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The LG G3 |Android OT| of Wanting Nice Things and Getting Them

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AlphaSnake

...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
I picked up my G3 the other day at AT&T, who surprisingly announced the phone just 3 days before its in-store availability, which is rather unusual of them for a high-profile smartphone like this. I'm known to jump from phone to phone very often, usually every 12-16 months. I've had an HTC One since it launched in March 2013. I loved the phone, but little things started bothering me about it overtime, such as the camera and size of the screen was still a bit small for me.

lg-g3-screencap.PNG


I thought a 5.5 inch phone would not serve my pockets very well, but I was very wrong.
-It's every bit as thin as the HTC One (sometimes feeling thinner because the back of the phone is virtually flat).
-It's lighter than the HTC One.
-It has a thinner bezel, allowing for more display real-estate.
-Removable battery
-Easy access to sim card
-SD Card
-Brilliant screen resolution of 1440 x 2560, that's 538ppi.
-Great camera
-Screen gestures are cool. Knocking on the screen with your finger to wake the phone is awesome.

Of everything the phone offers, there's only two things I don't like, one of which can be avoided altogether...the placement of the power and volume buttons on the back of the phone. Unlike the traditional side-rockers for volume and a top or side mounted power button, the G3 has a unified approach for the 2 functions and places them right below the camera lens on the back of the phone.

It's a bit unnatural to wake the screen by hitting a button on the back, but once you figure out the best way to hold the phone, you won't be troubled by it. Then again, you don't have to be troubled by it period, because you can simply double tap the screen with your finger to wake and swipe to unlock. Don't worry about waking the screen with the phone in your pocket, it only works with the tip of a finger. Clever. Likewise, the volume rockers you can adjust easily while you're talking since most people rest their index finger back there anyway.

Also, because the power button is in between the volume rockets, it is shaped to be bulbous and slightly protruding. Meanwhile the rockers are indented and concave, allowing you to easily distinguish between the two when you're feeling around and getting used to the phone.

(Note: Final production phone has up & down markings, and Power marking on buttons)
182544-lgg3tmobilerear.jpg


So that's all for now. Just felt like sharing a quick review of a fantastic phone. Coming from owning an iPhone 3G, iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4S, numerous Galaxies (S1, Infuse 4G, S2 Skyrocket), iPhone 5 (company phone which I returned quickly) and an HTC One most recently...this LG G3 is definitely not leaving me disappointed.

Battery Life:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=122037586&postcount=30
 
I'm on T-Mobile and have my first jump opportunity coming up. I'm really torn on giving up my nexus 5 for this device...
 
The gold looks very unattractive imo, it's more of a light brown...when I see it on the commercials I'm shocked at how offputting it seems. I'm sure (I hope?) it's nicer in person and more gold like.
 
stock android or bust
I find that to be less and less true with SOME manufacturers. LG and to some degree HTC, and probably Sony add features that work consistently and smoothly to their skins now. They don't really lag any more, most can be disabled if they're sucking battery, and most aren't too obtrusive.

Can those things be added to stock android? Well sure, but if I can get a new phone out of the box that already has them without rooting and a bunch of other junk, then what's the point of installing stock?
 
it's fucking huge tho.

It really isn't. You feel no difference in your pockets and it's just right in my hands (then again, I can palm a basketball, but I have friends with larger hands though). Line up a Galaxy S and this side by side, the differences aren't that vast.

They aren't even that vast compared to the HTC One - the LG doesn't really dwarf the HTC by much at all. It's incremental and highly effective.
 
It's pretty much going to be between this and the Galaxy S5 when I upgrade my phone in a few months. Looking forward to hearing some more consumer impressions of the G3.
 
I find that to be less and less true with SOME manufacturers. LG and to some degree HTC, and probably Sony add features that work consistently and smoothly to their skins now. They don't really lag any more, most can be disabled if they're sucking battery, and most aren't too obtrusive.

Can those things be added to stock android? Well sure, but if I can get a new phone out of the box that already has them without rooting and a bunch of other junk, then what's the point of installing stock?
I dunno. Between my HTC One M7 and my Nexus 7 Gen II, my One has started to stutter occasionally while my N7 is completely smooth 100% of the time. Whether that's an issue of software or hardware is beyond me though.
 
Really enjoying mine so far. Coming from a Galaxy S4 (and still owning a Tab S), it impresses me how far less offensive LG's customizations are compared to Samsung's. In fact, the Launcher isn't far from stock. Once you remove the "G" screen to the left (easy to do), you basically just have an improved stock launcher. They even let you change icons and rearrange the soft buttons. With my Tab S, I spent the first day "de-Samsunging" the device as much as possible. Not necessary here.

Screen is gorgeous. Also quite impressed with the low light performance of the camera compared to my S4. Overall performance is rock solid.

Highly recommended.
 
I'm extremely interested in this phone, as I jumped from iPhone to a G2 earlier this year. I love the G2,and I'm pretty sure that I'll be jumping to a G3 as soon as I'm able, but i'm waiting to hear more impressions from real-world users, and not just tech sites.
 
Really enjoying mine so far. Coming from a Galaxy S4 (and still owning a Tab S), it impresses me how far less offensive LG's customizations are compared to Samsung's. In fact, the Launcher isn't far from stock. Once you remove the "G" screen to the left (easy to do), you basically just have an improved stock launcher. They even let you change icons and rearrange the soft buttons. With my Tab S, I spent the first day "de-Samsunging" the device as much as possible. Not necessary here.

Screen is gorgeous. Also quite impressed with the low light performance of the camera compared to my S4. Overall performance is rock solid.

Highly recommended.

Definitely. The overall experience is pretty much stock Android if you want it to be. It's extremely clean and being able to customize app icons is a HUUUUGE plus. Some of these developers have not updated their icons and they look like pixilated crap on such a hi-res phone.
 
Just ordered mine.

The last two days were spent switching to a fro' between a LG G3 and a HTC One m8, came to the conclusion you couldn't really lose either way.

Any hints and tips for using this sexy little thing when it arrives?
 
I keep going back and forth between the S5, M8, and this. S5 has the water proof factor as its biggest selling point for me. I like the look and feel of both this and the M8 better though. I am overanalyzing this like crazy though, as I am upgrading from and old HTC Arrive. Any of these phones will be great in comparison.
 
This! I'm in the market for a new phone but none of the reviews are really commenting on the battery life.

Standby time is phenomenal, better than any phone I've ever used. For actual use, I usually end the day (10 hours or so off the charger) at around 75-80%, with roughly 1 to 1.5 hours of on screen time. But that's pretty light usage.
 
Yeah, I bought the wife and I a couple of the Verizon variants last Thursday. This phone is amazing.

The battery is pretty darn good. Especially considering the screen resolution and size.
Take for instance, today, I unplugged my phone from the charger at around 6:20am, listened to a podcast all the way to work(about a 45 minute commute) through auxiliary cable, then listened to podcasts for about 5-6 hours through my Bluetooth headset, took some photos, showed some videos, and I am currently at 70% battery.
 
How's the battery life on this?

This! I'm in the market for a new phone but none of the reviews are really commenting on the battery life.

Fantastic. The reviews will back me up too.

The day after I got the phone I used it a ton all day, and after 12 hours of use, before I went to bed it still had 40% battery left.

Even on the day I bought it, the battery life was understandably at around 40%. And setting up emails, downloading 50 apps, then having to manually transfer 200 contacts via Bluetooth from the HTC, setting up a bunch of aforementioned apps, bluetooth transferring 400 pictures + 40 videos, looking through every nook of the phone and setting things up to my liking, etc etc etc, I plugged it in after about 5 hours of heavy non-stop use with the screen set to not turn off, wifi running, bluetooth. It was down to 7% on a never charged battery.

So yeah, now, I'm looking at it after some texting, a few phone calls, work emails coming through, FB and it's at 84% (I unplugged it at 10AM, 7 hours ago). You do the math. :)
 
I wonder if I am doing something wrong with my phone because I am not getting anywhere near the battery life you guys are getting. It is just "okay" for me. Web browsing and texting, etc. Nothing heavy, no gaming.

Mobile data though. Not wifi.
 
I wonder if I am doing something wrong with my phone because I am not getting anywhere near the battery life you guys are getting. It is just "okay" for me. Web browsing and texting, etc. Nothing heavy, no gaming.

Mobile data though. Not wifi.

I'm guessing you might have a rogue app in the background causing the battery drain.
 
I have a G2. It's nice and all and the G3 looks amazing.. but I'll be sending back my second one soon. Got the same problem, twice! This isn't my phone but it's the same exact issue I have.


Part of the screen doesn't react to touch, at all. It's sooooooooo fucking annoying :( Same exact problem on two different G2's. First time, all I had to do was take it to AT&T and exchange it out but now for the second phone I have with the same problem, I have to send it to LG. Gonna be without a phone for over a week. Sucks. Gonna get the iphone 6 later this year since I'm tired of this phone already. I hope no one here has this happen to their phone (G2 and maybe G3-who knows?) I hope LG fixes their shit.

T-Mobile but I believe it also has Carrier IQ.
I had the same issue with the G2. Probably the same with your G3. Go through Settings -> Apps -> All. Look through it all and see whatever apps are running that can be safely stopped/disabled. Saves so much battery.
 
I have one and I love it. When I hold my old Galaxy S3 I can't believe I used a screen so small. Just yesterday with one charge I had 5h 35m of screen on time, 15h total, with wifi/data/sync on the whole time, so I'm super happy with the battery now that I've got the hang of managing it.
Edit
The screen is incredible irl
 
I wonder if I am doing something wrong with my phone because I am not getting anywhere near the battery life you guys are getting. It is just "okay" for me. Web browsing and texting, etc. Nothing heavy, no gaming.

Mobile data though. Not wifi.

Where do you live? I find that my battery life dramatically increase and decreases with AT&T depending on where I am.

If I'm home in Florida (Orlando, Miami, Palm Beach) I get amazing battery life.

If I'm home in NYC (Queens and Long Island) I get TERRIBLE battery life where I can barely make it on a charge with light use of the phone.
 
I'm thinking about picking one up. Just a question, does it sit flat on a desk or because of the curve, does it tend to wobble?

That's the problem I had with my htc one compared to the Note 3 which lies flat on a desk...
 
I'm thinking about picking one up. Just a question, does it sit flat on a desk or because of the curve, does it tend to wobble?

That's the problem I had with my htc one compared to the Note 3 which lies flat on a desk...

It's mostly flat. It has a little wobble, but NOTHING like the HTC One. Because of the One's wobble, it would startle me half to death when it would vibrate on a hard surface. The LG has no such issue and I can finally use the vibration again, and best of all the vibration strength is actually adjustable for all types of notifications.
 
How do you change app icons?

Hold down on an icon, wiggle it a teeny bit, but put it back into its original tile spot. Once you release your finger off it, a little paintbrush appears in the corner of the icon. Tap the paint brush and you can change the icon or upload a custom one from your gallery. It's really neat.
 
Got this Friday on T-Mobile. Really quite nice coming from a s4(gave that to my wife).

I too just figured out to take the sticker puf off the volume rocker. Left it on until a couple off hours ago.
 
How's the battery life?
I'm looking for a new phone soon. I might get this instead of waiting for the MotoX+1.
Regular usage with at least 50% brightness no auto, you'll probably get around 3.5 hours of on screen time, with the battery draining slowly when the screen is off. This is if you're not trying to save battery.

In my post above I get better battery life, and that's with low brightness and Greenify installed.
 
just make sure you check what app drains battery. i saw that Robot unicorn attack drained my battery as it kept the phone awake.

I have a G2. It's nice and all and the G3 looks amazing.. but I'll be sending back my second one soon. Got the same problem, twice! This isn't my phone but it's the same exact issue I have.



Part of the screen doesn't react to touch, at all. It's sooooooooo fucking annoying :( Same exact problem on two different G2's. First time, all I had to do was take it to AT&T and exchange it out but now for the second phone I have with the same problem, I have to send it to LG. Gonna be without a phone for over a week. Sucks. Gonna get the iphone 6 later this year since I'm tired of this phone already. I hope no one here has this happen to their phone (G2 and maybe G3-who knows?) I hope LG fixes their shit.


I had the same issue with the G2. Probably the same with your G3. Go through Settings -> Apps -> All. Look through it all and see whatever apps are running that can be safely stopped/disabled. Saves so much battery.


just saw the image. went and checked if i had any issues. seems to be fine when i scribbled the whole thing.
 
asked this on xda

An hour of just web browsing on Firefox with mobile data and auto brightness dropped me from 100% to 85%. Does that sound about right? Seems to drain really fast to me. I really do wonder if my battery is just bad and I should return my phone and get a new one.
 
asked this on xda

An hour of just web browsing on Firefox with mobile data and auto brightness dropped me from 100% to 85%. Does that sound about right? Seems to drain really fast to me. I really do wonder if my battery is just bad and I should return my phone and get a new one.

what are you using (Wifi, lte?) and how good is your connection?
mine is crap right now because i got no signal and the wifi is crap lol so it's constantly trying to do stuff with weak connection.

i know wifi at home it's much better. slower drain even for an hour.
 
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