LG has been teasing us with a countdown for a while now, and today it reached down to zero: the LG G4 has now been unveiled in a live event that we got to watch and learn about what LG touted to be “The Great”. We didn’t feel it, but we certainly saw it and heard all about its features, specifications and design process. Did LG manage to deliver a substantial upgrade from last year’s critically acclaimed G3?
The event finally begun as Juno Cho, President & CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications took the stage. After a teaser, he started by posing the main question behind the G4: “what actual value will this provide to consumers?”. LG wanted this to be a centric aspect of the G4’s UX design, from hardware finish to software. Cho made it clear they wanted to innovate and set the device apart from simple “chunks of metal and glass” as seen in some competitors. LG wants the G4 to “deliver convenience & accentuate the lifestyle of the user”.
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Comfortable Elegance” is how LG describes the G4, and this phrase is engraved in their design process to the core. The phone is claimed to be comfortable to use, with a beautiful leather or ceramic backing. The second design focus was their viewing experience, from the camera to the display. “[We] didn’t need the most megapixels”, Cho said, since they sought innovation on a different level. The Quantum Display also aims to bring the most vivid yet realistic colors in the market. Finally, the “human-centric” UX aims to put all of these aspects together to enhance the way you use smartphones. The G4’s elements are touted to “understand and take in consideration the uniqueness of every user”.
Qualcomm Chairman Dr. Paul E. Jacobs stepped in to introduce the G4 by giving us some information about the processing package inside. The G4 will feature the Snapdragon 808 processor which comes with the Adreno 418 GPU as well as a connectivity improvements and navigation accuracy enhancements. We discussed whether this was a good choice, and concluded that it certainly makes more sense than a Snapdragon 810. The G4 will also feature 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, all to sustain Android 5.1 Lollipop. Qualcomm worked in collaboration with LG to create a fully optimized experience, that is smooth, has an advanced feature set and great battery life. With state-of-the-art graphics and speed, Qualcomm promises good performance in heavy tasks and games as well as low battery consumption.
LG’s Director of Mobile Communications Frank Lee’s turn arrived, and he told the crowd that the G4 was the result of a “long journey of hard work and effort”. He reminded us about the 3 primary principles once more, this time making the distinction more marked than before. Comfortable elegance, great visual experience, human centric UX. He then proceeded to give us a deeper look at some of the more ambitious capabilities of the phone, starting with the design.
LG took clear shots at Apple and Samsung in slides pointing out how the competition was not innovative enough, and that LG wants to set itself apart. They wanted to bring in elegance and humanity to the G4, so they opted for a slightly curved design that improves durability and feel-in-hand. The back is removable, and it reveals microSD support for up to 2TB, and a 3,000mAh removable battery. LG sought out various colors and material textures to set the device apart. There are metallic and ceramic finishes for the back, but also the super-teased genuine leather back which has a smooth and durable finish. LG wants you to “feel the craftsmanship” and promises that the back will gain character as you use it.
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ee moved onto the camera, and started by reminding us about the auto-focus technology that allows you to focus a shot in 0.276 seconds. Now the 16MP front camera is optimized to launch faster as well, and LG claimed that it can be fully ready in 0.6 seconds. There’s also a quickshot button trigger by double-tapping a rear key that allows you to snap a picture without having the camera loaded up. The F1.8 number of the aperture and the image sensor size have both been tuned, the former being smaller and the latter being bigger. In fact, the sensor is 40% faster than the average smartphone’s, and the aperture chosen allows for 80% more light than the typical configuration.
These hardware advancements allow for better low-light photography, and the refined camera software allows you to configure the shutter speed and also supports RAW images. The OIS has been tuned to LG’s OIS 2.0 which now adds a Z axis for better stabilization, and to make the images more credible the phone has a color spectrum sensor at the back for object and light recognition. Lee claimed that it allows the phone to “read the color exactly as you see it yourself” and it recognizes the difference between RGB and IR to automatically adjust the flash and color balance. “The best camera is the one that you have with you all the time”, he said, and with this impressive-looking package he might be right. The 8MP shooter at the front will also benefit from new software features and gestures.
The 5.5 inch, 1440p IPS Quantum Display has tech that is similar to the Quantum Dot technology that we’ve been seeing in new televisions, but it allows for thinner and smaller bezels. This display has 20% better color reproduction than the average LCD display, as well as a 50% increase in contrast. Lee believes that the picture quality is so realistic that, when looking at the pictures on the screen, “you can almost taste [the strawberries]”. The new structure of the liquid crystal will allow for better battery efficiency as well, and the display is considerably brighter regardless. That improvement coupled with the GRAM and software enhancements make for what LG touted as a battery life of “over a day in a single charge”.
Finally, we saw the LG UX 4.0. Designed with users in mind, it is simple to use and features a new gallery with “memories” that organize your photos into time and event albums, and a “timeline” to sort through photos based on times and year. The event pocket gathers everything from busy schedules from different pockets for a smarter and more connected calendar. The smart notice widget has also improved, and notifications and alerts are now more useful and personal. The device will also come with 100GB of Drive storage for free. For Volkswagen car owners, Mirror Link is rolling out with an upcoming update in select markets.
Lee closed the event by thanking everyone for coming and saying these somewhat cheesy yet oddly inspiring words: “This world is one great experience…! Your smartphone should enhance it, it shouldn’t interrupt it. Life’s Good, and at LG Mobile, we want to make sure that we are helping, making it great!”. We are sure of one thing: the G4 looks phenomenal, and we can’t wait to hear more about it and its reception!
What do you think of the LG G4? Tell us below!
Special thanks to CNET for providing the livestream of the event!
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