Fortunately, the LG G4 finds a happy medium that pushes LG's flagship forward while retaining many of the features that make it a favorite.
The G4 stands out from the pack with a lavish, optional leather coating, a vibrant quad-HD Quantum display and a 16-MP camera stuffed with pro-minded features normally found on a pricey DSLR. It also stays true to its roots, offering handy LG apps alongside a swappable battery and microSD card slot. This combination of fresh and familiar makes for an exciting package, but with less-than-ideal battery life. Can the G4 dethrone the Galaxy S6 as the Android handset to beat?
Editor's Note: We tested an unlocked, non-final version of the G4 with an AT&T SIM card.
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Design: Leather is better
With an optional, handcrafted leather coating, the G4 manages to evolve LG's signature design without aping the metal constructions of the company's biggest rivals. Available in black or brown, the leather G4 looks more like a fashion accessory than any other major flagship, with an attractive seam that runs down the middle of the rear panel to complement the cozy grip. The G4's Slim Arc design gives its 5.5-inch display a subtle vertical curve, though it's not as rounded as the LG G Flex 2.![Credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide Credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide](http://media.bestofmicro.com/Z/T/495065/gallery/LG-G4-NW-G07_w_600.jpg)
![Credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide Credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide](http://media.bestofmicro.com/9/Y/495430/gallery/LG-G4-W-G09_new_w_600.jpg)
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Whether you opt for leather or plastic, the G4 rocks the same rounded back panel and unique, rear-facing lock and volume buttons as its predecessors. The phone's smooth edges and lightweight, 5.47-ounce construction make it comfortable to hold, and its 0.39-inch-thick body tapers off to a slim 0.24 inches on the sides.
At its thickest, the G4 is a bit chunkier than the Galaxy S6 (0.27-inches), HTC One M9 (0.39 inches) and iPhone 6 Plus (0.28 inches), though it's thinner than all three competitors on its far edges. The 5.47-ounce G4 is just barely heavier than the S6 (4.9 ounces), virtually even with the One M9 (5.5 ounces) and a little bit lighter than the 6-ounce iPhone 6 Plus.
Display: A quantum leap
I was lured in immediately by the G4's luscious 5.5-inch, quad-HD (2,560 x 1,440) display, which is the first IPS Quantum smartphone screen on the market. While it offers the same size and resolution as the G3's display, its new Quantum technology promises super-lifelike colors, as well as improved brightness and contrast.The G4's vibrancy is evident the moment you unlock the device, with a stack of bright blues and pinks waiting to greet you on the phone's default background. Games such as Modern Combat 5 and Spider-Man Unlimited looked appropriately vivid, and the colorful fruits featured in an included sample video looked real enough to eat (I didn't try, though).
The Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer looked lucid on the G4, which did an excellent job preserving the film's multi-colored costumes and myriad explosions.
![](http://media.bestofmicro.com/9/9/495405/gallery/LG-G4-W-G08_w_600.jpg)
![](http://media.bestofmicro.com/0/R/495099/gallery/brightness_w_600.png)
The G4 is capable of displaying an impressive 109.8 percent of the sRGB color gamut, which is higher than the HTC One M9 (94 percent) and iPhone 6 Plus (95 percent), though not quite as colorful as the Galaxy S6's 159 percent. The G4's color accuracy rating of 3.46 isn't very close to a perfect 0, but it's more accurate than the Galaxy S6 (4.7) and One M9 (4.3).
![](http://media.bestofmicro.com/1/D/495121/gallery/pq-1430776711154_w_600.png)
Camera: Stellar shots
The Galaxy S6's camera has some serious competition. The G4's 16-MP camera starts up in half a second, touts an S6-beating aperture of f/1.8 (versus 1.9), and, most importantly, takes stellar shots both indoors and outdoors.![Credit: Michael Andronico Credit: Michael Andronico](http://media.bestofmicro.com/8/M/495382/gallery/Flowers_Comparison_w_600.jpg)
![Credit: Michael Andronico Credit: Michael Andronico](http://media.bestofmicro.com/8/L/495381/gallery/LowLight_Comparison_w_600.jpg)
![Photo Credit: Michael Andronico Photo Credit: Michael Andronico](http://media.bestofmicro.com/8/K/495380/gallery/Flash_Comparison_w_600.jpg)
Super-Sharp Selfies
I don't take a ton of selfies, but I now wish all of mine looked as good as the ones I captured with the G4's 8-MP front shooter.![Credit: Michael Andronico Credit: Michael Andronico](http://media.bestofmicro.com/8/J/495379/gallery/G4_Selfie_solo_w_600.jpg)
LG G4: 1080p Video Recording Test
The phone also shoots beautiful 4K videos; when recording passing cars on a nearby street at ultra-HD resolution, I found that both vehicles and distant store signs looked significantly more detailed and vibrant than they did when I shot in 1080p.
LG's new flagship can take slo-mo video at up to 1/8th speed, but it can't hold a candle to the 6 Plus' 240 fps slo-mo recordings.
Camera Features: For pros and noobs alike
LG wants to win over experienced photographers with the G4's manual mode, which offers a wealth of fine-tuning options that are more common on high-end DSLRs. Tapping into manual mode adds the ability to tweak settings such as white balance, auto-exposure and focus, which are all laid out neatly along the bottom of the camera app.While the various controls found in manual mode might look like a new language to photography neophytes (such as myself), fiddling with them is remarkably easy once you learn what they do. Each camera function is toggled with a simple on-screen slider, which allows you to quickly adjust parameters like focus, shutter speed and ISO levels by moving your finger up and down.
![](http://media.bestofmicro.com/9/B/495407/gallery/LG-G4-W-G08-pic-600_w_600.jpg)
Even if you're not looking to go hardcore with manual mode, the G4 has plenty of nifty camera features worth playing with. I was able to easily take timed selfies by making a fist in front of the camera, and, with Voice Shutter on, I took a few snaps by saying "Cheese" or "Kimchi" to the phone.
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Switching between the front and back cameras is as simple as swiping the screen left or right, and you can take photos right from the lock screen by double-tapping the phone's lowest rear button. There's also a fun Dual Mode for using the front and back cameras at once, which allowed me to superimpose a selfie over a shot of my sleepy, unamused dog.
Software and Features: Now with less bloat
The G4's Android 5.1-based UX 4.0 interface is clean and easy to navigate, providing some useful LG-specific features without overwhelming you with extraneous apps. Swiping left from the home screen reveals the G4's Smart Bulletin (pictured below), which serves as a single convenient location for checking your calendar, playing music, viewing your daily step count via LG Health and even controlling your TV if you have QRemote set up.![](http://media.bestofmicro.com/8/I/495378/gallery/LGG4-Smart-Bulletin_RS_w_600.jpg)
KnockOn is back from the G3, allowing you to wake the phone from sleep by double-tapping the display. With the new Glance View feature, you can slide down from the top of the screen to check the time without even waking the phone.
![](http://media.bestofmicro.com/8/H/495377/gallery/LG-G4-Event-Pocket_RS_w_600.jpg)
To keep things clean, the G4 relies almost exclusively on Google services, meaning Chrome is the only browser you'll start with, Gmail is the only preloaded email app and so on. The phone packs dedicated apps for Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, which are complemented by an extra 100GB of Drive storage for two years. I was pleased to see that the G4's entire app selection barely spilled into the second page, though we'll have to see what the carriers add.
Performance: Fast, but not the fastest
Armed with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 808 processor and 3GB of RAM, the G4 breezed through any task I demanded of it. I never experienced any noticeable lag, even as I watched an Avengers trailer on one half of the screen while flipping through photos on the other. The console-quality action of Modern Combat 5 played so smoothly on the G4, I almost got mowed down while admiring its lighting effects.![](http://media.bestofmicro.com/0/T/495101/gallery/geekbench_LG_G4_w_600.png)
LG's new phone took 4 minutes and 13 seconds to transcode an HD video to 480p, which is faster than the One M9 (4:47) and our 7:11 average, but not nearly as blazing as the Galaxy S6's 2:35.
![](http://media.bestofmicro.com/8/O/495384/gallery/Graphics_Performance_barchart_w_600.png)
Battery Life: Below average
The G4's 3,000-mAh removable battery is built to last you all day, but it falls short of that promise. Enduring 7 hours and 38 minutes on our battery test (Web surfing over AT&T LTE), the G4 just barely outlasted the HTC One M9 (7:14), and fell short of the Galaxy S6 (8:32), our 8:21 average and the iPhone 6 Plus' epic 10 hours. Even last year's G3 lasted longer than the G4, registering 7:56.![](http://media.bestofmicro.com/0/V/495103/gallery/battery_life_LG_G4_2_w_600.png)
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Bottom Line
The LG G4 is a beautiful phone, from the ergonomic feel of its leather-backed body to the gorgeous quad-HD images that pop out of its Quantum IPS display. Its 16-MP camera is one of the best in its class, with tons of nifty modes for both photo enthusiasts and selfie savants. Plus, unlike the Galaxy S6, the G4 didn't have to drop its swappable battery and expandable microSD storage in order to evolve.![Credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide Credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide](http://media.bestofmicro.com/Z/V/495067/gallery/LG-G4-W-G01_w_600.jpg)
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