LG G4 hands-on, first impressions

LG Mobile today announced the successor to the venerable LG G3 with special focus on refining the details and improving on the camera optics for the LG G4. We attended the regional launch here in Singapore and went straight to our actual hands-on impressions.

The G4 still had a lot of things in common with its predecessor. LG used the original design and form factor of the G3, from the 5.5-inch display and the Rear Key.

LG explicitly communicated that they don’t want the G4 to look like just any other smartphone (referencing the design similarities of the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6) thus the approach to realizing a premium feel is by using an authentic leather (as against the faux leather that Samsung introduced last year).

And it’s pretty evident. The look and feel of the leather back cover exudes elegance and premium feel. Perhaps, the LG G4 might be one of the very few devices you don’t want to wrap with a case or cover.

Aside form the leather cover, LG also has a standard ceramic finish back cover with a diamond pattern. We were told that the pricing for the two cover designs will be significantly different.

The LG G4 is available in handcrafted, full grain leather in six beautiful colors. The vegetable tanned leather is not only environmentally friendly but also luxurious, using genuine leather instead of the usual faux material that other smartphones use. Other material options for the G4 rear cover are pure Ceramic White with 3D patterns, artisan-forged Metallic Gray and lustrous Shiny Gold.

Compared to the G3, the LG G4 looks similar from the front side. The design of the Rear Key is more similar with the G Pro 2 rather than the G3. The bezels are as thin as the G3 with a screen-to-body ratio of 72%.

The rest of the improvements introduced by LG are harder to distinguish unless we inspect closer.

LG G4 specs:
5.5-inch QHD IPS Quantum Display @ 1440×2560 pixels, 538ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Qualcomm MSM8992 Snapdragon 808 1.8GHz hexa-core processor
Adreno 418 GPU
3GB RAM
32GB internal storage
128GB via microSD card
X10 LTE 450Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.0, A2DP, LE, apt-X
NFC
Infrared
FM Radio, RDS
GPS with aGPS support, GLONASS
16MP f/1.8 AF rear camera with dual LED, dual tone Flash
8MP front camera
2160p video recording
Camera RAW support
Android 5.1 Lollipop
3,000mAh removable Li-Ion battery

The new 16MP camera with f1.8 aperture and 1/2.6″ sensor size looks pretty interesting. We will compare it’s performance against the older G3 once we get a review unit.

For the Singapore market, LG SG is offering the G4 with an extra 3,000mAh battery and external battery charger.

LG did not share pricing for regional but we’re expecting a release date of end of May or first week of June for the Philippines.