LG has been teasing us with a countdown for a
while now, and today it reached down to zero: the
LG G4 has now been unveiled in a live event that we
got to watch and learn about what LG touted to be
“The Great”. We didn’t feel it, but we certainly saw it
and heard all about its features, specifications and
design process. Did LG manage to deliver a
substantial upgrade from last year’s critically
acclaimed G3?
The event finally begun as Juno Cho, President &
CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications took
the stage. After a teaser, he started by posing the
main question behind the G4: “ what actual value will
this provide to consumers?” . LG wanted this to be a
centric aspect of the G4’s UX design, from
hardware finish to software. Cho made it clear they
wanted to innovate and set the device apart from
simple “chunks of metal and glass” as seen in some
competitors. LG wants the G4 to “deliver convenience
& accentuate the lifestyle of the user”.
“Comfortable
Elegance” is how LG
describes the G4,
and this phrase is
engraved in their
design process to
the core. The phone
is claimed to be
comfortable to use,
with a beautiful
leather or ceramic backing. The second design
focus was their viewing experience, from the
camera to the display. “[We] didn’t need the most
megapixels” , Cho said, since they sought innovation
on a different level. The Quantum Display also aims
to bring the most vivid yet realistic colors in the
market. Finally, the “human-centric” UX aims to put
all of these aspects together to enhance the way
you use smartphones. The G4’s elements are
touted to “ understand and take in consideration the
uniqueness of every user” .
Qualcomm Chairman Dr. Paul E. Jacobs stepped in
to introduce the G4 by giving us some information
about the processing package inside. The G4 will
feature the Snapdragon 808 processor which comes
with the Adreno 418 GPU as well as a connectivity
improvements and navigation accuracy
enhancements. We discussed whether this was a
good choice, and concluded that it certainly makes
more sense than a Snapdragon 810. The G4 will
also feature 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal
storage, all to sustain Android 5.1 Lollipop.
Qualcomm worked in collaboration with LG to
create a fully optimized experience, that is smooth,
has an advanced feature set and great battery life.
With state-of-the-art graphics and speed,
Qualcomm promises good performance in heavy
tasks and games as well as low battery
consumption.
LG’s Director of Mobile Communications Frank
Lee’s turn arrived, and he told the crowd that the G4
was the result of a “long journey of hard work and
effort” . He reminded us about the 3 primary
principles once more, this time making the
distinction more marked than before. Comfortable
elegance, great visual experience, human centric
UX. He then proceeded to give us a deeper look at
some of the more ambitious capabilities of the
phone, starting with the design.
LG took clear
shots at Apple and
Samsung in slides
pointing out how
the competition
was not innovative
enough, and that
LG wants to set
itself apart. They
wanted to bring in
elegance and
humanity to the G4, so they opted for a slightly
curved design that improves durability and feel-in-
hand. The back is removable, and it reveals
microSD support for up to 2TB, and a 3,000mAh
removable battery. LG sought out various colors
and material textures to set the device apart. There
are metallic and ceramic finishes for the back, but
also the super-teased genuine leather back which
has a smooth and durable finish. LG wants you to
“feel the craftsmanship” and promises that the back
will gain character as you use it.
Lee moved onto the
camera, and started
by reminding us
about the auto-
focus technology
that allows you to
focus a shot in
0.276 seconds. Now
the 16MP rear
camera is optimized
to launch faster as
well, and LG claimed that it can be fully ready in 0.6
seconds. There’s also a quickshot button trigger by
double-tapping a rear key that allows you to snap a
picture without having the camera loaded up. The
F1.8 number of the aperture and the image sensor
size have both been tuned, the former being smaller
and the latter being bigger. In fact, the sensor is
40% faster than the average smartphone’s, and the
aperture chosen allows for 80% more light than the
typical configuration.
These
hardware
advancements allow for better low-light
photography, and the refined camera software
allows you to configure the shutter speed and also
supports RAW images. The OIS has been tuned to
LG’s OIS 2.0 which now adds a Z axis for better
stabilization, and to make the images more credible
the phone has a color spectrum sensor at the back
for object and light recognition. Lee claimed that it
allows the phone to “ read the color exactly as you see
it yourself” and it recognizes the difference between
RGB and IR to automatically adjust the flash and
color balance. “The best camera is the one that you
have with you all the time” , he said, and with this
impressive-looking package he might be right. The
8MP shooter at the front will also benefit from new
software features and gestures.
The 5.5 inch, 1440p
IPS Quantum
Display has tech
that is similar to the
Quantum Dot
technology that
we’ve been seeing in
new televisions, but
it allows for thinner
and smaller bezels.
This display has 20% better color reproduction than
the average LCD display, as well as a 50% increase
in contrast. Lee believes that the picture quality is
so realistic that, when looking at the pictures on the
screen, “you can almost taste [the strawberries]”. The
new structure of the liquid crystal will allow for
better battery efficiency as well, and the display is
considerably brighter regardless. That improvement
coupled with the GRAM and software enhancements
make for what LG touted as a battery life of “over a
day in a single charge ”.
Finally, we saw the LG UX
4.0. Designed with users
in mind, it is simple to use
and features a new gallery
with “memories” that
organize your photos into
time and event albums,
and a “timeline” to sort
through photos based on
times and year. The event pocket gathers
everything from busy schedules from different
pockets for a smarter and more connected
calendar. The smart notice widget has also
improved, and notifications and alerts are now more
useful and personal. The device will also come with
100GB of Drive storage for free. For Volkswagen car
owners, Mirror Link is rolling out with an upcoming
update in select markets.
Lee closed the event by thanking everyone for
coming and saying these somewhat cheesy yet
oddly inspiring words: “This world is one great
experience…! Your smartphone should enhance it, it
shouldn’t interrupt it. Life’s Good, and at LG Mobile, we
want to make sure that we are helping, making it
great!”. We are sure of one thing: the G4 looks
phenomenal, and we can’t wait to hear more about
it and its reception!
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