Final Words

Without question, the G3 has been the most interesting smartphone to learn about this year. With a 1440p display, laser autofocus, and all sorts of new power saving methods, there was a great deal to learn about. However, just because a device has a novel design doesn’t mean that it’s a good phone. On the other hand, a novel design makes a good phone that much better. The HTC One (M7) is a great example of the latter, with a radio system that is novel enough that people continue to misunderstand how it actually works. In some ways, the LG G3 draws similar parallels. Before launch and during the launch, there was pervasive misinformation on how the laser focus system actually worked. Even now, it’s not uncommon for people to say that there’s no significant delta in battery life from the 1440p display.

Unfortunately, if there is any real flaw in the LG G3, it is the display. The goal of attaining a ~540 PPI has come at immense cost. Relative to the competition, the LG G3 definitely sees a noticeable reduction in battery life, although it’s still firmly above what we’ve seen from 2013 (Snapdragon 600) flagships. Outside of the power trade-off, the display doesn’t get particularly bright for daytime viewing. There are also issues with the saturation compression that causes obviously oversaturated colors in almost every situation. LG has also added significant artificial sharpening to the display image, which causes noticeable artifacting in some situations.

Yet, outside of the display, LG has done a great job on the G3. The industrial design and material design is surprisingly good for a plastic phone. LG has also addressed the complaints of users by adding a removable battery and microSD slot, although the former has a significant cost to the battery life experience for those that don’t swap batteries.

LG has also innovated on the camera. While they still use the same camera module from last year, LG seems to have struck an acceptable balance with the G3’s camera system. By leveraging the 1.1 micron pixel pitch for higher spatial resolution and OIS for low light photo quality, I suspect most people will be happy with the camera. The new laser auto focus system works surprisingly well in most situations, allowing for better focus in low light and low contrast scenarios. In my experience I almost never saw a situation where AF failed, even in macro.

The camera isn’t the only area where LG has done well. I found LG’s UI to be genuinely good, and well-designed. While I have some minor nitpicks (at best), I would have zero problem using this UI. KnockCode is surprisingly great, and the addition of LED feedback over the G Pro 2 makes for far greater reliability. I used to question whether I was entering my code incorrectly or if the display simply wasn’t registering my taps, and with this small feature that point of frustration is gone. In the past, I found that LG UI was more usable than TouchWiz, and the same seems to be true now. LG has managed to follow Google’s UI guidelines to make the interface out of familiar elements, yet put their own unique visual style.

Even in the display, there are still signs that LG is actually trying to do things well. While I object to the dimming behavior, LG is correct in saying that the dimming behavior is below the level of human perception. It’s also interesting to see that they continue to push power savings through mechanisms such as dynamic refresh rate. There’s also potential in this area to adjust battery life through kernel modifications, although it’s unclear just how far LG can push in this area without visible decreases in smoothness.

Overall, the G3 is frustratingly close to perfect. A much-improved 1080p display, smaller size, and staying with the stacked battery design would’ve made this phone much easier to recommend as the best phone of the Snapdragon 801 generation. Unfortunately, as-is I can only say that it’s equal to everything else on the market. Everything seems to be similarly imperfect in their own way, and it comes down to personal preference which imperfections are tolerable and which aren’t. HTC delivers the best audio experience, LG provides the best balance of camera experience (from day to night shots), and Samsung offers the best display. Perhaps this is a taste of what the future will hold for enthusiasts. However, if the past is any indication, there’s still hope that there will be one phone to rule them all.

WiFi, GNSS, Cellular, Speaker, Misc
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  • sherlockwing - Friday, July 4, 2014 - link

    You listed Nexus 4 in the first Display Brightness graph then Nexus 5 in all the rest, could it be a typo?
  • sherlockwing - Friday, July 4, 2014 - link

    Nvm, I misread and didn't see Nexus 5.
  • Niteowl360 - Friday, July 4, 2014 - link

    Thank you for an awesome review.
    Technically better than most reviews whilst ensuring the layman remains in touch.
    Only thing I found a little strange was the lack of excitement over the display.
    Particularly most reviews have pointed to a slightly undersaturated display, in contrast to your findings.
    Whilst your review states audio quality on per with the M8, I would have liked you to spend more time on this. After all we are still talking about a device which is primarily a phone!
    I'm an HTC purist, but I believe HTC have continued to disappoint in the Camera department.
    At the same time I believe the HTC logo and speakers however good, do come at an unacceptable wastage of display real estate.
    I have always loved the realistic color saturation of HTC devices, and again raise reference to your findings on the over saturated G3 which seems to be a view shared by yourselves.
    Thank you for an excellent overall review. Refreshingly detailed in substance.
  • Alexey291 - Sunday, July 6, 2014 - link

    The display is of below average quality, albeit with higher resolution which reduces performance and battery life.

    Its a lot of tradeoffs for a small gimmick which is barely visible in reality.
  • zodiacfml - Friday, July 4, 2014 - link

    Nahh, LG knew everything about this and just wants to compete with Samsung. How can LG beat Samsung's AMOLED display?
    I don't know but LG is probably not going the OLED route because Samsung's tech is superior.
  • peterfares - Friday, July 4, 2014 - link

    This phone looks really awesome, especially finally going back to removable battery and SD card.

    But what's putting my off is the QHD screen. It's just a waste in every way. Waste of money. Waste of battery power. Waste of CPU and GPU resources. Waste of RAM. Shame. Everything else about this phone is AWESOME.
  • flyingpants1 - Friday, July 4, 2014 - link

    Having onscreen buttons costs you 7% in screen are, and defeats the whole purpose of having a larger screen.

    Buttons should be capacitive, no bezel, and the browser UI and notification area should be cut down by about half.

    Should have made a G2 with front speakers..A
  • UpSpin - Friday, July 4, 2014 - link

    I disagree with you. On screen buttons vanish in full screen apps like games, video players, browser if you like, photo viewer, ... so practically no screen area is lost at all.
    On screen buttons allow a larger level of customization if you root. For example left right arrow in text fields once the keyboard shows up.
    On screen buttons allow edge to edge displays. So practically you get a larger usable display at a smaller physical smartphone size.

    If you feel too much space is wasted, I recommend you to root your smartphone, reduce the lcd density value, reduce the on screen button size and use the immersive mode of android.
  • Death666Angel - Saturday, July 5, 2014 - link

    My on-screen buttons disappear when I'm not using them and almost all apps are good enough to use that space to display more stuff. Only means I have to swipe up or down to active them again, which hasn't been a hassle when using the G2 for the past 2 months. The design is much nicer as a result as well. My wifes SGS3 looks so ancient even compared to my Galaxy Nexus.
  • Cruisecontrol - Friday, July 4, 2014 - link

    Too bad about the display. That was one of the things I was hoping would make this phone stand out. I guess I'll have to wait to see if Samsung delivers an S5 Prime and what that has to offer.

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