LG G4 review: Sharp and shooter

Display

LG caused a collective jaw drop last year when it announced that its new flagship phone will have a massive, incredibly sharp screen - 5.5" at QHD. It kept those measurements for 2015 (there's really no sane way to increase them further) and worked hard to improve the image quality.

The new Quantum Display is similar to Sony's Triluminos display, both companies competing in the TV panel business. LG turned to DCI (which normally works with TV studios) to calibrate the LG G4 display, achieving 98% coverage of the DCI standard, which means accurate colors with no oversaturation.

If anything, lack of saturation was the problem with LG G3's screen, colors looked dull in comparison. The other major issue was the contrast, which was quite low.

The Quantum Display fixes both of those niggles. Colors are vivid (but not oversaturated) and viewing angles are perfect. The display is marginally dimmer (hard to notice without measurement equipment), but black levels went down which pushed contrast way up.

We have one complaint here - the brightness slider isn't smooth, at 50% it's barely 110nit, which is too dim for daily use. Going lower than 50% is as good as switching off the screen.

While brightness is basically the same, the new screen is less reflective, which improved sunlight legibility enough to match the HTC One M9. It's pretty far from other current flagships though

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Samsung Galaxy E7
  4.485
• Samsung Galaxy A3
  4.241
• Samsung Galaxy S6
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  4.033
• Apple iPhone 5
  3.997
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3.997
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.895
• Apple iPhone 6
  3.838
• Motorola Moto X (2014)
  3.816
• Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
  3.799
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  3.679
• Oppo R5
  3.678
• Samsung Galaxy K zoom
  3.675
• Nokia Lumia 930
  3.567
• Apple iPhone 5s
  3.565
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  3.549
• Nokia Lumia 735
  3.547
• Motorola Nexus 6
  3.543
• Alcatel Idol X+
  3.527
• Apple iPhone 5c
  3.512
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  3.509
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3.487
• LG G Flex2
  3.465
• YotaPhone 2
  3.453
• Motorola RAZR MAXX
  3.42
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Samsung Galaxy S5 Active
  3.406
• Nokia Lumia 925
  3.402
• Gionee Elife S5.5
  3.386
• Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
  3.352
• Samsung Omnia W
  3.301
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  3.174
• Samsung I9000 Galaxy S
  3.155
• Samsung Ativ S
  3.129
• Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
  3.127
• Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
  3.118
• Nokia N9
  3.069
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
  3.065
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  3.023
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.97
• Samsung Galaxy Premier
  2.958
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2.95
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Lenovo S90 Sisley
  2.892
• Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express
  2.861
• BlackBerry Q10
  2.856
• Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
  2.832
• HTC Desire Eye
  2.815
• Gionee Elife S5.1
  2.812
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  2.801
• BlackBerry Z30
  2.79
• Meizu MX4 Pro
  2.765
• Sony Xperia ZR
  2.672
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Sony Xperia Z3
  2.618
• Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
  2.616
• Sony Xperia T3
  2.609
• BlackBerry Passport
  2.595
• Microsoft Lumia 640
  2.563
• Nokia Lumia 900
  2.562
• Motorola Moto G 4G
  2.546
• HTC One Max
  2.537
• Nokia Lumia 720
  2.512
• HTC One
  2.504
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2.503
• Motorola Moto G
  2.477
• vivo Xshot
  2.465
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Xiaomi Mi 4
  2.424
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  2.422
• Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
  2.416
• LG G Flex
  2.407
• HTC Desire 820
  2.372
• HTC One (M8)
  2.371
• Meizu MX4
  2.366
• Motorola RAZR i
  2.366
• Meizu m1 note
  2.362
• Sony Xperia ZL
  2.352
• HTC One M9
  2.334
• LG G4
  2.317
• HTC One (M8) for Windows
  2.291
• Oppo Find 7a
  2.279
• Alcatel One Touch Hero
  2.272
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  2.262
• Nokia Asha 311
  2.25
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  2.234
• Motorola Moto G (2014)
  2.233
• LG Nexus 5
  2.228
• Nokia Lumia 820
  2.193
• HTC One (E8)
  2.185
• Oppo N3
  2.181
• Nokia Lumia 920
  2.17
• Huawei Honor 6
  2.169
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML
  2.149
• LG Aka
  2.145
• Nokia N8
  2.144
• Nokia Lumia 620
  2.142
• Archos 50 Diamond
  2.134
• Nokia 515
  2.134
• HTC Desire 500
  2.129
• Sony Xperia C3 Dual
  2.12
• Sony Xperia acro S
  2.119
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2.119
• Nokia Lumia 1020
  2.103
• Oppo Find 5
  2.088
• Sony Xperia SL
  2.078
• Nokia Lumia 630
  2.056
• BlackBerry Z10
  2.051
• Huawei Ascend Mate7
  2.024
• Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active
  2.022
• Apple iPhone 4
  2.016
• HTC One mini
  2.003
• Xiaomi Mi 3
  2.001
• Huawei Ascend P7
  1.992
• LG G2
  1.976
• Sony Xperia E4g
  1.972
• OnePlus One
  1.961
• Oppo R819
  1.957
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
  1.955
• Lenovo Vibe X2
  1.952
• Sony Xperia Z2
  1.944
• Sony Xperia E3
  1.943
• Nokia Lumia 1320
  1.941
• HTC One mini 2
  1.94
• Samsung Galaxy Camera
  1.938
• Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
  1.935
• Sony Xperia J
  1.932
• Acer CloudMobile S500
  1.931
• ZTE Blade S6
  1.927
• LG Nexus 4
  1.926
• LG G Pro 2
  1.922
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
  1.913
• Nokia Asha 308
  1.911
• HTC Butterfly 2
  1.905
• Sony Xperia T
  1.894
• Nokia Lumia 830
  1.887
• HTC Desire X
  1.878
• HTC Windows Phone 8X
  1.873
• HTC Butterfly
  1.873
• HTC Butterfly S
  1.867
• Huawei Ascend P6
  1.865
• Huawei Ascend Mate
  1.845
• LG G2 mini
  1.838
• LG G3
  1.82
• Nokia Lumia 1520
  1.813
• HTC Desire 616 dual sim
  1.797
• Sony Xperia V
  1.792
• HTC Desire 816
  1.783
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  1.772
• HTC Desire 700 dual sim
  1.769
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• Meizu MX3
  1.754
• LG Optimus G
  1.753
• Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
  1.74
• Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
  1.735
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  1.734
• Sony Xperia SP
  1.733
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• Oppo Find 7
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• BlackBerry Q5
  1.682
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.68
• Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
  1.675
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9
  1.672
• LG Optimus GJ
  1.666
• LG Optimus 3D Max
  1.658
• HTC Desire V
  1.646
• Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
  1.632
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  1.622
• Jolla Jolla
  1.605
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1.578
• Sony Xperia go
  1.577
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160
  1.566
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  1.563
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1.552
• Motorola Moto E
  1.545
• LG Optimus 3D
  1.542
• Nokia Asha 302
  1.537
• Samsung Galaxy Core Prime
  1.507
• BlackBerry Curve 9320
  1.488
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Oppo N1
  1.47
• Sony Xperia E4
  1.467
• Meizu MX 4-core
  1.462
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Samsung Galaxy S Duos
  1.4
• Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
  1.393
• Sony Xperia M2
  1.393
• Microsoft Lumia 535
  1.393
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  1.38
• Sony Xperia E1
  1.372
• Nokia Lumia 625
  1.371
• Gigabyte GSmart G1355
  1.361
• Sony Xperia L
  1.351
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
  1.35
• Xiaomi Redmi 1S
  1.35
• HTC Desire 510
  1.34
• Sony Xperia M2 Aqua
  1.331
• Sony Xperia miro
  1.324
• Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand
  1.321
• Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
  1.315
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  1.311
• HTC Desire C
  1.3
• Nokia X
  1.291
• Sony Xperia C
  1.283
• Nokia Asha 503
  1.281
• Nokia Asha 501
  1.27
• LG Optimus L7
  1.269
• Nokia Lumia 510
  1.268
• Samsung Galaxy Fame
  1.245
• LG Optimus L9
  1.227
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Samsung Galaxy Young
  1.22
• Sony Xperia E
  1.215
• Nokia XL
  1.204
• Sony Xperia E dual
  1.203
• Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C
  1.198
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.18
• Nokia Asha 305
  1.178
• Nokia Asha 306
  1.175
• Sony Xperia neo L
  1.169
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Nokia Lumia 520
  1.161
• Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos
  1.148
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

Connectivity

The LG G4 comes with the full connectivity suite. It has 4G LTE for up to 300Mbps of download and up to 50Mbps of upload and 3G HSPA+ (42.2Mbps/5.76Mbps) when you're outside of 4G coverage.

Wi-Fi 802.11ac is no surprise, you can use the latest Wi-Fi routers at home at either 2.4GHz or 5GHz. There's also Bluetooth 4.1 with Low Energy mode and apt-X for better audio streaming.

NFC is on board as well. For file sharing you can use ShareBeam, which is LG's take on Android Beam.

For wireless multimedia streaming there's DLNA and Miracast (which can mirror your phone's screen). There's also the wired option with SlimPort 4K, which lives in the microUSB 2.0 port.

For old-school TVs you can use the IR blaster and QRemote. The app can also control audio equipment, projectors and air conditioners.

Battery life

The LG G4 comes with a 3,000mAh battery - the same capacity as the G3 and the G2 before it. The G2 was a battery life king, but the G3 was quite average. Our tests show that the LG G4 also fails to recoup the G-series former glory.

The Endurance rating worked out to 54 hours, 9 hours less than the G3. The issue was with the high standby power draw, which puts a strain on the battery even when you're not using the phone. The other disappointment was the talk time, which couldn't reach 17 hours - an 8 hour drop from the G3.

We reran the tests several times and kept getting the same results. The LG G Flex2 got basically the same results so we wonder how much responsibility Qualcomm shoulders for the lackluster battery life.

Anyway, the web browsing time was pretty good - nothing spectacular, but good. It also marks the only improvement since the G3 as the video playback is below average for the flagship class.