LG G6 Review

Don’t skip the LG G6 just because you’ve wanted more from LG in the past, or when you go to buy a new phone because of Samsung’s flashy new Galaxy S8.

The LG G6 is an impressive Android phone that can defend itself against the Samsung Galaxy S8 and iPhone 7. It helps that the LG G6 is cheaper than the Galaxy S8 and cheaper than the Galaxy S8.

Unlike the Galaxy S8, there’s no infinity screen that falls off the edges, something that should help keep the LG G6 safer if you drop it. LG even bends the corners of the screens to help with surviving when dropped.

Here’s our review of the LG G6, including what you’ll love and hate about it after spending a month with the new Android phone.

LG G6 Review Summary

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The LG G6 is available for $672 on all major US carriers, or about $24 per month on a payment plan. You can check out the best LG G6 deals to find free offers that include a free LG smart TV and more, if you buy an LG G6 close to launch.

You can buy the LG G6 in silver and black colors, with 32GB of internal storage and up to 2GB micro SD card support.

LG G6 Hardware and Design

While not as eye-catching as its rivals, the LG G6’s design is great. The sides of the phone tapers wider towards the back, making it easier to hold the phone as it fits comfortably in a grip.

LG G6 color options are limited compared to the iPhone, but if you plan to pack the phone in one of the many excellent LG G6 cases that matter little.

After all, you don’t need a case, thanks to Gorilla Glass 5 on the back and Gorilla Glass 6 on the front. A curved aluminum band completes the design. The LG G6 is a solid phone with a premium look and feel.

It’s easy to use the LG G6 with one hand, even with a large screen.

The power button is in the middle of the back and acts as a fingerprint reader. Layout and reader both work very well. Like almost every other phone on the market, LG moves the volume buttons to the side of the phone. A USB C connection on the bottom of the phone is much better than Micro USB, which you can upgrade to as it allows you to plug in the cable with no up or down sides.

The headphone jack is at the top of the phone, which isn’t our favorite place, but we’ve already moved on to wireless headphones, so it’s not a major issue.

Add storage with the LG G6 microSD card slot.

A SIM card slot opens on the right side of the phone, allowing users to add a Micro SD card. The G6 supports up to 2TB and users can use at least one 64GB Micro SD card To add to the worthless 32GB of storage on the LG G6.

All that’s left is the big, beautiful display that dominates the front of the phone.

LG G6 Display and Sound

The LG G6 screen is great and probably better than your TV.

The reason you buy this phone is the LG G6 screen. LG has switched to the 18:9 aspect ratio, which makes the screen taller and narrower. That means you have a 5.7-inch display in an incredibly useful package. No special one-handed mode is required to use this phone.

The screen is not only big and beautiful, it also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 video, which means it will likely look better than your HDTV. The 2,880 x 1,440 resolution is standard without a scaled down version like the Samsung Galaxy S8 defaults. At this point, the LG G6 doesn’t have a ton of media streaming to play in 2K with HDR, but Netflix plans to add support in the near future.

The striking curved edges complement the screen and match the curved corners of the phone. LG says this will help protect the screen if you drop your phone.

Curved corners look great and help protect the screen if you drop the phone.

Movies, games, reading and web browsing look great on the screen. The taller screen means you’ll see more content in some apps, and the 2:1 aspect ratio allows LG to offer you a square camera app that shows you a camera view and the square photo you just took; perfect Instagram moment.

The sound on the G6 is not on par with the screen. It’s pretty flat and lacks depth. You will definitely want to use headphones or opt for a Bluetooth speaker for accessing music and movies. This is thanks to a single speaker and the lack of Quad DAC, which is a key feature of the LG V20.

LG G6 Camera

The dual camera on the LG G6 performs perfectly.

The LG G6 has dual cameras on the back of the phone and a wide-angle selfie camera on the front. Both rear cameras use 13 MP sensors, so you’ll get great photos no matter which one you use in bright light. The main camera features an f1.8 aperture, just one of the two cameras with optical image stabilization and a better autofocus. Switching between the two cameras while zooming is almost instantaneous. There is a slight delay if you switch using the icons on the screen.

The main camera features an f1.8 aperture, just one of the two cameras with optical image stabilization and a better autofocus. At night or in low light, a wide-angle lens is not the best option as it won’t be as beautiful as a photo.

The wide-angle front camera lets you group your friends or capture where you are when taking selfies, and it performs well in bright and low-light conditions.

The LG G6 camera app offers a wealth of controls and various assistive modes. If you want more control and really know what you’re doing, Pro mode offers plenty of controls that can take your mobile photography to the next level.

LG includes the square photo that uses the tall 2:1 screen to let you take a square photo using the top of the screen as the viewfinder. When you take a photo, the photo will appear in the bottom half so you can see if the photo you just took is Instagram-worthy or if you need another photo.

You can also shoot good videos using both the regular and wide-angle cameras with the LG G6, and the sound is good thanks to the high-resolution audio support.

LG G6 Software

The LG G6 runs Android 7.0 Nougat with an LG skin that adds various features and options. Google Assistant is built into the phone and provides the latest Android voice control and on-device search.

LG customizations will leave Pixel-loving Android users wanting more, but overall the customizations are useful and add value to the phone.

You can change LG G6 theme to suit your style.

There is support for simultaneous use of apps, you can rearrange the navigation keys to your liking and open the screen with a double tap. While it’s a small thing, we absolutely love the option to change the theme on the phone without the need for any new Android launchers or third-party apps.

LG includes an option to scale apps to an 18:9 screen so you can change their appearance. It is possible that we may see more applications coming with native support for this type of display, especially considering that Samsung uses a similar 18.5:9 aspect ratio and Google is pushing developers to support 18:9.

The square photo app is just one of the apps that takes advantage of the LG G6 screen shape.

When you switch to landscape mode, some of the built-in LG G6 apps will show you more information in a split-screen style view. For example, the calendar applet displays your month and a breakdown of the day. This approach is similar to what Apple did with the iPhone 7 Plus.

Get ready for lots of additional apps and bloatware. We spent this month with an AT&T G6 with 10 AT&T and DirectTV apps, as well as Facebook, Uber, and Yellow Pages. The AT&T LG G6 also comes with Firefox as the main browser instead of Google Chrome, which is an odd choice. Changing browsers is easy, but you can’t delete most of these AT&T apps. It also means you cannot uninstall Facebook, Uber or Yellow Pages from LG G6 to reclaim storage space on your phone.

If you’re not using DirecTV, be sure to disable the remote app so you don’t have to deal with notifications to set it up.

LG G6 Performance and Battery Life

LG G6 performance is very good, handling all our daily tasks without stuttering or lag despite using a slightly older processor.

Diving into Slack, a small break for Instagram and Candy Crush, then returning to Hangouts and various streams on Netflix and Spotify didn’t slow the device down.

The LG G6 has good battery life and wireless and fast charging options.

The LG G6 battery is good for a full day’s use. You won’t be extending that to the second day, but if you need a smartphone that lasts more than one day, you’ll be left with fine choices. My battery life never ran out during the day without the need to use smart charging technology.

LG has super convenient wireless charging to turn off the phone while at your desk or in the car. There is also the Quick Charge feature which can significantly power up the phone in 15 to 30 minutes.

You can’t remove the LG G6 battery to replace it with a new one, but with the LG G6 battery life and fast charging options we’ve seen, it’s not a deal breaker.