Over the years, LG seems to have been living in the shadow of its fellow Samsung. However, this does not mean that LG does not have good mobile phone products. So far, the most powerful mobile phone of LG is the LG G3. Compared with the 2014 flagship Galaxy S5 launched by Samsung, what's the difference between this phone and the Galaxy S5?
LG G3 was released in the US market last week and is now the main smartphone used by the author. These two phones are both very good, with large and clear screens, the latest version of Android operating system and many other features. If you want to buy one of these two models, let's take a look at Gizmag's evaluation of the two models by foreign media and explore the differences between them.
The phone is larger, but the frame is narrower. Compared with the Galaxy S5, the G3 is 3% longer, 3% wider, and 10% thicker, but its weight is 3% more. In terms of hand feel, the Samsung GS5 seems more natural, but to be honest, if you don't haggle over every ounce, there is not much difference between the two handsets.
The size and weight of the G3 mobile phone is very little different from that of the GS5, which is actually a good thing for LG. This is because although the surface of the mobile phone is slightly larger than that of the GS5, the screen of the G3 is 16% larger than that of the GS5. (The diagonal measurement is 5.5 inches, while the GS5 display screen is only 5.1 inches)
The symmetrical mobile phone screen is the killer feature of LG G3. The upper and lower parts of the screen are very slender. This screen is usually only used on tablet phones. However, due to its excellent design, the G3 body looks more like an "ordinary" Android smartphone.
At the bottom of the Galaxy S5 screen, there are the home key, the back key, and the recently used App key. However, G3 uses virtual keys (based on software) with the same function on its screen. Generally speaking, adding virtual keys to the screen means that the actual area of the screen will become smaller. However, LG is very smart. Users can select App on the G3 mobile phone to hide the navigation keys on the screen. When you run an app on G3, you can enjoy 5.5 inch full screen support services whether the app supports Android immersion mode or not. Apps supported by G3 include Kindle, Flipboard,Chrome, And any other app. If you need to use a key, just touch your finger at the bottom edge of the screen, and the keyboard will appear.
These two mobile phones both use "artificial" plastic shells, GS5 uses artificial leather, and the back panel is equipped with a dent design. How can I say that? It seems to make people feel a little Strange. However, if these factors are not taken into account, the soft touch backplane feels good. The G3 mobile phone uses an artificial metal finish. In fact, LG sprayed a metal layer on its plastic backplane, which makes the G3 mobile phone look less "tall" than the iPhone 5s and HTC One. Of course, the plastic material has one advantage, that is, the weight will be very light on the hand.
The screen of G3 is clearer. It is equipped with Quad HD screen (resolution: 2560 * 1440). The PPI value of this screen is maddening, up to 538. The Galaxy S5 is "slightly inferior". It is equipped with a 1080P display screen, with a PPI value of 432
What does this display screen mean in terms of experience? Well, when I put these two phones side by side and watch the screen closely, my eyes will pay more attention to the G3 phone with more dense pixels. Among the smart phones or tablets I have seen, it is the clearest screen I have ever seen. However, the mobile phone screen of Galaxy S5 is not far behind that of G3. In fact, in terms of clarity, it is difficult to distinguish the 500+PPI screen of G3 mobile phone from the 400+PPI screen of GS5 mobile phone with the naked eye. For example, the mobile phone screen of iPhone is only 326 PPI, but still feels very clear. The high-definition screen of G3 is really good, but if you buy this phone just because of this factor, the author still doesn't recommend it.
On the other hand, the Quad HD display of G3 mobile phones has some disadvantages. First of all, we noticed that there will be some minimal performance delays when navigating the home screen, setting menus, and app applications. This situation is unusual for any modern high-end smart phone, not to mention that the G3 is equipped with Snapdragon 801 processor. It may be that LG has pre installed a lot of personalized software on this phone, but the author suspects that the main reason may be that the graphics processor running 36 million pixels is overloaded.
Fortunately, the delay problem of G3 is easy to solve: switch the Dalvik running environment to the Android running environment (ART). If you haven't understood it, don't worry: you don't need to understand software changes at the developer level, just accept the effects of changes. On the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system of G3, ART is regarded as an experimental setting. But after the author completed the switch, he found that the performance of the phone has been greatly improved, and the stability is no problem.
Another small problem with the G3 is that its battery life cannot compete with the Galaxy S5. This may be caused by the excessive energy consumption of the G3 Quad HD HD screen. We conducted relevant tests. We used G3 standard battery and watched streaming video through wireless Wi Fi when the screen brightness was 75%. The battery life of G3 was only 67% of that of Galaxy S5. In the test of continuous video playing, the Galaxy S5 lasted 9 hours and 27 minutes, while the G3 only lasted 6 hours and 20 minutes.
I don't think the running time of the G3 will affect it too much. In fact, the running time of the G3 is about the same as that of the iPhone 5s, but the phone in my hand often crashes, probably because I have watched streaming videos on Netflix for too long. In short, GS5 beats G3 in terms of battery life.
I guess LG also realized that battery life is not the strength of G3 mobile phones, as can be seen from its automatic brightness setting function. Every time I activate the automatic brightness setting, G3 will turn the screen brightness very dark. Of course, it won't bother me too much.
Let's return to the battery life. The Galaxy S5 is definitely the winner of this function. Samsung's "Ultra Power Saving Mode" is very powerful. When your phone is about to run out of power, this mode can turn the screen into black and white, and strictly restrict the use of some apps. The disadvantage of this function is that it can temporarily turn an expensive high-end smart phone into a "feature phone", but the advantage is also obvious. It can maintain the remaining 10% of the power to run the phone 24 hours a day. It seems that such an innovative function is not reflected in G3.
The cameras of these two phones are awesome, but the author prefers G3. First, it takes pictures faster than the GS5. On the G3 mobile phone, the whole process from activating the sleep mode to turning on the camera to take a picture is less than 3.5 seconds. On the GS5 mobile phone, the same process takes 5-6 seconds. Although the gap is only a few seconds, many wonderful scenes are always fleeting.
In addition, the G3 camera also has the laser based auto focusing function. When you take a picture through the G3 camera, you can quickly focus and complete the shooting by simply clicking the object on the screen. In fact, during this operation, the G3 mobile phone is focused by the laser beam. Don't worry, it will not harm children, animals, or other objects. G3 uses the laser beam to measure the distance between the object and the mobile phone, and complete the fast auto focusing operation.
In my personal experience, the auto focus function of G3 can definitely lead it out of many high-end smartphones, and it can almost be regarded as the second killer function of this phone. The whole seamless photography process is very fast, and users can take many excellent photos. (For many people, one of the functions of smart phones is to take photos.)
The Galaxy S5 is equipped with a fingerprint sensor in the Home key, but it needs to press and hold the finger from the bottom of the screen and then slide down until it reaches the Home key, instead of pressing directly on the Home key like the iPhone 5s. However, the fingerprint recognition function works well. You don't need to enter a password on the screen. You can start the computer by scanning your finger. In addition, Galaxy S5 also integrates fingerprint recognition into some app applications, such as PayPal and LastPass. G3 does not have these functions.
However, like a series of products recently released by LG, G3 is also configured with Knock On and Knock Code functions. Knock On allows the user to activate the sleep mode by tapping twice on the screen and directly enter the home screen of the phone. If you tap twice on the free part of the home screen, the phone will return to sleep mode again. Knock Code does a similar thing, allowing users to design their own patterns to unlock wake-up phones. 2 x 2 grid on the screen, users can select two strokes for short and eight times for long; Users don't have to worry about forgetting the pattern. Once they forget the Knock Code, they will be asked to provide a PIN code.
Let's talk about the buttons again. The G3 adopts a minimalist design. There are no buttons on the front of the phone. The volume key of its power key is placed behind the phone, leaning against the camera. This layout may make some people feel uncomfortable, but the author has no problem. This key design is very convenient for watching videos and playing games, because you no longer need to worry about accidentally touching some keys.
Here, of course, we can't forget to talk about the killer features of the Galaxy S5: IP67 waterproof and dustproof function. It can run in water one meter deep for 30 minutes, and the Galaxy S5 can be used in many places where smart phones can't be used, so you don't have to worry about the phone accidentally falling into the sink, bathtub, or toilet.
The Galaxy S5 also has a built-in heart rate monitor, which is placed under the camera on the back of the phone. For some fitness enthusiasts, this function is very helpful. Of course, G3 mobile phones can also monitor heart rate with the help of App applications.
G3 is an excellent smart phone, and may be the best smart phone you can buy at present. It combines the large screen with the small body. The Quad HD screen can also bring you excellent visual enjoyment, and the laser auto focus can help you take perfect photos. Maybe its slightly delayed performance will let you feel a little disappointed, but after all, the shortcomings do not outweigh the merits.
The Galaxy S5 is also a good choice. Although there is no big difference in size between the two mobile phones, they are 9% thinner than the G3 and easier to control. Galaxy S5 has fingerprint sensor, excellent waterproof function and strong battery life. Although its display is not as high-definition as G3, it is excellent enough.
We can't give a unified standard answer to which of the two phones is better, but if we have to choose one, I prefer G3. However, everyone has different tastes. There must be many people like the Galaxy S5. We have put the details of these two phones in front of you. You should decide which one you want to buy.
VIA
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Entering the Quad HD era, LG G3 launched its first evaluation