Last year's LG G2 was a mobile powerhouse. But the 5.2-inch phone certainly had some polarizing features. The power and volume buttons were on the back of the device, the screen size put it in phablet territory, and the extra bells and whistles LG added to the KitKat experience weren't exactly essential. Oddities aside, the flagship phone’s snappy performance, excellent battery life, and great-looking screen were standout features.
Its successor, the LG G3, is another handset built around impressive specs (a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC). Its UI has been redesigned from the ground up. It’ll still appeal only to people OK with using a phablet, as the screen is even larger. It still has the same buttons-on-the-back design, which won't win everybody over. But the overall package feels more refined, and LG’s custom software tweaks actually seem very useful this time around.
This is not a tiny phone. The G3’s screen is even bigger and sharper than its predecessor's, measuring 5.5 inches diagonally with a 2,560 x 1,440 (538ppi) resolution. That’s a significant bump up from the G2’s already excellent 1080p (423ppi) screen. The G3 still has a long-lasting 3,000 mAh battery, now removable. You also can expand the G3’s storage beyond its 32GB on-board drive thanks to a MicroSD slot that supports up to 128 additional gigs.
Despite the extra screen real estate, the G3 feels incredibly light and reasonably sized (for bigger hands, at least). In pictures, it looks almost uncomfortably wide, even when pictured next to a large phones like the Galaxy S5. That’s not an optical illusion--it is big--but its slim bezel, curved back, and 5.25 oz. weight make it feel surprisingly un-ridiculous. It feels pretty low-profile in your pocket for its size, thanks to a 0.35-inch depth.
There’s an LG-developed software enhancement that puts that bigger screen size to good use. It’s unbelievably simple but effective. You can adjust the vertical size of the keyboard simply by dragging the top border upward. Here’s another one that makes editing (mis)typed text about 30 times less infuriating: You can navigate through text by swiping the space bar instead of having to remove your thumbs from the keyboard and select text. During the minute or so of hands-on time I had with these features, I loved them and immediately wanted them on all phones. The keyboard design on the G3 looks like a winner.
The UI is prettier, too. It has a flat design with a toned-down palette and an accordion-fold effect when you swipe from screen to screen. The G2’s handy “Knock On” feature, which lets you bypass the back power button with a quick double-tap of the screen, has been updated too. The G3 lets you set up a “Knock Code” pattern for your taps, combining aspects of a pattern lock screen with a quick way to get it out of standby mode. Other enhancements were too much to test in a loud and crowded demo room, but they include a faster "laser" autofocus system on the 13-megapixel camera, and a more-powerful built-in speaker with bass enhancements.
Even with its improvements, the G3 is still not for everyone. Those hardware power and volume buttons? They’re still on the back. And although the G3's gold, black, white, purple, and burgundy-backed bodies have a brushed-metal look, that backing is just better-looking plastic. Still, I'm intrigued by the G3, which is due in the United States this summer on all the major carriers. No release date or pricing info has been announced, but it's available today in South Korea.
Note: A tearful farewell to the LG G2's glitchy-but-wonderful VR Panorama mode, which didn't make it into the G3. You will be missed, VR Panorama mode.
