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LG G3 - Top Features and Thoughts

2014-05-31
it's been a couple days since the release of the LG g3 and while the leaks told us what we needed to know pretty much already by then the excitement was still there when I got my hands on LG's new flagship so after pondering it over a bit here are the features I'm most excited for with some general thoughts sprinkled throughout hey it's Josh Vergara from Android Authority what's going on everybody and here are 5 of the reasons why I'm very excited about the LG g3 now the first reason I'm going to talk about probably shouldn't come as much surprise you can't talk about this phone without getting into the screen experience 2560 by 1440 resolution makes this a behemoth in both size and sheer pixel density with 534 pixels per inch LG is a master of panels so there was no surprise when this handsome screen performed really well even in my brief period with it the sharpness is through the roof with great clarity and text and media does it ultimately make a huge difference when compared to 1080p displays no not by a long shot unless you really just want to be on the bleeding edge you'll have the same amount of fun on let's say the LG g2 or the Nexus 5 with their 1080p displays so in the end it is just a great addition and it's surprisingly easy to handle because LG continues to achieve really thin bezels on all of their devices and if you do come into this phone for plenty of the other things that it offers then the screen is just the cherry on top of the sundae that is the entire package okay this is actually really highly subjective but as much as I love to the LG g2 as an entire package I never really was a fan of the fact that it was made almost completely of glossy plastic and if you happen to be in that camp as well then you probably like me and you think that this aesthetic change in the g3 is somewhat of a big deal yes it did look metallic in all the press photos and the renders but while that brush design is definitely there it is a finish put on top of hard plastic it's a pretty interesting misdirection on the part of LG and they were lucky that the plastic hybrid turned out pretty great because it seems a majority of people feel the same way don't get it twisted then this is not metal but it is a step in the right direction for anyone that wasn't a fan of glossy plastic from before hard let's talk about the cameras and optical image stabilization which is a bit of a big deal because it is a feature that made quite a bit of difference in the LG g2 and the Nexus 5 already so it's no surprise that LG continues to refine it on the g3 it's all about OS plus the enhanced version of stabilization originally found in the G pro 2 if you remember a post we did back at MWC regarding the g pro 2's OAS plus you will find that we thought it was quite a good performer and definitely a good upgrade from the LG g2 what's also exciting is the updated camera app which has a more streamlined look and brings a lot to the table mainly all of the goodies that you would expect come here with dual camera shots 4k video recording and all the options needed to cater the shot to your liking the front facing camera deserves a mention also because while it might only work with 2.1 megapixels it still has AF 2.0 aperture that should make selfies a lot easier to take especially in low-light situations and also that hand to fist gesture that helps eliminate any fidgeting with the on camera shutter button or even the volume down button on the back was really responsive and easy to trigger and finally there's the laser based focusing system while I did kind of wonder what it would be like to try to shoot faraway objects with it the main takeaway here is that the focusing speed on the g3 should be leaps and bounds better than the super slow focus of the g2 what was otherwise a good camera was hindered by the time it took to finally get the right focus and that looks like it has been remedied on this new version LG's overhaul of the UI is another reason why I'm really excited because you only have to look at the LG g2 s UI to realize that well LG hasn't always been great about streamlining their user interfaces and by bringing down that notification drop-down and seeing just how little space there was for actual notifications you pretty much got the whole story now the entire UI has been given a flatter look it's been cleaned up with circle centric elements especially in the notification drop-down and there have been a lot of additions baked in this time around a multi window makes its debut now on a flagship g4 example as it was originally kept on the G pro 2 and the G flex and also the knock code returns which is one of the better ways of securing and easily getting into your device otherwise the smart applications have yet to be put through their paces but they look promising for example optimization of your device might sometimes be obtained but on the LG g3 the smart cleaner looks for apps that you haven't used it ages and recommends moving them after that the smart notify is a widget version of Google now's cards essentially you should be able to get an attractive way of getting all that information as long as it is not intrusive I really enjoyed what I saw in the UI of the g3 it already looks a lot better than the previous iterations it comes with some good features but I did have to think about it after a while and I realize it is still somewhat bloated especially if you take advantage of all of LG's widgets your home screens will get pretty crazy there is still quite a bit of space taken up in the notification drop-down and while the settings menu is a little bit better there's still a lot to take a look at sure some of you out there might be saying that on the g2 you could turn off a lot of those features that take up a lot of that space and that is true but it is also true for the g3 at least to some extent there are definitely some features that are still retained in the g3 s you I like that G page that you can swipe to from the home screens that teaches you tips and tricks about your device all you have to go into the settings and still turn that off if you want to get it more simplistic and more minimalistic so it's not that big of a deal it's just a little bit more work that still has to be put into streamlining the experience on your own but ultimately the g3 UI is another example of how LG still has a little bit of a ways to go with their software but they're definitely headed in the right direction and for my final reason this is in no way me saying that LG is the only one that puts out great first party accessories for their devices after all there are the S view cover z' for samsung devices and of course the great dot view case for the HTC One m8 but I might venture to say that LG is more consistent and more practical with their offerings for example the LG tones that you see me wear often are some of the best and easiest headphones and wearable tech that I actually have the quick circle case that I did a video on is an attractive looking cover that still keeps a good amount of functionality through that large circle on the top and of course there is the G watch which we have yet to slap on our wrists but it should be a good development in the growing world of wearable tech what really struck me about the presentation was that when they showed the LG g3 alongside all of the accessories that will come with it essentially I thought to myself I would actually use all of those accessories with my g3 and most of them actually I could use with other phones as well and so there you have it for these five reasons as to why I'm really excited about the LG g3 yes there are a lot of reasons why you should like this device we're super excited about it but I also wanted to look at the other side of things and see what the possible other side of the coin is when it comes to at least a few of these aspects nonetheless though we are super excited to get this phone we can't wait to do our review on it I can't wait to put it through its paces so keep it tuned to Android Authority for all of that and beyond of the LG g3 drop us some likes on our videos don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already and then keep it tuned to Android authority because we are your source for all things Android
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