LG G6 review - evaluate the characteristics of the smartphone. LG G6 - Specifications Lg g6 full review

Another interesting feature that became available thanks to the use of such a display was the ability to immediately create a collage of four pictures, which is instantly displayed on the screen. Also, when shooting, you can select an artistic mode: at the bottom of the screen, pictures of eminent photographers will be displayed. This allows you to accurately repeat a beautiful frame without much effort and collect a lot of likes.

In addition, FullVision is great for multi-window mode. Two simultaneously running applications fit perfectly on such a screen, and this greatly increases productivity. After all, you can write a letter in parallel and look for the necessary links in the browser or chat in in social networks and throw off funny pictures without unnecessary gestures.

Smartphone LG G6 Platinum (H870DS)

Smartphone LG G6 White (H870DS)

27645 r.

Smartphone LG G6 Black (H870DS)

Conclusion

LG G6 has become one of the few truly "new" smartphones. Korean engineers not only improved performance and enlarged the screen, but created something unusual, amazing and memorable. Frankly, the company had problems finding its own style, but it seems that LG was able to "find itself" and made not just an unusual trinket, but a convenient and functional device. The G6 boasts top-of-the-line hardware, a premium chassis, water resistance, an excellent camera, and an unusually user-friendly display. It was created specifically for those who are tired of the usual flagships and are looking for something new.

We already told you about the LG G6 during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ​​where the smartphone was presented. Then, according to the first sensations, I liked the smartphone. Unusual display and its aspect ratio, materials, cameras - LG tried. But first impressions are one thing, and the full experience of use is another. Our LG G6 review is based on 1 month of experience.

Specifications

Let's immediately close all the questions on the LG G6 hardware. The smartphone has 4 GB of RAM, 32 or 64 GB of permanent memory, Adreno 530 graphics and last year's Snapdragon 821 processor. At the same time, its power is enough for all games without exception and it will be relevant for a long time to come. It is not so important that the smartphone does not have the most top-end solution. Much more important is how it actually works. AT WoT Blitz The game runs smoothly on max settings. FPS drops, but not much. In general, the device is very nimble and there are no questions at all in terms of performance. Therefore, the absence of the latest and most powerful Snapdragon 835 in the LG G6, if it affects, then only at the level of the psychology of the user himself.

Design and appearance

For many, when buying a smartphone, its design and appearance are more important. In this matter, the LG G6 turned out to be calm, without any bright elements, and there is nothing annoying about it either. The smartphone is pleasant, and lies very well in the hand. Weighs only 163 grams and is 25 grams lighter than the iPhone 7 Plus. The tactile experience of the LG G6 is exceptionally pleasant. The back cover is made of Gorilla Glass 5 generation. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 generation. A bit of a strange decision. Customers are offered three colors to choose from: black, as in our case, gray and white. The colors are not the brightest, but they look good.

Water and dust protection IP68

In terms of controls, everything is familiar here. Behind the power button combined with a fingerprint scanner, on the left side of the volume rocker. Bottom speaker and Type-C connector, top 3.5 mm. headphone jack. The G6 is IP68 water and dust resistant and MIL-STD-810G drop and shock resistant. The G6 has a hybrid SIM tray, meaning you can use either two SIM cards or a SIM card and a memory card.

Display

LG was the first on the market to introduce a smartphone with an aspect ratio of 18:9 - essentially 2 to 1. The display is elongated and contains more information. Due to the narrow bezels and such a screen, it turns out that the dimensions of the G6 are at the level of smartphones with a screen diagonal of 5.2 inches. And this despite the fact that the G6 display has a diagonal of 5.7 inches. In reality, the screen does not feel large due to the fact that it is elongated. But if you compare the screen of the LG G6 with the screen of the Nexus 6P, it turns out that the latter is noticeably larger.

The display itself is in the G6 IPS with a resolution of 2880 by 1440 pixels. There are no roundings, 2.5D glass, and despite this it is convenient to use. The display supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 technologies. There is an Always On feature, when some information is shown on the display all the time. The display itself is very bright, with excellent viewing angles, there are no complaints about LG at all. By the way, the screen occupies almost 80% of the front surface, so the device is so compact.

New aspect ratio

As for the unusual aspect ratio, most applications automatically adjust to it. This can also be forced in the settings of the smartphone itself. The truth of the game in this way is not to adjust the display. For example, in WoT Blitz there are stripes along the edges, but not significant and almost imperceptible. Video on YouTube is also not stretched and again there are black bars around the edges. But on a black smartphone they are not visible. The LG G6 is no longer the only smartphone on the market with this ratio. Perhaps before the end of the year we will see several more devices with such a screen, which means that game, software and content manufacturers will eventually begin to change the ratios in their products.

cameras

In G6, the company did not reinvent the wheel and simply took last year's developments. There are two cameras of 13 megapixels. One is wide-angle with f2.4 aperture and an angle of 125 degrees, and the second is also 13 megapixels, but with autofocus, optical stabilization and f1.8 aperture. In sum, this makes it possible to take shots with a very wide angle or ordinary normal photos with an angle of 71 degrees. The camera is good, and given the wide-angle optics, almost unique. In travel and urban landscapes, such a camera will be more than relevant. Pictures in the daytime are rich and detailed. In the dark, they also turn out clear. The G6 may not have the best camera, but it's definitely a very good one with its own features. For example, when choosing manual focus, focus peaking is provided here. That is, the focus area illumination. This helps a lot with manual focusing. Special thanks for this.

The front camera in the LG G6 is 5 MP, also with a wide angle of 100 degrees. It is convenient to take group selfies.

launcher

The only thing I want to scold the G6 a little for is the design of the launcher. It is too colorful, and the settings are so overloaded that it is very difficult to find something, despite the logical distribution of points. The design itself is a bit dated. Therefore, it is best to install a third-party launcher, such as Pixel or Nova launcher, and thereby change the appearance of the desktop. So everything becomes nicer and more modern. Works LG G6 on Android 7.0 and proprietary shell UX 6.0. Most likely in the near future, the smartphone will be updated to 7.1 and maybe there is not far from the redrawn interface.

autonomy

The battery in the G6 is 3300 mAh. It seems that for a 5.7-inch smartphone this is not enough, but it provides a day of full-fledged work. Optimization in the LG G6 is at a very high level, and in standby mode, the G6 does not waste energy at all. In terms of autonomy, the smartphone is far from a champion, but there is Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging. From zero to 100% G6 charges in 1 hour 45 minutes, and up to 50% in just 35 minutes.

Sound

Another feature of the G6 is a 32-bit DAC (digital-to-analog converter). Initially, there was information that only the American version of the smartphone would receive the DAC, but this turned out not to be the case. The LG G6 sounds great. With the Quad DAC turned on, you get a very detailed sound with big bass and highs, while with the Quad DAC turned off, the sound is more towards the middle. With good headphones, you can get a very decent set for listening to uncompressed tracks. There is only one speaker in the smartphone, it is loud, but without claims for depth or volume.

LG G6 is an attempt by the company to regain its former position. Now the battery cannot be changed by yourself, but the smartphone has received such an important function as protection against water and falls. They finished off an unsuccessful idea with modules, but now engineers have a new entertainment - a 2 to 1 screen. The entire shell was redrawn under it, but something still wasn’t thought through.

Here is the first thing you need to know about the smartphone. In no case can it be compared with previous generations. was gorgeous. with his own zest (leather on the back), but he was no longer so cheerful. - absolutely no device that could not be bought. Now we have the G6 and that's another story. It is unlike any of its predecessors. The only thing that unites our hero with them: the letter "G" and positioning as a flagship. Although ... we still have one, which is also not bad-looking.

And now to business.

Equipment

Traditionally, the Russian representative office does not indulge in a complete set - I only had a smartphone. Not scary. I know how to use Google and will be happy to tell you what is included in the kit:

• Charger
• USB Type-C cable
• OTG adapter
• wired headphones

Design

The appearance of the smartphone is at least original. And as a maximum, the G6 is very good-looking. I gravitate more towards the second option. But let's go in order.

The metal frame here is the most common, with slots for connectors, with inserts for antennas - nothing interesting. The speaker is also alone, although many top-end devices are already starting to deviate from this rule.

The speaker is slightly above average in volume, but its quality is not so hot. At 100% volume, the speaker starts to wheeze, at 80% everything returns to normal.

On the front we have a completely flat protective glass Gorilla Glass 3. Yes, 2.5D glass is now in vogue. But wait, there must be some variety!

I really liked the idea with the rounded edges of the display. Looks cool and original! Unfortunately, there are two BUT.

Firstly, the corners on the front panel are perfectly round, but the pixels of the screen itself are “cut off” roughly, and my inner perfectionist can’t put up with it.

Secondly, not all applications have an interface adapted to this feature. However, more on that later.

The side frames here are moderately thin. The smartphone is convenient to use - there are no phantom touches.

Behind the device is even more interesting. First, here we have Gorilla Glass 5 glass. It is curved in all directions. The light shimmers beautifully on the bends - it looks great.

Despite the 5th generation of protective glass from Corning, it still scratches. I don’t know what previous reviewers did with the device, but I handled it quite carefully. However, there are still scratches. Although there were none around the perimeter of the bumper, it means that the smartphone was not thrown to the ground.

On top are two symmetrical camera eyes, and below it is a power button with a built-in fingerprint scanner. This solution is convenient, so we will not raise controversy on the transfer of the “Power” key. It's good that LG is true to its traditions. Partly.

The scanner works great. The device is unlocked in 10 and 10 cases. Fast enough, but not record-breaking fast, as, for example, .

It's also nice that the camera modules do not protrude above the body. This is how it should always be for everyone!

Protection from everything

I decided to talk about smartphone protection standards in a separate paragraph. Believe me, this is one of the main features of the smartphone.

The minimum requirement for the flagship of 2017 is the presence of protection against moisture and dust IP68. Here G6 fails. The smartphone can be safely bathed in the pool, taken with you to the bath, dropped into the mud and then rinsed under running water. However, LG went further.

The device is drop resistant. Moreover, we are not talking about falling on a carpet or laminate. Here we have adult protection, confirmed by the American military certificate MIL-STD-810G. It is understood that the device can fall from a height of 180 centimeters onto a concrete floor and nothing will happen to it. I saw such an experiment with my own eyes, so I know what I'm talking about.

By the way, the G6 is also good because it is not at all as slippery as, for example,. Glass traditionally clings to fingers better than matte metal.

But what Korean engineers could do more reliably is the SIM card tray. Feels like it is made of some kind of dense rubber or thin plastic. Basically, it broke for me. No crime, I just took it out with a paperclip as usual and this is what came of it.

Display

The second key feature of the smartphone is a screen with an aspect ratio of 18:9 or 2 to 1. Let me remind you that so far the 4:3 standard reigns supreme.

There is something to praise, and there is something to scold.

So here's what I liked:

1. With this ratio, it is very convenient to watch Hollywood blockbusters. It is known that the Star Factory now adheres to the 21:9 standard, and on the G6 display, black bars are minimal at the top and bottom. In addition, you can use your finger to expand the picture to fill the G6 screen. And here's your second plus.

2. Cool! Cinema with neatly rounded rather than right angles looks really interesting. The same can be said for the system's default desktop or camera app when the viewfinder opens to full screen. This is where the positives end and the harsh reality begins.

1. LG came up with a feature, but failed to adapt it properly. As a result, in most applications, the bottom of the display is eaten by virtual touch keys. Yes, they sometimes crawl away from the screen, but not in all programs. And on Instagram at the bottom there are two strips with control keys at once: some are systemic, others are from the application itself.

Where the main interface is made in a color other than black or light gray, the bottom bar with keys looks simply ridiculous. If anything, there are 95% of such applications.

In the parameters, you can expand each program to full screen (18:9) and it works - the top status bar becomes the same color as the interface of a particular utility. However, the bottom bar with the buttons does not disappear anywhere.

Why couldn't this strip be made transparent? Or at least adapting to the colors of the main background? In general, after the wow effect, you begin to understand that it would be better if the screen were ordinary - rectangular, and the touch buttons were brought to the case.

2. The manufacturer claims that the display we have is 5.7 inches and he managed to fit such large panel in a compact body. On the one hand, this is true. However, we say “thank you” to the touch buttons, which noticeably reduce the real diagonal to 5.39 inches. I was not too lazy, I measured.

As a result, instead of 5.7, we have a screen of only 5.39 inches. So a good idea meets with bad implementation.

Remove the touch buttons somewhere from the screen ...

Otherwise, there are no complaints about the screen. This is a high-quality IPS-matrix with a very serious resolution - 2880 x 1440 pixels. The density of dots per inch is 564 ppi.

Oh yes! Another figure that is now fashionable to compete. The screen occupies 80.7% of the front side area. Wow!

I will not talk about support for HDR 10 and Dolby Vision. Soon we will have a separate material on this topic with all the figures and facts. I'll add a link here.

Specifications of LG G6 (Model LGH870DS)

When a new generation of some flagship comes out, I compare its characteristics with its predecessor. For more clarity. However, the G6 is a machine very different from the . So we won't compare them.

• 5.7" IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3, 2880 x 1440 pixels (564 ppi)
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 processor (four Kryo cores with clock frequency 2.35 GHz)
• graphics accelerator Adreno 530
• 4 GB LPDDR4 RAM (1817 MB free after reboot)
• Flash memory 64 GB type UFC 2.0 (actually available 49.78 GB)
• support for Micro SD cards up to 2TB
• two rear cameras: 13 + 13 MP with a viewing angle of 71 and 125 degrees and dual (f / 1.8 and f / 2.4, 4K recording)
• front module 5 MP (f / 2.2, 100-degree lens)
• 3300 mAh battery + Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
• Android 7.0 OS (Google Assistant support - English only for now)
• shell LG UX 6.0
• sensors: compass, proximity sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, sensor
• illumination, fingerprint scanner
• connectors: USB Type-C 2.0 (OTG works), 3.5 mm output
• case dimensions: 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9mm
• weight 163 grams
• body colors: white, black, platinum
• protection against moisture, dust IP68 and drops

Wireless standards:

• 4G (LTE bands: 3, 7, 20, 38, 40)
• support for two Nano SIM (slot combined with Micro SD)
• Wi-Fi (802.11 ac 2.4 and 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, FM radio
• navigation: GPS, GLONASS, Beidou

Performance

How does it happen? You pick up another flagship, admire its reactive work and don’t want to use anything else. So this cannot be said about the G6.

I do not know why, but in operation it does not at all resemble a device for 52 thousand rubles. The interface is thoughtful at times, applications do not launch instantly, the camera takes a long time to open, photographing does not differ in rate of fire. Furthermore! A couple of times I praised real and noticeable brakes in third-party programs. Yes, engineers cannot be responsible for the performance of applications from third-party developers, but there are no such problems on other devices (for example).

And yes, I will not scold the smartphone for the fact that it has a 2016 processor - Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, at a time when all newly released flagships receive and will receive the 835th “dragon”. I will only scold the device for the fact that at the same time it costs 52 thousand rubles - almost the same as samsung galaxy S8, and a fresh chipset was just placed there.

Let me remind you that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is not only a performance boost. The new "stone" includes a modem that provides LTE speeds up to 1 Gb / s, as well as Bluetooth 5.0. These are innovations for which you can overpay and not a little, but when they are not there ... we pay for other chips. Fortunately, the G6 has them.

For example, this is sound transmission via Bluetooth using the aptX HD codec or the same Dolby Vision. So far, only the flagship from LG and no other smartphone in the world can boast of these bells and whistles.

Let's get back to performance. Now there is no task that would be too tough for our hero. I am sure that nothing will change in the next year. And if you are not an advanced mobile gamer, then the safety margin of the G6 is easily enough for 2-3 years. That's just the system is optimized and everything will be hoo!

cameras

I especially liked the work of HDR. I once set the function to auto and forgot. Pay attention to the examples of pictures - they are all very contrasting, and these are not the most simple conditions filming. We say thank you for this evening sun. Fortunately, the algorithms easily coped with too dark areas of the frames. Not perfect, but still very good.

Night shots are also decent. And this is perhaps the most difficult shooting conditions for any technique.

And now the same two-chamber chip. You approached the building almost very close, and a maximum of a door fits into the lens. For the G6, this is not a problem. Switched the shooting to wide-angle mode and everything fit into the frame. Gorgeous!

Of course, at this angle there is a barrel effect. Without it, nowhere. It all looks like the pictures were taken on some kind of action camera. So much the better - why two devices, when everything is combined into one - into a smartphone.

Now for what I didn't like. LG is pushing Collage features and square ratio shooting. I remind you that exactly two such squares fit on the 2 to 1 screen and it looks cool on the smartphone display. When you open pictures on a computer, you understand that all this is pampering - algorithms greatly cut the quality of the photo. Otherwise, I, in principle, did not expect.

There is a mode for creating 360-degree shots. However, this is actually a hoax, because the smartphone makes the most common panorama and adds a blur from below and above to match the primary colors in the photo.

And there is no optical stabilization. Absolutely not. For the flagship, for which they ask for 52 thousand rubles, this is simply unacceptable.

The smartphone can shoot 4K video at 30 frames per second. The quality of the video stream is chic, there is simply nothing to complain about.

What can not be said about the Slow Motion mode. The resolution is only 1280 x 720, and the FPS rate is 120. At the same time, the quality of the videos is no, moreover, even on the smartphone screen.

I remind you that back in the fall I set a new bar in this regard. Now we have a reference - 1080p at 120 FPS, and 720p slows down the movement at 240 FPS.

Sound quality

Pleases two things. LG engineers did not kill the 3.5 mm jack, although they could have easily done so. Moreover, the device supports the aptX HD codec from Qualcomm. And this is the second moment that warms my soul.

Most recently, we talked in detail about what this aptX HD is. I recommend this standard, because it is the future. And the G6 is ahead of the rest here.

In short, the sound quality when transmitting a signal to Bluetooth headphones with support for such a codec is higher than on a CD. That is, WAW, FLAC and other Hi-Res formats - all this is a story about a really cool sound. If anything, at the moment there are only 5 smartphones with such support, 3 of which are from LG.

I was lucky, I just have the right headset - . She knows how to decrypt the codec we need and that's what I can say about this.

The sound quality of these wireless headphones is amazing!

I can't say that I am a great listener, but for the first time I hear and feel the difference between wired connection and Bluetooth transmission. The last option, in theory, should be inferior to the cable, but not this time. However, the difference is quite small, it seemed to me that way.

Shell

There is nothing from Android 7 in the form in which Google bequeathed it to us. Everything is tightly closed by the proprietary shell LG UX 6.0. However, do not be upset, because the superstructure is stylish, beautiful and bright.

It has its own logic, which you need to get used to. However, what smartphone does not have it?

The developers are proud that the interface is adapted to the screen with a ratio of 18:9. Applications can be scaled two to one in portrait and landscape orientations. In fact, it looks very ridiculous - again, we say “thank you” to the wide strip with touch buttons.

In general, if you are waiting for some new experience from software on a screen with such a ratio, then do not wait. The G6 is just a smartphone, with an elongated display that makes it a little more comfortable to watch Hollywood content. And that's it.

Battery Life

The built-in battery is only 3300 mAh. And given the rather “hot” iron inside, it would be foolish to count on something extraordinary.

LG G6 works one light day and no more.

I disconnected the device from the outlet at 8 am and be prepared that it will be discharged to zero by 8 pm.

The screen glow time in my case did not exceed 3-4 hours, and this despite the fact that I left all wireless protocols turned on in general, activated the Always-on-display function, and, taking into account the IPS matrix, it raises one percent of the charge per hour.

Samsung Galaxy S8, and - all owners of the new Snapdragon 835 processor. However, the smartphone has its own unique features that, for certain needs, can play a decisive role.

Pros:

• Nice, at least original design
• Rounded display - essentially useless, but cool feature
• Unbreakable screen (will go for two pluses at once)
• Waterproof IP68
• Wide-angle lens is a great replacement for an action camera
• aptX HD codec support
• Beautiful video with Dolby Vision (special content required)

Minuses:

• "On paper" the diagonal is 5.7'', but in fact 5.3'' - the on-screen buttons eat up the useful area of ​​the display
• Not a flagship processor
• Weak front camera
• Lack of optical stabilization
• Performance still needs to be improved
• Not very strong battery

Taking into account all the pros and cons, the smartphone turned out to be very interesting anyway. However, for sure, it does not cost 51,990 rubles, but that is how much they are now asking for it in official retail. Let me remind you that abroad it costs from $650 to $750 and this cost is much more in line with the level of the device.

The LG G5 was lukewarmly received by critics and the general public. After the stylish G4, the company offered a very boring-looking device, replacing the skin with metal and relying on a modular design. Only the metal was hidden under the plastic, and the implementation of modularity was not the most successful. This year, the company decided to correct all the mistakes made, abandoned the modularity and minimized the frame on all sides. Let's see how the LG G6 turned out in the end.

Specifications LG G6:

• Network: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA (900/2100 MHz), FDD-LTE (Band 3, 7, 20), TDD-LTE (Band 38, 40)
• Platform: Android 7.0 Nougat with LG UX
• Display: 5.7", 2880x1440 pixels, 18:9, 564 ppi, IPS, HDR +, Dolby Vision
• Camera: dual, dual LED flash, video recording [email protected]
  Primary: 13 MP, f / 1.8, capture angle 71 degrees
  Additional: 13 MP, f / 2.4, capture angle 125 degrees
• Front camera: 5 MP, f / 2.2, capture angle 100 degrees
• Processor: 4 cores Kryo, up to 2.35 GHz, 64 bits, Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
• Graphics chip: Adreno 530
• RAM: 4 GB
• Internal memory: 32/64/128 GB
• Memory card: microSD (up to 2 TB)
• A-GPS
• FM radio
• Bluetooth 4.2
• Audio: ESS Saber ES9218+ DAC
• Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Concurrency
• Ports: USB Type-C 2.0, 3.5mm headphone
• Led indicator
• The fingerprint scanner
• Battery: non-removable, 3300 mAh
• Fast Charging: Quick Charge 3.0
• Protection: IP68, MIL-STD-810G
• Dimensions: 148.9x71.9x7.9 mm
• Weight: 163 g

Video review

Equipment and design

LG G6 comes in a small and modest-looking black box. Inside, the buyer is waiting for the smartphone itself, a branded piece of cloth for cleaning the device from fingerprints, a needle for removing the SIM card (there are two nano-SIM trays, one of which can also accept microSD), a set of documentation, a USB cable, a charger (up to 16.2 W) and good headphones.

LG G6 in Russia is presented in three colors - black, gray-blue and white with pink frames. In black, the G6 looks very personal, while in others, black frames around the screen can strain you. The design can be described as very neat and calm - there are no conspicuous elements, accents, absurdities. All design elements are made as less noticeable and bright as possible, so as not to draw attention to themselves. Small and flat volume buttons, a barely noticeable logo under the screen, a tiny earpiece - all together create a whole picture of calm and peace. An exception is made only for the G6 badge on the back.

The main design feature of the LG G6 is, of course, frameless. According to our calculations, the width of the side frames was 3.58 mm, and the top and bottom padding in total was only 19.4 mm. As a result, the screen occupies 78.32% of the front surface. The display itself has a diagonal of 5.7 "and a resolution of 2880x1440 pixels, the pixel density is 564 ppi. The corners of the screen are rounded, but this does not affect the use of the device.

The display is made using IPS technology, and ten-touch multi-touch is built right into the pixel layer (In-Cell Touch). Using IPS means excellent White color, but not the best black - with Always On Display turned on, the screen borders are easily distinguishable. By the way, Always On Display on IPS is generally a big nonsense that sucks out battery power. Viewing angles are perfect, with only slight color shifts under the strongest tilts. Color reproduction is good, which is typical for this type of screen (although the temperature has a slight bias towards the cold). HDR10 and Dolby Vision are supported - if you find content for them, then you are great fellows.

And if LG is doing well with the design and the screen is also cool, then there are enough complaints about ergonomics and the choice of materials. Although, it would seem, the dimensions are more than acceptable (148.9x71.9 mm) and at least the ergonomics should be on top. But no. The volume buttons are placed high. The lock button on the rear panel is not always convenient either. The fingerprint scanner built into it, by the way, recognizes me every other time. But here's what you can't argue with - it's with the fact that the device can be used with one hand, it is not at all huge.

Now about the materials. Both the front and back panels of the smartphone are made of glass, which collects fingerprints well. They are easy to wipe off even without a complete cloth. The glass for the main cameras is separate - and I always thought that this was done in order to protect the camera with more durable glass. But LG did the opposite - it is almost impossible to fray the back panel, but the part with the cameras is covered with scratches very quickly. The assembly is excellent, there is dust and moisture protection according to the IP68 standard (judging by the warranty card, sometimes water ingress into the case is even a warranty case). You can believe in the impact resistance of the LG G6 right up to the moment you drop it and break it. It is the most common, like other glass-metal phones. Of the five G6s I saw without chips, cracks and with a whole camera glass, there was only one device. Our.

Software

LG G6 is based on operating system Android 7.0 Nougat, an update to Oreo will most likely follow. The "green robot" is hidden behind the LG UX shell, which causes little sympathy. The general style, the organization of the application menu and many little things in the system return the user almost to the era of Android 4.x. At the same time, I can’t even praise the shell for its wide functionality, I didn’t find any particularly interesting functions in it (except that unlocking Knock Code is a very cool thing). Maybe he didn't notice something. In general, look at the screenshots, we have a lot of them.

Sound

The ESS ES9218+ DAC is responsible for the sound in the smartphone. It's a Hi-Fi Quad solution and LG claims it delivers 50% purer sound than a single DAC. In general, I try to talk about sound from the point of view that it is very individual and a lot depends on what files to listen to, with what headphones. Therefore, everything may seem different to you. And in order to be as objective as possible, I listened to the same songs in the same headphones (the choice fell on the Denon D7200 and Plantronics BackBeat PRO 2) on the LG G6, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Aquaris X Pro and Meizu Pro 7 Plus, in turn changing them. Of course, I would arrange a blind audition in order to exclude the brand factor, but this is somehow later.

In general, LG G6 with Hi-Fi mode (it can be turned off to save energy), I liked its sound more than Aquaris X Pro with ESS Saber ES9118 DAC - the Spaniard plays almost as cleanly, but there is less volume reserve and lower frequencies are recouped less energetic. I liked the Pro 7 Plus with the Cirrus Logic CS43130 DAC more bass, it has noticeably more headroom, but the G6 plays cleaner - for rock, which I respect the most, Meizu would be preferable. Well, the Galaxy Note 8 seemed nothing against the background of the G6. Of course, it has an equalizer, emulation of a tube amplifier, but it just plays dirty and boring. Samsung has improved its flagships in many ways last years And it's time to start doing audio.

So I praised the phones for the sound, but do not think that they are able to outshine the sound of some cheap Chinese audio player for 10 thousand. Not to mention expensive portable solutions or stationary DACs to listen to music from a PC. Denon D7200 headphones play with the not the most expensive Audinst DX1 amp in a way that neither LG nor Meizu can even come close to - they are simply not capable of delivering the same depth of sound, such a headroom and such a width of the stage. All smartphones with DACs are such budget audiophile solutions. Almost all flagships already play plus or minus the same way, for which thanks to Qualcomm and its codec, so don’t worry and better look for headphones. Ideally wireless. I, as a person who has a $1,500 hi-fi player, who has expensive denons and beyers, prefer a bunch of a smartphone and Bluetooth headphones for flights. Because it’s convenient without wires, because any smartphone will give a head start in controlling any player, because at an altitude of 10 thousand meters noise reduction decides, and you simply won’t hear any audiophile nuances - I tried, believe me. In general, take high-quality wireless headphones and you will be happy.

Camera

The main camera of the LG G6 is dual. Both modules have a resolution of 13 megapixels and differ not only in the image capture angle, but also in aperture ratio, autofocus (the “width” does not have it). For a standard camera, this is quite a modest 71 degrees, while for a widescreen camera it is as much as 125 degrees. Along with a change in the capture angle, the aperture ratio is expected to change - f / 1.8 for the main camera and f / 2.4 for the “wide”. The proprietary camera application allows you to both shoot in "auto" and adjust the settings for the pictures manually. In this case, the photographer has a histogram and level at his disposal, and you can also highlight the boundaries of objects in focus.

We did not bother with manual mode, because most smartphone buyers are not photographers and prefer to shoot on auto, minimally interfering with the process. In addition, the LG G6 usually turns out to be good in a car. Of course, there are bad shots, but they are minimal. For the most part, LG produces well-detailed shots with calm yet accurate colors, good noise reduction, and well-proportioned lighting. The G6 does not shy away from very bright colors and shooting in low light.

A lot of what I said applies to the wide-angle camera too. Although it certainly shoots a little worse - not so cool detail, distortion, problems with image quality in low light. However, these are all common problems with any wide-angle cameras, and so far no one in the world of smartphones is able to offer a wide-angle shooting quality comparable to the LG G6. And we personally really like the distortion from the “width”, it has a special charm. By the way, you can make collages from pictures on a regular and wide-angle camera, but this is some kind of meaningless function. I don't know why it's needed.

regular camera - wide angle camera

Now let's talk about video. It is recorded on both cameras in 4K resolution (2160p) at a frame rate of 30 fps. Videos can also be written in simple and professional modes; in the second, you can adjust both the picture and sound parameters. There is a windmill (in the absence of wind, turning it on makes the sound recording louder), the ability to adjust the sensitivity of the microphones and some other parameters that mere mortals do not even understand. But even without all this, in normal mode, the LG G6 shoots excellent videos with good detail and stabilization. I am glad to be able to switch between the two cameras right during the shooting (for example, ASUS Zenfone 4 had to turn off the recording to change the camera). In the evening, the quality of shooting video on the "width" falls as expected (remember the aperture ratio?), But the usual camera remains good.

You can shoot panoramas, including 360-degree panoramas, which are then adapted for viewing in a VR helmet. There is a function for shooting short animations, for some reason called clips, slow-mo (saved as 120-fps video) and time-lapses (from x10 to x60). As for the front camera, it uses a 5-megapixel sensor with wide-angle optics (100 degrees). Selfies are sad, at the level of budget smartphones, which is strange, given the advanced main module. Examples above.

Performance and Benchmarks

The biggest compromise LG made with the G6 is hardware. There is no Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, which is installed in most of this year's flagships, here is last year's Snapdragon 821. It is complemented by 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory, of which 2 GB and 51.27 GB are available to the user after the first inclusion, respectively. Then the situation with the available RAM gets worse, now, when I write this text, after "completely clearing" the memory, CPU-Z shows 1.2 GB of free RAM. We have already discussed the situation in games in detail - in order not to repeat ourselves, we will attach a spring video and a link to the text to it.

Well, benchmarks:

Judging by AnTuTu, all these months LG engineers did not sit idly by and somehow tried to deal with throttling. As a result, the result in AnTuTu for three runs does not fall from 153 thousand to 105 thousand, but from 155 thousand to 123 thousand. The scores in GFXBench Manhattan between the regular and long tests also differ less - the drop is not from 1006 to 479.5 frames, but from 1063 to 590.1. The final victory is still very far away (that is, it will not happen), but there is definitely progress. There is also heating, but I did not manage to heat up the LG G6 very much. The smartphone remained such that it could be safely held in the hands.

Battery capacity LG G6 is 3300 mAh. In our traditional video playback test, it lasted 7 hours and 17 minutes, which is not bad for a device with an IPS screen at maximum brightness. The discharge per hour in Asphalt Extreme was 14% - according to G6, this means that the smartphone will last for 5.5 hours, according to mathematics - which is 7-7.5 hours. Probably better than a smartphone. In general, even with the most active use, the LG G6 will last your entire day, and in more measured scenarios, two.

conclusions

However, nothing new: the usual color reproduction is not only for LG, but in general for any modern flagships. The only exceptions are Samsung and Motorola.

New - in sound! By and large, flagship LG got a 32-bit Quad DAC at its disposal back in 2015, with the announcement of the V10. Then the sound migrated to the G6 and V20, but de facto had almost no effect on the sound quality of the smartphone. In G6, everything is completely different! The smartphone itself sounds pretty good - not super-detailed, but the volume is already “adult”, the low frequencies are a little narrower, the high ones are muffled, the “middle” sings in the ears. With the activation of the Quad DAC (LG is silent about which model is inside. It is likely that the same ESS ES9218 borrowed from the LG V20) the volume ceiling rises sharply, the detail increases so that you start to notice defects in MP3 files, the scene becomes wider, the bottoms "inflate", but in moderation and do not hammer on the ears. A very successful configuration for high-impedance monitor headphones.

But with vacuum "plugs" very soon it begins to ring in the ears from excessive clear percussion and hissing sounds in the vocals. It makes sense to get into the equalizer and make the sound a little softer. But in sound detailing, it’s better to “overdo it than not do it”: if LG had a bad sound path with distortions and background noise, the “twists” would definitely not have helped it out.

I would be wary of comparing the LG G6 to the ZTE Axon 7 and its AKM AK4961, but with the Quad DAC activated, our test hero sounds much better than the Xiaomi Mi5s, OnePlus 3, or LeEco Le Pro 3. The edge over the Galaxy S7 edge is not very great, but in high-quality files, it will be noticeable that Samsung is a little “not holding out”.

The speaker is of high quality, about the same as in the Galaxy S7 or iPhone 7. The volume level is slightly above average, low frequencies are not felt, no "meat" or drama. So it's not bad, but a little annoying that in the LG G5 with the same dimensions, the speaker sounds louder, clearer, and more bass.

Iron

The performance of LG's flagships is a three-year-old tragedy. In 2013 and 2014, LG was ahead of the curve with its Quad HD display in the G3, and only the Snapdragon 801 with so many dots was pushed to its limits. Therefore, the speed of the smartphone did not shine, but everyone understood that innovative technologies require sacrifice. In 2015, Qualcomm, to put it mildly, messed up with overheating of its Snapdragon 810, so the LG G4 was forced to get a six-core "stump" with an index of 808. It's a sin to blame the Koreans for this - the MediaTek Helio X10 was even worse, and there were no other options left.