So good, they named a boyband after it

LG’s flagship for 2015 where it competed with the HTC One M9, Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Lumia 920.

The LG G4 has a curved design with a slightly arched back that makes it comfortable to hold. The phone has a leather back option, which gives it a premium feel similar to the Nokia 8800 or the Vertu series of phones. The phone is also relatively lightweight and easy to use with one hand. The G4 has a 5.5-inch Quad HD IPS LCD screen with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels. The display is bright and vibrant with accurate colors and good viewing angles.

Compared to other handsets the LG takes you out of the comfort zone as the volume rocker is featured at the back of the handset rather than at the left side, it’s kind of similar to the Viewty that also had the volume rocker at the back. It does take a bit of getting used to as you will often try to reach for them at the side instead of the back. The lock/power key is also featured at the back.

The G4 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor and 3GB of RAM. The phone handles most tasks with ease, including multitasking and demanding apps. However, it may struggle with some of the more intensive games and apps. Even today the phone as a good chance of running most apps, though it does tend to heat up when running multimedia or gaming apps, YouTube an particular. We also have 32GB of storage with a microSD slot that can provide more storage if required.

LG User Interface

As with other Android handsets, it uses LG’s own customized user interface. Originally this was Android 5.1, but mine has been upgraded to Android 6 along with some updated apps that shipped with the handset. LG’s Android skin is one of the better ones as it retains the Google Material design whilst adding features for power users, which I will delve into later. Its clear LG intended this handset for the intermediate user who is familiar with smartphones.

Your typical homescreen layout that consists of multiple pages of icons and widgets. LG have preset some for you, and more can be added at any time.

Pulls down from the top and is used for quick access to common phone features like WiFi and Bluetooth, also lets you adjust the phones volume and brightness if not set to auto.

The quick access panel can be modified with additional options added

A look at LG’s Qslide feature that works with their preinstalled apps. You can have up to three different apps running on the same screen, two in a window with a regular app in the background. The windowed apps need to be Qslide aware which is mostly LG’s own applications, but the background app can be any native Android app. As you can see, it gets a little cramped. A practical use for this would be running a Youtube video in the background whilst answering an SMS message.

A similar feature is the split screen mode (sometimes called Dual Window), this is actually more beneficial though you suffer from a cramped screen, here you can split apps into two areas of the screen, allowing both to run simultaneously. This is actually a good feature and one I use heavily on my Sony Xperia 1 IV, its especially useful for phones with a larger screen.

Not all apps play nicely with this, and some that do work function a bit awkwardly. Most modern apps however do work well, but back when the phone was released the lack of split-screen support for apps would have been an issue, limiting its functionality.

I should also mention the onscreen buttons can be customized, instead of having the regular three buttons for Back, Home & Recent Apps, you can add the Qshare and splitscreen buttons directly.

Panning to the left of the home screen reveals the Smart Bulletin screen, which shows highlighted information from the LG apps. Its very similar to the live tiles that were a mainstay in Windows Phone. This seems limited to the LG apps, so its less versatile and you cannot add your own widgets, unless you pan to another home screen.

Installed Apps

Most of LG’s apps use QSlide which allows apps to run in a window, facilitating a crude way of multitasking as seen on desktop operating systems.

LG have also developed or adapted their deign language as such, which is showcase through their applications. At the top are categories that you can scroll, which is very similar to the Windows Phone 7 / Zune interface. This is in contrast to Apple who put their category/Tabs at the bottom of the phone screen, with Samsung following suit.

Camera: The LG G4 has a 16-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and laser autofocus. The camera takes excellent photos with good detail and accurate colors. The OIS helps to reduce blur in low-light conditions, and the laser autofocus ensures fast and accurate focusing. The camera app also includes manual controls for advanced users.

A unique feature I’ve not seen is the ability to capture photos by saying a phrase, typically Cheese or Whisky. It’s a little goofy and does not always work, but adds to the charm and fun of the phone, also useful when capturing a group photo.

Cell Broadcast: A dedicated app to receive broadcast alerts from the cellular network. Not sure why this has its own dedicated app since its typically integrated with SMS apps

Clock: Your standard clock app with the LG design, provided functionality to set an alarm, timer, world clock and a stopwatch

Calendar: Displays the calendar and can sync with other accounts that are set up. You can also set agendas, reminders and any holidays. A nice touch is the icon will change to reflect the current date.

Calculator: Just your regular calculator, which functions a regular and a scientific calculator.

Contacts & Phone: Lists contacts from accounts synchronized on the phone, commonly Google. This is integrated into the phone app and you can dial directly from that application.

Downloads: Shows any file that has been downloaded through the phone web browser, and from some third-party browsers.

File Manager: Browse files saved on the phone, or a memory card if one is inserted. This also integrates with cloud storage services like Dropbox, OneDrive or Box.

Gallery: Like the file manager but orientated towards multimedia like photos and videos. Images taken with the phone’s camera will show here.

Internet: A chrome based internet browser, appears to be based on Chrome 38

LG Backup:

Intended to transfer data from another device and can backup existing data to the inserted SD card

Music: Plays music files stored on the phone or the microSD card. A nice feature is it can lookup the song title on Youtube to locate the music video, its not 100% accurate since it basically searches the song and artist title. Lyrics can also be displayed if they are included or embedded with the file itself.

Another nice feature is the ability to adjust the vocal pitch and the track speed of the song, allowing you to create nightcore remixes directly just by playing the file. There is also an equalizer that has a few pre-sets included.

Tasks: Lets you create and set single or recurring tasks which serve as reminders. This can also sync with either your Google or LG account.

Voice Recorder: A simple voice recorder that recording using the internal microphone, recordings can be paused and resumed at any time, keeping it as a single file. Audio is encoded in the MP4 format and is saved in the 3GP container, likely for backward compatibility with older handsets when sharing the file.

Weather: Shows weather information from your local area, or a location/city that you have manually selected. Weather information is pulled from Accuweather

FM Radio: Plays the FM radio if a set of wired headphones are connected. Visually the app emulated a radio dial which is used to manually scan through the different frequency, but you can also set the phone to automatically scan and store radio stations that can be listened to. Weak or poor signals are ignored. Up to 12 pre-sets can be saved of your favorite radio stations. The app can all decode RDS data and display additional information if this is supported by the station.

It’s worth noting FM radio is currently on the way out in the UK and is being replaced by DAB+ radio, though internet radio is becoming popular.

LG SmartWorld – This is a kind-of application store by LG where exclusive apps can be downloaded. Themes, wallpapers and ringtones could also be downloaded from here. This no longer appears to work which results in network connection errors, I am able to get to the main screen share it shows a couple of themes to download, but any attempt to sign in results in an error message. As LG are no longer in the smartphone market, they might be withdrawing support.

QuickRemote: Turns your phone into a universal remote that can control a TV, set-top box, an audio system or the air conditioner. You can designate the remote for different rooms of your household and can choose from a list of various different manufacturers, and will list the most common ones first. You can also search by typing in the manufacturer or service provider of your equipment.

QuickMemo+: A text editor of sorts that you can either type text, or freehand draw. You can also insert pictures, audio or video clips. Its kind of like Microsoft OneNote in that sense. Files can be exported in either the QuickMemo+ (iqm) or as a PDF file.

LG Health: A fitness app like Fitbit where you provide details regarding your body height and weight, along with your age. It will then calculate your BMI and your ideal weight. It can also be used to track exercises and the number of steps done within a day, assuming you keep your phone on you at all times. It has the ability to sync with Google Fit, but not much else.

RemoteCall Service: I think this is some sort of technical support app that allows LG customer service representatives to remotely access and control an LG device for the purpose of troubleshooting and resolving technical issues. The feature works by establishing a secure connection between the LG device and the customer service representative’s computer, which enables the representative to diagnose and solve problems on the device remotely. Kind of like Teamviewer or Remote Assist for Windows.

VoiceMate: LG’s own version of a voice assistant, think of it as an alternative to Cortana, Alexa or Bixby. Sadly this no longer functions and only responds with an error message about a natural language processing server.

Lastly there is Evernote, a popular note and referencing app

The volume control, with separate sliders for calls, notifications and multimedia.

Settings Menu

The settings menu which is split into different sections of Networks, Sound & Notifications Display and General

LG have bundled in their own ringtones, and have not included the stock Android ringtones.

Customising the wallpaer background and the lock screen

LG also allow you to set different fonts that are used throughout the phone’s menus, however many apps will neglect to use them in favor of their own font.

Conclusion

So LG pretty much went all out with the software on this one which makes it standout from other Android phones that use the stock launcher and software. LG also didn’t skimp on the hardware either with its stunning screen and design which showcases a premium luxury feel.

Even today the phone is semi usable, with essential Android apps still being supported, although that amount is starting to reduce and the OS ages.