backgrounds. Colours were also extremely bright and vivid thanks to the phone's high sRGB colour accuracy score of 91.7 per cent, and our measured contrast ratio of 741:1 led to plenty of detail in light and dark areas of images.
It's easily one of the best smartphone screens we've ever seen, but we did notice that the G3 wasn't able to sustain its maximum brightness setting during extended periods of use. Instead, the phone would gradually lower its maximum brightness level automatically, and wouldn't let us increase it again until the phone's internal temperature had cooled down. This was a little disappointing, but even though the G3 did get quite warm during every day use, it never got so hot that it was uncomfortable to hold and the brightness level rarely dropped below 90 per cent, meaning we could still use it outside in bright conditions without any trouble.
Of course, one of the benefits of having such a large resolution screen is having a lot more workspace to play with, and LG has made the most of the G3's screen with its Dual Window app.
Like the Multi Window feature on current Samsung devices, Dual View lets you use two apps simultaneously, and you can adjust the height of each window to fit your needs. This means you can send a text while looking at Google Maps or browse the web while chatting to friends in Google Hangouts. Using apps in Dual Window can be a little cramped compared to using apps in full screen view, but it's great for multitasking and we much prefer it to continually going back and forth between different apps via the home screen.
In terms of performance, the G3 is right up there with the HTC One (m8) and Samsung Galaxy S5. With a quad-core 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, it completed our Sunspider JavaScript benchmark in a lightning-fast 649ms using its default browser, and we saw no signs of lag or hesitation whatsoever when browsing the web. Image-heavy pages were quick to load and scrolling and panning round zoomed-in pages was incredibly smooth.
The G3's graphics performance wasn't quite as good on paper as the One (m8) and S5's, but this isn't surprising given the G3 has to render almost double the number of pixels. Taking this into account, the phone's Adreno 330 GPU coped brilliantly with our graphics benchmarks, as it scored a respectable 8,552 (roughly 34.9fps) in the Extreme version of 3DMark Ice Storm. It even managed a smooth 28.9fps in the Epic Citadel benchmark on Ultra High quality settings at a resolution of 2,392x1,440, so the G3 should be able to handle any game available in the Google Play Store.
Of course, powering such a large screen is going to take its toll on the G3's battery life, but the handset's huge 3,000mAh battery still lasted an impressive 13 hours and 12 minutes in our continuous video playback test with the screen set to half brightness. This is just 16 minutes shy of the HTC One (m8) under the same conditions, so you should be able to get a full day's use out of the G3 without having to charge it up during the day.
camera
According to LG, the G3's 1/3in camera sensor has laser autofocus technology. This means the camera supposedly takes just 0.276ms to focus on a subject, which is less than a blink of an eye. When taking landscape shots, the camera took no time at all to focus and the resulting images were well exposed and showed plenty of fine detail. This fast focus is great news, as shots often present themselves quickly and if you or your camera aren't ready to go, then you stand a good chance of missing out on the shot you want. Part of the challenge with snapping off a shot quickly is getting to the camera app on the phone. Most handsets have shortcut on the homescreen, but the LG G3 goes one step further. All you have to do is long-press the volume down button and the phone will wake itself and jump straight into the camera app. It will remember your last shooting settings, too, so you're ready to go extremely quickly. High Dynamic Range is set to Auto by default, but unlike those from other phone cameras with HDR modes, we found the G3's HDR effects were well balanced. Colours didn't look too harsh or unnatural when we switched on HDR, and bright skies didn't suffer from overexposure. LG's promise of tapping anywhere on the screen to take a picture is a little misleading, though, as you can only do this once you've got rid of the menu overlay. Otherwise, you have to press the onscreen shutter button.
When HDR is turned off (above), shots are well exposed and show plenty of detail. When HDR is turned on (below), the sky is better exposed but colours don't look quite as rich
The G3's camera also has a Magic Focus mode that lets you tweak the focus of an image after you've taken it. It's a similar feature to the One (m8)'s U Focus mode, but as well as letting you tap the screen to focus on a subject, the G3 has an onscreen slider you can use to switch between five possible points of focus. It doesn’t work as quickly as on the One (m8), or give you as many points of focus (the One (m8) has two cameras for this purpose) but the results looked great. Macro and portrait shots really stood out against their backgrounds, but there were often only two points of focus that really worked. The rest blurred out the entire image, so judging how close to get to your subjects can be a bit tricky.
The front-facing 2-megapixel sensor also has a few tricks, as you can initiate a timer by raising your hand and then clenching your fist to take a selfie. It's a little fiddly in practice, as you've got to make sure the camera recognises both your hand and the shape of your fist, which didn't always work when we tried it out. There's a Dual camera mode, too, allowing you to take photos with both cameras simultaneously. For more practical advice, see our how to use the LG G3 camera guide.
It's not just the display and camera that make the G3 stand out from the crowd, though, as we're also big fans of LG's customised Android interface. This highly personalised version of 4.4.2 KitKat has a much cleaner, simpler design than that of previous LG handsets, and it helps make LG's new smart features easier to use. On your home page, Smart Bulletins provide useful information cards about the day, such as advice on whether to take an umbrella if it's going to rain later or reminders about forgotten missed calls. Swipe left from the main home page and you'll find a screen dedicated entirely to LG's Smart Bulletin feature, which monitors your health with the LG Health app and provides access to video tips on how to use the G3.
LG has also made the G3 easier to use one-handed, as you can swipe left or right on the keyboard, dial pad and lock screen PIN number to change its position so it's nearer your free thumb. The Smart Keyboard's another great tool, as this lets you adjust the height of the keyboard and make the keys bigger or smaller depending on the size of your hand. The keys practically double in size when the keyboard is raised to its maximum height compared to its smallest setting, so those with big hands should have plenty of room to type accurately. It's a shame you can't change the height of the keyboard on the fly, but at least there's a shortcut to the main keyboard settings right next to the space bar.
Even the G3's lock screen has been customised to make room for LG's new Knock Code. Instead of typing in a PIN code or swiping a pattern onscreen to unlock your phone, you can simply tap out your own personalised code on four main The G3 is easily LG's best smartphone to date. At £490 SIM-free or around £35 per month on contract, it commands a high price, but its industry-leading display, innovative features and excellent performance make it more than capable of competing with the equally expensive Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (m8). The G3 may not have such sophisticated health apps as the S5 or the unique Duo Camera of the (m8), but if you want the best screen money can buy, there's simply no competition. It wins a Best Buy award.
| Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Quad-core 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 |
| RAM | 2GB |
| Screen size | 5.5in |
| Screen resolution | 2,560x1,440 |
| Screen type | IPS |
| Front camera | 13-megapixel |
| Rear camera | 2.1-megapixel |
| Flash | LED |
| GPS | Yes |
| Compass | Yes |
| Storage | 16GB |
| Memory card slot (supplied) | microSD |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11/ac |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.0 |
| NFC | yes |
| Wireless data | 4G, 3G |
| Size | 146x74x8.9mm |
| Weight | 149g |
| Features | |
| Operating system | Android 4.4.2 |
| Battery size | 3,000mAh |
| Buying information | |
| Warranty | one year RTB |
| Price SIM-free (inc VAT) | £490 |
| Price on contract (inc VAT) | Free on a £35-per-month contract |
| Prepay price (inc VAT) | N/A |
| SIM-free supplier | www.expansys.com |
| Contract/prepay supplier | www.three.co.uk |
| Details | www.lg.com/uk |
| Part code | LG G3 D855 |
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/android-phones/1400286/lg-g3-review/specifications
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