Is LG’s New Flagship Fly Like A G6?

UPDATE: LG Mobile South Africa has confirmed that the new RRP (recommended retail price) of the g6 is R12 099 and not R14 629 as previously stated.

LG has made some wonderful smartphones, but a lack of consistency in their mobile division has detracted from the strengths that the company has.

The G6 is the company’s latest flagship smartphone and at first glance you can already tell that this is the best phone that LG has ever made. Abandoning the sometimes gimmicky “features” used in previous handsets – modular, flexible curved displays – the G6 is slathered in glass, which makes it one of the most beautiful premium handsets on the market today in terms of design.

Display

The most noticeable thing about the G6 is not the design, it’s the glorious 5.7-inch QHD+ FullVision display which takes up approximately 79% of the front of the phone. In fact, the bezels are so thin that they’re barely there and make the overall body of the G6 smaller than the body of the iPhone 7 Plus which has a 5.5-inch display.

The G6 is not just the first flagship phone released in 2017 to have a huge screen in a small body, it’s also the first handset with a new aspect ratio, in this case it’s 18:9 (or 2:1).

LG says that “compared to conventional 16:9 aspect ratio displays, the 18:9 format offers more viewing space and a more immersive experience when streaming videos and playing games.”

This might be true, but current visual media mobile content is designed to be viewed in the current standard ratio which is 16:9.

Besides the new aspect ratio, the G6 is also the first smartphone to feature Dolby Vision technology as well as supporting HDR 10, both of which are standards for High Dynamic Range (HDR). HDR is the picture quality technology which allows for a wider range of color and luminosity.

Camera 

Since the G4, LG has arguably had one of the best camera setups on any smartphone, in fact, manual mode on the G4 remains one of my favourite camera interfaces on a smartphone.

The G6 continues LG’s tradition of great camera technology. Like the G5 and the V20, the G6 has a dual rear-facing camera setup consisting of a 13MP regular lens and a 13MP 125 degree wide angle lens.

TLG has also provided the G6 with a Square Camera function which divides the 18:9 ratio display into two identical squares. The phone can also take perfectly square photos in 1:1 ratio, ideal for Instagram, Snapchat and other social media apps. You can also take pictures in 1:1 ratio in one window and check, edit and upload pictures in another window immediately after shooting.  If 1:1 isn’t to your liking then you can choose other ratios, such as 4:3, 16:9 and 18:9.

If GIFs are more your thing then you’re in luck because the G6 lets you create GIFs by combining between 2 and 100 photos from the gallery.

All the fun isn’t reserved for the rear facing cameras though, the front facing, selfie camera has also seen an upgrade and now features a 5MP front camera with a 100-degree field of view.

Design

LG has gone with a new design for the G6. Gone is the modular design of the G5, as well as the removable battery found in all of their previous handsets.

The company has also done away with the plastic body that they’ve favoured until now, instead the G6 oozes understated, industrial design thanks to its intelligent use of glass and metal.

The front of the G6 is clad in G0rilla Glass 3 while the back panel is encased in Gorilla Glass 5 and the rear facing cameras are surrounded by Gorilla Glass 4.

LG says that Gorilla Glass 3 instead of Gorilla Glass 5 was used on the front of the handset because it’s thinner and therefore makes the phone less bulky upfront.

The 5.7-inch display has rounded corners which LG says helps “disperse impact if the phone is dropped.”

Overall, the G6 is not only the best phone that LG has ever made, it’s a serious contender for one of the best phones of 2017.

The G6 will be available in south Africa from Friday 7 April and has a recommended retail price of R12 099.00

Technical specifications