LG G6 Takes It Right Up To Google Pixel
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LG has the smartphone with their new G6 to take on several of the big players, including the overpriced Google Pixel, the only thing lacking is an appetite by LG to spend money on marketing the device.

Time and time again LG has had a superior smartphone offering only for the device to struggle in the marketplace. The standout last year was their V20 and now they have a new model which on paper seriously stacks up.

While the price has not been revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona overnight the specs have:

LG G6 Specs.

18:9 quad-HD display

HDR 10 and Dolby Vision

Android 7.0

2x 13-megapixel rear cameras

Very thin bezel

Snapdragon 821, 4GB RAM

32GB storage, microSD

3300mAh battery, USB-C

Wireless charging (US-only)

Quad-DAC (Korea-only)

Dual-Sim (Europe Only)

LG G6 release date: March 2017 (Korea) April 2017 (US, UK and Europe).

No release date for Australia has been revealed and if past LG smartphone launches are anything to go by, Australia will be at the end of the queue months after the US or Europe release dates.

On paper this device is a serious competitor to the Google Pixel it has an excellent a display screen which has been tightly packed into a small body like the V20.

The 5.7-inch display is a sizeable increase from the 5.2-inch panel used for the G5.

It sits inside a body that is only fractionally bigger than the G5 and noticeably smaller than the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

Rather than the typical 16:9 aspect ratio almost every smartphone since the original iPhone has utilised, LG has switched to an 18:9 ratio display (basically 2:1) that gives you more screen in a smaller body.

A noticeable difference is that the corners of the device are now rounded, rather than right angles. Those who saw the device at MWC were not impressed.

To match the stretched display, the resolution here sits at 2880 x 1440 and even though it’s not AMOLED, it delivers vivid colours and deep blacks.

It’s the first phone with Dolby Vision support and HDR 10.

YouTube and Netflix videos, will display natively at 16:9 with bars making up the rest of the space.

All of LG’s own apps have been updated; and as the aspect ratio is 2:1, the design theme for the UI is two squares on top of each other. This helps Android 7’s native split-screen multitasking, giving you more space for each app.

Trusted Reviews said that LG’s UI design is far from the best, though, and it feels a bit like iOS mashed with Huawei’s EMUI with a dash of TouchWiz thrown in. Some of the icons are weirdly big, some are more rounded than others and by default, there’s no app drawer. It does have the Google Assistant though, the first phone to do so aside from the Pixel.

The standby switch, with a very fast fingerprint sensor is still on the back but unlike many phones that use capacitive pads, this depresses and has a nice bit of feedback.

Just below the camera is the perfect place for a fingerprint sensor, simply because it’s one’s finger naturally rests when you pick up a phone.

Under the bonnet, LG G6 uses last year’s Snapdragon 821 CPU – looks like Samsung did snap up those initial runs of the 835 – with 4GB RAM and 32GB of basic storage. There is a microSD slot, most other vendors are set to launch with 64GB as the standard memory.

Like the G5, the G6 has two sensors sitting next to each on the back of the device. One is your typical camera; 13-megapixels, OIS, f/1.8 aperture, while the other has a much wider field-of-view.

This gives you that wide angle shot that past LG smartphones have been praised for.

LG claims that almost 50% of people tend to use just the wide-angle camera so it’s bumped that from an 8MP sensor to a 13MP version. It lacks OIS though, and has a much narrower f/2.4 aperture so low-light snaps won’t be quite as good.

LG has done a lot of work with the LG G6 to ensure that it doesn’t suffer from the multitude of design failings seen from the LG G5.

For a start, LG has completely scrapped the LG G5’s modular design, which allowed users to swap out a portion of the phone to trade between features. That’s probably for the best, as the feature was largely useless considering the low number of “modules” available.

Overall, the LG G6 is much more refined, with a sleek glass and metal build, a fingerprint scanner on the back, and a slim chassis.

When compared with the Google Pixel which is seen as being overpriced the LG G6 comes out on top.

TheGoogle Pixel is a really average smartphone that doesn’t necessarily stand out in any way. The body is made from metal and glass, and features a fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone. There aren’t any physical buttons on the front, so your left with on-screen navigation only.

The Pixel is also about 0.6mm thicker than the LG G6 which makes the Pixel feel bulky and heavy in the hand.

The LG G6 is more feature-packed than the Google Pixel for example the LG G6 has a much bigger screen than the Google Pixel, rocking 5.7-inches compared to the Pixel’s lowly 5-incher. It’s also got way more pixels: the LG G6 has a resolution of 1,440 x 2,880 pixels (564ppi), while the Pixel uses a Full HD 1,080 x 1,920-pixel screen (441ppi). This means that the LG G6 screen is both bigger and more pixel-dense, giving you a more detailed viewing experience.

Both phones use the same Snapdragon 821 chipset, meaning you should theoretically get the same performance.

LG has incorporated the back of the LG G6 with two 13-megapixel cameras (one with optical image stabilisation), both of which have a wider f/1.8 aperture than the Google Pixel.

All we are waiting for now is an Australian price, launch date and a review model.