Hey everyone. Some of you may have seen me before on various LG forums, like the Optimus G, and the G2 (I've definitely seen some of you guys before on the OG forums), and I have a question for you guys who own the Sprint G3. Are you guys happy with your device? Like ROM wise, battery life, the entire experience in general. As of today March 1st, I'm eligible for an upgrade, and I was thinking of getting the G3. But I've been ghosting around the forums to spot any rooting quirks and goofs, and I've seen some regarding data on custom ROMs and stuff, which I'm kinda on the fence about. I'm planning on keeping my N5 for the AOSP ROMs, but this phone has terrible battery life, compared to the G2 I've owned for two weeks before I permanently switched to the N5. I see there's a decent selection of AOSP ROMs available for the G3, but I'm not too worried about that because I have my Nexus.
Tl;Dr: are you guys happy with your G3, and do you think its worth the upgrade, or should I wait for new devices to come out?
Get on GSM if you can. This CDMA crap has an always be problematic. GSM phones get way more love than the stupid sprint cdma garbage. We have great stuff going on here. Yet still better support for GSM. Battery life is great and the phone rocks.
---------- Post added at 02:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 AM ----------
As for me I am seriously contemplating getting a Nexus 6 just so I can get stock android without CDMA problems. All I want is stock. If I had the knowledge to make this phone what I want I would. I do not so I am at the will of others. No complaints though. So much great stuff has happened for this LS990.
As a previous owner of several G2's (Sprint variants) I'm happy that I now have a G3 finally (and yes it's the Sprint model). Having said that, I'm currently "stuck" at the moment because of a damaged digitizer but I'll be ordering a new display assembly here in short order hopefully.
Comparing the G3 vs the N5 directly it's pretty blatantly obvious that the G3 is vastly superior in most every respect that matters - I'm wondering if you meant to say the N6 instead because that would be more aligned in a comparison in terms of hardware:
- same resolution screens albeit LCD vs AMOLED, 5.5" vs 5.96" - the G3 "looks" sharper because of the much higher PPI at 538 vs 493 for the N6 - I have two friends that own an N6 at this time and the one thing I hear from them most often is they love the color saturation of the AMOLED panel but they wish it was LCD because in direct sunlight the AMOLED just washes out pretty severely, and I am the same way: I love AMOLED color representation but outside in daylight, forget it, the G3 wins without question (my opinion based on my own usage and experience, however)
- the N6 is technically more powerful with the Snapdragon 805 at 2.7 GHz vs the G3 with the 801 at 2.5 GHz but the difference is negligible in actual day to day performance
- 3GB of RAM in each device (given you have the 32GB model from Sprint) so that's a draw
- form factor isn't that different save for getting used to the G3 having the rear mounted controls, it takes a little getting used to but in the long run I've come to find it works fine for me after that "honeymoon" period
- pure stock Android on the N6 vs the very nicely themed G3 experience, this one is simply a personal preference and nothing more: I prefer the G3's UI actually; when I had my G2(s) over the past year I ran CloudyG3 on them (now properly renamed to CloudyG2, however) and loved it. I can see why people prefer the stock Android even in spite of them using some third party launcher like Nova or something else even so
- microSD slot for increased storage + the removable battery pushes the G3 into the lead for me, however - I'm not saying it's better automagically just because the hardware supports it, I'm saying that for me it's better because I prefer such aspects in my smartphones, those two things were lacking in the G2 and I'm happy that LG came around and added them because it makes the G3 nearly perfect to me (I wish it just had a 1920x1080 display, however)
- battery life is an important aspect as well and I'm confident that the G3 with Lollipop (since it's now available, even for the Sprint variant) should get improved battery life (there's that memory glitch with 5.0.1 but I'm sure it'll be addressed soon enough). Can't speak for the N5 or the N6 with respect to battery life but I'm pretty sure the G3 may give better results. GSMArena gave the N6 a 70 hour endurance rating and the G3 a 63 in the same test, so they're very similar overall depending on usage
Also realize that because of how the G3 is designed with the back-mounted buttons, the 5.5" display on it and the entire casing of the G3 takes up less space than the N6 does - the N6 is a very large device overall, a monster sized phone these days so that may play into your decision as well. There's a size comparison at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBrbCB50wJ0 - pretty dramatic difference.
But these kinds of comparisons are a dime a dozen these days, you've probably done the research already anyway, iamterence, so none of this is really new. What you have to decide is only something you can decide, as the case may be:
Which device suits your needs and requirements best...
What I suggest to people is sit down for a few minutes and do a pros/cons list of the things you need and require a smartphone in today's world to do for you given your usage expectations, then find a device that most closely matches the pros while having the least cons. It takes a while to do it obviously but when you're done you should have a lock on which device will be your choice.
If it's the G3 vs the N5, I'll take the G3 anytime. If it's the G3 vs the N6, I'd still take the G3 because I just prefer what it offers - pure stock Android on a Nexus is a nice thing, but it's lacking to me in many respects.
Also, I do agree with what was said above about the CDMA vs GSM thing overall but the G2 and the G3 really don't have much issues with getting GSM functionality. I personally can't stand LTE for various reasons but that's another thread altogether, so for me using HSPA+ on these devices is better in my situation and gives me 35Mbps or better where I live in Las Vegas which is pretty much saturated by T-Mobile service (my carrier of choice). If your intention - as a Sprint customer - is to use the device with that carrier then that whole CDMA vs GSM thing is a moot point anyway. If, however, you hope to use the device with another provider based on AT&T or T-Mobile's networks aka GSM then understand that unlocking the domestic GSM usage for the G3 isn't that tough at all, really.
Again, do the list, find what you need and require then match it.
I'd say grab the G3 and run with it but, you're the one that has to make the final decision.
ps
KnockOn/KnockOff/KnockCode... once you start using it you will seriously wonder why every smartphone hasn't been doing this since day one.
br0adband said:
As a previous owner of several G2's (Sprint variants) I'm happy that I now have a G3 finally (and yes it's the Sprint model). Having said that, I'm currently "stuck" at the moment because of a damaged digitizer but I'll be ordering a new display assembly here in short order hopefully.
Comparing the G3 vs the N5 directly it's pretty blatantly obvious that the G3 is vastly superior in most every respect that matters - I'm wondering if you meant to say the N6 instead because that would be more aligned in a comparison in terms of hardware:
- same resolution screens albeit LCD vs AMOLED, 5.5" vs 5.96" - the G3 "looks" sharper because of the much higher PPI at 538 vs 493 for the N6 - I have two friends that own an N6 at this time and the one thing I hear from them most often is they love the color saturation of the AMOLED panel but they wish it was LCD because in direct sunlight the AMOLED just washes out pretty severely, and I am the same way: I love AMOLED color representation but outside in daylight, forget it, the G3 wins without question (my opinion based on my own usage and experience, however)
- the N6 is technically more powerful with the Snapdragon 805 at 2.7 GHz vs the G3 with the 801 at 2.5 GHz but the difference is negligible in actual day to day performance
- 3GB of RAM in each device (given you have the 32GB model from Sprint) so that's a draw
- form factor isn't that different save for getting used to the G3 having the rear mounted controls, it takes a little getting used to but in the long run I've come to find it works fine for me after that "honeymoon" period
- pure stock Android on the N6 vs the very nicely themed G3 experience, this one is simply a personal preference and nothing more: I prefer the G3's UI actually; when I had my G2(s) over the past year I ran CloudyG3 on them (now properly renamed to CloudyG2, however) and loved it. I can see why people prefer the stock Android even in spite of them using some third party launcher like Nova or something else even so
- microSD slot for increased storage + the removable battery pushes the G3 into the lead for me, however - I'm not saying it's better automagically just because the hardware supports it, I'm saying that for me it's better because I prefer such aspects in my smartphones, those two things were lacking in the G2 and I'm happy that LG came around and added them because it makes the G3 nearly perfect to me (I wish it just had a 1920x1080 display, however)
- battery life is an important aspect as well and I'm confident that the G3 with Lollipop (since it's now available, even for the Sprint variant) should get improved battery life (there's that memory glitch with 5.0.1 but I'm sure it'll be addressed soon enough). Can't speak for the N5 or the N6 with respect to battery life but I'm pretty sure the G3 may give better results. GSMArena gave the N6 a 70 hour endurance rating and the G3 a 63 in the same test, so they're very similar overall depending on usage
Also realize that because of how the G3 is designed with the back-mounted buttons, the 5.5" display on it and the entire casing of the G3 takes up less space than the N6 does - the N6 is a very large device overall, a monster sized phone these days so that may play into your decision as well. There's a size comparison at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBrbCB50wJ0 - pretty dramatic difference.
But these kinds of comparisons are a dime a dozen these days, you've probably done the research already anyway, iamterence, so none of this is really new. What you have to decide is only something you can decide, as the case may be:
Which device suits your needs and requirements best...
What I suggest to people is sit down for a few minutes and do a pros/cons list of the things you need and require a smartphone in today's world to do for you given your usage expectations, then find a device that most closely matches the pros while having the least cons. It takes a while to do it obviously but when you're done you should have a lock on which device will be your choice.
If it's the G3 vs the N5, I'll take the G3 anytime. If it's the G3 vs the N6, I'd still take the G3 because I just prefer what it offers - pure stock Android on a Nexus is a nice thing, but it's lacking to me in many respects.
Also, I do agree with what was said above about the CDMA vs GSM thing overall but the G2 and the G3 really don't have much issues with getting GSM functionality. I personally can't stand LTE for various reasons but that's another thread altogether, so for me using HSPA+ on these devices is better in my situation and gives me 35Mbps or better where I live in Las Vegas which is pretty much saturated by T-Mobile service (my carrier of choice). If your intention - as a Sprint customer - is to use the device with that carrier then that whole CDMA vs GSM thing is a moot point anyway. If, however, you hope to use the device with another provider based on AT&T or T-Mobile's networks aka GSM then understand that unlocking the domestic GSM usage for the G3 isn't that tough at all, really.
Again, do the list, find what you need and require then match it.
I'd say grab the G3 and run with it but, you're the one that has to make the final decision.
ps
KnockOn/KnockOff/KnockCode... once you start using it you will seriously wonder why every smartphone hasn't been doing this since day one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You say that you're stick with Sprint because you have a damaged digitizer for your G3; is that because you flashed a ROM, or what? Because I remember back on the G2 forums, there was a VERY widespread screen damage problem that happened to a lot of people who flashed ROMs, and even to people who didn't. If that's a problem here as well, then I am instantly turned off, because that problem is just beyond stupid.
I know that GSM devices get mostly all the love as well, being stuck on CDMA myself for the past 3 years and counting. But the way I view it as: since I already have a Nexus device, with the G3, I'm actually gonna take the chance to appreciate stock debloated software, and maybe go AOSP if I'm feeling bored, but I plan on keeping my Nexus just in case I feel like going back to AOSP. But, to be completely honest though, AOSP gets a little boring after a while. See, I like minimal ROMs. I've flash a lot of ROMs on my device, but I always find myself coming back to near-vanilla ROMs, because I'm just not into all those features like that. Just give me a theme engine/RRO support, and maybe even a center clock mod, and I'm good to go.
Speaking of RRO, are there any ROMs here that support that yet? I really haven't looker, but Layers themes are AMAZING. I feel like they run more efficiently than the theme engine, but that can be a strictly placebo affect. If not, I know there's definitely theme engine, so I'm good either ways.
I'm actually kinda leaning towards the G3 myself now, and have been for a little while now. I guess I just needed something to solidify my decision. Really not into HTC phones, nor am I a big fan of Touchwiz, even with their clean slate revisiting. LG phones have never done me any wrong (Well, except for the G2 with it's screen problems), and we didn't get a 2nd gen Moto X, otherwise I'd hop on that in a heartbeat. The Nexus 6 is WAY too goddamn big for me, like way past my comfort zone. I travel across the country in a touring metal band, so something stupid would be bound to happen if I were to get that phone. I'd feel a lot more safer with that phone than with the goddamn whale that is the N6. But, like I said, I'd be getting the G3 to actually appreciate the stock LG software rather than trying to go nuts with AOSP.
If anything, if I don't like the G3, I'll just sell it for $250 or something.
No, I bought it with a cracked digitizer for $50 - the G3 itself is without any noticeable flaws and works great but the digitizer being cracked and non-functional leaves me with a device I can't use till I replace that (meaning the entire display assembly since the LCD and digitizer are fused; technically it's possible to separate them but I lack the expertise and the necessary hardware plus it's just not worth the hassles). The G2 issues in the past were an actual manufacturing defect on some particular devices, iirc, I could be wrong about that but it had something to do with specific LCD panels made by a specific manufacturer - it wasn't directly LG's fault, I mean, at least that's what I remember. There was an app you could run that would ID the exact panel in your G2 and then you'd know whether or not you might potentially have problems.
I've never ever heard of screen damage caused by ROM flashing - that just sounds a bit ridiculous, so perhaps there's just a misunderstanding of what those people were reporting. The one "issue" that the G3 suffered/suffers from is the fact that the super huge QHD resolution and scaling causing sharpness issues in some situations: either the onscreen image is too sharp or oversharp and loses clarity or it's not sharp enough and looks fuzzy. It's not a technical problem or a defect with the display, it's simple physics of the LCD being so high resolution at 2560x1440 and software/hardware scaling not being up to par - there are several fixes out that help alleviate the oversharpening but I can't speak for their effectiveness at this time till I can get this G3 of mine up and running again with the replacement display assembly.
Not sure what you're referring to with the "RRO" comment, and I'm not into themes at all personally. I typically use a black wallpaper on any device I own and keep everything 'stock' in terms of the UI itself which is why I said what I said about LG's stock UI on the G3 (and why I used it on the G2 with CloudyG3/G2). It's beautiful, incredibly functional, and fits the way I use the device better than "stock" Android ever could but again that's just me and my personal preference. I give LG big props and mad respect for it because it's gorgeous and gets the job done while being lean and mean while remaining snappy and responsive as well.
Aside from the Sprint bloatware (which can be disabled iirc, or removed entirely with root using Titanium Backup). I was using the G3 after I got it and my OTG cable with a mouse, actually. The damage to the digitizer was localized in most of the left and upper region - the bottom right quadrant was still functional but with the mouse plugged in the digitizer became irrelevant. No, I don't mean I was going to carry it around with a mouse, that would be ridiculous and stupid, I just mean that I got the G3 for that $50 knowing I'd be replacing the display assembly from the gitgo.
My mistake was that I decided to roll the firmware back to factory (ZV4) and in the process I didn't realize that LG has made some changes since the G2 release and they have this stupid "Mini OS" thing come up after a stock firmware flash - the only way to exit out of that Mini OS and into the normal firmware is to hold the Power button and tap a menu item onscreen which causes a popup to appear with an OK button - because the digitizer is/was damaged I wasn't able to press the OK button (it was like 1/16" of an inch inside the damaged area) so I was left with a truly dead G3 for all intents and purposes.
I tore it down yesterday and removed the display assembly and cleaned it all up so it's basically a fully functional G3 now waiting for a new display/digitizer which I hope to order here as soon as I can round up the funds, it'll be about $70-80 off eBay.
It's a damned nice smartphone, it really is. My own pros/cons list basically is like 99% pros for the G3 and just 1% con: I wish it had a 1920x1080 display on it because I have no use - I mean really, does anyone? - for such a high resolution on such a tiny display. I appreciate it, I do, but there's no legitimate purpose for such a resolution on such a small display: 1920x1080 would have been awesome enough, I would have been happy with it and had no issues but LG wanted to be the first to market with the QHD resolution and they made it happen with the G3.
Couldn't pass it up for $50...
iamterence said:
Hey everyone. Some of you may have seen me before on various LG forums, like the Optimus G, and the G2 (I've definitely seen some of you guys before on the OG forums), and I have a question for you guys who own the Sprint G3. Are you guys happy with your device? Like ROM wise, battery life, the entire experience in general. As of today March 1st, I'm eligible for an upgrade, and I was thinking of getting the G3. But I've been ghosting around the forums to spot any rooting quirks and goofs, and I've seen some regarding data on custom ROMs and stuff, which I'm kinda on the fence about. I'm planning on keeping my N5 for the AOSP ROMs, but this phone has terrible battery life, compared to the G2 I've owned for two weeks before I permanently switched to the N5. I see there's a decent selection of AOSP ROMs available for the G3, but I'm not too worried about that because I have my Nexus.
Tl;Dr: are you guys happy with your G3, and do you think its worth the upgrade, or should I wait for new devices to come out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I loved my OG and decided to go with this phone based off of my experience with that. I can honestly say I made the right choice. My normal routine with phones is to flash AOSP roms as soon as they are available, but with this phone, I've been pretty impressed with the custom stock roms and xposed. My battery life is great when I'm not using bluetooth, but one great thing is the charge time on this phone has greatly improved over the OG.
BonezMontana said:
I loved my OG and decided to go with this phone based off of my experience with that. I can honestly say I made the right choice. My normal routine with phones is to flash AOSP roms as soon as they are available, but with this phone, I've been pretty impressed with the custom stock roms and xposed. My battery life is great when I'm not using bluetooth, but one great thing is the charge time on this phone has greatly improved over the OG.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm definitely interested to see how stock debloated Lollipop runs on this phone. Its just weird hearing that the battery life is just "okay" considering that the G2 had amazing battery life. But I guess the G3 would be an improvement over the N5 anyways, this thing has horrid battery life. Think I'm gonna go to Best Buy tomorrow and snag a G3 for a dollar, instead of getting one from Sprint for $50.
Related
Sorry I know if everyone asked these general questions about what to buy the forums would be flooded. Hopefully posting in the general section I'm not getting in the way of any important development threads or anything. I wouldn't ask if I weren't really struggling with some indecision here.
I'm a Verizon customer, still have unlimited. Using a Droid Bionic with Carbon Rom. I'm planning to buy at full retail price to leave my data plan in tact.
LG wasn't really even on my radar. HTC One was originally what caught my eye for the styling and great reviews, then the new wave of Droids came out, and now the G2. I think I'm fairly decided in terms of currently available devices and don't need help there, I would get the G2 if it came down to what's on store shelves right now. I've seen comments on the HTC One camera ranging from amazing to garbage, and not sure I would like Blinkfeed. The One speakers would be nice but can't say I really need internal audio from my phone that much. Doesn't sound like the Droid Maxx battery is really thrilling anyone, plus with upgrading at full retail price it kinda isn't all that interesting to jump from one Moto Droid to another, it'll just feel like a differently shaped Bionic. Moto X seems interesting everyone keeps saying it's the best all around form factor and the most refined that an Android device has ever felt, but I think I'm ready for a bigger screen and battery.
I'm more a bit hesitant that I'll get the G2 and then the Nexus 5 or Note 3 is going to be amazing. Although I'm well aware of the crop of Nexus 5 rumors, apparently not having Verizon's LTE band (then counteracted by a newer rumor saying there may have been an FCC filing for a separate Verizon LG device that wasn't the G2 and could be their variant of the Nexus 5). Plus a rumored smaller battery for the Nexus compared to the G2 which would lower my interest in it. Note 3... I'm not really dying to own my first Samsung but it seems it might outdo the G2 in a few ways, more Ram, SD card slot, etc. Obviously anything compared to the Bionic I have will seem nice, 32GB (or the 20-whatever that's actually available after system install) on the G2 will be plenty, I am used to working with the 16gb I have on my Bionic and am used to having to send stuff to my PC harddrive if my phone gets too full.
I've owned LG in my cell phone history, had an LG Dare and then an Ally for my first Android phone. Their hardware is alright but if I recall correctly they are pretty iffy about timely updates and then just stop supporting devices once they hit a certain age. But then Motorola pulled the same stunt during my Bionic ownership and most of you will know about how long it took Bionic to get system updates. I don't think I ever really saw myself going back to LG as I've felt the same indifference towards them as the rest of the community for a while now, although it kinda says something about them that they're still good enough to keep getting contracted for the Nexus devices. And then this G2 landed on my radar out of nowhere.
G2 camera sounds great with a few reviews sprinkled in that suddenly didn't think it was all that amazing, but I take pictures like crazy, camera is important, I think I may even sell my Sony Nex 3 full size camera as a way to help pay for a phone upgrade, the big camera just sits here and collects dust when I can have a camera in my pocket all day in a phone.
Important aspects to me, battery life (sick of charging my Bionic constantly, I think my extended battery is wearing out because I can just watch the percentage drop like a rock as I use it), quality display would be nice after settling for the Bionic with it's blah pentile screen, camera as I mentioned above, other than that I browse, text message, need Tethering, and use Pandora in my car. And I do care about developer support, I like messing with Roms, but if the factory Rom is decent once you get it set up, I can live with not having as large of a dev community as S4 might have or whatever. So yeah with that said it seems like a no brainer saying display-battery-camera, G2 sounds to be the best at all of that right now, I'm just worried about what else is coming out this holiday season. I know the Nexus announcement is rumored for next month but I just hate to wait just to find out it's not coming to Verizon or is definitely going to have some lame 2300mah battery. You know how it is when you're ready to upgrade...
-I suppose we'd all be guessing, but how good are people feeling about the G2 getting a KitKat update in a reasonable time window? This is the LG flagship so I would hope for good support, but the LG skin and addons are so overwhelming and heavily skinned devices always take longer to get their updates out. I'd be thrilled to get this phone but that would quickly turn to disappointment if we're waiting for 4.4 longer than anyone else.
-How is developer support looking? Have any big names pledged to add the G2 to their supported devices? I really like Carbon Rom on Bionic. I suppose it's a good sign that root and loki happened right away but so far Rom releases, especially for VZW, looks slow.
-Speaking of ROMs, do we have any idea if any of the stock stuff like knock-on etc will ever be able to be pulled and applied to a custom ROM, or is it pretty much a guarantee that if you switch to anything but stock you're going to be sacrificing a lot of the factory features?
-I noticed the G2 doesn't even come up on the Top Devices window at the first XDA forum portal, is that a bad sign for community interest in the device? HTC One, Note 3, etc all show up as the top devices on XDA right now. Is there a community behind this device or not really? Does everyone dig the specs but shy away from LG with their heavy skin?
-It WiFi tethering working with the current root exploit? I use my Bionic as my home internet access, on the stock ROM it seems like FoxFi will stop working after a couple of days like it's detecting that I'm tethering, on Carbon ROM I can tether for gig after gig of data and no issue.
-I've seen more than one person gripe about thermal throttling and the G2 starting to run like utter garbage in certain conditions. That would certainly suck to spend 600 on. Is this widespread?
I don't think I'd regret buying it immediately but I see the potential that only a few weeks into ownership the "oh crap why did I go with LG" feeling will start.
For the awesome specs...yes. Its a great deal for what you get. I don't know if tethering is working yet but I do know pda net works. Top be honest with my wife and I we were concerned about going share everything but I got a music unlimited service for 50 a year and downloaded everything instead of streaming. We went from using 6+ gb a month to under 2. And almost all the music is ultra high quality which works perfect with the 24 bit DAC. I stopped using Pandora because of this...I can skip all I want no commercials and choose weekday I want. I am very happy with the lg UI MINUS the giant size. So fast there had been a fantastic dev community modding the stock rom. Coming from a GNex I am ecstatic to get TWRP already. I wouldn't be too sure that anything coming out from Samsung will be crackle since the S4 is locked down now. Battery is about 9-10 hours of straight screen and 24+ with normal usage including hours on and off of heavy use. The only thing I don't like is the weak out of the box speaker but they have already modded ATT gain to make it better. The Btooth audio and head phone quality makes for this Times a million. I don't see anything else coming close unless you are Andre the Giant and like the phablet Note type. The one is bigger with a smaller washed out color LCD. The speakers rock but it's not worth the lack of general power. Grey a quick window case it's s fantastic.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Wow. There's about 5 minutes I can't get back.
Nexus5 will most likely never hit Verizon.
Big name devs? This phone is like a week old. Time will tell.
Wi-Fi tethering not currently working.
Buy it. If you don't like it inside of 14 days, return it. By that time, news of the nexus 5 should be out.
Thank you Devs. From my LG G2.
Wifi tether wasn't working on the S4 or One, I just had both phones on Sprint and T-Mobile with various roms and kernels. The only other phone I considered was the Note 3 but I can't stand the home button, would have liked the extra real estate but the G2 is still manageable for me to use one handed and a stylus would have been wasted on me.
This phone doesn't even need roms tbh.
I'd buy this phone all over again. No other phone feels like this one a atm.
LG G2
I was following every phone to come down the pipe for the last six months or more. I had an LG Nitro HD for my last phone and my first was the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. The nitro was terrible. The only time that phone ran right was on stock gingerbread. The development was fairly slow and the community small because it was att only and wasn't popular at that. I was about as put off by LG as they come.
Two days ago, I bought the G2, and I absolutely love it. The battery life really is phenomenal. I say this because it had kept up with my initial high usage love for a new phone. I plugged in last night with 34% left after having almost six hours of screen on time at 80% brightness. The note 3 might be great,but then again it might not. Only 100mah larger battery with a .5in larger screen concerns me a bit. The processor is already insane in the G2 so that will likely not make a difference for a bit. The ram shouldn't be an issue for at least an upgrade cycle at minimum.
Honestly, the biggest difference between this and the nexus is battery and screen. Nexus is 5 in and only had 2300mah so unless Kit Kat has major battery improvements that phone was no longer a option for me. The tipping point for this phone over the moto x in my case? Development and community. This phone already has a larger forum Than the moto x. That's not the only determinant but helps significantly. Go check the nitro forum, this phone is already almost as large... this phone had root on day one I think it was and boot loader bypass within a week of launch. And a Rom 2days later. It may not be as fast some devices but that is still damn fast. Will this be a great dev phone? Too early to tell but it looks promising. And with the nexus being nearly identical hardware wise, that could help too.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my LG-D801 using xda app-developers app
Hi Guys,
After owning several iPhones back in the day (up to the 3GS) and then Nexus One, Nexus S and Nexus 4 (skipped the Galaxy Nexus) and a Nexus 7 tablet, always on (unrooted) stock Android, I couldn't resist the temptation and got myself a 32GB LG G2 (European version).
Why not wait a few weeks for the Nexus 5 ?
The main reason is that the LG G2 has just the perfect hardware specs for me, there is nothing I would realistically want more. The Nexus 5 will have smaller screen and smaller battery. Also, the last 3 versions of Android did not bring any significant useable stuff to the table in order to make me really want to update, so the newest Android update is not so important to have.
The other reason is that I am really bored of stock Android. There are some things that Google will stubbornly never add or change, and I'm not one to install custom ROMs all day. For example, I can't set different sound volumes for the call ringtones and notification ringtones. And the notification LED is so neglected by the stock Android (on phones that have it). I gave my "old" Nexus 4 to my girlfriend, and although she loves to speed over her old Galaxy S Advance, she immediately begun asking where are the "gimmicks" that Samsung included into its software and that she used all the time. This is saying something.
One minor reason is that I have had hardware problems ALL of my Nexus devices, despite the fact that I take great care of them: the Nexus One's power button became loose and broke over time (HTC support really sucks !), the Nexus S capacitive sensor burned in a corner (display assembly replacement), the Nexus 7 speakers broke and now sound is very distorted. The Nexus 4 screen was a bit yellowish when I received it, I read that it's from the glue bonding the glass layers, it improved over time but never had the correct colors, it always had a subtle yellow tint to it.
Why LG G2 ?
Just a quick glance at the competition and my previous experience with various brands made me choose the G2. The iPhone is really out of question due to the microscopic screen and lack of notification LED (it's incredible how a business user can live without a notification LED), the Galaxy S4 and HTC One have outdated hardware (I mean, if I pay the same price, why not get the latest hardware), the HTC One has a microscopic, unusable notification LED (and I don't wish you to need something from the HTC technical support !), the Galaxy Note 3 is really too big. I have never used a spare battery with any of my phones, and never used a microSD card, so these missing features are just not minuses for me. The lack of removable battery (and thus the inclusion of a bigger battery) is in fact a huge plus.
The Motorola MotoX has a very nice notification feature, but it pulsates too slow (indicating battery concerns) and the rest of the hardware is too average and I can't see it as an upgrade over the Nexus 4 (plus it's not available in Europe although I could get it if I really wanted to).
The LG G2 hardware
I will say that the excellent, biggest-in-class display, the impressive battery life and the very small bezels (phone fits in my front jeans pocket !), combined with the killer 'Knock On' feature make this phone an easy choice over any other phone right now, hardware-wise. Not to mention the newest Snapdragon 800 processor. I am even pleased by its camera capability, pictures always look very sharp because of the optical stabilization, although there is too much noise reduction and loss of detail (however resized for web/facebook, pictures look great). The fact that it has an FM radio is a huge plus for me, because I needed a radio to listen to my favorite talk show between the parking lot and my home, and it's proven to do its job great so far
The LG G2 software
Believe me when I say this, the stock Android is extremely boring compared to LGs software. It's so refreshing to see many user-needed features included in their software. I don't care for most of them, but they don't get in the way either. However, some of them are really useful and I never see Google implementing them in their stock Android. For example, I can now set different ringtone volumes for notifications and calls, I can access the phone files from my computer over my home network, I have a very customizable battery saver that kicks in when needed, etc.
There is only one thing that bothers my in LG G2's software: the notification drawer has some items that you can never remove from there, like the screen brightness, ringtone volume and a row with some shortcuts. It's not unbearable, but I prefer that to only be used for notifications. At least they could move their bloatware controls *after* all the notifications instead of before them.
Conclusion
I really like the LG G2. I think it trumps every other phone at this moment, but this is not the important thing. The important thing is that I don't have to charge my phone every day (it sometimes lasts 3+ days !), it has a great screen for web reading and browsing and it's just a well-designed phone.
Good review, vanilla android was a performance necessity when phones weren't power houses. I too enjoy the gadgetry of mfg skins. I still like stock android for my tablet, but for my primary device, I like the bells and whistles.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Thnx for this review. I love my g2 more lol!
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk 2
Well i suppose the camera is better than just for facebook and instagram. Its a 13mp for god's sake!
Fille84 said:
Well i suppose the camera is better than just for facebook and instagram. Its a 13mp for god's sake!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The megapixel count really doesn't matter, if you take a picture with an old 5 Megapixel Canon DSLR you will blow any smartphone out if the water. The pixel size / sensor size and lens quality does matter a lot.
The LG G2 camera is quite surprisingly good for a smartphone camera with a 1/3 inch sensor. The lens seems very good. But the resulting image is heavily post-processed to eliminate noise due to small pixel phtosites. Unfortunately fine detail is gone as well, but this is only visible on full-size images. Basically the camera software is optimized for instant picture sharing with little to no user post-processing, which is a correct thing to do in a smartphone.
I for one would prefer a noisier but more detailed image which I could post-process with a dedicated suite like Adobe's Lightroom. But I guess this is what big cameras are for...
Thanks for this review. I like it
Nexus 5 = Crap
This are the technical characteristics of the upcoming Nexuseless 5, I prefer LG G2 ever.
4.95″ 1080p display
32GB and 16GB internal storage
2GB RAM
MSM8974 aka Snapdragon 800 at 2.3GHz
8MP OIS rear camera
1.3MP front camera
2300mAh battery <<<<<<---- Why are they still using this crap battery!!?????
Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Proximity/Ambient Light, Pressure
Slimport compatibility
Micro SIM slot
Notification light
Wireless charging
NFC
Bluetooth 4.0 (Bluetooth 3.0 was also listed, but this is most likely an error.)
UMTS/GSM/CDMA/LTE compatibility
More details of the Nexuseless 5 here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/173744848/LG-D821
I cant make my mind up about the LG g2 or the nexus 5 the nexus 5 looks nicer but the G2 has better specs.
G2 in my opinion looks so sexy and honestly that's one of the many reasons I bought it. Its different with the home button setup on the back and has the specs to last a long time for me. Also running stock and with 5 hour screen time I'm way over 24 hours of use
Sent from my LG-D800 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
blair287 said:
I cant make my mind up about the LG g2 or the nexus 5 the nexus 5 looks nicer but the G2 has better specs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks is Subjective, IMO Nexus 5 just has two advantages over G2, Price and Timely Updates. That is it.
My views are that personally the phone is just a little to big for me to use comfortably. I would have preferred say 5" screen with the narrow bezzels making the device slightly narrower and easier to hold - but thats just a personal preference. I would have also liked a textued back to the phone (at the moment i am using a skin to give it texture) as this phone is on the maximum edge of what is comfortable to me i dont want to add to the size with a case, i also dont want to lose the look ad feel i have from the device (the 'in the hand feel') you get.
All in all however these were not a deal breaker for me as there was nothing else out for me to consider at the time (like the moto x but not available in uk) so bought the g2 sim free.
After a couple of weeks of use i started to dislike elements of the lg software and its design and just found that adding a launcher just gave me other issues. What is great now is that the dev community is really picking up for this phone and roms are starting to appear so you now have the option to pretty much have whatever you want on your phone. You can go pretty much bare bones android without any of Lg's bloat but you an also add whatever elements of Lgs stuff you like to the vanilla rom so giving you the best of both worlds.
So to sum up.....for me the device has awesome specs, latest processor, excellent camera, amazing battery life, great development options to customize to your personal liking. Only thing for me is the size but maybe thats just because i have short stubby fingers
At the end of the day its all about choices, beauty is that now you have choices so if the hardware tickles your fancy you can customize till your hearts content and end up with your perfect device
hpsauce37 said:
My views are that personally the phone is just a little to big for me to use comfortably. I would have preferred say 5" screen with the narrow bezzels making the device slightly narrower and easier to hold - but thats just a personal preference. I would have also liked a textued back to the phone (at the moment i am using a skin to give it texture) as this phone is on the maximum edge of what is comfortable to me i dont want to add to the size with a case, i also dont want to lose the look ad feel i have from the device (the 'in the hand feel') you get.
All in all however these were not a deal breaker for me as there was nothing else out for me to consider at the time (like the moto x but not available in uk) so bought the g2 sim free.
After a couple of weeks of use i started to dislike elements of the lg software and its design and just found that adding a launcher just gave me other issues. What is great now is that the dev community is really picking up for this phone and roms are starting to appear so you now have the option to pretty much have whatever you want on your phone. You can go pretty much bare bones android without any of Lg's bloat but you an also add whatever elements of Lgs stuff you like to the vanilla rom so giving you the best of both worlds.
So to sum up.....for me the device has awesome specs, latest processor, excellent camera, amazing battery life, great development options to customize to your personal liking. Only thing for me is the size but maybe thats just because i have short stubby fingers
At the end of the day its all about choices, beauty is that now you have choices so if the hardware tickles your fancy you can customize till your hearts content and end up with your perfect device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what kind of issues did you encounter when adding a launcher? and what launcher?
I appreciate everyone's reviews here!
sdsubball23 said:
what kind of issues did you encounter when adding a launcher? and what launcher?
I appreciate everyone's reviews here!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You name it i tried it!
Nova, smart launcher, Aviate, Adw.....
To be fair to these launchers though they probably were not really issue's. Just little things that frustrated me about them, could have been the inability to do something or set something up with them, notifications, different custom options etc.
Most people would probably not even have experienced it or have issue with it.
The thing i was leading to really was the fact that now with a good dev community coming on board with this device (been quite overlooked generally in my opinion until now - availabilty in some countries may have been the reason for this though) that there are many choices for people now.
If the hardware of the device fits the bill then you are no longer tied with elements of the stock build you dont like and pretty much change every bit about it one way or another - just means taking that step of rooting and flashing. Dont get me wrong im no developer or expert in this field but as someone who is particularly fussy and difficult to please with phones and software etc (must be my ocd) everyone has options and its really not that difficult once you have done it a few times.
Bottom line is if someone dosent like the stock ui/experience you can change and have whatever you want
I know my comments above may seem obvious to many especially as we are on a developer site however a lot of people come to the site for opinions and information and who may have thought about making changes but never actually taking the final steps. I did and now i have changed the things that frustrated me without the need to just change the device again! Like i said i am major ocd and fussy about phones but it does at least give a little more longevity to the device if these options are here.
Hope this makes sense lol
ps - sorry didnt mean to hijack or step on the thread.
Thanks :good:
hpsauce37 said:
My views are that personally the phone is just a little to big for me to use comfortably. I would have preferred say 5" screen with the narrow bezzels making the device slightly narrower and easier to hold - but thats just a personal preference. I would have also liked a textued back to the phone (at the moment i am using a skin to give it texture) as this phone is on the maximum edge of what is comfortable to me i dont want to add to the size with a case, i also dont want to lose the look ad feel i have from the device (the 'in the hand feel') you get.
All in all however these were not a deal breaker for me as there was nothing else out for me to consider at the time (like the moto x but not available in uk) so bought the g2 sim free.
After a couple of weeks of use i started to dislike elements of the lg software and its design and just found that adding a launcher just gave me other issues. What is great now is that the dev community is really picking up for this phone and roms are starting to appear so you now have the option to pretty much have whatever you want on your phone. You can go pretty much bare bones android without any of Lg's bloat but you an also add whatever elements of Lgs stuff you like to the vanilla rom so giving you the best of both worlds.
So to sum up.....for me the device has awesome specs, latest processor, excellent camera, amazing battery life, great development options to customize to your personal liking. Only thing for me is the size but maybe thats just because i have short stubby fingers
At the end of the day its all about choices, beauty is that now you have choices so if the hardware tickles your fancy you can customize till your hearts content and end up with your perfect device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 5.2" G2 isn't that much bigger then the Galaxy Nexus 4.65". It is thinner but taller/wider by a few millimeters. Not much difference.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
[/COLOR]Awesome to see a "stock android fan" praise LG's UI..Great review from someone who obviously knows what the android experience should be....i have a vid on my channel on how you can keep the notifications down a few lines and stays were you leave it, all as long as you have a few notifications, you never need look at the top part.....some ppl do not realize this : )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaMdxvvZYFE
Ms D.
Cst79 said:
Hi Guys,
Why LG G2 ?
Just a quick glance at the competition and my previous experience with various brands made me choose the G2. The iPhone is really out of question due to the microscopic screen and lack of notification LED (it's incredible how a business user can live without a notification LED), the Galaxy S4 and HTC One have outdated hardware (I mean, if I pay the same price, why not get the latest hardware), the HTC One has a microscopic, unusable notification LED (and I don't wish you to need something from the HTC technical support !), the Galaxy Note 3 is really too big. I have never used a spare battery with any of my phones, and never used a microSD card, so these missing features are just not minuses for me. The lack of removable battery (and thus the inclusion of a bigger battery) is in fact a huge plus.
The Motorola MotoX has a very nice notification feature, but it pulsates too slow (indicating battery concerns) and the rest of the hardware is too average and I can't see it as an upgrade over the Nexus 4 (plus it's not available in Europe although I could get it if I really wanted to).
Conclusion
I really like the LG G2. I think it trumps every other phone at this moment, but this is not the important thing. The important thing is that I don't have to charge my phone every day (it sometimes lasts 3+ days !), it has a great screen for web reading and browsing and it's just a well-designed phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well said...
welcome to the club! (happy owners of G2)
I'm about to upgrade phones and looking at options between SGS5 and LG G3. I'm coming from a SGS3, so most question are in relative terms to it.
Only down sides I see right now are: no bootloader unlock (on either), screen brightness/dimness not as good as SGS5 (amolded vs ips lcd), and battery life.
Bootloader I'm up to speed on (have actually been reloading a few pages way to often this evening, good things can happen on Monday's right?). Does root and xpoused modules replace enough functionality to be passable right now? I'm use to messing with everything (led, added onscreen nav to the SGS3, embedded tweaks in the ROM, hotspot) of the mindset that nothing should inaccessible.
For the screen: seems to that the SGS5 gets dimmer and brighter. I work outside and use it in bed a lot so this is a fairly important point. BUT, the SGS3 is fine. How does the screen bright/dark compare to the SGS3?
Battery life: on par with SGS5, with the sammy doing slightly better most likely due to the QHD. On my SGS3 I get average ~18.5hr (by GSam stats), custom ROM, kernel, tweaks, everything... Need better than this though, have a second battery almost everywhere (bag, car, work) if I need it, just depends how heavy the day gets. What has been the battery experience so far, and anticipate it getting better when the bootlock is shattered.
Nothing about the SGS5 moves me other than the IP67 rating, but the port plugs would get annoying with a case I think, and if it's bootloader is broken either not sure if I could stay with it and touchwiz taint.
Thanks for any input.
wrong thread, apologies, thought I was on the Q&A.
My G3 is much brighter in sun than my GS3. For max brightness, turn auto-off and slide to 100%.
My G3 gets way more battery life than my GS3. At the end of the GS3, maybe the batteries were just going bad, but I did have 2 different ones that I had swapped during the time I had it.
Root/Xposed gets me everything I want, so I don't really care about the bootloader. Actually, stock was pretty darn good as far as customization capabilities.
I agree with lexluthor. Brightness on the G3 is MUCH better than the GS3. I typically run 50% with auto brightness and I think that gets brighter than the GS3 did. The G3 does not get as dim though. I use my phone as my alarm clock and it took a while to get used to how bright it is at night even at 0% brightness.
G3 has much better battery life than the GS3. When I switched, I struggled to get through a day without having to charge. Now I usually have over 50% battery at the end of the day. However, I'm sure part of that was degradation of the battery after two years.
Screen on the g3 is brighter than the gs3 but not as bright as the gs5. Plenty bright to see outside IMO tho.
Battery life is slightly better (maybe) than the gs3 but it's negligible, not as good as the s5.
Xposed helps, and even tho the g3 still offers customization..it isn't as much as the g2 offered. Its give or take with the s5 because they both offer different customizations.
The g3 looks much better that the s5, even being bigger, it feels great.
You're splitting hairs between the 2, and honestly, the g3s major selling point over the s5 (QHD) is barely noticeable in most cases. The s5 still has one of the best displays available. The g3 and s5 both have exceptional displays.
There are some hiccups and imperfections throughout the g3 software, so just be aware of it. Great phone, but a lot of room for improvement
I just refuse to buy another Samsung phone due to KNOX and voiding your warranty even if you return to stock.
No thanks.
The G3 looks better and has better ergonomics.
Also the GS5 is 16GB Flash and 2GB RAM vs 32GB Flash and 3GB RAM for the G3.
You are less likely to get that "out of memory" or low memory warning on the G3.
I came from the gs3 and honestly i miss it. I was rooted running liquid smooth and that phone was a beast. Xposed on the g3help
g3 helps but still a lot to be desired. Bootloader is the key. To happiness for me.
jaguarpaw said:
I came from the gs3 and honestly i miss it. I was rooted running liquid smooth and that phone was a beast. Xposed on the g3help
g3 helps but still a lot to be desired. Bootloader is the key. To happiness for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if that's the case you are more likely to see a LG G3 unlocked than the GS5.
The GS5 bootloader is signed with SHA256 just like the GS4 and there is a bounty of almost $20K that is still uncollected after a year.
After MDK on the GS4 there is no LOKI and only Safestrap.There is Safestrap for the S5 but you are limited to TW variants of ROMs.
Anyway, good luck.
I gave my GS4 to my daughter which was an upgrade from a GS3. I have not looked back.
Read lots of reviews on both. Gs5 five came out slightly ahead in most and lg in display. My wife has a gs4. She reminded me how well we loved lg phones. I had 4 and she had 3. I have been running mine 3 days now. Glad to be back.
tech_head said:
Well, if that's the case you are more likely to see a LG G3 unlocked than the GS5.
The GS5 bootloader is signed with SHA256 just like the GS4 and there is a bounty of almost $20K that is still uncollected after a year.
After MDK on the GS4 there is no LOKI and only Safestrap.There is Safestrap for the S5 but you are limited to TW variants of ROMs.
Anyway, good luck.
I gave my GS4 to my daughter which was an upgrade from a GS3. I have not looked back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do agree that if we had to pick, the g3 would get a boot loader unlock first. It's a shame that nobody is able to defeat these new "security" measures.
Honestly. I don't think the g3 will ever see a boot loader unlock either. The phone just doesn't seem all that popular. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. I'm just irritated that we can't do as we please with phones we own anymore. It was so fun on the Evo, Evo 3d and Evo lte. There was plenty of development, themes, stock and aosp roms, MIUI. It was great..
I wouldn't switch back to the gs5 even though I love the amoeled with an all black theme. I'm guessing we have a better chance at unlocked boot loader with the g3 though. If you want to have full customizability maybe consider the M8. I also tried that phone and have the whole s-off ROM thing done but I'll stick with the g3. With the m8 the camera is what puts it out of the comparison for me. The gs5 and g3 both get much better pics IMO. Battery seemed best for me with the gs5 then the m8 and last g3. I'm always near a charger so battery have never been an issue with me. You coming from the gs3 will notice a huge difference.
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
Thanks everyone.
Think that answers that, LG G3 it is. Just don't expect huge increase in battery and be patient and hopeful for the unlock.
@jaguarpaw - same here with LS, going to miss it but they'll get it running soon after unlock I'm sure.
Any case recommendations?
Running a Seido OBEX (worked in aquatic enviroment), can go a little lighter and not water-sealed but some would be nice.
Rippley05 said:
I do agree that if we had to pick, the g3 would get a boot loader unlock first. It's a shame that nobody is able to defeat these new "security" measures.
Honestly. I don't think the g3 will ever see a boot loader unlock either. The phone just doesn't seem all that popular. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. I'm just irritated that we can't do as we please with phones we own anymore. It was so fun on the Evo, Evo 3d and Evo lte. There was plenty of development, themes, stock and aosp roms, MIUI. It was great..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These new security features, especially those from Samsung, were co-developed by General Dynamics and the NSA so that GD could sell a secure phone. The previous phone was the Sectera Edge and it was based on old Windows Mobile.
See: http://www.gdc4s.com/secure-smartphones-prod-category-listing?taxonomyCat=511
The only way the Samsung phones are going to see the bootloader unlocked is if Samsung sells one that is unlocked.
There are no known backdoors for SHA256 and the computing time to brute force is just insane. So we know there is and will not be a bootloader unlock for the Samsung Galaxy "whatever".
HTC and LG currently do not sign their bootloaders with SHA256. There is hope.
HTC is easy, they have the S-OFF USB thing for people that refurb phones. Not cheap, but it works. They also will unlock the bootloader for all but AT$T and Veri$on.
Anyway, an unlocked bootloader is a "NICE" thing to have.
I will not buy a phone that cannot be rooted. Even if I have to stay on an older version of the firmware, root is a must for me.
Stock to stock from s3 to G3 is a no brainer. Now talking development, it's no where near the s3....yet. I'd imagine in time it will be.
I honestly haven't felt the need to root yet. I don't notice the lag people talk about but once in a blue moon on the apps drawer. I do at times run Nova and takes care of that.
Brightness is perfectly fine and should suffice for most. It's a little difficult in bright light, but no worse than my s3.
Battery life just depends what kind of user you are. Your s3 battery probably worse down after a while like mine did. Easy enough for our phones, just get a new battery. I generally get 16-18 hours in a work day with about 2 hours SOT. Off days, 13_14 hours with 3 hours SOT. Mix of 4G and wifi.
No idea how people off stock can get over 5 hours SOT. I am not one of those lucky ones.
Honestly never had amazing battery life besides getting extended batteries. Must just be hard on phones. Even get good signal most places as well...
Anyway, this is a great phone and much rather deal with lg software over Sammy... Way more polished and pleasing to the eye IMO.
Enjoying the discussion in this thread. I also have the S3 and the only reason I haven't bought the G3 is because of my love of tinkering with the OS.
I've had the OG Moto Droid (physical keyboard), Verizon Nexus, and S3... all 'hackable'. I can't quite come to terms with the potential of not having my bootloader unlocked for 2 years yet.
OK, I'm on a Nexus 6, running Chroma ROM, loving the rooted Marshmallow life on Project Fi. I was looking forward to more of the same with the 128GB 6P. Then I started checking into the V10.
Here is what is *almost* making me hit the cancel button on my N6P order: 2nd screen, ESS Sabre DAC/AMP (the main reason is this actually), and I personally prefer the LG displays vs Amoled. (Color and white accuracy > saturated pop.) The V10 looks a bit better IMO too, but looks are pretty far down my list of considerations. Until proven otherwise, I'll consider cameras on the 6p vs v10 to be a wash. I also don't think the 808 vs 810 thing will be a huge deal for me either.
I've owned the G2 and G3 and liked it, but don't at all care for LG's UI customizations vs stock android. It's worse than touch wiz in some ways. Not as bad in others.
I'm an audiophile and I'd love to ditch my external headphone DAC/AMP. I'd really like to enjoy the V10, but not sure I can give up the freedom of a Nexus. So... Convince me!
Don't forget the removable SD (up to 1TB of music for you) and removable battery.
Nobody can convince you but yourself. I cancelled my 6P order for several reasons. IR Blaster (yes I use it all the time), V10 is the first phone using Qualcomm's TruSignal radio, second screen, IPS vs OLED, video features, the LG camera are already among the finest in cellphones, serious drop protection, among others. I'm one of the few maybe? Who actually likes the features that LG has added to their phones as opposed to vanilla Android. 4GB RAM, 808 is a fine processor. Qi charging backs available, removable battery and SD card slots. Those are the reasons I hit the cancel button.
I've sort of thought about getting myself the V10.
I want the Nexus 6P very bad, however unless AT&T picks it up wihtin the next two months I am more than likely going to have to find another phone or jump through a lot of hoops to get it.
That said, I have had my G3 since a month after it was released, this is the longest time I have ever held onto a phone.. Without rooting it, I might add.
I have used plenty of android devices, all were rooted. I love root, but I feel as Android is evolving I have had less of a need to root, though I would really like to hear that the bootloader on the V10 will be easily unlocked...
I sort of thought the second screen was going to be a gimmick. Now I am rethinking that. I absolutely love my G3 camera. I don't mind the LG UI in fact and that is one of the biggest reasons I have kept the phone this long. Unlike TouchWiz which will keep me from buying another Samsung phone for years to come, or Sense which I will not try again in the foreseeable future, the UI is not over bearing, almost keeps the vanilla android look perfectly.. It doesn't eat up a ton of RAM, and is pretty darn snappy.
I think I may end up with this device, I will wait until reviews of the N6P and this device come out to make a final decision, as well as wait and see if carriers in the US are allowed/decide to carry the Nexus.
You have to make the decision yourself, OP. I'll say this much - I don't need root at this point, sure it's a bonus, but not needed - so I lean toward this device.
Stainless steel, rubber, 2 gorilla glass coverings, sd card, removable battery, 2nd screen, 2 selfie cams and the video record features.
I can re-skin the UI, all but the system menu, with Nova - which I'd probably be doing on the nexus as well. I guess the big question is how much ROM support will the V10 have to keep me happy like the nexus will. Having to code a ROM to handle that second display is probably going to be rough, but I'm just guessing.
Elnrik said:
I can re-skin the UI, all but the system menu, with Nova - which I'd probably be doing on the nexus as well. I guess the big question is how much ROM support will the V10 have to keep me happy like the nexus will. Having to code a ROM to handle that second display is probably going to be rough, but I'm just guessing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to say a few things here, and all my opinion.
First. I am only up to speed on the way the G3 development progressed. Boatloader was hard to crack for most carrier variants and I believe the V10 will more than likely follow suit.
If you are buying a new phone to go flash-a-holic on your best bet will always be the newest Nexus device, hands down. The way phone manufacturers are trending they want their phones to be super secure, and in Samsung's case want it secure enough to make government contracts possible.
With that said. The next thing is the second screen. If there happens to be a fair development area for this phone I will assume that all stock based roms will have no issues with the second screen as it is already in the software code.
However, MIUI, AOSP, CM based roms will likely have issues unless LG makes that code available. So, again if you want to flash every ROM in the XDA database the Nexus is your phone.
I look at the V10 and I see stability, amazing hardware, software for the camera second to none, and above all else the one thing all these manufacturers are losing people for lacking - MICRO SD and removable battery!
Matt
I used to be a flash crazy person. I tried everything and constantly switched. That was also during the time when Android wasn't mature like it is now. Now, I'm content with just root. I hate flashing ROM's now, it takes up too much time restoring everything, and a lot of the features added to ROM's are not very useful to me. I do like to flash kernels, though and find them useful.
1) I understand the benefits of USB C but I have a significant investment in Qualcomm Quickcharge 2.0 wall, and car, and power bank, and cables. So I actually prefer at this time to stay with micro USB for compatibility with my other devices. USB C might make more sense in a couple years.
2) Removable battery. Not because I intend to swap it but rather because I hope to stay with this phone for many years and when the battery get tired I can buy a new one.
3) Micro SD. My current phone is small so I use it for audio only and my tablet for video only. I am hoping by switching to a big phone I can use one device for both audio and video. This means I want lots of storage and the max 128GB of the 6P is not enough for me.
4) I do not like the wasted bezel space at the top of the 6P. I'm thinking the V10 2nd display with be useful for me.
5) I like the combined power and finger print sensor on the back.
6) I think a camera with OIS is better than one without. And I like manual camera controls.
7) I don't play games but I like to multitask. So more ram and lower power cpu is a plus for me.
What might change my mind?
If upcoming 6P camera reviews demonstrate it is a lot better than the V10 camera. If the V10 pricing is not competitive. If I see some serious flaws reported in V10 reviews.
Elnrik said:
OK, I'm on a Nexus 6, running Chroma ROM, loving the rooted Marshmallow life on Project Fi. I was looking forward to more of the same with the 128GB 6P. Then I started checking into the V10.
Here is what is *almost* making me hit the cancel button on my N6P order: 2nd screen, ESS Sabre DAC/AMP (the main reason is this actually), and I personally prefer the LG displays vs Amoled. (Color and white accuracy > saturated pop.) The V10 looks a bit better IMO too, but looks are pretty far down my list of considerations. Until proven otherwise, I'll consider cameras on the 6p vs v10 to be a wash. I also don't think the 808 vs 810 thing will be a huge deal for me either.
I've owned the G2 and G3 and liked it, but don't at all care for LG's UI customizations vs stock android. It's worse than touch wiz in some ways. Not as bad in others.
I'm an audiophile and I'd love to ditch my external headphone DAC/AMP. I'd really like to enjoy the V10, but not sure I can give up the freedom of a Nexus. So... Convince me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you were really an audiophile than you wouldn't need convincing. The superb ESS DAC/AMP in the LG V10 should have been enough to tip the scale quite easily.
Oh, kind of like the ESS DAC and amp in this? https://www.oppodigital.com/headphone-amplifier-ha-2/
Carrying around that has been just fine for quite a while. Not having to carry that and still having all of the features I want in a smartphone is my goal. If you read my post, maybe you would have understood.
You'll never be able to convince me that you'd rather carry around a stack if you don't have to. That's absurd. Choice is easy. LG V10.
jamor414 said:
You'll never be able to convince me that you'd rather carry around a stack if you don't have to. That's absurd. Choice is easy. LG V10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd rather carry it than go without the smartphone features I want. Many people do.
You have yet to post a logical argument as to why the V10 is better.
Elnrik said:
I'd rather carry it than go without the smartphone features I want. Many people do.
You have yet to post a logical argument as to why the V10 is better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stacks are bulky and annoying. Nobody wants to carry that around if they dont have to and the v10 eliminates that need. I never said the LG is "better". I said the v10 has a superior dac/amp that would make the decision easy for a true audiophile. Not to mention the 6p doesn't even have an sd card slot for more music.
Bottom line for me looks like I'm going with the V10 over the Nexus 6P. Very excited for it. Might be a month but I am going to get myself a little "early" Christmas present
No need to convince. Don't get it. It doesn't meet your needs/wants.
I got my 6p in the mail today. Really nice phone, but something makes me want to try the v10, (the promo helps) camera is probably just as good maybe better. I ordered from ATT in Opal Blue, I figure if it doesn't compare I can return it. Or if Its better, keep it and sell the 6p.
Samsung.Galaxy.S3 said:
No need to convince. Don't get it. It doesn't meet your needs/wants.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I think I'll be sticking with the N6P.
Craleb said:
I got my 6p in the mail today. Really nice phone, but something makes me want to try the v10, (the promo helps) camera is probably just as good maybe better. I ordered from ATT in Opal Blue, I figure if it doesn't compare I can return it. Or if Its better, keep it and sell the 6p.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mind giving us a comparison once you've had the chance to test drive both? I'm still interested in the V10, I'm just thinking the N6P better suits me at this point.
I thought I was going to prefer the Nexus 6P over the LG V10 but that was ruined when I learned Nexus was going AMOLED again. It was a disaster the first time around and doesn't sound all that great this time. I'm reading a lot of complaints on brightness and a pink/blue hue to the screen.
I just don't trust AMOLED. I'm a moderate to heavy user and don't need a screen that can suffer image retention, burn in, and/or color degradation anywhere from a week to a year after purchase.
All in all, though, I'll be sticking with my G4 as the V10 isn't worth the upgrade.
Elnrik said:
I agree. I think I'll be sticking with the N6P.
Mind giving us a comparison once you've had the chance to test drive both? I'm still interested in the V10, I'm just thinking the N6P better suits me at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really like the 6p, its beautiful, the camera is amazing, and its fast and clean. My v10 comes tomorrow, I will gladly share my opinion.
all hype aside i have a sony xperia z3 and i will be making the switch to a V10 when it comes to T-mobile. I tried the note5 even with no removable back or expandable storage and it was not anything special. Sure it was fast, good screen, and great camera but the experience was like " eh its the same note". When i look to buy a phone i ask myself " will i use this feature?" and i found myself not using any of the notes.
The LG V10 is an upgrade from my xperia z3. 5.7 screen has been shown to be a great size for quad hd. Yes Amoled is better brighter but not sure if LG has ever done AMOLED before i know they had OLED. Removable back to swap out just in case your battery burns out buy using it while its charging lol. stock 64 gigs of storage! which means my micro slot can just be for raw files and or audio flac files. Phone has top tier camera and best video experience of 2015. IR blaster just in case you loose your remote and your to lazy to look for it lol or another ex: at the gym and your doing cardio and its time for your show just change it yourself and everyone will be like " who changed the channel?". HIFI audio is a plus yes you wont be able to play any files in 32bit but flac files of vinyl files will sound amazing. It comes with HIFI earphones which is awesome because if it didnt you would have to spend alot more money on a pair just to get the experience you should have gotten right out of the box. 4 gigs of ram is future proof and as far as the 808 chip goes when theres root on this phone you can always overclock the cpu to a fast and safe speed. I also find its great that it has gorilla glass 4 and metal sides with a softer plastic feel to protect from drops so a case is not necessary for this phone. Im sure it will get Qi charge even if you have to buy a back cover to get it which is my only flaw with this phone is that it doesnt have it standard but its not a deal breaker since its just as easy to plug it in and plug in is faster anyway. The UI i saw was improved but if you dont like it still just get a launcher ( google) and your good or wait for root. the second screen from what i saw on all the videos is handy since the notifications get displayed on the side and doesn't interrupt your screen experience. is it placed weird yes at the top is to far to move your thumb to the top so you would have to hold it with two hands and given this is a 5.7 inch screen you should know already that its a two handed device (but lg does have a one hand screen mode). The second screen really is meant for just notifications and the occasional quick app select. some people say they should have placed the second screen on the bottom and I agree but im sure they placed it on the top because that is where the cameras are and they didnt want to make a longer 2nd screen since it should be used for a quick glance. if it were at the bottom im sure the phone would have been a tad bit bigger since the cameras would stay on top and an extra screen on the bottom. The finger print scanner is in the logical spot for LG since that was the power button for the G series.
This phone just has to many thing i know i would use then things i wouldn't. Samsung honestly has a great chip and a great screen but thats really all it has.
So in short i will be getting this phone when it comes to the USA and if LG does a yearly release then ill be happy to wait a year to see if the upgrade would be worth it to a lg V10 2 lol.
Tl;Dr to be honest
Well, I am switching from my LG G3 to this phone probably end of November...
I don't typically upgrade to another phone of the same manufacturer, or at least I haven't in recent years. The LG G3 set a great first impression for me with LG devices. The hardware was great, build quality second to none. The software skin the least invasive and most closely resembles vanilla Android. The camera and software for the camera the best of any smartphone in my opinion....
I think we can expect this device to release on major US carriers by middle of November I think I've seen quoted.
This is going to be a great device I really think it captures the essence of what Android has become. A very high end phone.
The V10's second screen seemed such a gimmick to me when it was announced. After seeing pre release reviews from those LG sent devices to, wow it is a wonder we haven't seen this implemented sooner. I am very eager to get this device. I really had my heart set on the Nexus 6P, having never had the opportunity to own a Nexus device before. However due to the fact that I upgrade through my carrier I will not be able to get it... Then enters the V10... Gotta have it!!! Can't remember the last time I was as excited for a new device.... Maybe the S3, and that was a while ago. I think you will really enjoy the phone compared to your Sony.
Will be upgrading from a G Flex 2, this phone looks amazing.
CoNsPiRiSiZe said:
Tl;Dr to be honest
Well, I am switching from my LG G3 to this phone probably end of November...
I don't typically upgrade to another phone of the same manufacturer, or at least I haven't in recent years. The LG G3 set a great first impression for me with LG devices. The hardware was great, build quality second to none. The software skin the least invasive and most closely resembles vanilla Android. The camera and software for the camera the best of any smartphone in my opinion....
I think we can expect this device to release on major US carriers by middle of November I think I've seen quoted.
This is going to be a great device I really think it captures the essence of what Android has become. A very high end phone.
The V10's second screen seemed such a gimmick to me when it was announced. After seeing pre release reviews from those LG sent devices to, wow it is a wonder we haven't seen this implemented sooner. I am very eager to get this device. I really had my heart set on the Nexus 6P, having never had the opportunity to own a Nexus device before. However due to the fact that I upgrade through my carrier I will not be able to get it... Then enters the V10... Gotta have it!!! Can't remember the last time I was as excited for a new device.... Maybe the S3, and that was a while ago. I think you will really enjoy the phone compared to your Sony.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally get where your coming from. I to am on carrier and i wanted the 5x but saw only 2 gig of ram and only one of the facing speakers work for audio. I only upgrade from carrier also and was going to wait but this phone looks beast theres just way to much stuff to pass off on getting this phone. every time i think about what this phone has in it compared to the other carrier phones i get excited. I love my sony the battery life is amazing the camera takes good photos and the HI-res sounds so clear. Software though is starting to lag.
@BatmanLBC
I hear you. Seems like we are on the same page.
I think I will be happier with this device. Even if the bootloader never gets cracked open, whereas the Nexus will almost certainly... I explained in another thread I don't need the ROM support, really root at all. I am more interested in having a device that works out of the box and offers me what I expect from a phone. Android is maturing to a point where we don't need root to do a lot of what was only available through root. The best part of my LG G3, and the V10 is that the software does have some very useful features baked in and LG has done this without ruining the integrity of the software, and without hindering performance (exceptionally clear in the V10 reviews, very very snappy) or battery life that much at all.
The screen on my G3 beats the iPhone 6S outright, which my mom has for work. She still loathes the thing and prefers her Note 2. Ha. Anyways... This phone has me very very excited. I am looking forward to upgrading now, where I was fairly content before the news of this came out. Yeah, the Nexus would be very neat, but I think Google made a mistake only offering it through the Play Store. There are plenty of people like us who upgrade through the carriers we pay... I never really needed a camera that is close to a point and shoot as I have a point and shoot that takes great photos, however after getting my G3 I can't go back to something with a subpar camera, and this puppy's camera is going to rein supreme for a long while I predict... It just looks fantastic. My hope is that I will be able to take a macro shot without a macro lens. I think we will be able to, judging by the reviews of the camera.
The V10 seems to be everything we asked for this year in a flagship, honestly... It has a removable battery, micro SD support (up to 2 TB!?), an amazing screen, camera that I believe to be second to none... I don't know why other manufacturers couldn't put something out similar to this.. Anyways! Can't wait to see some hands on reports when this is released state side.
yes, as soon as tmo announces a launch date, i will be there to purchase in store. this will be an upgrade from the note 3 and a change from the samsung line as all i have purchased have been samsung priducts. i watched samsung's presentation for the note 5 and edge 6+ and was absolutely underwhelmed by it. the thing is, if it had a removable battery and sd slot, i probably would have bought a note because why change something that wasn't obviously broken. samsung's design language tells me that they're broken and are going to stay broken for a while. they have moved in the direction of being a fashion android device with this all glass and metal thing they're doing now and that is a fragile phone that won't survive drops without a case.
i hope that root is able to happen. i don't need root, but i think it's always a good option to know it's there if i want it.
I had a G3 for a year and really enjoyed it. I switched to the Moto X Pure Edition which is pretty good but I got to try out the V10 yesterday and now I want it. I'll probably get it in a couple of months once I see if there's root available.
It feels quite nice especially with the metal frames on the sides. The battery cover is grippy with the texture they have on it. The screen felt brighter than what I remember the G3 being like. The camera will obviously destroy the MXP camera. I got to see the rose gold one which I actually may end up getting. I usually just get boring black but the color was a nice champagne color. The 120 degree camera was impressive for people who like to take self portraits. I refuse to use the other word
ctkatz said:
yes, as soon as tmo announces a launch date, i will be there to purchase in store. this will be an upgrade from the note 3 and a change from the samsung line as all i have purchased have been samsung priducts. i watched samsung's presentation for the note 5 and edge 6+ and was absolutely underwhelmed by it. the thing is, if it had a removable battery and sd slot, i probably would have bought a note because why change something that wasn't obviously broken. samsung's design language tells me that they're broken and are going to stay broken for a while. they have moved in the direction of being a fashion android device with this all glass and metal thing they're doing now and that is a fragile phone that won't survive drops without a case.
i hope that root is able to happen. i don't need root, but i think it's always a good option to know it's there if i want it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you. As soon as T-Mobile drops this device on their shelves I'm there. As much as I love my N6 I'm not going to miss it (nasty bug in Marshmallow right now plaguing WiFi where it has issues at times staying connected). I'm also done with the custom ROM community. The entitlement issues and some of the shoddy work is unreal. I'm done with needing root as well. I wanted a Nexus 6P but that craptastic 810 SoC, the AMOLED (burn-in on my N6 is driving me insane and it's not even a year old) and the lack of selling through carriers killed that for me. I was pondering what to do then a week later the V10 was announced. I can't wait to get my hands on it. T-Mobile and LG need to hurry the hell up so they can take my money.
Is everyone here writing poems. But I have a nexus 6 that I'll be keeping and am still getting this phone
6p is a great phone i herd someone blew a fuse when they rooted it or something. i would love to have one lol but they dont sell them on carriers and im not wealthy enough to shell out money.
I hope the price comes down like in Korea to compete with the galaxy s6 to 610. 640 would be perfect. I do believe with the software changes LG has made it makes the experience more enjoyable then the stock lg skin like on the lg g3 when it first came out. I cant wait to try this phone out.