Gadgetory

glass versus leather edge versus curved Android versus Android I'm Michael Fisher with pocket mountain here to compare two of the leading smartphones of 2015 LG g4 vs samsung galaxy s6 as Captain Picard's so eloquently reminded us touch can connect you to an object in a very personal way and the very first thing you notice when you touch these products is just how different they feel in the hand whether you're holding the galaxy s6 or it's more flashy sibling the s6 edge the cool glass and aluminum sandwich of the Samsung phone conveys the sense that what you're holding is expensive high quality and with all that glass maybe a little bit fragile it's the kind of phone that attracts fingerprints and makes you want to consider a case or a protective skin like this example from D Brad by contrast the g4 feels like it can handle being tossed around a bit take the hits with no problem whether you choose the plastic ceramic or leather backing material it's all pretty rugged stuff and the choice itself sets the g4 apart as well while the s6 has no shortage of color options once you choose one you're stuck with it with the g4 you can maintain an arsenal of different back covers to swap in and out depending on where you're going and what you're doing and while you're at it you can also swap in a fresh battery or pop in a memory card to upgrade your storage on the g4 none of that is possible on the galaxy s6 which comes in a fixed capacity and ships with a significantly smaller battery that can't be swapped out lest you think LG is going to run away with the hardware prize here keep in mind that the g4 s versatility comes at a price while it's fit and finish is solid it also features more plastic in its construction than the galaxy s6 so it's not quite as impressive in a tactile sense the rear keys are cool but they don't feature the same travel and feedback the same click enos as their counterparts on the s6 not counting the sizable camera bulge the s6 is also almost three millimeters thinner and it's nearly 30 grams less massive and while the g4 features double tap to wake the s6 unlocks with a fingerprint scanner that lets you get past the lawn screen without the bother of a password once those displays flare to life Samsung's lead gets more pronounced the GeForce quantum IPS display is larger by nearly half inch making it the roomier of the two canvases but Samsung's Super AMOLED panel has it beat in pixel density side visibility black levels color saturation and above all brightness the galaxy s6 can overpower to overcome direct sunlight while the g4 will have you squinting to make out what's on the screen in darkness the galaxy s6 display can also get dimmer now there is a case to be made that the chief for display may be delivers more accurate colors given its use of the DCI color gamut and it's really quite a nice display in its own right but when you're not examining the subtleties of color reproduction you're just trying to use your phone and the galaxy s6 display lets you do that in a wider range of conditions with this generation of smartphones Samsung's passing a rather dubious torch to LG at least from my perspective here in the States that of the most vim owned user experience Samsung upped its game with the galaxy s6 by streamlining and accelerating its TouchWiz skin transforming it from a lumbering laggy beast into something much more enjoyable to use while it retains some of its long criticised cartoonish elements it's fairly easy to fix that by applying one of Samsung's downloadable themes while they impart a performance penalty at least they offer an escape hatch from Samsung's aging software aesthetics there's no such respite available on the g4 well it's not a total dog's breakfast but it's also not great there's no unity to it bright colors bubbly animations and rounded toggles contrasts sharply with right-angle folders and boxy pop-ups feature wise it very much resembles the Samsung of years past with limited or half-baked features taking center stage like the smart notice widget and it's verbose weather forecasts and some of the features the two phones share are just executed better by the galaxy Samsung's multi window supports more apps than LG's dual window for instance LG's feature loading lets it land a few jabs on Samsung here the resizable keyboard is still a fantastic idea cue memo is handy for making quick finger sketch notes on a screenshot and the toggle that lets you deploy the notification shade is a huge convenience that every Android phone should feature but some of these are consolation prizes for the g4 being a fairly difficult device to use one-handed and all things considered I think I'd rather have the faster cleaner and thema Bowl galaxy s6 software from my daily driver both of these smartphones are trying to make a big splash with their cameras and you know what both of them succeed LG plays up its slightly larger aperture size and comparisons with the s6 and that sure does seem to make a difference in some low-light situations in other settings the s6 actually manages the brighter shot but at the expense of more digital noise in the image which is common for smartphone cameras also it's easier to get focus with the g4 in low-light probably thanks to LG's laser assist module the g4 tends to produce warmer photos while the s6 skews in favor of the greener side of the spectrum but each one can get right up in a subjects face for macro shots these were taken in automatic mode with no software effects the depth of field you're seeing here is all happening in camera in brighter light it's easier to get a sharper picture with the s6 than it is with the g4 but the difference is often very minor and out in the Sun the disparity all but vanishes on the front side each fund can take beautiful selfie shots but despite the g4s higher resolution the s6 wins the day here with its wider angle and broader color range i tend to prefer samsung's video output as well it's auto focus and exposure tend to wander less than LG's more video samples are available in our full review of each phone at PocketNow where the g4 pulls ahead is in viewfinder software with an array of manual tweaks much more elaborate than Samsung's so-called pro mode including a histogram and an artificial horizon that said I don't want to dwell too much on this rumor has it Samsung is cooking up some intense camera improvements in its 5.1 update for the s6 regardless of what happens it seems likely these cameras will remain neck-and-neck for the foreseeable future optimization is the name of the game with the silicon in both these smartphones LG and Qualcomm say they work from the beginning to optimize the g4 for the Snapdragon 808 processor and the galaxy s6 is the first Samsung flagship ever to ship with all Samsung silicon in all of its variations the galaxy's octa-core exynos Spanx the g4 is a six-course Snapdragon on most synthetic benchmarks and its graphics processor seems to handle some heavy games a little better playing asphalt 8 with maxed out graphics on both phones the g4 did seem to stutter on a couple occasions while the s6 wasn't without the occasional choppy animation and got much hotter in the hand it didn't lag much at all during gameplay when we weren't intentionally trying to trip these phones up the g4 and s6 offered equally snappy performance responsiveness only matters when the phone has enough juice to function of course and Samsung and LG deal with the power issue in totally different ways samsung's battery is smaller but you can also charge it from zero to full in just over an hour or forego the cables entirely and charge it wirelessly the g4 doesn't offer quick charging it takes an hour and 45 minutes to bring it from dead to full and wireless charging requires a special back cover but in our testing the g4 does last longer about four and a half hours of screen on time between charges versus about three with the Samsung that could be due to manufacturers including possible software enhancements in the g4s newer build of Android so as always your mileage can and will vary of course with the g4 is removable battery you can carry around a fully charged battery pack and swap it in in a matter of seconds so which will be better for you will depend on your lifestyle if you'll be on the road on the boat or in the woods a lot the g4 will probably be the better option rounding things out with the odds and ends I find the g4 the more comfortable phone to talk on thanks to its curve for the speaker phones LG's rear firing module is kind of a shame compared with the s6 and its edge speaker but the g4 redeems itself when you put the phone facedown on a table and its rear mounted volume controls work with the rear mounted speaker to make for quite a little boombox so let's sum it up the galaxy s6 brings more refined construction a brighter display a beefier processor and better honed software the g4 brings a larger display bigger battery that can be swapped out on-the-fly expandable storage and more customizability inside and out each has an awesome camera which one wins is a toughy given how much time I spend away from power outlets in places where I might drop my phone it would make more sense for me to choose the g4 it's more versatile more adaptable to a range of environment but honestly I do think Samsung has the tighter product overall with the galaxy s6 considering its beautiful hardware and slick software it's a solid enough phone that I'd be willing to carry a battery pack if it came down to it whether you'd be willing to make the same sacrifice depends on you and your life call it a cop-out if you want but by either of these and you're buying one of the best phones around either way you pretty much can't wrong if you want more detail on each of these phones pocket now has what you need check out our video reviews of the g4 Galaxy s6 and s6 edge here on YouTube and be sure to read our full reviews at pocketnow.com as well linked in the description below until next time this has been michael fisher captain two phones on twitter reminding you that whether or not you embrace the next big thing everybody deserves to feel good feel great or something Adam it's buzzwords it doesn't make any sense thanks for watching everyone we'll see you next time