Database Users

Review After Having the Phone for 6 Days

OK my short review from having the LG G4 for 6 days now! Just as background, I luckily got the phone through a workmate i know in South Korea so the one i have is the South Korean model. Also, the South Korean version gives you something that is a bloody lifesaver and just so useful and you wish you'd always had one: an extra battery. More on that later.
So I have been using the Nexus 6 since launch and love it. To me at least it's been great – big screen, big development on XDA (I love custom roms/kernels and flashing in general) and over all a phone that i have loved. The only issues i have had really are: the screen is ok but could be better, the camera is ok and could be better and it is heavy and hefty so I use it one-handed but only just. It's a monster!
So last few months have been looking for something not quite as big with a better camera and better screen. I tried both the S6 and S6 Edge and sold them within a few days. Mostly because i think they are just too small and poky or something. S6 Edge was too sharp for me.
Along comes the G4! And if you don't want to read the boring detail below then in short: I love it and haven't really seen any faults at all.
Boring Detail:
Battery:
Here's a tricky one as i have always had decent battery on all phones i get. And all i do is read the same thing over and again on battery threads everywhere: 'i get only 2 hours Screen on Time help!' and then 'i get 7 hours Screen on Time and i'm amazing!'. The problem is the same: every person's usage pattern and apps and mobile reception is different so this all accounts for differing Screen on Time. So – FOR ME – i am getting consistently around 5 to 5.5 hours Screen on Time which is perfectly fine. So i reckon on MOST of the current flag ships you'd be getting pretty similar SOT.
However the one big bloody glaring thing about the South Korean model is that extra battery and that right there should solve pretty much ALL battery issues. So I just have the extra battery in the charging case attached to a USB cable on my computer. If I have gotten low on a day where i have the used phone a lot then 38 seconds later i have swapped batteries for the new 100% one! How good is that! Do yourself a favour and get a spare battery! No doubt they will be available shortly.
Two things that reviews are singling out as ‘cons’ which I think is just silly.
Wireless charging. I love wireless charging and until you use it a lot you don’t realise how convenient it is. I also have two Tylt Vu chargers and they are expensive so i want a device that uses wireless charging! Ok so the G4 has wireless charging CAPABILITY meaning that you need a different back than the one that comes with it and it will work.
Already LG has said that the G4 circle case will have that. So all I will be doing is waiting for the inevitable Shenzen rip off sticker that you stick inside your case that gives me wireless charging. I will give it 4 weeks max before they are on Ebay for $5.
Quick charging. There’s this boring debate that the G4 did not include Quick Charging 2.0 even though Qualcom have it in their chip. Big deal! What you do get is the 1.8 Quick Charge which isn’t quite as good but is still perfectly acceptable! In my testing it charges a bit over 1% per minute. Which is just fine.
Feel:
Sorry about the pretentious term ‘feel’ but it’s the best way of describing a major kick ass thing this phone has! It is just the BEST weight, feel and hold of any phone i’ve owned. It’s not light, it’s not heavy. It’s not small and it’s not phablety big. It is juuuuuuuust right. Dunno what it exactly is – maybe the slight bend? But it’s great.
Leather. I would never in a squillion years think i would own a leather phone or that the leather would work. But it does. Looks good, feels great, is great. Photos do not do it justice. I got the black weather which i love but if i was to buy it again the brown/tan i think could be the pick. If you get the plastic to save a few bucks then, um, don’t!
Camera:
Not going to go into detail because every review already has and i am not a manual camera person. I am Mr Point and Shoot. Suffice to say it takes very good photos. Had it over the weekend at Adelaide with relatives and photos turned out great.
Lag/Stutter/UI Blah:
Ok so on EVERY phone i own i remove the stock launcher and install an aftermarket one because guess why? They’re better. Don’t understand why people cry about the OEM launcher when the aftermarket ones are installed within 16 seconds and are better anyway.
Stutter/lag – again this is another topic that i don’t understand. I really haven’t had a phone that suffered at all from this. I ALWAYS change the animation three options to 0.5 in Developer Options and this often is more than enough. Don’t need to be rooted and takes 14 seconds – why wouldn’t you do it? In general though, i have not had stutter or lag in this phone at all.
The Knock Code to turn on screen. Sorry but every phone that doesn’t have this should get that as a ‘con’. It is just soooo convenient. Love it.
Notification shade works well. Lots of options, lots of shortcuts to choose.
Notification light – a no brainer and dunno why the Nexus 6 didn’t have it and i had to install a custom ROM to get it. It works and works fine.
Ability to change nav bar buttons around and add a couple more. Love this as i always like my back button on the right not the left.
These little customisations are what really makes the UI i think. So handy.
Display:
Great. Bright and similar when i had the S6 as a stand out. Reviews have covered it pretty well too – is an excellent colourful display. LG got it right.
Sound:
Decent! I just don’t use my phone to listen to stuff except for headphones but is loud and ok. Not as good as HTC but good for a phone.
Weird big bloody LCD density:
Here’s a weird thing which no review has mentioned which is the only thing that really annoyed me: the density is 620! Meaning that things are huge! Everything looked like a huge fonted behemoth! And without root i wasn’t able to use the easy way of changing the density via build.prop and eventually had to do it via hooking it to the PC and using Android SDK tools and change it to 540.
Overall:
Found a phone that for me at least satisfied most of what i want in a phone very well. And i haven’t even missed using a custom rom because you can’t root it yet! Never thought i’d say that. So once everyone has it in a month then hopefully development will mean it is even better!
Oh and get the effin leather purlease!!

Thank you for this nice review! Really appreciate it

That was a bloody useful review. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. I'm on a GN4 but as usual itching for my 6 month change...
Q how is the speakerphone? GN4 is excellent. Is it loud? I was a little disappointed by the g3.
The.pixel density issue is interesting. I loved the g3, but for some reason I found it difficult to read text. Even when I changed the size. Partly it's my middle age eyesight but it's not an issue i suffer from with the galaxy note series or even s5. Could never figure out why I found the g3 difficult to read. Perhaps it's that pixel density.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app

ekerbuddyeker said:
That was a bloody useful review. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. I'm on a GN4 but as usual itching for my 6 month change...
Q how is the speakerphone? GN4 is excellent. Is it loud? I was a little disappointed by the g3.
The.pixel density issue is interesting. I loved the g3, but for some reason I found it difficult to read text. Even when I changed the size. Partly it's my middle age eyesight but it's not an issue i suffer from with the galaxy note series or even s5. Could never figure out why I found the g3 difficult to read. Perhaps it's that pixel density.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
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Yes the speaker is definitely loud. It is on the back of the phone though and is just one speaker. I wouldn't say quality is great but definitely loud.
Yes so weird about the LCD density! But yeah if you like big text then all good.

Great review, we are all hopeful we get root, bootloader unlock and Roms as well.
After installing the alternative home launcher, have you had any issues with the Knock On or Knock Off feature?
.: Sent from an optimized 'ANDROID til I die' device :.

legend221 said:
Great review, we are all hopeful we get root, bootloader unlock and Roms as well.
After installing the alternative home launcher, have you had any issues with the Knock On or Knock Off feature?
.: Sent from an optimized 'ANDROID til I die' device :.
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Click to collapse
Nope knock on/off works great still with alternative launcher.

I have read in only 1 review the leather is kind of poorly attached to the plastic back. How nice is the leather attached? Does it wrap around the edges and conceal any plastic back? Clean install?

Lock-N-Load said:
I have read in only 1 review the leather is kind of poorly attached to the plastic back. How nice is the leather attached? Does it wrap around the edges and conceal any plastic back? Clean install?
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Seriously it's great. Photos don't do it justice though. It's hard leather but looks and feels really sturdy and just matches the phone.
It doesn't wrap around all the edges though.

poczynek said:
Seriously it's great. Photos don't do it justice though. It's hard leather but looks and feels really sturdy and just matches the phone.
It doesn't wrap around all the edges though.
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So what does it do? I must wrap all the way around the edges of the plastic back it is attached it? if it does not, it would peel up. I am talking about wrapping around all of the edges of the plastic back so NO plastic back is seen along the edges. Not wrapping around the entire phones back

poczynek said:
Nope knock on/off works great still with alternative launcher.
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This is great news thank you for confirming this, appears that owners of the G3 and G2 were forced to use 3rd party apps to enable one or both of those features when using an alternative home launcher. Im assuming you are using Nova Launcher, I have also always installed that stable application on top of whatever manufacturer I buy.
What is something that has surprised you the most about the G4?
Any feature or something unique from that phone that reviewers or users have not thought of bringing up?

Lock-N-Load said:
So what does it do? I must wrap all the way around the edges of the plastic back it is attached it? if it does not, it would peel up. I am talking about wrapping around all of the edges of the plastic back so NO plastic back is seen along the edges. Not wrapping around the entire phones back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok just took a photo

legend221 said:
This is great news thank you for confirming this, appears that owners of the G3 and G2 were forced to use 3rd party apps to enable one or both of those features when using an alternative home launcher. Im assuming you are using Nova Launcher, I have also always installed that stable application on top of whatever manufacturer I buy.
What is something that has surprised you the most about the G4?
Any feature or something unique from that phone that reviewers or users have not thought of bringing up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surprised is definitely me loving the leather when I thought it would be too garish.
The only thing reviewers haven't brought up was that annoying LCD density!

poczynek said:
Ok just took a photo
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Ok yeah.... as I had expected and hoped.. it does wrap around the edges of the battery door. So, you do not see the leather end and then some plastic of the back battery door. And, agreed, and as expected, it does not wrap leather up around the edges of the phone, just the battery door - so it is a nice clean finish.
---------- Post added at 02:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 PM ----------
poczynek said:
Surprised is definitely me loving the leather when I thought it would be too garish.
The only thing reviewers haven't brought up was that annoying LCD density!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you expand a bit on how you addressed the density? I know you said "hooking it to the PC and using Android SDK tools and change it to 540.". I would modify in build.prop as you mentioned, but no root so no way so I am not so sure what you mean here how you accomplished this tweak.

Lock-N-Load said:
Ok yeah.... as I had expected and hoped.. it does wrap around the edges of the battery door. So, you do not see the leather end and then some plastic of the back battery door. And, agreed, and as expected, it does not wrap leather up around the edges of the phone, just the battery door - so it is a nice clean finish.
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Oh right sorry yes wasn't understanding what you were saying as driving and reading.

Lock-N-Load said:
Ok yeah.... as I had expected and hoped.. it does wrap around the edges of the battery door. So, you do not see the leather end and then some plastic of the back battery door. And, agreed, and as expected, it does not wrap leather up around the edges of the phone, just the battery door - so it is a nice clean finish.
---------- Post added at 02:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 PM ----------
Can you expand a bit on how you addressed the density? I know you said "hooking it to the PC and using Android SDK tools and change it to 540.". I would modify in build.prop as you mentioned, but no root so no way so I am not so sure what you mean here how you accomplished this tweak.
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Yes this guide shows:
http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-...creen-resolution-without-root-access-0160439/

poczynek said:
Yes this guide shows:
http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-...creen-resolution-without-root-access-0160439/
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Great thanks.. IF the opportunity arises, it would be cool to see a before and after photo of your text size density.

Can the G4 turn Chrome into a free floating window?

Great review, very informative.
I passed on the G3 after really liking the G2 mostly due to the locked BL. I hope LG provides the ability to unlock it this time around like Sony and HTC do.
Or someone here cracks it much faster than it happened on the G3 which took what seemed like forever.
Sent from Canada via my Nexus 6, Note 4,3,2 or S3

poczynek said:
Yes this guide shows:
http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-...creen-resolution-without-root-access-0160439/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link. Do the dock and lock screen icons work on stock launcher using this method. On the G3 they didn't scale correctly?

What buttons can you change/add to the nav bar? Can you add a menu button?
Is there any sign of the lollipop memory leak?

So I just used a 5x for the first time. Nexus 5 user here

Ps: big text incoming... I should write novels not Internet forum posts! Bear with me pls.
I've been kinda wanting to replace my Nexus 5 for a while now.
Things that annoy me are the battery that doesn't last that long - doesn't make it through the day if I happen to use it a bit more than the occasional message and photo. And the camera... I have taken freaking fantastic photos with this phone! Even though so many people complain, and fore sure there are way better cameras, Google Camera's HDR+ works wonders!
However.... Quite frequently I loose quick shots because the phone takes forever from 0 to Photo-snap! Focus is slow and unreliable...
Other than those two things, I really can't complain! Specially for the price! 400€ 32gb bright red model. Kinda cheap and unique as **** as you don't really see many screaming bright red phones around.
Still.... I want a reliable camera and a battery that lasts the day even when I use the phone at will.
So I started looking...
Galaxy S6 => awesome hardware! (even though the battery is kinda iffy) but failWiz makes it a no go for me!.. I was nearly going for it when I found out you can't even use alternative keyboards freely because Samsung's ram manager keeps pushing them out.
LG g4.. Meh camera ain't that fantastic, just has a great manual mode.
Nexus 6p ... Seems cool! But it's too big, and now that it's seemingly crappy internal structure design has been revealed... I'm not looking forward to pay over 630€ for a phone whose design had corners cut.
So I considered the 5x. Even though I hate the fake front speaker grill
It kinda checks all boxes.
But today, to my surprise I found one on exposition on a local electronics shop. First I was like "wow cool!" then after playing around with it for a while and comparing it to my N5 I was more like "Meh... Not paying 530€ for this."
The camera looks awesome, even though it didn't seem to snap pics that fast (was in low light ambient)
But it doesn't really perspire quality.
If it'd cost here the same it costs in the states, sure. Good deal!
But for this price... Doesn't seem worth jumping from the Nexus 5 to the 5x.
Did I miss something? What makes this phone fantastic?
I wanted to love it....but I walked away far from in love.

Yeah... Unless your N5 is crapping out, you really have no reason to replace it.
Only reason why I'm thinking the 5x is because after two years, it has some light wear and tear that drives my ocd nuts, as do a couple of hairline cracks at the sim tray and the volume rocker.
All I would expect from the 5 to the 5x is an improved camera, maybe slightly better battery, slightly improved SoC... And nexus imprint... Other than that, its the same phone. Which isn't a bad thing. The N5 was/is a great device, and if u add the above mentioned features, its worthy of a slightly bumped up price from it's predecessor
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Yeah mine is all cracked too (the plastic around it) and none of the cracks apparently related to falls o.o
First one was the between the audio-jack and the screen. One day... there was a crack there!.. awesome lol
Now there's another one bellow the volume rocker and one next to the sim-tray as well. Top notch built quality!! xD never complained cuz of the price...
The thing about the price bump is that the price bump in Europe isn't because of extra hardware, otherwise it would have the same bump in the States. No - it's most probably because google felt like joining the bandwagon of ripping off ppl in Europe! lol... Taxes? Sure there are more taxes here and import taxes, but not to cover that much difference in price I don't think.
So it makes it kinda hard to justify the price even if I was shopping for a phone from scratch, not for a swap.

If you want a fingerprint scanner and a better camera, but that's about it. Larger screen too. I really like my 5X, it replaced my S6 edge and I'm much more pleased with the 5X. My old man is using my original nexus 5, so I couldn't take that from him, but he's pleased with it.
I got used to using a fingerprint with the S6E and since Android pay wants a secure lock screen, it just made sense for me to get the 5X over finding another 5. But I'm in the States and it's cheaper here, so that helped with the decision too.

SrPintas said:
Yeah mine is all cracked too (the plastic around it) and none of the cracks apparently related to falls o.o
First one was the between the audio-jack and the screen. One day... there was a crack there!.. awesome lol
Now there's another one bellow the volume rocker and one next to the sim-tray as well. Top notch built quality!! xD never complained cuz of the price...
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Oh yeah... I have the one by the audio jack too lmao.
Nobody ever claimed the n5 had good build quality. It's always been described as feeling "cheap" and "plastic". I always thought mine might have came from minor drops until I read that virtually everyone has them lol.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

It's like an N5 that's improved in every way IMO. The downsides being it's physically larger and a bit more expensive.
Biggest improvements are battery life and the camera image quality.
However some examples of the more unexpected improvements that you notice once you start using the device for a while:
Charge speeds. I've not charged over night even once yet as a 30 minute charge is enough to get through a day (roughly 50%).
Skin temperature. This device stays much cooler than the N5 especially during lighter usage such as Streaming Netflix and browsing. Battery temperatures remain consistently cooler than the N5 at all times, especially gaming.
Fingerprint sensor and ambient display: Together make it feel like you're interacting with the device in a whole new way. No need to use the power button ever.

How does the battery fair on a daily basis?
N5 is terrible even dose working it's magic while the phone is idling is not enough for it to make it alive in the evening if I use it a fair amount at some point during the morning.

SrPintas said:
How does the battery fair on a daily basis?
N5 is terrible even dose working it's magic while the phone is idling is not enough for it to make it alive in the evening if I use it a fair amount at some point during the morning.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's awesome. I don't need to disable a single thing and my run times are similar to my N5 that had just about everything disabled.
It might only have an extra 400mAh but it feels like an extra 1000mAh. Part of that is because of Android 6.0 and Doze though.
Most of my results are in the 4-6 hours SoT range across 20+ hours. Lowest is 3 hours SoT across 20+ hours with weak signal mobile data usage and gaming. 50% manual brightness with most software features enabled.
Examples:
http://imgur.com/a/gVuT3
http://imgur.com/a/UhqdL

Sounds pretty good.
I rarely (never) see even 3h sot, much less 4 :'D
Sounds like I saw what the N5x has on offer pretty well.
The thing screwing it up is the EU price adjustment being even worse than it was with the N5

Ok, long post too... bear with me...
So, I had the exact same issues as you described. I loved my N5 and I've been using it daily for the past 2 years or so. The main reasons I wanted to change phones was battery life and the cameras, both rear and front facing. I do agree with you when you say that the N5 snapped some fantastic shots though. HDR+ really works wonders.
I considered a lot of options such as the Moto X Style/Pure, Nexus 6P, LG G4, Xperia Z5, Galaxy S6 or the OnePlus 2, but they're just too physically big. Can't carry around a phone that big. I'd have to buy new trousers because I wouldn't be able to fit it in any of my pockets
Also, Z5 and S6 are way too expensive and I find it morally wrong to spend so much money on a phone... personal thing...
After a lot of reading and thinking, I did get the 5X in the end. I'm in the UK so I paid slightly less than 530€ (£350 which is around 485€). I must say that I'm definitely happy with the upgrade.
As for the camera, when you say it doesn't perspire quality, you're completely wrong. The camera on this phone is FREAKING amazing, the quality is outstanding and the focus is lovely! The sensor captures a LOT of detail! I mean, A LOT OF DETAIL! Can't really say about the colours cause I'm colour-blind (lol), but I find them spot on (a little bit on the dark side perhaps but nothing to worry about, you can always bump up the brightness in edit mode). The aperture is quite good which makes the macro mode fantastic as well (depth of field related). Even though I got some decent shots with the original N5, this camera is on a completely different level, quality wise! As for speed, I find the camera app a little bit to slow at times but this is a software issue rather than an hardware one. The focus is fast and accurate. Most likely the app slow down will be addressed in a future app update.
Front facing camera is also quite decent. Wide angle is awesome for selfies and it also captures a lot of detail. Coming from the 1.3MP camera on the N5, this one is a welcome improvement, trust me!
As for battery life, don't get your hopes up. Don't get me wrong, battery usage is way better than the N5 and it does last a full WORKING day (which I wouldn't get out of the N5... I'm a very heavy user) but it's no Z3/Z5 compact. I'd say you can get 30/35% more usage time on the 5X. While it might not seem a lot but I've been getting a lot more Screen on Time and standby usage has also improved. I feel like doze works way better on the 5X than on the N5, probably due to the revamped hardware (note that always on sensors on the 808 SoC are much more battery efficient). Quick charge works wonders too! Charge it for 10/15 minutes and you're good for another 4/5h of usage. Perfect for when you have a night out, just charge it for 10 mins before leaving work and you're good to go!
Chipset-wise, while it might not seem a worthy upgrade, I have to say that the 808 performs exceptionally well. The 64bit architecture DOES MAKE a difference although by looking at the specs on paper you won't really tell. Even though my N5 was mostly snappy, it would lag and struggle at times. I've yet to experience that on the 5X and I have the exact same apps/setup I had on my N5. Definitely an improvement on performance too.
As for the rest, it's pretty much the same experience as the N5. Build quality, android experience, sound (no stereo speakers, bummer, but it's the same as the N5 so...), screen quality. I was happy with what I had and I'm happy with what I have now
By the way, two features I didn't care much for were the fingerprint sensor and the ambient display. While they may not be deal breakers, both things are quite a nice to have. Regarding the fingerprint sensor, its position is perfect and it works almost flawlessly! Also it's fast... like, insanely FAST! The ambient display helps battery and it works good, not great but good (doesn't always kick in perfectly). I'm guessing this could be addressed on a future software update as well. Again, it's not a deal breaker but it's definitely a great addition to an already good phone.
Sorry for the long post, hope it helps

Wow
Don't apologize for the long text! Not only I don't mind reading but that's exactly what I was hoping to find: someone in a similar situation!
I wasn't aware the price was lower in the UK! Neat... Might be worth importing if I travel or someone close does. Any chance of a insurance on purchase for damage or theft?
Oh and regarding what I wrote about it not traspiring quality. After I read again what I wrote I though it might be confusing because I didn't change subject. I meant the device itself, not the camera, when I wrote it didn't transpire quality and thus didn't feel worth the price.
Also jumping from a N5, where do you put the quality at? The one I used had a gigantic anti-theft alarm dongle glued to it's back so I couldn't really tell.
The vibration engine felt way better even though I could only test it by inputting a not-recognized finger print!
The buttons seemed very nice even though I've read bad things about them on several places

In norway you can get a carrier lock discount, witch makes the price of the phone itself the same as in the us. No option to do that where you are buying it?

SrPintas said:
Wow
Don't apologize for the long text! Not only I don't mind reading but that's exactly what I was hoping to find: someone in a similar situation!
I wasn't aware the price was lower in the UK! Neat... Might be worth importing if I travel or someone close does. Any chance of a insurance on purchase for damage or theft?
Oh and regarding what I wrote about it not traspiring quality. After I read again what I wrote I though it might be confusing because I didn't change subject. I meant the device itself, not the camera, when I wrote it didn't transpire quality and thus didn't feel worth the price.
Also jumping from a N5, where do you put the quality at? The one I used had a gigantic anti-theft alarm dongle glued to it's back so I couldn't really tell.
The vibration engine felt way better even though I could only test it by inputting a not-recognized finger print!
The buttons seemed very nice even though I've read bad things about them on several places
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the 32Gb by the way, 16Gb is £300 although I wouldn't recommend 16Gb to anyone given the fact that there's no micro sd slot...
It is possible to get an insurance, yes. I guess it's something like £12/mo but I don't know what it covers (probably 1 screen replacement, theft I don't know... check carphone warehouse for more details). Also, I don't know if you'll be able to do it since you don't live in the UK.
Quality wise, I'd say if you feel like the N5 has a cheap build quality, you'll have the same opinion about the 5X. This phone doesn't have an aluminium unibody neither it does have gorilla glass 4. It is not an iphone 6s/htc m9/6P/etc, they had to cut costs somewhere I guess. It won't win any design awards either, that's for sure. Having said that, if you feel ok with the N5, you'll notice no difference handling the 5X. If you (because you're upgrading to a new device) expect the new phone to have a more premium feel (as "they" put it and has been taunted pretty much everywhere...) you won't get that from the 5X.
Vibration engine is sometimes annoyingly loud and tbh, not quite strong. But does the job I guess, I feel it vibrating in my hand and in my pocket, I've yet to miss a call cause I didn't feel it vibrating plus, I don't think that will be a reason to/not to buy the phone.
The button are, well, buttons... I've seen people complaining about the N5 having ceramic buttons and the 5X plastic ones. My thought about that is... who cares? Because of the fingerprint sensor I'm using a power button a lot less and the volume rocker has a rather nice position as it's placed towards the centre rather on the top of the phone. I find it convenient because the headphone jack is on the bottom so, when listening to music, my phone is faced down in my back pocket and I can easily adjust the volume without hassle.
In my opinion, I don't really care about aluminium unibody bull****. It gives a premium feeling, ok that's fair enough, if you're into that. Although if you're into that, you'll probably, won't be looking at the 5X Also, I rather have a phone that won't give me an heart attack when (notice the "when" rather than "if"!) I drop it

I'm there with you.
"Premium" quality comes with ups and downs.
I'm a but into design so I like a good looking device just like I nice a well designed car.
However I also drop em once in a while xD Nexus has proven incredibly durable (think I'm lucky too), I doubt a S6 or iPhone would survive some of the drops the n5 did.
When i asked about quality and feeling I didn't mean to compare with the more design oriented devices. But compare it with the N5 and other plastic chassi phones. The 5x sure is plastic, but it felt more "solid" in my hand than the N5. But I can't be sure cuz of the alarm dongle that was stuck to it.
On the buttons... So what if the n5 has ceramic?... Nice touch, but they are have some play. 5x's seemed more solid even if not "clickier" like most people seem to like

HabueN said:
In norway you can get a carrier lock discount, witch makes the price of the phone itself the same as in the us. No option to do that where you are buying it?
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I wish. But so far no carrier has it or has announced anything regarding it

SrPintas said:
How does the battery fair on a daily basis?
N5 is terrible even dose working it's magic while the phone is idling is not enough for it to make it alive in the evening if I use it a fair amount at some point during the morning.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried replacing your original phone battery? Mine was getting pretty bad and I replaced it with a new one bought off ebay a month ago. I now comfortably get a day and a half of moderate use. SOT time around 3.5 hours and doze is doing wonders compared to Lollipop. When kept overnight (11:00 pm to 6:00 am) the battery loses only 3% and I will take that any day!
I think people need to understand that a lithium ion battery will start falling down in performance considerably when approaching its life limit. Now comparing to the N5X I don't consider it worth the upgrade but will most likely switch to the next Nexus in October 2016.

sshariff said:
Have you tried replacing your original phone battery? Mine was getting pretty bad and I replaced it with a new one bought off ebay a month ago. I now comfortably get a day and a half of moderate use. SOT time around 3.5 hours and doze is doing wonders compared to Lollipop. When kept overnight (11:00 pm to 6:00 am) the battery loses only 3% and I will take that any day!
I think people need to understand that a lithium ion battery will start falling down in performance considerably when approaching its life limit. Now comparing to the N5X I don't consider it worth the upgrade but will most likely switch to the next Nexus in October 2016.
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Click to collapse
I've thought about it. But kinda dozed off the idea when I didn't know which battery to choose =P

I replaced the battery on my N5 two months ago so I speak out of experience. It has gotten better but 5X's battery still performs better than a new battery on my N5.
Battery life is never linear as it depends on each person usage. I personally have everything on all the time... I rely heavily on Google's services like location tracking, location based reminders and I "need" a always-on data connection. Given this premise, my battery is bound not to last as long as other peoples' but I think starting to turn features off in order to preserve battery is not the way to go. I want to fully experience my phone and I'm aware that may cause battery drains. That's why I have a power bank ;pp
Regarding design, I'm very picky too, trust me. I do, however prefer minimalistic designs and both the N5 and 5X suit my design obsession. Again, this is also a matter of personal taste...

SrPintas said:
Also jumping from a N5, where do you put the quality at? The one I used had a gigantic anti-theft alarm dongle glued to it's back so I couldn't really tell.
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Won't ask any questions, and if u answer, I'll say I never knew u. Lol
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

H0tep said:
Won't ask any questions, and if u answer, I'll say I never knew u. Lol
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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Ahahahah xD
It was in exposition in a major electronics shop and stuck to the counter with an alarm dongle and "chain" cable.
Didn't really use it at home or something with the dongle still attached xD

So G5 owners with a handset older than 4 weeks.

What is your opinion now? Still think its a good choice?
Personally i think its a great phone sold short, looking at the hardware and potential i think the handset would easy have a 2 year life span.
But i would like to see bigger modular support, things like physical keyboard, physical zoom lenses etc. And i would like to see some of the software updated a bit closer to the V20.
My biggest concern? Physically will it last 2 years? The build quality aint bad but it aint great.

jamiee6610 said:
What is your opinion now? Still think its a good choice?
Personally i think its a great phone sold short, looking at the hardware and potential i think the handset would easy have a 2 year life span.
But i would like to see bigger modular support, things like physical keyboard, physical zoom lenses etc. And i would like to see some of the software updated a bit closer to the V20.
My biggest concern? Physically will it last 2 years? The build quality aint bad but it aint great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had it for 4 months, never Had a problem, just a bit of light bleeding, but it's visible only in Dark area with full brightness.

Best smartphone I ever had.
Last three were before it were Moto X Pure, Droid Turbo, and HTC M8.

I have since May, great phone. It has some issues but which phone doesn't. Ghosting happens on thia screen sometimes but nothing permanent, it goes away. I got scratches on the camera glass which is annoying (although easily replacable if you don't care about the warranty). Battery lasts around 4 hours SOT with around 30 hours of usage. I got the battery + external charger kit from Amazon for 30$ which is just great to have. Screen could be brighter. Super bright mode isn't stable enough. The camera is amazing! I love it (and I have a group of already 350 G5 photographers on Facebook). The speaker is one of the best in the market. It's fast, fingerprint sensor works great, colors are good.. I'm very happy with the phone! Oh.. important! The screen is curved on top which can be super annoying if you like to apply a tempered glass acreen protector. I don't have any issues with the build quality. I would prefer the V20 just because I like the big screen..other than that they are pretty similar. I think the G5 is the most underrated phone in the last in the last few years.

I got two of them - one for me and one for a friend. I am not really concerned about the quality, why shouldn't it last more than two years? It gives a great bang for the buck. If money isn't a concern, I would aim for the V20 (bought the G5 before it was announced and it may not be released where I live). I was with Samsung phones and Tablet for several years now but I think LG also does a good job here.

Love it. Great phone but I wouldn't have it for two years. I have Jump by T-Mobile for a reason. The only thing I hate is no matter how much they say the phone screen is scratch resistant, if I have my keys and phone in the same pocket it gets scratched. Planning on getting the V20 when it comes out. LG is taking forever to release it.
Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk

XAlexander_AlexanderX said:
Love it. Great phone but I wouldn't have it for two years. I have Jump by T-Mobile for a reason. The only thing I hate is no matter how much they say the phone screen is scratch resistant, if I have my keys and phone in the same pocket it gets scratched. Planning on getting the V20 when it comes out. LG is taking forever to release it.
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Yep, i can confirm this, and not only on my G5 but also on a S7 Edge of a friend, it seems that corning Got worse in these years on the scratch part...

I love the phone but I'm extremely disappointed in the GPS issue as I use my phone for navigation quite a lot. And my battery has never been to great. But that's probably because I'm used to the battery life I was getting on my iPhone 6 plus and Nexus 6P (wish I never sold my 6P). The camera is fantastic and as I have 2 little ones it's great for taking pictures of them.

Love my phone G5 coming from my G2 which I gave to my mother and she loves it. Camera, performance and the like are all great on my G5
GPS is fast and no issue.

bluerain28 said:
Love my phone G5 coming from my G2 which I gave to my mother and she loves it. Camera, performance and the like are all great on my G5
GPS is fast and no issue.
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Click to collapse
Your lucky then. I try to use mine to navigate and it's hit and miss, most of the times miss and just says searching

Have had it since it rolled out. Not a single problem or issue. So impressed with it, in fact, that I recommended it to the wife and my parents when it was time for them to renew/upgrade. So now we all have g5's. Didn't recommend it to my in laws because..... They are my in laws. And because they are under the impression that "Apple is the only quality phone manufacturer". Their loss hahahaha.

I am honestly ready to throw mine through a wall. Gps is always searching and i use it alot for work. Wifi will just stop working for no reason. I am currently trying to get out of this phone. Worst phone ever.
Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

Had mine for a month now only problem i've found is the GPS i'm gonna try some calibration software to see if there is a difference. This phone should be good for two years i think.

I like it a lot, especially camera and loudspeaker. Even better with Poetic Rugged case.

I got mine like 2 month ago and is pretty nice fast and non rooted yet just waiting how will move

I'm using it for a month now and I still can't find a flow. I like the design, love the camera, the software and hardware are doing well. Overall it's a great device. Oh, and I don't care about the moduls, don't plan to use them anyway.

Look at my warranty thread. It's been a nightmare. LG refused to switch out the housing when I sent it in, and they scratched it. Had to change the housing myself, luckily it wasn't that expensive. So far, most of the issues I had are gone. GPS is fine now, and the LCD isn't yellowing anymore.

Any new stories about the camera cracking?

As you know I'm thinking about the V20 or Pixel XL and I'm wondering has anyone still been having the cameras on these shattering or has this defect been corrected?

The lens cover sticks out from the back of the phone. If you're careful about setting it down, you shouldn't have any problem. A good case should mitigate the problem further.

It had to have been a bad batch because myself like plenty of others have dropped out tested the theories of the people who cracked there's and nothing has happened so far. Hoping I didn't just jinx myself.

Mine cracked in my pocket. No keys or or anything else in that pocket. Pretty sure it wont be covered under warranty, so I'm looking for a replacement but no luck on parts yet.

kitchencop said:
Mine cracked in my pocket. No keys or or anything else in that pocket. Pretty sure it wont be covered under warranty, so I'm looking for a replacement but no luck on parts yet.
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Click to collapse
Was there any kind of significant temperature change (being outside in the cold for a period of time and then going inside a warm place or vice versa) right before or around when you noticed it had cracked? I'm just curious because if not the only thing other thing I can imagine causing them to spontaneously break, would be if the way they were installed somehow causes the them to be under constant pressure? That's crazy though this is a first time time I've heard about this so hopefully it won't be widespread, does it the camera itself break too or just the lens around them?
Sent from a ridiculously modified ColecoVision

I was in and out of the house and it was 40°F outside, 70°F inside. I'm assuming I bumped up against something. Camera still works, just the lens is broken. Wide angle camera is useless though since the shatter originated there. Right now I have a piece of tape over the lens to keep it from cracking any more and damaging the cameras.

kitchencop said:
I was in and out of the house and it was 40°F outside, 70°F inside. I'm assuming I bumped up against something. Camera still works, just the lens is broken. Wide angle camera is useless though since the shatter originated there. Right now I have a piece of tape over the lens to keep it from cracking any more and damaging the cameras.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you buy another V20 after this?
People say the s7/s7e camera shatters easily too but I've never had that problem.

Blues fan said:
As you know I'm thinking about the V20 or Pixel XL and I'm wondering has anyone still been having the cameras on these shattering or has this defect been corrected?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use otter box case. Dropped my phone on concrete, nothing happened.
Sent from my LG V20 using XDA Labs

BROKEN1981 said:
I use otter box case. Dropped my phone on concrete, nothing happened.
Sent from my LG V20 using XDA Labs
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Click to collapse
I use Defender cases a lot, but the one for the V20 looks like plain overkill. I wish Supcase made one for the V20. Not a lot of Defender style case options for V20 but it's only been out for one half months now.

Blues fan said:
Would you buy another V20 after this?
People say the s7/s7e camera shatters easily too but I've never had that problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from the Note 7. Only reason I bought the V20 was because I didn't like the S7E. I am not too pleased with this phone. For being a phone with such a great camera, I find photos taken in auto to be lackluster. I know you can get some great shots with manual mode, but I have a 1yo that doesn't sit still long enough to mess with the settings. The N7 was great for just point and shoot. I'll use my Cannon DSLR for more advanced shots. Also, to me, it feels like the software isn't as well optimized as on the N7. It gets sluggish at times and the battery doesn't seem to last long either. It may be my overall frustration with phone since August, going through the 2 recalls and 5 phones in that time, but I am disappointed to say the least.

BROKEN1981 said:
I use otter box case. Dropped my phone on concrete, nothing happened.
Sent from my LG V20 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kitchencop said:
I came from the Note 7. Only reason I bought the V20 was because I didn't like the S7E. I am not too pleased with this phone. For being a phone with such a great camera, I find photos taken in auto to be lackluster. I know you can get some great shots with manual mode, but I have a 1yo that doesn't sit still long enough to mess with the settings. The N7 was great for just point and shoot. I'll use my Cannon DSLR for more advanced shots. Also, to me, it feels like the software isn't as well optimized as on the N7. It gets sluggish at times and the battery doesn't seem to last long either. It may be my overall frustration with phone since August, going through the 2 recalls and 5 phones in that time, but I am disappointed to say the least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note 7 for me had some stutter to it but other than that the phone was PERFECT! Well maybe put an IR blaster on it. I was so ticked I had to get rid of it. Nothing else out there fits my preferences 100 percent right now. We are kind of in the lull period until next March when the S8 series comes out.

Blues fan said:
Note 7 for me had some stutter to it but other than that the phone was PERFECT! Well maybe put an IR blaster on it. I was so ticked I had to get rid of it. Nothing else out there fits my preferences 100 percent right now. We are kind of in the lull period until next March when the S8 series comes out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have high hopes for the S8's. Hopefully my wife will let me upgrade when they come out. That's if I can find the glass lens to fix this phone

kitchencop said:
I have high hopes for the S8's. Hopefully my wife will let me upgrade when they come out. That's if I can find the glass lens to fix this phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I expect the larger version of the S8 or S8 edge or whatever they call it will have similar size to the S7 edge. I don't think we will get a bigger screen until the Note 8 comes out. I'm not a huge fan of the curves and rather would have a fully functional large screen. I wonder if a lot on here plan on keeping the V20 until the Note 8 is out.
I would like the Note 8 to be like the v20 and have removable battery, and bring back the IR blaster too.

Essential Phone in 2019?

Hey guys,
Just browsing this forum as I'm contemplating getting a used Essential phone after switching to Android from Apple on an LG G7 and being frustrated by its slow updates. I notice the Essential phone can easily be had for under $200 on eBay. Originally I've been trying to get a Pixel 2 or 1 but the not sure about the 1 quality and the 2 goes for too much even at auction.
Anyway, I like that this phone still gets updates quickly and in general looks very nice. But reviews for it always trash the camera. Just curious if updates improved the camera or if the GCam ports for the phone are stable and work well (the G7 ports are problematic).
Thanks for your input.

I just ordered one off ebay for $160 from yywireless (great support, 30 day warranty!) and I'm awaiting arrival. I can let you know how it performs in 2019 compared to my previous LG G6 and iPhone 6S Plus if you'd like! I have a very good feeling about this phone.

VCan25 said:
Hey guys,
Just browsing this forum as I'm contemplating getting a used Essential phone after switching to Android from Apple on an LG G7 and being frustrated by its slow updates. I notice the Essential phone can easily be had for under $200 on eBay. Originally I've been trying to get a Pixel 2 or 1 but the not sure about the 1 quality and the 2 goes for too much even at auction.
Anyway, I like that this phone still gets updates quickly and in general looks very nice. But reviews for it always trash the camera. Just curious if updates improved the camera or if the GCam ports for the phone are stable and work well (the G7 ports are problematic).
Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using Gcam can get better performance compare to stock
But my recommendation is doing some researches about signal reception before buying this phone.

chanh2018 said:
Using Gcam can get better performance compare to stock
But my recommendation is doing some researches about signal reception before buying this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that insight. I actually had a pixel 3 briefly but reception was the reason I had to change to another brand. I should have that in mind for this phone too.

VCan25 said:
Thanks for that insight. I actually had a pixel 3 briefly but reception was the reason I had to change to another brand. I should have that in mind for this phone too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't speak for the US, but I have the essential phone in austria and I have LTE with full reception (symbol) -> even in the subway. In germany there were a few spots on the countryside where I only had Edge...and currently I am on vacation in australia (sunshine coast) and with Vodafone i get LTE everywhere -> with nearly always full reception.
So if you get any issues it's because of the carrier and not because of the phone.
btw - I'm rocking AOSiP Custom Rom...maybe it has a different Baseband...

I also just got this phone in 2019. All is good.
Reception seems just fine in my neck of the woods. United States, California, Los Angeles area. T-Mobile. LTE+ in the status bar.
Phone is a refurb via Amazon. No issues so far.
Essential PH-1, /e/ 0.5-n ROM, microG (NoGapps), XDA Legacy

Got this phone together with the 360 cam off Craigslist, with a cracked screen. After a DIY screen replacement, my total cost came to a whopping US$150, which is way more than reasonable. Absolutely love the phone. I never chase the latest tech (don't see the point), and for my needs in 2019 this phone does everything and then some. I hate huge phones, and by today's standards this device is very small given the screen size, which is a big deal for me. Can't complain about anything other than the lack of the 3.5mm jack, but I can live without it. Running full stock ROM (latest update, rooted). As for the camera, Gcam ports are definitely better than stock, and in my experience they work great apart from a broken slo-mo, but even the stock cam with the latest system update is OK for me in most shooting conditions. Overall, a great phone, and highly recommended.

Best phone I ever had. Love it both aesthetically and in term of features. I bought it 6 months ago for about 220 € by Amazon USA and I'm very satisfied. I use it with stock monthly updates and Gcam.
I live in Madrid, Spain and I've 80-100% LTE reception, even in the subway.

Im east coast US on cricket. i get decent signal.
as for camera... well... stick software is good enough fir most... me... i needed a little more fine tuning, but even without the fine tuning any of the latest gcam ports wotk great

While I definately like my PH-1, something to consider coming from the iPhone 6S AND LG G7 is that the vibration motor is EXTENSIVELY different and dare-i-say "bad". The strength is not too bad, but it definately is louder and significantly worse than your previous phones. If you do not desire good haptic feedback, I would say go for it! If it were not from a drop onto a concrete edge at the worst possible place and the very lack-luster vibration motor, I would definitely plan on keeping it until the battery got too weak. (I kinda miss OLED blacks though...)
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

I'm on Sprint and get very good reception, my previous phones had lots of problems getting even voice calls in my office, whereas on this one I can actually do video calls without issue. Phone is plenty fast for 2019 and the 128GB of storage is really nice after my previous two phones (Nexus 5x and a 2013 Moto X) being pressed for space all the time. I did have to break down and get a Tulia case for it, this phone is super slippery and I've cracked the screen 2x.

I just rebought one last week... This phone is goooooood...

Yeah it’s still a very good phone bought 2 sprint recently from eBay 70$ and 90$ with small crack. Easy free unlock. Great phone.

xarekusu said:
Yeah it’s still a very good phone bought 2 sprint recently from eBay 70$ and 90$ with small crack. Easy free unlock. Great phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
$70 is just crazy for this spec phone, even with a crack!

IronRoo said:
$70 is just crazy for this spec phone, even with a crack!
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Click to collapse
Got mine for 76 with a crack on the back front had a few scratches..but still I have a sd835 beast

IronRoo said:
$70 is just crazy for this spec phone, even with a crack!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine off CL with a cracked screen but otherwise in mint condition for $100 Canadian (US$75), including the 360 camera. Spent about the same on the replacement screen, so US$150 in total. Super happy with the phone after a couple of months.

kt-Froggy said:
I bought mine off CL with a cracked screen but otherwise in mint condition for $100 Canadian (US$75), including the 360 camera. Spent about the same on the replacement screen, so US$150 in total. Super happy with the phone after a couple of months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it easy to replace em? I watched a YouTube video it it scared me off even trying it...

Tech_Savvy said:
Is it easy to replace em? I watched a YouTube video it it scared me off even trying it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... It depends. If you've never done a screen repair, I'd say this one may be a bit tricky - not the easiest for the first time. I replaced about a dozen screens on different phones (Sony, LG, Samsung, Apple), so it was no big deal. Took me about 30 minutes overall. For a video tutorial, I used the one from fixez.com for a reference. You need to know how to use a heat gun to remove the screen. Also, this phone has a very narrow bezel to mount the screen to the frame, so working with an adhesive may be challenging. Rounded corners don't cooperate well with an adhesive tape, but liquid glue would probably make things easier. The area under the earpiece slot is kinda difficult to work with, because it's extremely narrow, but you definitely need to put an adhesive there to seal the perimeter.
You can read my review of the replacement screen on Amazon, with some points on installing it. If you decide to do it, and have any specific questions, feel free to PM me, so as not to hijack this thread... Good luck!

Tech_Savvy said:
Is it easy to replace em? I watched a YouTube video it it scared me off even trying it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that must have been the one they froze which shattered, use a heat gun (gradually) is the go.

I've been using mine since March of 2017 on Stock non-rooted with GCAM and performance is excellent. I'm using Straight Talk here in the US and it works phenomenal (AT&T band). Pictures with GCAM are far superior than stock camera but, I will praise the stock camera for the monochrome photos in low-light as they are amazing. If you play any games this phone handles them pretty well even games like Fortnite, PUBG, and the new Elder Scrolls Blades play excellent.