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.
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.