Saturday, February 21, 2015

LG G3 Review: The Perfect Smartphone

I’ve had the LG G3 for a month now and I want to point this out because most reviews – including many of the ones I write – are penned after significantly less time using a handset. I’ve waited this long, because I wanted to live with the G3 to decide if its many features live up to the hype. Since the G3 was first announced, I’ve been through a couple of different emotions over the styling. First of all, when I initially saw photos of it, I thought it looked great. At the launch event, when I got to use it for the first time, I was less sold. Early rumours had suggested that it would be a metal device, but in fact it’s plastic. It felt, to me, a bit less well-built than the iPhone and HTC One M8. Having actually used it for the past month, I have to say I really like the build quality.
For me, plastic is something of an advantage, because it’s a bit lighter. That doesn’t matter for the iPhone because it’s a smaller phone, but when you’re looking at devices like the HTC One, it’s big enough for that extra weight to make a difference. The G3 is larger than the One, and still lighter, so the body makes sense. Also, metal is a very expensive material to build phones from and doesn’t make sense for a lot of manufacturers. One of the things that caused a ripple of excitement when the phone was announced were the Quick Circle cases. These are covers that protect the back of the phone with a hard cover, and the front with a softer material that has a circle cut into it. This allows the phone to display a clock and basic notifications. These cases are a nifty idea, like HTC’s rather nice Dot View cover, but the LG version is a little more basic and while it does keep the phone protected, I haven’t totally fallen in love with them.

LG G Flex 2 Is The World's Fastest Phone, Annihilates Samsung's Note 4 and Apple's iPhone 6

On Wednesday I picked up my review sample of the LG G Flex 2. This is the second time I’ve used the phone, the first was at a pre-brief meeting in Las Vegas for CES. My initial reaction to the phone was “wow”. The reason for that was because I had used the original G Flex, and really liked it, despite it being somewhat impractical in size. But the new phone, it’s much improved, and it has far wider consumer appeal too. But I’m not here today to fully review the phone, I need to spend longer with it first. What I have done is spend a little time with benchmarking app to see just how fast this phone is. I am, it has to be said, rather against benchmarks because I think they don’t express any real-world facts. But the G Flex 2 is the first phone with the controversial Snapdragon 810 system-on-a-chip, and I wanted to have a look into the overheating issue, and see how well it performs. From what I’ve seen, the LG G Flex 2 is blazing fast and beats every other phone on the market according to the benchmarking tools I used. In every test (with one minor 64bit hiccup) the phone beats both the Note 4 and Galaxy S5 as well as, with 3DMark, the iPhone 6.
The model LG UK has given me is the SK Telecom model. It has a slightly different model number (LG F510S), but the specs compare to what we will see in the final US and European phones. There may be some differences in 4G frequency support, but that’s irrelevant here. The specification of the G Flex 2 is somewhat interesting in itself. Although it has the fastest Snapdragon chipset, LG has opted to go with only 2GB of RAM (3GB is more usual on high-end Android devices) and a modest 16GB of storage onboard (there’s a microSD slot that can take 2TB cards, in theory). If nothing else, this will have an impact on how the phone runs day-to-day under normal use.

Galaxy S6 vs. iPhone 6: New video compares sizes using a Galaxy S6 mockup

We have seen dozens of leaks and rumors leading up to Samsung’s March 1st unveiling of its next-generation flagship smartphones. From the look of things, Samsung plans to unveil two smartphones during the annual Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain. One will be the Galaxy S6, a sleek new handset with cutting-edge specs that will be Samsung’s first phone to feel like a true premium handset. The second is rumored to be a slightly modified Galaxy S6 Edge version with the same specs, but it will have a screen that curves toward the back of the device on both sides. We’ve read the rumors, we’ve seen the schematics and we’ve watched the renders dance around on video. Now, however, a 3D printed Galaxy S6 dummy has been created and compared to Apple’s iPhone 6 on camera. DON’T MISS: Most stunning Galaxy S6 renders yet shown at every angle in new video Jermaine Smit, one of two graphic designers responsible for the great renders we saw in a video earlier on Friday, is back with a new video. This time, Smit used a 3D printer to create a model of the Galaxy S6 based on supposedly accurate device schematics that leaked some time ago. Using the model, Smit compares the presumed size of the Galaxy S6 to an actual iPhone 6, giving us what could be an exact look at how the two devices stack up against each other in terms of size. BGR exclusively reported in January that the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will be made entirely out of glass and aluminum, and will feature cutting-edge specs including a quad HD display, a 64-bit octa-core processor, a 20-megapixel rear camera, up to 128GB of internal storage, a brand new mobile payment system based on LoopPay, and Android Lollipop.. Smit’s video follows below.

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