LG has officially announced its new G4 flagship smartphone at events held in London and New York today. The device will go head to head with the Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6 when it hits shelves in a few weeks. In creating the G4, the company has aimed to improve several aspects of last year’s flagship, the LG G3, and make a very-good smartphone even better. The unique rear button layout and removable back cover both carry forward to the G4 which also gets a curved display like the G Flex 2, although the curve is subtle and less pronounced. Let us take a look at some of LG G4 essential features:
The display: QHD IPS Quantum Display
‘LG G4’ is similar to its predecessor in looks and feel. Sleek, curved, but angular at the same time. LG’s particularly proud of its new 5.5-inch HD display. It’s the same size and resolution (2560 x 1440) as last year’s model. It has a very slight curve to it as well. LG’s Quantum Display technology lets you take an IPS display that starts with a blue backlight and get extremely good colors out of it, much better than you get with older filter technology. LG’s channeling the world of arcane science with its Quantum IPS screen, a 4K panel that plays nice with the film industry’s DCI color standard.
The camera: 16MP and a color spectrum sensor
LG says, “We’ve already heard about the f/1.8 aperture, which lets in 80 percent more light than the G3”. Add to that improved optical image stabilization, a “color spectrum sensor” that does white balance like no other (maybe now we’ll find out what color that damned dress was), support for RAW+jpg images, real-time mode previews, quick-launch in 0.6 seconds, huge panoramas of up to 104 megapixels, and a cool new gesture shot that will snap four selfies in sequence, so you can be sure to get the best duck lips.
‘Specially-designed’ Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor and a powerful battery
The LG G Flex 2, released not too long ago, is running a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor. The G4 backs things “down” to a Snapdragon 808 processor with X10 LTE. LG teamed up with Qualcomm to dramatically boost positioning performance, and they claim the system is twice as accurate as phones using a more “conventional platform.” LG says that the 808 was “fully tuned up for the G4, developed over two years with Qualcomm.” LG G4 will have standard 3,000mAh (removable) battery.
The leather: vegetable-tanning and German stitching
If you’re tired of plastic phones, LG has you covered. Or, rather, it has the back of the G4 covered. The idea of a leather-clad phone is no longer crazy, and the optional back for the LG G4 is a beauty. It’s smooth as only new leather can be. It’s smooth, taught, vegetable-tanned leather with premium stitching running down the middle. LG seems particularly proud of the attention to detail that went into it. LG’s process of cutting and tanning the leather is exactly the same method used on luxury bags, although the company adds a special coating at the end that makes its more resistant to water, dust and minor scratches. It takes LG three months to get the leather ready for its phones.
The G4 is running Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box, as you’d expect at this point in the yearly cycle LG’s done well in crafting a very handsome flagship smartphone that smartly addresses the shortcomings of its direct predecessors, and I suspect a decent chunk of people will take a shine to this thing. It’s got the design. It’s got the specs. It’s got the buzzwords and color spectrum sensors and ceramic paints and vegetable tanning. And combined, its one intriguing smartphone.
Here are the complete specs for LG G4:
- 5-inch display with Quad HD (2560×1440 pixels) resolution, 534ppi pixel density, ~74.3% screen-to-body ratio
- Quantum Display which achieves 98% of the DCI standard found in television and cinema
- ‘Specially-designed’ Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB internal storage, micro SD card expandable storage (up to 128GB)
- Removable back cover
- 3000mAh battery
- LG G-Pen Stylus
- Nano-SIM
- LTE Cat 6 (300Mbps download, 50Mbps upload)
- 16MP rear camera, phase detection/laser autofocus, optical image stabilization, dual-LED true-tone flash, manual camera mode with full manual controls
- UHD video recording @30fps, 1080p@60fps, HDR
- 8MP front camera, 1080p@30fps video recording
- Bluetooth v4.0, apt-X, LE
- NFC, Infrared, Stereo FM Radio with RDS
- Qi wireless charging enabled
- 100GB Google Drive storage for two years
The LG G4 will launch by June at a similar price to the G3 (~$750, £550). The LG G4 will be available with a new leather rear cover in several colors or a titanium finished plastic build depending on your preference. You’ll be able to see the LG G4 starting on April 29th in Korea while its worldwide rollout will occur over the next several weeks.