The LG G4 Review
by Joshua Ho on July 30, 2015 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Qualcomm
- LG
- Mobile
- Snapdragon 808
- LG G4
WiFi Performance
While mobile data is crucial to a smartphone, it’s often not the most common way to connect a phone to the internet as mobile data plans continue to have strong data caps to prevent excessive network use. As a result, WiFi is a major component of the smartphone experience, and poor performance here can be immensely frustrating.
In order to test this, we test the smartphone by using iPerf to measure wireless performance. To avoid making the router a bottleneck, an Asus RT-AC68U is used for the access point. In the case of the LG G4, it seems that LG has elected to share the WiFi subsystem with the G3, as we see the same Broadcom BCM4339 solution that was used on the G3. This limits the maximum possible throughput to 433 Mbps. The lack of MIMO is definitely a bit of a handicap in terms of maximum range/throughput, but a well-designed 1x1 system should be more than sufficient for everyday use.
Performance seems to be about the same as the LG G3, with the usual variance from run to run affecting throughput. I suspect that trying to distinguish any real differences will require an RF anechoic chamber and similarly advanced tools in order to determine just how sensitive the RF system is. For the near future, I suspect a 1x1 802.11ac solution should be acceptable for most use cases, but the 2x2 WiFi of the GS6 is definitely an advantage in terms of throughput, although reception seems to be pretty similar as well here.
GNSS
Although for the most part we don’t really use GPS all the time, when most people use GPS there is a very strong need for accuracy and low latency for an accurate fix, making good GPS functionality the cornerstone of a good smartphone. As people have come to rely on their smartphones for driving navigation almost all the time, poor GPS performance can ruin a smartphone. Probably the easiest example to point to for this is the original Galaxy S, which was almost impossible to use with Google Maps. It would become genuinely concerning to use this device for turn by turn navigation, as it was quite easy for the navigation to jump around, constantly recalculating and losing location which could easily be dangerous in an unfamiliar area.
In order to test the quality of the GNSS system of a smartphone, we do a rather simple test of time to first lock along with some subjective evaluation. In the case of the LG G4, the modem appears to handle GPS as time to first lock with any sort of mobile data connection is genuinely absurd.
As one can see, reception on the G4’s GPS system is strong, and time to first lock in airplane mode with no A-GPS is 35 seconds, with 10 foot precision achieved at roughly 55 seconds. Overall, I suspect that there will be relatively few issues with GPS as it seems to be accurate and reliable from general use such as turn by turn navigation.
Misc
As with our miscellaneous sections in other smartphone reviews, this section is effectively reserved for identifying various components and subjective observations that I otherwise couldn’t integrate into other sections of the review. For example, the fuel gauge is a Maxim MAX17048, which doesn’t require any calibration and appears to use voltage tracking instead. There’s no value at all in trying to “calibrate” the battery here, so I wouldn’t bother, as it would just hurt battery lifetime.
The NFC controller, something that is often of interest for NFC tag compatibility purposes, is an NXP PN547. As far as I can tell this controller should have a secure element, although given that Google Wallet now relies on host card emulation I’m not sure how useful that is.
Meanwhile the SlimPort transmitter is the Analogix ANX7816, which supports a maximum 4096x2160 resolution at 30 FPS, and presumably 1080p60 as well. There’s no MHL here as far as I can tell, so you’ll have to use SlimPort.
The speaker works well in the G4, but due to the rear-firing arrangement it’s definitely a bit annoying as I’d rather have a front-ported speaker similar to the Moto X Play and Moto X (2014). However, there is a TI TAS2552 4W Class-D audio amp, which helps boost the speaker while preventing speaker clipping. Along the same lines as audio, the microphone noise cancellation appears to be using Qualcomm’s Fluence technology.
Finally, there’s also something interesting over i2c that is a bit of an enigma as it seems to be exclusive to LG Display. Namely, a device called p1_dsv, which seems to be able to control at least two ICs named DW8768 and SM5107, which seem to work with the display to do something that I don’t fully understand. It’s likely that these are just related to backlight control and the display driver.
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bleached - Sunday, August 2, 2015 - link
http://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles/Column-right/Mobile...Arcetnathon - Wednesday, August 5, 2015 - link
You point something really strange.Each review of tech website published month after release is worst than first tests.
Maybe big company doesn't play fair and send very specific smartphone that will never be in store...
akdj - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
As an owner of three of the top 5; S6, Note 4, & indeed... The iPhone 6+, which raps the 'top 5' "Apples is (sic) 'rate' in the top five'The 6+ is indeed produced by Apple ...my subjective feelings are almost identical to Josh's. S6 Edge is an incredible camera. I love it. My Note 4 always has been, with micro SD it makes shooting 4k practical, but my low light shots are pretty sad in comparison to the 6+, as well as 'action' or fast moving shots. S6 shoots 4k, excellent 1080p, but the video stabilization and 60fps-240fps adjustments on the iPhone tump the other two, and I'm just realizing I've placed my response after the wrong reply of your dxo link.
It's saying damn near what Josh concluded. DxoMark is specific to still photography, heavy on resolution and to those ends the sensors in the S6, N4 & G4 indeed play in the same field as the iPhone ...and in some cases beat it. That said, for simplicity point and shoot and nearly every time get an excellent shot without latency or buffering, the iPhone is hard to beat. Without G4 experience I'll hold judgement, but for video, the iPhone is it. For stills, I'm partial now to my S6 and the Note 4 has always been phenomenal
Apple opening their 'souls' a bit with the ability to interact with the SoC ala their native apps, there are plenty of manual control, high resolution shooters (using the 8 megapixel, 4K sensor and its speed) as well as slow motion and video editing tools --- probably the biggest weight in the iphone's favor is the App Store, it's amazing selection of editing and shooting tools as well as continuous updates might just top the subjective list of top 5.
*i don't own a 4K TV but I've got the ability to playback 4K on my MacBook Pro -- looks amazing but it's limited in length of time you can shoot and heats the camera up nice and warm. The S6, all around, my favorite for everything and now my go to camera in most situations. It's smaller and easier to shoot --- but for video capture, my son playing baseball, or last weeks Mötley Crüe show, the iPhone and it's incredible stabilization, video processing and iCloud uploading, ....see where I'm going?
I own a business, have for two decades and with a dozen employees equipped with their choice, I pay for them ...and have iPhone as a personal - S6 personal and Note4 business only. Primarily the stylus and autographs for credit cards has a cool vibe with clientele. You mileage may vary but dxo mark scores in the mid 80s rivals and defeats many point and shoot cams under $300. A point or two difference isn't real world, nor the bible on what to buy. Iphone is ranked 5 & 6 (+ & standard) - can't seem to find the Experia in America and their separation of a couple points in the mid 80as -- without considering motion at all, I'm not sure ANY is the wrong choice and for many that don't want manual control, the iPhone with HDR is hands down the layman's favorite. Android, I'm with the S6, double tap home button to pop the cam and it's rare even as a DSLR shooter that I'm adjusting settings, modes or manually selecting ISO, Aperture or shutter speed
S6 Edge, I love it. 6+, love it. Note 4, still awesome - bit heavier but easily used now with experience and the right case
Take motion into the equation and the limitations on 4K, post processing there of and playback ...I think this is the reason Apple has put this much effort into their sensor as it's the perfect 'size' for non cropped, full sensor 4K shooting
Maybe I'm confused, but I'm ambidextrous, love both and have owned both since 07/08. Dxomark is a silly geek site for resolution of serious optics. Those scores and their differential is hardly a 'win' for any flagship mentioned
J
Pissedoffyouth - Thursday, July 30, 2015 - link
How does the handoff between clusters cope compared to the 810? Does it scale from 2>4 cores when stepping down, averaging the load across the A53 cluster?nikaldro - Thursday, July 30, 2015 - link
The S808 throttles about as much as the exynos 7420.nikaldro - Thursday, July 30, 2015 - link
The S808 throttles about as much as the exynos 7420.grayson_carr - Thursday, July 30, 2015 - link
My God. I thought this review would never come. I already lusted after the G4, bought the G4, owned the G4 for a while, and then bought a Nexus 6 to replace it haha. Still, it will be good to know the Snapdragon 808 lowdown seeing as the Moto X 2015 and Nexus 5 2015 will make use of it.ThisIsChrisKim - Thursday, July 30, 2015 - link
I bought the G4 and I'm really liking it--camera is just superb. UI is meh, but not annoying enough for me to get something else.Nice seeing this review, nonetheless!
grayson_carr - Thursday, July 30, 2015 - link
I liked the G4 (maybe even more than the Galaxy S6 I owned before it), but there were a couple minor annoyances that ultimately led me to buy a Nexus 6. I found that the G4 performed well most of the time, but as mentioned in the review, in some apps it would drop frames more often than the previous two phones I owned (Nexus 5 and Galaxy S6). Also, the touchscreen seemed to be less responsive than the previous phones I owned, which started to get on my nerves. Finally, there were a couple software annoyances like the inability to expand notifications in some circumstances, that were bothering me. I did like the screen on the G4 better than the Galaxy S6 and Nexus 6, and the manual camera controls were boss, but ultimately I prefer the Nexus software experience.Fitnesspro - Thursday, July 30, 2015 - link
Grayson. You are right. Speed and battery count. I liked the G4 specs but was disappointed when tried the phone out at T Mobile. Has a snag and the actual screen id not