LG G3 review: Dream catcher

06 June 2014
Late as usual but ever so strong. In an industry where timing is almost as important as quality, LG's highly anticipated G3 flagship makes landfall in the second half of 2014, a couple of months after the flagships of the other major players. Such a late...

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  • D
  • AnonD-259899
  • 3Yg
  • 06 Jun 2014

Anonymous, 06 Jun 2014But they could have, should have, and were basically obliga... moreNot at all. In my case I have extreme needs and Z2 and LG G2 serve those extreme needs but such a usage pattern is not typical for most users. Let's not make it sound like the battery life as poor as say the Nexus 4 which really was terrible.

Even if the LG G2 for example can do 11 hours on wifi browsing do you really think you will do 11 hours of browsing on the go on 3G/4G?? Far from it, the radios alone wont allow you to get that close. Keep especially in mind the WiFi hours you see on GSMA are not going to be reality on 3G/4G networks. All the phones tested here you have no idea how they do on the mobile data networks. It's costly for GSMA to undertake such tests and also hard to ensure consistency of radio towers having fluctuating loads.

GSMA's tests are good references but just because you saw a low WiFi based IM/browsing number here doesn't mean the 3G/4G times are going to be bad or better. You just don't know. If you want to really find out then talk to XDA or some forums groups who post their battery history stats then you get a better idea. I don't plan on waiting to find out that's my personal problem.

If you think the Z2 or the G2 are going to give you 11 hrs of IM/browsing time straight then you are sorely mistaken about what these test are about. The test are on Wifi N based router not mobile data.

Then there is the quality of the stock browser. if that was shoddy you get totally poor battery life on IM/browsing.

But I can't wait for LG to possibly improve the time and make it better. I will buy a new phone pretty soon. If they fix it? great. Otherwise it's Z2 for me.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • k00
    • 06 Jun 2014

    AnonD-271417, 06 Jun 2014How do the battery results make sense? It shows 69h enduran... moreThe G2 until a couple months ago through an update had horrible stand by time.
    So bad that after the update it actually lost almost 2 hours of useable time, but gained so much standby time that the endurance increased to 81 hours.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • k00
      • 06 Jun 2014

      AnonD-259899, 06 Jun 2014They did their best because their main aim was to keep the ... moreBut they could have, should have, and were basically obligated to do better.
      Especially with battery. So no they did not do their best.
      And then they talked about how they purposefully excluded features like USB 3.0 and water protection.

      They did good, but far from their best. Especially in battery.

        • d
        • darkraver
        • akv
        • 06 Jun 2014

        So...not exactly a smartphone of the year is it now?
        As I suspected...
        NOT impressive battery life,
        not so impressive camera ( although good),
        Not so impressive performance...
        Oh, and it lacks stereo speakers, Ip rating, build quality

        Not intended to flame, but with all that uber hype last week...
        Kind of a cooldown I guess

          Hmm, 4 very different flagship devices presented in 2014.
          Samsung have gone for a very fitness oriented phone.
          Sony have gone for a very camera oriented flagship.
          HTC have gone for users who do a lot of media consumption.
          And LG have gone with trying to do everything.
          The LG G3 definitely is a good phone but the best...is arguable. I think the LG is for the power users, but looking at the G3's battery statistics I'm not too sure.
          All the top companies have now got a very defining look to their flagship and it will be very interesting to see what Motorola come with in the form of the Moto X+1.
          What's for sure I think is that there is not just one phone for everyone and that each company is directing their attention at a specific type of user.
          This year has for sure produced the best range of flagship devices around.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • tha
            • 06 Jun 2014

            great phone of the year!

            everything are great!

            good battery life!

            25 hours talk time
            7 hours browsing
            10 hours of video play


            overall winner!

            im excited to purchase g3!

              • D
              • AnonD-77286
              • 9LS
              • 06 Jun 2014

              The endurance also reflects stand-by, which is rather poor on the g2. Food thing LG fixed it here.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • 3Y7
                • 06 Jun 2014

                AnonD-271417, 06 Jun 2014How do the battery results make sense? It shows 69h enduran... moreAgreed
                Their is some sort of miscalculation.

                  • r
                  • rex
                  • arb
                  • 06 Jun 2014

                  m8 and g3 both my favorite. .
                  both are the best 2014.

                    • D
                    • AnonD-271417
                    • 4yG
                    • 06 Jun 2014

                    Anonymous, 06 Jun 2014Check the updated battery tests for G2. After the KitKat up... moreHmm, where? I am using the Tool to view battery results for all phones.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • vQ}
                      • 06 Jun 2014

                      Happy with G2...

                        • K
                        • KiM
                        • 36E
                        • 06 Jun 2014

                        Great review from GsmArena, thanks !!
                        G3 is definitely my next phone.

                          • K
                          • KiM
                          • 36E
                          • 06 Jun 2014

                          Best phone ever...camera, screen, speed, loudspeaker, looks, size,...everything is great. Can't wait to buy this one.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • v0q
                            • 06 Jun 2014

                            The essence of a smartphone is web browsing, 6hours is relatively poor. Could be improved but updates could only give a little lift.

                              • D
                              • AnonD-265341
                              • gx%
                              • 06 Jun 2014

                              Cool phone, but unfortunately nothing special. The battery os a disappointment. But overall its good but z2,s5 is a better choise imo.

                                • m
                                • milos
                                • 0Tp
                                • 06 Jun 2014

                                GSMArena guys, can you please tell me, does european version of LG G3 have an FM radio? Thanks.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • AL{
                                  • 06 Jun 2014

                                  AnonD-271417, 06 Jun 2014How do the battery results make sense? It shows 69h enduran... moreCheck the updated battery tests for G2. After the KitKat update it got 81Hr endurance rating.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-259899
                                    • 3Yg
                                    • 06 Jun 2014

                                    IPS type panels are more consistent than this so am wondering if there are firmware issues that resulted in poor IM/Battery life like a poor shoddy stock browser. This isn't an AMOLED to show this sort of disparity.

                                    It should ideally not vary by more than 1 hr between video play back and browsing tests.

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-259899
                                      • 3Yg
                                      • 06 Jun 2014

                                      Anonymous, 06 Jun 2014I would not say they tried their best. They made the phone... moreThey did their best because their main aim was to keep the weight in check and more importantly keep it easy to handle in the palm. The handling was on one the sticking feature that most reporters/reviwers were impressed by.

                                      It's a trade off between weight and thickness.

                                      I would sacrifice the thickness a bit and deal with the unwieldy thickness for the sake of battery life but that's just you and me who would be happy with that. LG are targeting the mass market. Majority are not heavy users like me so LG have an excuse plus they have the swapable battery option. Can't really say they don't have a point. All that said it certainly makes me go towards the Z2 because battery life is top priority for me.

                                        • D
                                        • AnonD-271417
                                        • 4yG
                                        • 06 Jun 2014

                                        How do the battery results make sense? It shows 69h endurance rating, while the LG G2 shows 62h. However, the G2 has much higher times for browsing and videos, and slightly higher for talk time.

                                        LG G2
                                        Endurance: 62h
                                        Talk: 25:01h
                                        Web: 11:22h
                                        Video: 11:51h

                                        LG G3
                                        Endurance: 69h
                                        Talk: 24:54h
                                        Web: 6:40h
                                        Video: 9:57h