Would you recommend the LG G3?

[Lorak]

Most should like the device, so people like me are a minority anyway. I do not like the throttle and display issues. Turning the throttling off for display or chipset will probably accelerate battery drain to ludicrous speed. Darth Helmet would approve

Will be interesting to see. I plan on turning it off and testing it out. Obviously with a temp monitoring tool to stay safe. But I think a lot of companies set the throttle limits in devices way too low.

 

[grdh20]

The Anandtech review confirms some concerns and the view the G3 is a better fit for light to medium users. Also the Qhd display results in throttling, dimness and over sharpness. Performance is impacted and they wish the device had a good 1080p display instead.

All reviews that follow similar review procedures are unanimous rather than the more generic reviews. It will be interesting to see if current users have the same favorable views in a few weeks. Light to medium users probably still will.

This is turning me off from this phone. The display seems to be its Achilles heal. I was so gung ho, but now I may wait a bit and see how the domestics are and even see what comes by September. Now I wish they had opted for a normal display. This ones seems to cause more problems than its worth and apparently doesn't even look as good as the G2 screen. Really disappointing.

 

[john_g]

This is turning me off from this phone. The display seems to be its Achilles heal. I was so gung ho, but now I may wait a bit and see how the domestics are and even see what comes by September. Now I wish they had opted for a normal display. This ones seems to cause more problems than its worth and apparently doesn't even look as good as the G2 screen. Really disappointing.

I got my G3 yesterday, so it's too early to say too much about it, apart from the fact that, so far, I'm incredibly pleased with it.

Like you, I'd read the reviews and was concerned that the display would spoil the party, but the shop where I purchased the phone let me play with the G3 and a Samsung S5 side-by-side. I set both displays to maximum brightness and found that the G3 appeared as bright as the S5. Screen reflectivity on both phones seemed remarkably similar too. The final check I made was to browse some websites and I noticed that whites seemed far more neutral on the G3 compared to the S5, which looked as if it had a tint.

I think most early reviews of the G3 were done with Korean models and, according to PhoneArena, European (and, presumably, US) models have markedly improved displays... from their updated review:

UPDATE (Jun 25, 2014): This review was originally based on our experience with the Korean version of the LG G3. After testing the International (European) version of the phone, we've found differences in a few areas, including display quality and brightness, indoor camera quality, and call quality. The battery section has also been edited, due to a technical mistake in the original result. We've updated the text of the review accordingly.
​

LG G3 Review

 

[pandacookie]

I think most early reviews of the G3 were done with Korean models and, according to PhoneArena, European (and, presumably, US) models have markedly improved displays... from their updated review:

UPDATE (Jun 25, 2014): This review was originally based on our experience with the Korean version of the LG G3. After testing the International (European) version of the phone, we've found differences in a few areas, including display quality and brightness, indoor camera quality, and call quality. The battery section has also been edited, due to a technical mistake in the original result. We've updated the text of the review accordingly.

​

LG G3 Review

This is great to hear! I've been so excited about this phone. The negative views on the display were getting me down, but now hearing about the European models being of different quality, well, that's different.

Besides, wouldn't there be a difference in quality anyway between the models that have 2 and 3 gigs of RAM? Performance hits can be understandable in a 2 gig model vs a 3 gig one, yes? Computers are like that, so why not phones?

 

[grdh20]

I hope so. We need to start a thread for USA G3's as user reviews as they come in along with any revised as above. Then we will get to the heart of the matter pretty quickly.

 

[pandacookie]

I hope so. We need to start a thread for USA G3's as user reviews as they come in along with any revised as above. Then we will get to the heart of the matter pretty quickly.

That'll happen. Friday is when the fun starts for the US; AT&T gets theirs then, from what I hear. You can pre-order it starting today, and it arrives in stores Friday.

 

[AnonGuy]

After 12 hours usage I'm now down to 15% battery. That's consisted of 4hours screen on time, 1hour30 of spotify streaming (screen off), 30mins dead trigger 2 game, 10 mins other games, 10 mins youtube, 20 mins chrome,downloaded Facebook PayPal and ea golf (bout gb game with add files) . had push emails all day and been on fbook and g+. Unfortunately not managed Netflix out of it. Taken around 20 photos and a 10 second video. (Think that's all I can think of)

I could have played some games and still ended up with better screen on time off my battery.

All that work with throttling the hardware and it still can't last longer than a soon to be last gen phone?

 

[rushmore]

Still say for heavier users: "This is probably not the Droid you are looking for". I put the "probably" in there since some people equate light to medium use as heavy. Accounting for subjectivity

 

[pandacookie]

I could have played some games and still ended up with better screen on time off my battery.

All that work with throttling the hardware and it still can't last longer than a soon to be last gen phone?

Go get an iPhone 5s. Then we'll talk about lousy battery. Please. I'd have killed to have eight hours when I (briefly) had a 5s. I was lucky to get five with even medium use.

 

[rushmore]

Go get an iPhone 5s. Then we'll talk about lousy battery. Please. I'd have killed to have eight hours when I (briefly) had a 5s. I was lucky to get five with even medium use.

Yep, there is a reason for the big aftermarket for battery packs in iPhone world . That small form factor only has so much room for a battery.

 

[pandacookie]

Yep, there is a reason for the big aftermarket for battery packs in iPhone world . That small form factor only has so much room for a battery.

I had a feeling I wouldn't be keeping the iPhone long, so no Mophie Juice Pack for me! Was just curious if iPhones had changed much since I got one two years ago. I can honestly say they haven't, except for Siri. My last iPhone was a 4. No Siri back then!

 

[theguest13]

I could have played some games and still ended up with better screen on time off my battery.

All that work with throttling the hardware and it still can't last longer than a soon to be last gen phone?

You've had 4 hours screen on time, but looking at it you've not actually done anything on your phone else you'd have them listed in the battery usage. If I let my phone just sit there it'd last that long. You've not even said how bright your screen settings were or if you've had WiFi on all day etc.

 

[Sandroidfan]

You've had 4 hours screen on time, but looking at it you've not actually done anything on your phone else you'd have them listed in the battery usage. If I let my phone just sit there it'd last that long. You've not even said how bright your screen settings were or if you've had WiFi on all day etc.

Or if you turn off auto syncs, notifications on facebook, G+, your mileage will probably get to that level. Those are known to be battery eating apps.

 

[theguest13]

Or if you turn off auto syncs, notifications on facebook, G+, your mileage will probably get to that level. Those are known to be battery eating apps.

I'm aware of all these tips and tricks, but as in one if my original posts, I was giving the phone a caning. Seeing how much I could get out of it with what I'd describe as 'heavy usage'. Not much help telling people who haven't got the phone it'll last 10 hours no problem if it's barely being used.

 

[rdillz]

The battery life on this phone is par for the course. Battery technology just hasn't made the next leap in evolution yet, on any phone. Some may be able to squeak out an extra hour than others. But it's all basically the same. I'm coming from the Note 3 and the G3 seems to be getting slightly better battery life in my short time with it. In my daily routine, I'm always with arms reach of a charger anyway, and I believe most people are. It's just a way of life until battery technology takes the next step. Nobody should let it stop them from getting this awesome device. Just my opinion.

 

[rushmore]

Looking forward to heavy use abusing the G3 like I have the S4 and Note 3

The S4 gets much hotter than the Note 3, so will see how the G3 performs with heavy game, Web and emulator use.

S4 can be a battery draining vampire, but the Note 3 in spite of the bigger display is much better. Note 3 is a little too big IMO as a phone though.

I agree anecdotally with the lamenting from Anandtech that the G3 would have been the best combination of components with 1080p, but need to test to verify if Qhd is too much.

 

[AnonGuy]

Go get an iPhone 5s. Then we'll talk about lousy battery. Please. I'd have killed to have eight hours when I (briefly) had a 5s. I was lucky to get five with even medium use.

I had the 5S before my Note 3. The battery was okay but nothing impressive. 8 hours of battery life was trivial. I can't get 8 hours screen on time on this so I know neither a 5S nor a G3 is going to pull that off.

What is your point, though?

 

[AnonGuy]

You've had 4 hours screen on time, but looking at it you've not actually done anything on your phone else you'd have them listed in the battery usage. If I let my phone just sit there it'd last that long. You've not even said how bright your screen settings were or if you've had WiFi on all day etc.

I was in flip board for most of it. That's why screen doesn't clock high. A ton of the power used cones from the flip board app downloading data, which uses the LTE and WiFi radio. The data radios will almost always outpace the screen in power consumption under heavy use.

Brightness is useless to mention cause i use auto brightness.

I go between WiFi at home and LTE in the city. At home my phone bounces between 1x, 3G, and LTE which would also harm battery life.


This phone just has much better power management and consumption than the G3.


Lastly for things like Android System if you click it you'll see that it includes a ton of services on the device, some that are used on a regular basis by many people all the time, like the keyboard and WatchOn services. Many of the services are grouped there and do not show up individually as their own entries.

I didn't just sit there with my screen on. That sounds dumb and I wouldn't waste my time doing that just to post a screen shot to a forum. I certainly wasn't watching video cause none of those apps even show up at the top. I was using the phone as I usually do, except I did a lot of flipboarding that day.

I have gotten consistently 6-7 hours screen on time with this phone. I have never even had to use my spare battery.

If you let your phone sit there it would be most standby time and screen would end up being some stupid like 60% of the power consumption on the device. Lower screen consumption with high screen on time is a clear indicator that the phone was being used and not just sitting there with the screen on and no timeout set.

Thank you.

 

[allisonfranz]

Yeah, I thought it sounds amazing.

 

[rushmore]

I was in flip board for most of it. That's why screen doesn't clock high. A ton of the power used cones from the flip board app downloading data, which uses the LTE and WiFi radio. The data radios will almost always outpace the screen in power consumption under heavy use.

Thank you.

That is a point some of the reviews and why some of the battery life claims with some reviews and users vary so wildly. The display trumps all on this device as far as battery consumption (Anandtech and a few others points this out in their tests). Pulling signal in a weak area will add to it more, where data in a strong area- not so much.

This is why battery life comparisons with the G3 are even more subjective than previous devices. We are even seeing the subjectivity and variation in "professional" reviews and is why I suggest this device is a good litmus on what sites actually do "proper" battery life tests.

 

[john_g]

I have gotten consistently 6-7 hours screen on time with this phone. I have never even had to use my spare battery.

I haven't managed to track down a spare battery supplier yet, so am wondering where you got yours?

Thanks,

 

[drexappeal]

I still have and use my Note 3 as my primary device, but for people that have been wanting a big screen, but have been hesitant due to overall physical size, I would absolutely recommend the G3. I purchased one and while it's not my primary device, the overall form factor is what I had wanted out of the Note series, back when I bought the Note 2. By far, the G3 feels better in the hand than the Note 2 or my current Note 3 have ever felt. I've always said that the Note 3 is really the biggest overall size I could feel comfortable with (w/ exception to a folding phone/tablet...true phablet...if that truly comes out next year). The fact that LG fit a 5.5 inch screen in a much smaller overall device than the Note 2 (which has a 5.5 inch screen)....that is a big win, IMO.

 

[mak916]

I still have and use my Note 3 as my primary device, but for people that have been wanting a big screen, but have been hesitant due to overall physical size, I would absolutely recommend the G3. I purchased one and while it's not my primary device, the overall form factor is what I had wanted out of the Note series, back when I bought the Note 2. By far, the G3 feels better in the hand than the Note 2 or my current Note 3 have ever felt. I've always said that the Note 3 is really the biggest overall size I could feel comfortable with (w/ exception to a folding phone/tablet...true phablet...if that truly comes out next year). The fact that LG fit a 5.5 inch screen in a much smaller overall device than the Note 2 (which has a 5.5 inch screen)....that is a big win, IMO.

I went to the Sprint store today and looked at the G3. My wife and I were very impressed. I am still going to wait for the Note 4. Are you planning on getting the Note 4 Drex? I must say LG has really come a long way.

 

[drexappeal]

I went to the Sprint store today and looked at the G3. My wife and I were very impressed. I am still going to wait for the Note 4. Are you planning on getting the Note 4 Drex? I must say LG has really come a long way.

I'm in wait and see mode. With the talk about folding phones being part of 2015 production, I might hang onto the Note 3 till then. If LG were to take the G3 and create a folding phone to compete with Samsung, it might just be enough to pull me away from the Note series. Unless there is a "must-have" element in the Note 4 (e.g. 64 or 128gb internal), it would be pretty hard to pull me into upgrading until next year. Great thing about the Note 3 is, it's holding up like a champ, so only other factor would be T-mobile and Sprint radios incorporated into the phones, which I doubt would happen until the merger is approved.

 

[mak916]

I'm in wait and see mode. With the talk about folding phones being part of 2015 production, I might hang onto the Note 3 till then. If LG were to take the G3 and create a folding phone to compete with Samsung, it might just be enough to pull me away from the Note series. Unless there is a "must-have" element in the Note 4 (e.g. 64 or 128gb internal), it would be pretty hard to pull me into upgrading until next year. Great thing about the Note 3 is, it's holding up like a champ, so only other factor would be T-mobile and Sprint radios incorporated into the phones, which I doubt would happen until the merger is approved.

The only thing that held me back from getting the Note 3 was its lack of Spark. I almost went with the G2, but it did not have an SD card slot or removable battery. The G3 has all of that, and Spark. I want to hold out another year but my GS3 is too old. If the merger happens, it might be a while before we see phones that will work on both networks. Once the announcement is made for the Note 4, I will know for sure which to get.