While the LG G6 is fully official now thanks to its unveiling at MWC, Samsung is yet to give Galaxy S8 the same treatment — all the while it still keeps showing up in rumors and leaks. With HTC 11 still in the doubts — you know, if as per rumors HTC decides to change the moniker of its flagship series, there could be different device than HTC 11 down the pipeline — and Sony not really impressed with better screen-to-body ratio, we’re left with LG G6 and Galaxy S8 as the best candidates for best Android phone launch in first half of 2017.
From what it looks like, Samsung is surely putting in its all into the upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship, but still, that doesn’t warrant Galaxy S8 the crown of the best smartphone automatically. At least, there is some stuff that LG has put into the G6, which would make it stand up to, or even trump, the Galaxy S8 in some respects, some very them being crucial.
So let’s see how two of the greatest offerings on Android for the first half of 2017 , the LG G6 and (upcoming) Galaxy S8 fare when placed in a head to head duel. Without throwing a usual dose of full specs comparison, here is why you need to give LG G6 some serious consideration, as we outline points where G6 could outscore the mighty Galaxy S8.
LG UX 5.0: back to square, for good
LG didn’t get any kudos for its software from us, ever, because its was an ugly piece of software really. But man, have a look at what they have done with it for the G6. As LG UX 5.0, they have based it on the 18:9 ratio LG touts for G6 so bluntly, and have some done of the coolest job UI-wise we have seen so far from them.
Let’s take their Square camera UI for example, where the camera app’s UI divides the screen into two equal parts — one for the live camera preview, while the other for displaying the last pic taken, with capture button occupying the center of the image preview from Gallery.
With square pics being exactly the type you need for your ‘display pic’ for WhatsApp, Instagram and all, this is perfect implementation for anyone who’s clicking mainly for social sharing. Not only its beautiful to looks at, it gets you exactly what you want in the way you’d want, with pic previews and all.
While the Samsung Experience UI on Galaxy S8 is a lot neat-er deal compared to yesterday’s Samsung TouchWiz UI, it’s still not that striking at all. In our books, it has been rightly accused as a borrowed idea from Xiaomi’s MIUI.
Whereas, LG has made full use of the UI guidelines that Google follows, which is modern and decent-colorful, which definitely looks pleasing to our eyes.
We’re yet to take LG G6 into our hands, so we don’t know how it’d feel performance-wise, but given that Samsung’s Experience UI isn’t a winner either when it comes to performance, there is solid chance LG would outdo Samsung over user interface and device performance if it gets UI right. So much that it could outdo the almighty Snapdragon 835 chipset Samsung has cleverly secured for the Galaxy S8 even with its last-gen Snapdragon 821 processor.
Have a look at LG G6’s UI in the pics below. You’re gonna love it!
AI software: Google Assistant vs Bixby!
The LG G6 has been officially revealed to ship with the Google Assistant on board. The AI is lot more advanced than the normal “OK Google” commands. The Google Assistant is essentially intelligent enough to be aware of context dependent questions with the use of a bot ecosystem. Though the Google Assistant was originally meant to be a Pixel exclusive, Google seems to have taken a turn and is in the process of pushing the feature to other eligible devices too — which is, all Marshmallow and Nougat devices, so the majority of launched in last 18 months are covered here.
Read: Google Assistant coming to other Android devices
Samsung is rumored to install its own AI software on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, which could be dubbed as Bixby. So, as it stands right now, even though Google has made Assistant available for all, Samsung could replace it with Bixby, making the AI software one of the biggest differences between the two flagship Android sets.
If you ask us, we’d take Google Assistant anytime over any other AI. So, unless Samsung has done enough to impress with Bixby, LG G6 looks to be winning over Galaxy S8 on this one.
Dual Camera
The camera setup is top-notch on LG G6, as you have two 13MP sensors on duty at G6’s back, compared to last year’s 16MP rear shooter on the semi-modular G5, or 12MP dual-pixel camera rumored for the Galaxy S8. Now, we’re sure Galaxy S8 could don the camera performance, but it has a real champ in LG G6 to go up against.
Armed with these two 13MP cameras, the LG G6 brings in more control to allow the user to play with depth of field information from the pictures taken. With all that said, the G6 is yet to qualify as the best out there and is still yet to substitute a DSLR camera. But that dream may not be far off considering the rate at which current technology is advancing.
Camera modes and features
Who doesn’t loves taking snaps from his/her mobile device? Well, one of the reason to go for a flagship devices is because we want the best camera available on a mobile device, so it only makes sense to give a desirable set of features (read: modes) in camera app, that would serve well the users.
We agree that Samsung would load Galaxy S8 with tons of features too, many pretty cool, after all, they’ve always loved tweaking camera app, but look at LG G6 modes and you feel, yes, these are the kind of modes you want. Rather than effects for the sake of it and all, which is how Samsung’s efforts look like, the G6 modes look practically super-useful!
LG has used the 18:9 ratio quite beautifully for its camera modes too, as stuff like Guide shot, Grid shot, Match shot, Snap shot, and beautiful UI in usual 360-degree panorama mode, looks quite good — the UI really makes you want to sue them.
Wide Front Selfie
Taking group selfies is easier thanks to the very wide-angle front facing camera that comes with the LG G6. Even though 5MP doesn’t seem that great to capture the details of your pretty visage, you must remember that it isn’t all about pixels. With enough software enhancement from LG’s part, the 5MP camera provides amazing results.
Couple that with an Auto Shot mode and you’re golden. The main benefit from selfies is that you get a lot of screen real estate in the viewfinder which in this case is nothing but the near bezel-less screen.
Sure, the Galaxy S8 should be featuring similar wide-angle lens, and when you consider that S8 is rumored to employ a new Autofocus tech for its front facing camera, it’s easy to see LG G6 losing the selfie shooting battle to Galaxy S8. But’ right now, it remains to be seen what Galaxy S8 brings to table in this area.
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Dolby Vision and HDR 10
We’ve always loved Super AMOLED display on Galaxy S series sets, but with HDR 10 in tow, LG G6 has something up its sleeve, too. Something to beat, but not easily beatable! It remains to be seen how good Galaxy S8’s display is, but it would have to be the very best to win from G6 here.
The LG G6’s display is pretty gorgeous, and with a maximum brightness level of 600 nits, deep blacks thanks to the HDR 10 support, 18:9 aspect ratio, you could say that LG literally hit new heights with the display.
Another interesting feature that ships with the G6 is the famous Dolby Vision which is essentially a Cinema specific feature. LG claims to have optimized this to function at 600 nits and deliver high quality video rendering on the G6. Though the technology is originally meant for screens at over 10,000 nits at movie theaters and the like, we hope that LG won’t push this off just as a marketing gimmick.
LG G6 Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=841dtKrpz5U
So, what do you think about LG G6? And does it looks like a better deal to you over Galaxy S8?
