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LG G3 vs Samsung Galaxy S5

2014-06-23
the two Korean phone Giants go head-to-head hey it's Josh from Garf a mandroid authority and this is the LG g3 versus the Samsung Galaxy s5 when it comes to design both of these phones tried to go somewhere different with their overall material choices in both cases they didn't stray too far from the status quo but either one managed to bring something different to the table whereas the galaxy s5 mostly retains the rounded look in the corners and maintains a pretty signature Samsung look all around its backing is now made of a perforated or dimpled plastic material it might not have been the most welcomed change for anyone that was one sick of glossy plastic but then open to the faux leather back of the Galaxy Note line LG seems to have a grasp on the negativity towards of glossy plastic by now and thus has moved to harder polycarbonate treated to have a brushed feel we all hoped it might be metal this time around but this change was still quite welcome the g3 thus has an attractive exterior that arguably moved in a more positive direction when compared to the galaxy s5 the galaxy s5 retains the same button layout we all come to expect with the tactile home button flanked by back and this time a recent apps button the power button and volume rockers are found on the sides we might just be getting used to the unorthodox button layout of the g3 which brings with it the back button layouts introduced in its predecessor index finger usage might take a little while to get used to but actually it gets pretty natural over time when it comes to handling you would think that we would have to take the LG g3 s larger screen into much more consideration but that isn't necessarily the case while the screen on the Galaxy S 5 did get bumped up by a fraction of the of an inch the LG g3 grew by almost half an inch what is so striking about LG's phone is that despite its up sizing the overall phone doesn't really dwarf the s5 by more than maybe a couple millimeters on each side the result is a great handling experience on the g3 that is only somewhat tougher to fathom than the s5 if you are a stickler for one-handed usage then the Galaxy s5 will probably be better for you but admittedly not by much the reason for this compact design and LG's flagship is due to the very thin bezels all around maximizing the screen real estate the s5 on the other hand grew its bezels out a little more likely as an accommodation to the IP certification and speaking of which the s5 might be able to take a tumble and a splash more often than the g3 obviously because of the g3 not having that certification however we do have to tip the hat to LG for bringing a larger screen without really making the learning curve that much steeper display technology might be hotly debated here as the IPS performer on the g3 has been blown up quite a bit while the AMOLED tech spec today to higher saturation is the name of the game when it comes to the s5 with colors that really punch out sharpness is great on the screen packing the 1080p resolution and 432 pixels per inch and the viewing angles are pretty great all around when compared to the larger LG g3 screen we don't see the s5 display really losing too much ground actually but the g3 screen is still definitely a sight to behold a pretty massive increase to 2560 by 1440 resolution and 534 pixels per inch is noticeable when compared to the 1080p performer not by to much but enough to at least note text viewing then is a breeze on here and media viewing does get a boost with that larger screen making games and video enjoyable across the board while its viewing angles might sell for a bit and its colors take on a warmer tone the main takeaway here is that with that larger screen enjoyment is still completely possible and greatly enhanced by that larger display that LG managed to shove into its newest device if you need punch your colors and you don't need the higher resolution while the Samsung Galaxy s5 screen will be great for you still we just give LG quite a bit of credit for doing a pretty damn good job on their first 2k screen performance is where little ground is gained on either side as both sports the Snapdragon 801 clocked in at 2.5 gigahertz backed by the Adreno 330 the g3 is 32 gigabyte variant here gets a boost to 3 gigabytes of RAM over the s5s general to work and player ultimately as easy as they can get on these 2 flagships as either one will perform exactly the way you need them to users are tend to harp on lag won't find any that will truly hinder their experience but it is worth noting that both operating systems can suffer from some architectural issues that can be perceived as lag it's not the power or lack thereof in the processing packages but the way that the user interfaces load or are structured the recent apps screen is an example in the LG while the my magazine loading every article once is an example for the s5 Altima T speed is really in no shortage here and you'll get everything you need to do done there's also no shortage and hardware offerings though samsung continues to try and pack in more than the competition with usefulness always proving to be the final question in either case or removable backing allows you access to the replaceable battery and micro SD card slots and all of the ranges of connectivity are available in either of these devices including NFC and IR blasters not to mention the fact that both of these devices will be on all major carriers especially in the states where the Samsung Galaxy s5 somewhat pulls ahead is in its heart rate monitor on the back and the fingerprint scanner embedded into the home button these are features extensively looked over and were ultimately found to be only useful for anyone specifically looking for them which is actually kind of rare we would much prefer to say that the s5 definitely pulls ahead of the g3 with its IP certification making it a much sturdier phone but really when you're looking for just all of the generally needed tools everything from controlling TVs to having bluetooth headsets as possible on both of these devices and in battery life the ability to work long hours is basically felt across the board which is a plus for the g3 because it manages to go the distance even with its larger screen it's in the cameras that we find some real differences as both LG and samsung bring their own flavors of enhancements to the table the Samsung Galaxy s5 includes its ISO cell technology which takes a somewhat different approach to capturing photo data it does yield some great photos and continues the tradition of Samsung's great optics quality colors are really out there as is usually the case with Samsung and its signature saturation details are all captured pretty well in good lighting and they expectedly taper off as you take it away so 16 megapixels also gives you quite a bit of room to crop and cater your photo if you need to LG on the other hand has continued to improve on their optical image stabilization with OIS plus making the case that it's a feature most phones should start to come with but that's not all they have done this time around as a laser focusing system helps track subjects even faster and ultimately yields of focusing speed leaps and bounds better than found in the original g2 it's clear that they believe in the laser as the camera interface starts off pretty bare providing only press to focus and shoot capable when it comes to quality I do find the playing field more or less even between these two the high saturation of the galaxy has five shots keep pretty much every photo from being dull and is at a level somewhat higher than that of the g3 Samsung's camera also provides a little more functionality as well as manual controls for you to really cater your shot but the LG g3 manages to create consistently great photos even in its auto mode which is a testament to its capabilities pictures tend to take a warmer tone overall but detail is still captured well and the aesthetic remains pleasing throughout low-light performance doesn't happen to favor either of these cameras despite Samsung software enhancements and LG's go is in the end the Samsung provides a little more freedom for anyone who wants better control but the LG g3 camera is the faster performer with its laser guided system and it still manages to keep the quality level pretty high and finally in software we see enhancements in either updated operating system all of which hope to refresh what had up to that point gotten overplayed and pretty dull in a nutshell the core Android experience is at its best no matter which phone you choose so it's about what they could possibly add to the formula as Samsung has consistently put new features into its interface LG has also made its own strides in providing users useful tools we start with Samsung whose use of a circle motif has permeated throughout the settings areas while a flatter look all around did clean things up a bit various familiar Samsung features returning the s5 like multi window and navigation abilities like air gestures additions include a tool box for easy access to five defined apps and a download booster that uses data and Wi-Fi in tandem and it actually works pretty damn well my magazine tried to bring a highly useful second homescreen news service but its ties to Flipboard made it little more than a full-screen widget putting too many layers between you and your content what strikes us most about the updates to the TouchWiz UI was that despite all it tried to do to be different it felt more like a skin over the same old UI that is either loved or hated by now while the changes are welcome they actually did do too much to really change anything so how did LG fare with its own changes well for the most part we liked where the aesthetic has gone though we did find it more about hiding elements rather then fundamentally changing them multi-window does finally make it to the g3 which makes perfect sense considering the larger screen new editions are basically the smart applications like a smart cleaner for deleting temporary files and the smart notify that amounted to little more than a wordy weather report wondering where qslide in queue memo went they're still there just hidden behind yet another shade in the notification drop-down the most useful software future continues to be the knock-on or the NOC code an easy way of adding security to the phone without making it too hard to access as a result in the end you get an absolute slew of features available across the board with so many tools at your disposal the question is will you use them for example I pretty much never use the air gestures in the Samsung Galaxy s5 and then in the LG g3 I still never use qslide apps so despite the enhancements made to the software Suites we do have to wag the finger to both of these phones because they try to offer so much in their operating systems that ultimately proved to be less than useful now both phones will come in at the premium prices for contracts on major carriers though the s5 has been available for some time now and is currently easier to get your hands on unlocked both phones will come close to the typical $700 price point for flagships and so there you have it the LG g3 and the Samsung Galaxy s5 it's easy to get excited about the larger screen of the LG g3 but when we look underneath that surface we find an experience that is at its best that it has ever been and bursting at the seams with capabilities but the same can be said for the phone in the opposite corner - the massive screen over the years LG has gained ground on Samsung proving it can offer just as much if not possibly more than Samsung in their flagship devices we continue to get close to an even playing field here with separations including LG's 2k screen only falling short of having the IP certification found in the galaxy s5 in software the feature lists are arguably too long in either case though the core experience is as good as ever both cameras are great at what they do though the leap forward in the g3 is better filter than the ISO cell tech of the s5 and finally the same can be said for the material choice as the g3 manages to look and feel better in our opinion then the somewhat step back over the Galaxy s5s dimpled cover while Samsung has always been pretty good LG is truly coming into its own and it shows in the g3 and in the end you can't go wrong with either of these devices as always thank you guys very much for watching and hope you enjoyed this comparison between the LG g3 and the Samsung Galaxy s5 in the end both of these phones are absolutely wonderful and they do great things but we do have to just wag the finger a little bit at the Samsung Galaxy s5 primarily because it tries to offer too much and it kind of bogs down the overall experience on the g3 you could say the same about the 2k screen but in the end it is still an enjoyable experience mostly because of its larger size so keep it tuned to Android authority for all of the best coverage including future comparisons of the LG g3 and all of the flagships including the HTC One m8 and the Sony Xperia z2 coming very soon keep it tuned here and remember to drop us some likes on our videos to subscribe if you haven't already and once you're done with all of that head on over to Android or decom because we are your source for all things Android
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