Htc One M8 Vs Lg G4

TechRadar Verdict

LG has tried to focus on what everyone really wants out of a smartphone, a neat looking design, color rich display and the great photographic camera for photos - just it doesn't quite deliver as impressively as we'd hoped.

Pros

+
Decent camera
+
Colour-rich display
+
Potent spec list

Cons

-
Camera launcher non fast enough
-
Poor battery life for flagship phone
-
Unimpressive build

The LG G4 is the issue of years of forward momentum, combining the insane sort of specs we're used to seeing from the Asian manufacturers with a recognized brand and decent endeavour to create a usable user experience.

LG G4 Specs

Weight: 155g
Dimensions: 148.9 x 76.1 x 9.viii mm
OS: Android half dozen
Screen size: 5.5-inch
Resolution: 1440x2560
CPU: Snapdragon 808
RAM: 3GB
Storage: 32GB (with microSD)
Bombardment: 3000mAh
Rear photographic camera: 16MP
Front photographic camera: 8MP

Simply the last few flagship 'Thou' phones have had one thing in common: loads of good bits, just a slightly uneven finish. It'south lacked the final shine that would have fabricated it a market leader, but commonly combined it with a cheaper price and therefore evened out the equation.

The LG G4 has improved battery life, improved camera and upgraded screen, and combined them with a slightly outlandish design: covering the thing in a leather coat that'south certainly something the rest of the market hasn't seen yet.

It's no longer the latest LG telephone, only the LG G4 still has its merits, and it's now cheaper than ever.

LG G4 price

The LG G4 price has been steadily dropping to the point where you lot tin now option it up for £300 / $270 / AU$300, but already that price is starting to fluctuate every bit the telephone slowly rolls out of stock to be replaced by the G5.

It'south still possible to find this phone on contract though, with the handset bachelor for £20 per month in the Britain without an upfront cost - and for a telephone of this pedigree, that's not a bad price at all.

One of the early sticking points I had with this telephone was the price - it came at a 'normal' level, rivaling the iPhone and Galaxy flagships pound for pound. That's now dropped massively to make it, once again, one of the cheapest and most attractive pinnacle-cease handsets in price terms - but if you lot're going to pick 1 up, information technology's best to practise it sharpish.

Design

I'm not sure what LG is doing with the G4. There are two options on offering, and I've been testing both. The offset is a leather back, and the 1 that LG is pushing equally the 'premium' model, and the latter is the polycarbonate version with a diamond effect.

It'southward bonny plenty, and has the aforementioned brushed metal event equally last year, but lacks anything like the 'wow' factor LG is going for with the leather option.

Let's get-go with leather (on a dissever note: a dangerous statement for a first date). I'm really disappointed with what LG has done here. Information technology'southward too thinly stretched over the back of the telephone to be considered premium, and when you're fighting against the beauty of the HTC One M9, it's a real misstep.

There are now two leather variants on the market, brown and black. The quondam looks more striking, but the latter feels a little more than rugged, with a nicer feel in the hand. The leather doesn't experience as thin and stretched, for a start.

Leather could have been a good idea, if it had the aforementioned feel as an expensive wallet or watch strap. But the thin material used here almost feels plastic, not premium. The Moto X has a leather back option, and I know some people love information technology, simply for many a leather back is a novelty, not a statement of wealth, luxury or quality.

And allow's be honest: the leather back is just that, a dorsum. One you tin can buy and clip on, rather than a role of the telephone's pattern itself.

When information technology comes to the plastic version, the LG G4 doesn't feel as squeamish in the hand as the residuum of the market'south big hitters: the HTC One M9 has a really well-crafted finish, the iPhone 6 a lightweight ceramic feel that begs y'all to fondle it, and the Galaxy S6 has shown that Samsung's not completely inept when it comes to offering a phone made of metal and glass.

The LG, on the other hand, is all nearly existence lightweight and ergonomic in the hand. The rear encompass bulges out a little to curve into the palm, which is designed to make it nicer to agree and allow for a greater battery space (3000mAh, compared to the 2500mAh on offer in the Milky way S6, for instance).

Ane of the big features LG is making a large deal of is the fact said bombardment is removable, which explains the need for a plastic cover (easier to remove and less likely to break than a metal choice).

I'm not sold on the need to take removable battery. I know some people love the condom it brings, the idea that y'all can conduct effectually a spare, but in reality I'd rather use ane of the battery packs I've become accustomed to slinging in my handbag - plus they're universal.

Making a bombardment removable does have the added do good of letting you alter it out if the power pack starts playing up a year and a half into your 2 year contract, only it comes at the price of design. There'due south a reason the S6, 1 M9, iPhone 6 and Sony Xperia Z3 all look ameliorate than the G4, and that's the fact they have unibody chassis.

I'm glad LG has offered this option but so one of the market place'south big hitters is doing it, and if y'all're i of those that think the leather is every bit as premium as metal, and so this is a corking characteristic to accept (the cover also hides the microSD slot too).

Merely the lack of unibody has minimised the corporeality of battery space available and made a less bonny phone.

The phone itself is large without being TOO unwieldy. Yeah, we've become used to having massive phones in our hands, but where the LG G3 was just on the edge of beingness as well big, this 5.5-inch screened device has been curved and hewn to arrive a little less precipitous to use in the paw.

You'll still need to wriggle it around quite a lot to utilize information technology day to day, simply given the trade-off gives yous a phenomenal QHD screen, it'due south worth it. That display is slightly curved, only I've not seen a nifty deal of use for that in general use.

The rear keys are present again - one of LG'due south favourite design tweaks - meaning that there'south very little buttonry around the telephone. The rear keys are piece of cake to notice, take a pleasant ridged effect and are singled-out from other elements of the phone. I came to love them on the LG G2 and however find them actually nice now.

The only other thing to bespeak out is the infra-red port on the top of the phone - it's slight and about will miss it (and I'd rather it was on the rear of the phone every bit it makes controlling the Tv set a petty easier when the phone is held up) but information technology's practiced to encounter its presence standing.

Current page: Introduction and design

Adjacent Page Display

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life every bit a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily equally phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on Idiot box and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate well-nigh fettle, he can bore anyone rigid nearly stress management, slumber tracking, heart rate variance also as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Milky way or OLED TV.