Tag Archives: lg g3

LG WCD-100 review – LG’s G3 Qi Wireless Charger

Android, Reviews, Tech News, ,

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LG have made a number of accessories for the LG G3. One of these is the LG WCD-100 Qi charger. As the G3 has Qi charging built-in, you can charge it using a Qi compatible device.

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LG offer their own branded Qi charger, which according to LG offers a sleek design, portrait and landscape position for viewing content hands-free and a portable fold away design. In the box, you got the charger, some manuals and nothing else. No usb lead or power cable. You are meant to use the power and usb lead that came with your G3. This annoys me somewhat, as LG are asking £60 for the WCD-100. And for £60 I do not think it is too much to ask for a power lead as well. The problem occurs when you decide to get several of these Qi chargers, perhaps a few at home and maybe one at work. You only have one lead, so then you need to factor in purchasing additional cables. LG state you must only use a 5V 1.8 amp lead, the same as that supplied with the G3.
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As you can see from the photos it rests just fine on the charger with the bottom curve matching that of the G3. It also works with the LG Premium Hard Case as mentioned yesterday. The charger also folds flat. One aspect of resting in a slanted portrait position, is that it makes interacting with the device on a desk for example a breeze. When placing the phone on the charger, a large battery icon appears on screen, with the words “wireless charging”. In the morning, after leaving the G3 on the Qi charger overnight, I found my G3 fully charged at 100%, and without any heat present. LG specify that the WCD-100 takes up to 6 hours to fully charge the battery, which is why this makes a great option for charging at night. Often with other Qi chargers I have used in the past, the phone and case if fitted, seem to get rather warm during charging.

Overall, a decent Qi charger from LG, just somewhat expensive.

LG G3 – review – part 2

Android, Tech News,

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In the second part, I am looking at the hardware aesthetics, and how the overall design works or fails.

The first thing that strikes you is just how big this phone is but then it does have a 5.5 inch screen and this will never fit inside 4.5 inches! I have used a number of phablet devices including the Note 3 and other larger phones from including the Sony Xperia Z2 and HTC One M8.

So how does the G3 compare. For a start there is no getting away from the fact it is big and for some people it will always be huge. However, it is damn comfortable to hold in the hand due to 2 design decisions. First there are no hardware buttons on the side of the phone. These are moved to the rear. This means, the phone has hardly any bezels making the 5.5 inch screen size shrink into the smallest profile possible. Next, as the hardware buttons are on the rear, the phone has been an excellent curved back and even weight distribution making it comfortable to hold. Really comfortable actually.

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The front side hides the notification LED, proximity sensor and front camera. The bottom has the the headset jack, slim HDMI port/micro usb and mic. The top includes the Infra Red blaster and mic. The back has the power button, main camera, volume keys, loudspeaker, dual tone flash and laser auto focus. Hidden beneath the rear back cover is the built in Qi charging and NFC point.
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Another bonus is LG manufactured the G3 with a removable battery and expansion with a micro sd card up to 128gb.

So as I am using the 32gb storage, I can have a total of 160gb storage. Sounds like a dream machine 🙂

I will just mention one function which is selectable in the first setup. That is choosing the Home or Easy Home mode. I think LG really nailed the easy mode. Below are screen shots from both.

First up, easy mode –

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I absolutely love this easy mode. It is tempting to leave the phone always in this mode, but ultimately I prefer more control so use the standard home mode as shown below –

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Tomorrow, I will look further at the software setup, breaking it down in to manageable chunks and highlighting some of the key LG software tweaks.

But lets finish on a cute note. A photo of George, taken on the LG G3 in full auto.
George

LG G3 – Review – Part 1

Android, Reviews, Tech News, ,

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I have now had the LG G3 32gb/3gb version for nearly 2 weeks and in that time I have been using this phone exclusively. It certainly has been a different experience to that of any Samsung, Sony, HTC, Nokia and iPhone experience.

First up lets have a look at the official specs. Just a short note, I have the 32gb storage/3gb ram and not the 16gb storage/2gb ram version, so it is quite likely that the extra storage and 3gb ram have helped improve my overall experience with this phone.

Specifications –

– Networks 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100, 4G Network LTE 800 / 1800 / 2600 / 2100
– SIM Type – Micro-SIM
– Dimensions – 146.3 x 74.6 x 8.9 mm
– Weight – 149 g
– DISPLAY – True HD-IPS + LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours,1440 x 2560 pixels, 5.5 inches 534 ppi p
– Protection – Corning Gorilla Glass 3
– MEMORY – Card slot microSD, up to 128 GB
– Internal – 16 GB, 2 GB RAM or 32 GB, 3 GB RAM
– DATA GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
– EDGE Class 12
– Speed HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 21 Mbps; LTE, Cat4, 50 Mbps UL, 150 Mbps DL
– WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
– Bluetooth – v4.0, A2DP, LE
– NFC – Yes
– Infrared port Yes
– USB microUSB v2.0 (SlimPort), USB On-the-go, USB Host
– CAMERA Primary 13 MP, 4160 x 3120 pixels, phase detection/laser autofocus, optical image stabilisation, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
– Features 1/3” sensor size, simultaneous video and image recording, geo-tagging, face detection, HDR
– Video 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps, optical stabilisation, HDR, stereo sound rec, Secondary 2.1 MP,1080p@30fps
– FEATURES OS Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat)
– Chipset Qualcomm MSM8975AC Snapdragon 801
– CPU Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
– GPU Adreno 330
– Sensors – Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
– Messaging – SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
– Browser – HTML5
– Radio – Stereo FM radio with RDS (D855 model only)
– GPS – Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS
– Java – Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
– Colours Metallic Black, Silk White, Shine Gold, Moon Violet, Burgundy Red
– Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
– SNS applications
– MP4/DviX/XviD/H.264/H.263/WMV player
– MP3/WAV/FLAC/eAAC+/WMA player
– Photo viewer/editor
– Document viewer
– Organizer
– Voice memo/dial/commands
– Predictive text input
– BATTERY – Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery
Stand-by Up to 565 h (2G) / Up to 553 h (3G)
Talk time Up to 19 h (2G) / Up to 21 h (3G)

So those are the official specs. Now just one last point to highlight, I am reviewing the European D855 model.

Some of the standout features for me of the LG G3 are the Qi Wireless charging built in, Infra Red Blaster for controlling your TV etc, the comfortable design for holding in your hand, the 2.5k screen with 534 pixels per inch, the audio quality via headphones, overall well designed software and hardware integration, the simple effective camera and strong battery standby time.

I am going to work through over the next few days, maybe weeks, describing each aspect of this phone. I will say from the outset that I recommend you read the manual with the G3 next to you to make sure you understand all its unique features. I will also document some tricks not found in the manual as well.

Today, I will cover off the camera. It is a 13mp affair, with optical image stabilisation and comes with a laser auto focus system. LG have also provided a default easy mode. Just tap screen to focus and picture is taken instantly. And based on all the photos I have taken in all lighting conditions, I am really pleased with the G3’s overall photo quality. Lower light, night time, macro, people, dogs, bright light and more all have produced very acceptable images. So out of all the smartphones I have used this year, the G3 is my favourite smartphone camera. The G3 can snap panoramas up to 70mb in size which is far greater than the Samsung Galaxy S5.

So how simple is the LG G3 camera app? This simple, see below.
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In this mode, you just tap the screen to focus and take your shot. Just in case anyone is wondering what is in the camera viewfinder, it is my finger over the lens, pressing the power button and volume down to take the screen shot. Lets say however, you prefer a more traditional layout. LG has you covered. See below.
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To keep matters simple, LG has included only a few shooting modes as shown below. I will cover off each mode as well.

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If you tap the settings icon, you have a few more options, but not many to choose from. These are HDR on/off/auto, MP size/aspect ratio, voice control, timer, grid lines and storage options.

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The final screen shots shows you the various photo and video options, including 4K video recording and 120fps slow motion.

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Lets look at some of the camera options in more detail. First up, the LG G3 has no hardware buttons on the sides. They are all on the rear of the phone, which are easy to adjust too. One of the options when the phone is off, is too long press the volume down key to launch the camera app. Selfies – these are easy to take, as all you need to do is raise your hand, clench into a fist and a countdown timer appears. Magic focus mode lets you change the focus after taking the shot (bokeh style). Only issue is once focus mode is selected and saved, you cannot re-edit the shot. Dual mode uses both the front and rear cameras at the same time. You will see your face in the shot in a little rectangular box which is moveable. Panoramic shots are fantastic with file sizes up to 70mp possible. You can use your voice to take a photo. Commands accepted are cheese, smile, whiskey, LG, and kimchi. For me kimchi worked the best.

The timer option gives you 3 or 10 seconds or off. The G3 has up to 8 times digital zoom. I found this works fairly well up to about 3-4 times zoom. Clearly not optical zoom but better than nothing. If you have recorded video at 4K, whilst in the LG video playback mode, go into settings and turn on screenshots. Now you can take photo stills of your video footage. This can be done at any resolution of video. The G3 also supports dual play over 2 screens using miracast or using the slim-HDMI port on the phone.

If you are shooting video, you can take photos at the same time. Whilst playing back your video, you can live zoom in to the video. In terms of picture quality, do keep looking back at the LG G3 flickr album which will increase over the next few weeks in content. Currently 19 shots. Flickr album link https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/sets/72157645618979801/

But what if the LG G3 camera app is too simple. Well I have the Google Camera and A Better Camera app installed. It seems that LG have allowed access by Third Party camera apps to the manual options within the camera. As I have more time, I will test these apps further, but initial results over the last few weeks have been fine. But being honest, the G3 camera app just works really well for most shots, so this is getting used the most.

So I am sure you all want to know how does the G3 compare to other current top tier smartphones. Lets start with the Lumia 925 and 1020. Both the optics on these phones have the ability to take better quality shots but not all the time. They are let down by software and processor strengths. The G3 takes higher resolution shots than the HTC One M8, so it has the edge. The Z2 has the ability using manual settings to take some very good photos but in auto mode the G3 wins. However, the Z2 does have some snazzy camera modes but be warned it can get too hot so may shutdown the camera. The Samsung Galaxy S5 – if the weather is lovely bright sunshine and HDR is used or macro, then the S5 wins. However, the G3 shoots photos in all conditions, so really is the better option. G3 vs iPhone 5S. Winner here is the G3. It provides the iPhone’s simplistic user experience but with better quality photos. However, the iPhone 5S is no slouch, in fact it’s one of the strongest features of the phone.

I want to reserve my judgement on the G3 camera until I have had at least one month using it. I found with the Samsung S5 my shots improved considerably after 3-4 weeks as I was becoming very familiar with the software/hardware limits.

That’s all for now, but if you have any further questions on the camera please let me know.

Part 2 coming soon.

LG G3 – review update

Android, Reviews, Tech News,

I have posted a few articles already on my daily thoughts with the LG G3. I will write a full review, once I have got to grips with all the features and quirks of this phone.

It has a lot to offer and is certainly worthy of a top spot in any phone awards at the moment.

It is the first phone in ages that “feels” good to use, that provides a “happy” emotion when using it and that does not take over your life, but simply slots in.

If you have anything particular you would like me to cover, please let me know.

LG G3 in harmony with the LG G Watch

Android, Reviews, Tech News, Wearables, ,

Just a quick update on my experiences of the 2 devices from yesterday.

It was a good day. Both devices got used a lot and I started to find more uses for the LG G Watch. My notifications were less, so battery at 8pm was around 51%. Still really a daily charge for this wearable.

The LG G3 really is outstanding. With the screen off, music playing and all the other apps running in the background, it hardly uses the battery. So much so, that my work BlackBerry Curve (due to high security this is a mandatory use device) was the one that needed the car charger!!

So referring back to my other post today, do I keep the LG G3/G Watch combo or the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom?

Answers on a postcard please 🙂

LG G3 – First impressions

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The LG G3 arrived yesterday. Going from the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom’s 720p screen to the G3’s Quad HD’s is light being punched in the face, such is the huge difference in the screen panels. The G3 is all about the screen. It is stunning.

The design of the G3 also means it is comfy to hold, and I am finding one handed use possible even though its 5.5 inch screen does make it a big device.

The other big difference over the K Zoom is storage (memory). The K Zoom came with 8gb (4.6gb user accessible) storage. My G3 is the 32gb/3gb ram model. It came with over 24gb user accessible. I left it downloading ALL my apps and ALL my games overnight. Well, nearly all. Some of my apps eg netatmo and the Amazon shopping app are not yet compatible for the high res screen resolution. This applied to a few games as well.

There is a lot to like about the G3 and an awful lot to take it as it has many many options. Simple it is not. Smart it is. More tomorrow.

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