In memoriam: LG's great smartphone inventions

05 April 2021
The company is leaving the phone business - a business to which it had contributed so much. Here's a look back at all the innovations by LG.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • QeK
  • 05 Apr 2021

Trippex, 05 Apr 2021One last thing as I believe the perfect phone for lg come i... moreYes. The only problem with the G50 was a first-gen 5G modem that didn't work very well---plus it was a little too heavy for my taste. For those reasons I went (and still have) the very similar but notably lighter V40.

    Rip

      • p
      • patriceboccara
      • Jgb
      • 05 Apr 2021

      too much ahead of its time...

        • D
        • AnonD-834088
        • SpJ
        • 05 Apr 2021

        Like a previous poster mentioned, marketing was a big down fall LG,when was the last time you saw LG advertise a flagship on tv, samsung running all over everything with iphone on tv advertising,at one time sony was,shame realy,nokia now lg,who next 😱

          • T
          • Trippex
          • IP3
          • 05 Apr 2021

          One last thing as I believe the perfect phone for lg come in a form of LG v50 this phone has everything an Android power user would want
          1. A second screen
          2. 3.5mm jack with quad DAC amplifier
          3. No ugly camera bump
          4. An SD card slot
          5. A desktop mode like Dex
          6. One of the best cameras out there including software I have already compared that with an iPhone 12 pro and s21
          7. Fingerprint reader placed in correct position
          8. One of the best screen POLED there is
          9. Snapdragon 855 with awesome cooling system.

          And many more but the bottom line is that not many people knew about this phone so unfortunately smart marketing was the problem.

            • i
            • iComment
            • xI7
            • 05 Apr 2021

            Anonymous, 05 Apr 2021If you kept an eye on them , at one point it should have be... moreYou are just talking about G series. It is not like one because of one model they are done. It is more Chinese cheap competition - small profits, luck of innovations and many other things together. There's no point to keep business just to have it without profit. LG is making money in other fields and to keep fighting with Chinese brands is not their goal.
            Samsung is still doing good but they releasing a lit of phones yearly and US sanctions are helping a bit.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • pma
              • 05 Apr 2021

              Lg wanted to sell their top smartphones for comparable prices to Samsung flagships but with interior spec overall and I think this might be thieir main problem. Yes, maybe LG phones had some selling points but every time they cut some important corners. Ie:
              Instead of OLED screens they had been using IPS ones for MANY years (and when they finally used OLED it was interior to the Samsung's screens) they had been constantly choosing small and cheap camera sensors for their flagship phones, and for a long time mono speaker. And above that - they have been lagging in terms of software updates.

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                • Danzo
                • gER
                • 05 Apr 2021

                Marketing is the real problem.
                And the logo should be change as first thing

                  I missed out on the original G Flex, but did get to use G Flex2 in red color. It was a beautiful phone. Also had their V10 in mint green color, it looked unlike any other phone thanks to it's textured back with some square patterns on it.

                  Man, I'm gonna miss LG.

                    • L
                    • Leo
                    • Dk%
                    • 05 Apr 2021

                    My lg q6+ still works great even with android 8 and it is very strong 💪 mobile. Even my dad's redmi stops working after 3 yrs due 2 mother board disfunction which was bought with my phone. But my phone still works like a new one. And it fell from 6 feet more than 100 times still doesn't get a single scratch on screen.

                    Lg company Please don't shutdown your mobile section. Continue thos

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • 3yL
                      • 05 Apr 2021

                      If you kept an eye on them , at one point it should have been clear to you, what would happened to them.

                      The downfall of LG Mobile starts with none other than G3.

                      Yeah, QHD is good , but phone wasn't better than predecessor by any measure, it was actually worse as that screen put enormous strain on both battery and chip. We didn't had these efficient amoled displays , as we have now; G3 didn't had one of these screens, but a display which suffered from subpar contrast and ruined battery life.

                      Then there was G4, a good phone actually, plagued by infamous Hotdragon 808 series. This put already struggling G series in disadvantage against galaxy S6, which of course capitalized.

                      There was G5, which again was a good phone , if didn't looked like washed soap (not my comparison), if its battery didn't suck and if its modularity wasn't rather gimmicky in the market where even simplest and actually well thought implementations like one in the Moto Z failed to make a dent.

                      Then goes G6, which was good but looked outdated, and was launched with old chip and old cameras and steep price.

                      At G7, phone looked like generic slab with no character at all.

                      And G8 needed to be a miracle , and of course wasn't.

                      There was also problems with its software (boot loops ), its software (proper updates) and its software again (something which was good for 2014, wasn't enough in 2020).

                      All these things did no good for LG, but ruined their reputation.

                      LG Mobile kept tripping on and hit as many stones as they could, or I would compare them to someone , who had fallen from the stairs and kept falling until its end.
                      and in 2021 it saw the end of that stairs.

                      It's sad see them gone, but in the on the of day, we all should have see that coming, especially the management of LG Mobile.

                      Goodbye LG, I will not forget that you made G Flex, years after still one of my favorite phones.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • 6Qf
                        • 05 Apr 2021

                        Rip their rollable smartphone concept ig. Man they took the right steps with v30 and G6 then things started going sideways. First their reputation was destroyed in markets by g3 and others. And their software had issues. I mean look at motorola now how they stabilized themselves by targeting at mid range and cheaper phones and their clean software experience. And then they recently made a ton of cheap end phones. It's sad to hear this news but honestly this was inevitable by the way they were going. Hope they continue their innovative spirit in other stuff.

                          LG were pioneers in many things, including that 32-bit DAC, ultra wide, complete manual control for photo and video and modularity. Unfortunately their firmware updates are a joke, and their industrial design needs a little tweaking. Also, they didnt really move to 10-bit video or have great photo quality. They wasted a great opportunity. Unlike Samsung, LG didnt really bother with SoCs or Image Sensor, neither remaking them nore demanding them according to custom specifications which is quite unfortunate. Plus, their pricing needed a serious rethink.
                          Sometimes, a retrenchment of top management or huge downsizing in terms of salaries and benefits is necessary to get real. LG could have done so much better. For themselves and for all their fans.

                            Anonymous, 05 Apr 2021LG problem was more about their awful design and weird idea... moreYou must be really happy to see the same devices everywhere.

                              beep bop boop, 05 Apr 2021but LG was willing to try new things, they did not really f... moreYeah, LG made many great phones. They were the few ones to keep 3.5mm, to bring modular phone which was supposed to be the way smartphone should have advanced. Unfortunately, public responded positively to the greedy companies.

                                Never had an LG phone but it's always sad to see another brand stepping out of the biz. Bad for us consumers...

                                  Anonymous, 05 Apr 2021Thanks lg for coming to your senses. You will not be missed. LG will not be missed particularly but when only a few manufacturers will remain, don't cry for the exorbitant price they will ask you can't pay. Just like oneplus, xiaomi. Flagship costing >$1000 and so on.

                                  You brought it upon yourself.

                                    Anonymous, 05 Apr 2021What killed them is their horrible software. If they would ... moreExactly. Marketing Problem comes secondary, the biggest problem was their software. They should have simply shifted to stock Android, situation would be different. They won't have to think about upgrading themselves, life would be lot easier for them. Was it too hard to figure out?

                                      • S
                                      • Sarkirssian
                                      • 6sR
                                      • 05 Apr 2021

                                      Still have my LG Optimus 3D. Great phone. It lags but still works.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • 3gn
                                        • 05 Apr 2021

                                        What killed them is their horrible software. If they would have had used stock Android it would have been another story

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