Perhaps what I love most about
technology is its ability to surprise: Apple was meant to struggle when making
bigger iPhones and LG was meant to be a spent force. But in 2015 these two
companies (perhaps including Motorola) make the most consistently good smartphones
on the market.
So it is time to put their flagship
smartphones head-to-head: Apple’s iPhone 6 and LG’s remarkable G3.
Display – Radically Different,
Shockingly Close
- iPhone 6 – 4.7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD with 750 x 1334 pixels
- LG G3 – 5.5-inch True HD-IPS + LCD, 1440 x 2560 pixels
Comparing these phones has to start
with their displays, because they are both massively important for their
respective manufacturers but in completely different ways.
iPhone 6 (left), LG G3 (right) –
image credit Gordon Kelly
For the iPhone 6 the move to a
larger 4.7-inch display has been a great success, but LG has long been in big
screen territory. That said the G3’s triumph is that it directly compares to
the iPhone 6 in the first place. Its 5.5-inch is the same size as the massive
iPhone 6 Plus, but in hand it remains a clear rival to the iPhone 6 thanks to
its tremendously small bezels (more later).
Even better news is the displays on
both the iPhone 6 and G3 are triumphs, though again for completely different
reasons.
Read more – iPhone 6 Plus vs Galaxy
Note 4 Review: 2014’s Biggest Phone Fight
On paper the G3 is a technical tour
de force. Its 2K native resolution delivers a mighty 538 pixels per inch (ppi)
while the iPhone 6 lags far behind only just scraping in at 326ppi – Apple’s
baseline for a so-called ‘Retina Display’ (the point where the human eye is not
meant to be able to distinguish individual pixels).
And yet it isn’t so simple. Yes the
G3 has a tremendous display and its stunning viewing angles, colour accuracy
and brightness all keep pace with that headline size and resolution. Still the
iPhone 6 isn’t left far behind. Look extremely closely and you can just
about make out the pixels in the iPhone 6 display, but it is every bit the
match for the G3 in colour accuracy, viewing angles and brightness.
LG edges the display comparison, but
it’s close – image Gordon Kelly
Does this make the 2K resolution
pointless? No, but it does have one polarising aspect: LG’s use of oversharpening.
In short: text on the G3 is extremely sharp but LG has taken it further making
it pop out perhaps too much. Some owners love this saying it aids reading, but
it isn’t particularly natural on the eye.
As such I can see the case for those
who prefer the iPhone 6 display. The G3 still takes it for me, but specs
clearly do not tell the whole story – something that will become a theme of
this review.
Design – Style And Impracticality Vs
Ergonomics And Practicality
- iPhone 6 – 138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm (5.44 x 2.64 x 0.27 in) and 129 g (4.55 oz)
- LG G3 – 146.3 x 74.6 x 8.9 mm (5.76 x 2.94 x 0.35 in) and 149 g (5.26 oz)
There is more than one way to skin a
cat, that’s the lesson when comparing these two phones. With the iPhone 6 Apple
is back to its gloriously decadent best. The new aluminium unibody harks back
to the original 2007 iPhone (until now the most attractive iPhone, in my
opinion) and it has never been thinner or lighter (at least proportionately).
Read more – iPhone 6 Vs iPhone 6
Plus: Which To Buy?
Still there is a problem and that is
Apple’s decadence has come at the expense of practicality. For while the
beautifully curved finish of the screen, meticulously machined power and volume
buttons and seamless joins can be admired, it is a woefully impractical phone.
G3 is larger, but easier to hold
than the iPhone 6 – image credit Gordon Kelly
The biggest problem is the super
smooth finish. Holding the iPhone 6 is akin to holding a bar of soap. Most will
opt for cases, it would’ve been nice to give users a realistic option of
whether they must cover their handsets in rubber or not.
In addition the iPhone 6’s large top
and bottom bezels and lack of any ergonomic curvature make the footprint
large for a phone which has a relatively small display by todays standards and
some users will find it hard to use one handed.
The LG G3 is the exact opposite of
this. Its plastic finish is not showy, its rear mounted power and volume
buttons seem alienating and it doesn’t feel like a premium device – but it is
stunningly practical.
LG G3 battery is removable and
storage expandable – image credit Gordon Kelly
Read more – iPhone 6 Long-Term
Review
LG also deserves credit for being
one of the few Android handset makers to put the headphone jack at the bottom.
Apple has done this since the iPhone 6 and while it means the phone has to go
upside down in your pocket, it is a small price to pay for headphone wires not
getting in your way as you use it. Rivals should follow suit.
Which design do I prefer personally?
The G3. Yes LG should up the quality of its build materials, but it has done
the harder work in getting the bezels, footprint and ergonomics spot on and to
me this those qualities see it currently lead the way in smartphone design.
Performance And Software – Polish Vs
Over Enthusiasm
So for me LG takes the first two
rounds and on paper hardware should be a banker, as it appears the G3 has the
iPhone 6 licked:
- iPhone 6 – Apple A8 chipset, Dual-core 1.4 GHz Cyclone CPU, PowerVR GX6450 GPU, 1GB RAM
- LG G3 – Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset, Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB or 3GB RAM
The problem these specs is they mean
nothing. Yes there is a point of comparison when phones are running the same
platform, but here they are little more than empty bragging rights.
Still the good news is both devices
run quickly and are unlikely to be troubled for at least a few years. Then
again speed isn’t really the issue here, smoothness and responsiveness are and
here the iPhone 6 walks all over the G3.
Simply put, while both phones may
have similar boot and app start times, they are poles apart in how fast they feel.
iOS 8 (for all its problems on older iPhones) is silky smooth on the iPhone 6.
There is no lag or stutter, core navigation is incredibly slick and it feels
like the device is barely breaking a sweat as it stays cool at all times.
iPhone 6 and LG G3 footprints are
surprisingly similar – image credit Gordon Kelly
By contrast the G3 is fast, but it
doesn’t feel that way. There is occasional lag and stutter in the core
navigation and even something as simple as swiping through apps in the app
drawer can see it momentarily stumble. The G3 also gets fairly hot so while it
can handle the very latest games it doesn’t feel nearly as composed doing so as
the iPhone 6.
Notably I also didn’t find much
difference in performance between the 2GB and 3GB versions of the G3. It was a
strange decision for LG to increase the RAM when stepping up from the 16GB to
the 32GB model and it doesn’t really pay off.
Ultimately I lay much of the blame
for these stumbles at LG’s doorstep for its extensive customisation of Android
with its ‘Optimus’ skin. It isn’t as over the top as Samsung’s infamous
TouchWiz, but much of it feels unnecessary with duplicated apps and a weak
alternative to Google Now. Switching to the Google Now Launcher helps a great
deal, but LG needs to cut back and show faith in its superb hardware to sell
phones, not this ropey bloatware.
By the way it is worth pointing out
that the G3 still runs Android 4.4 KitKat and an update to Android 5.0 Lollipop
is expected soon along with an updated Optimus UI. So that may change
things. For a full head-to-head review between iOS 8 and Android 5.0 Lollipop
follow the link below.
Image credit Gordon Kelly
Camera – Optimisation Vs Innovation
Perhaps the most pleasing thing
about comparing the iPhone 6 and G3 is in how differently Apple and LG have
gone about trying to make the best smartphone possible, and this carries
through to the camera.
- iPhone 6 – Rear: 8 Megapixel 1/3” sensor, 1.5µm pixel size, Digital Image Stabilisation (DIS), dual-LED ‘True Tone’ Flash, 1080p video at 60fps, 720p at 240fps. Front camera: 1.2mp, 720p at 30fps video
- LG G3 – Rear: 13 megapixel, 1/3” sensor, Optical Image Stabilisation, Phase detection/Laser autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash, 4K video at 30fps, 1080p at 30fps. Front camera: 2.1 MP, 1080p video at 30fps
On paper, yes, the LG G3 again seems
to take it but what instead unfolds in a fascinating trade of blows that expose
both cameras strengths and weaknesses.
The short answer is I prefer the
iPhone 6. It is the more consistent camera and has better colour accuracy, but
that is only half the store
In optimal conditions the LG G3
(left) can capture more detail – image credit Gordon Kelly
In good conditions the LG G3 is
every bit a match for the iPhone 6 and its higher resolution sensor can even
capture slightly more detail when viewed at full resolution – as seen on the
full resolution crop of The Elephant and Castle pub above.
The LG G3 is also one of the fastest
focusing cameras thanks to its laser autofocus (seen on the left side of the
camera) which is used to instantly measure distance to a subject. That
said the iPhone 6 matches it thanks to its ‘Focus Pixels’ and actually
minimises blur less in shots with movement despite only packing Digital instead
of Optical Image Stabilisation like the G3.
iPhone 6 (right) handles colour
balance better on moving subjects – image credit Gordon Kelly
When it comes to low light there is
also a trade off. The iPhone 6 lets in more light as seen on the church shot
below, but the G3 is arguably the more atmospheric. Here I’d take the iPhone 6
for the extra detail this brings, but I can understand an opposing opinion.
G3 (left) doesn’t capture as much
detail in low light as the iPhone 6 (right) – image credit Gordon Kelly
As for video there are again pros
and cons. The G3 offers 4k video recording which the iPhone 6 cannot match, but
the iPhone 6 handles motion better – especially with its superb 240fps slow
motion mode.
Ultimately neither phone is going to
disappoint their owner, but given the iPhone’s more consistent results it is
the one I’d pick when pushed.
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