lg g3 lcd panel made in china

The LG G2 showed the world that a screen with thin bezels is a great thing. The LG G3 pushed that design further with a larger and sharper display – the first 1440p panel in the industry. And it came surprisingly fast.

The HTC Butterfly had the first 1080p screen on mobile, it came out in January 2013. A year and a half later, the G3 arrived with the first-ever 1440p display. Technically, Oppo announced the Find 7 first, but LG was first to market so we think it’s fair to call the G3 “first”.

The 5.5-inch “True HD-IPS+” LCD panel had a pixel density of 534ppi, which is still impressive today. Sony would steal LG’s crown the following year with the release of the Xperia Z5 Premium whose 5.5” display had 2160p resolution. However, besides the occasional Xperia, 1440p has become the standard resolution for Android flagships.

Beyond the resolution upgrade, it was the same type of panel that the LG G2 used featuring good viewing angles and colors (though some found the colors oversaturated). However, the ppi bump came with a large drop in contrast ratio, which spoiled the image quality somewhat.

It also put a strain on the battery. Despite growing the screen size from 5.2” to 5.5” (and thus the phone’s overall volume), LG kept the battery capacity at 3,000mAh. That was enough for the G2 to achieve a respectable 81h Endurance rating, however the G3 scored only 69h. And that result got worse after the update to Android 5.0 Lollipop.

And it’s not like the chipset could be blamed for it – LG used the Snapdragon 801, which was essentially a slightly faster version of the Snapdragon 800 used in the G2 the year before. To be fair, the G2 was ahead of its time – its contemporary Samsung competitor, the Galaxy S4 used the Snapdragon 600 instead. The Galaxy S5 that went up against the LG G3 also used the S801 chip.

Still, none of those phones had to render graphics at 1440p resolution – only the G3 did. It was clear that the Adreno 330 GPU didn’t have the power to run games at native 1440p as the frame rate fell well below 30fps. The Android Lollipop update didn’t do much to improve performance.

Moving on to the camera, the LG G3 introduced Laser Autofocus to the world. Interestingly enough, this component was first developed for LG’s robot vacuum cleaners and is used to accurately measure distance. This is obviously a boon for the camera’s autofocus, which also supported classic contrast detection AF and the newfangled phase detection AF.

With all three technologies working together, the G3 camera could get a focus lock in just 276 milliseconds. Better still, Laser AF didn’t need ambient light to work (contrast and phase detection AF do). However, its limited range meant that Laser AF was most useful for close-up shots.

Anyway, LG G3’s 13MP camera was great. It produced detailed images made all the better with HDR. It had OIS, which helped steady hand shake, and a new stripped-down that allowed users to focus on the scene.

This was also among the first cameras capable of recording 2160p video. Not the first, not even LG’s first, but still the video quality was pleasing and the audio captured alongside quite good.

The phone’s exterior was covered with scratch-resistant “metallic skin”, according to LG, though in reality it was just painted polycarbonate. That was some deceptive marketing, though the material felt good in the hand and was resistant to fingerprints.

Better yet, the back panel was removable so you could swap the battery easily and wireless charging was natively supported (except in the US and Korea at the behest of local carriers).

Ultimately, LG won the 1440p battle but lost the war. The LG G3 was delayed, waiting on the high resolution screen. However, Samsung sold 11 million Galaxy S5 phones in the first month of availability.

The LG G3 only came out in June and by that time many had already bought their 2014 flagship. Still, the G3 would prove relatively successful for the company, hitting 10 million units sold in the first 11 months – that was LG’s goal from the start. Strong early sales helped push LG to 14.5 million smartphones sold in Q2 of 2014.

10 million was the goal for the LG G2 as well, but it never got there. And it was the goal for the G4 as well, though LG bumped that up to 12 million early on.

Anyway, the LG G3 wasn’t the last time the company brought innovation to the smartphone market, but its phones often go overlooked. However, LG has a plan to fix its ailing mobile division by 2021 and G3’s successor will play a key role (it and the V-series, which took over from the G Pro phones).

The G3 is available from Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint for $199.99 on a two-year contract. You can buy it from T-Mobile for $24.95 per month for 24 months, or for $598.80 at full retail price.

LG’s G3 comes with a large 5.5-inch display with a super high resolution of 2560 x 1440. That’s an incredibly high display resolution for a screen of its size. It makes the iPhone 5S with its 4-inch screen look puny in comparison.

But that big screen has a big drawback: It uses a ton of battery power. Usually big-screen phones have better battery life, but the ultra-sharp display on the G3 needs more power than your typical display. My battery was screaming for a charge before the day was over, which is unusual for a device of this size.

Although the G3 technically falls into the phablet (part phone, part tablet) category, it doesn’t feel like one. LG has done an excellent job of making the G3’s bezels so thin that they’re barely visible. That leaves extra space on the phone’s face for its screen and means LG was able to make the screen larger without actually increasing the size of the phone itself by a drastic amount.

LG has made some noticeable aesthetic improvements to the G3 when compared to its predecessor, the G2. Rather than the plain, glossy back on the G2, the G3 features a plastic shell with a spun metal design that’s meant to make it look more premium.

This trade-off has its pros and cons, but it’s an improvement on the whole. It’s certainly more attractive than the LG’s rear shell, but the plasticky feel still makes the phone feel a bit cheap. I personally prefer the all-metal design on the HTC One, even though its aluminum design makes the device slightly heavier.

LG is billing the G3’s impressive 2560 x 1440 display as one of the G3’s standout features. That means LG is packing about 534 pixels per inch in the G3’s display, which should make it super sharp. To put this number in perspective, the Galaxy S5 has a pixel density of 432 pixels per inch and a resolution of 1920 x 1080.

One of the gripes about bigger-sized phones is that the buttons can be difficult to reach, since you typically need to stretch your fingers to the phone’s edges to hit the power and volume controls. LG thinks it’s solved this problem with its "rear key" design, which places both of those keys on the back of the device.

On a phone the size of the G3, the rear keys certainly do come in handy. It’s much easier to hit the power and volume buttons on the back rather than the top or sides of the phone. The problem, however, is that this switch takes a lot of getting used to. I underestimated how accustomed I was to automatically reaching to the top and sides of my phone. It took me a few days to kill that habit and instinctively start reaching for the back.

If you still can’t get used to reaching for the power button on the back, LG has a different solution — Knock On. This feature allows you to wake up the display by giving the screen two tough taps.

LG has taken the G3’s Knock On capabilities one step further this time around with Knock Code: a feature that lets you set a sequence of taps to unlock your phone. Instead of drawing a pattern or setting a passcode, you can now set a pattern of taps as your screen lock password.

LG has been touting the G3’s camera as one of the best you can get on a smartphone. LG says its new flagship comes with a Laser Auto Focus, which can supposedly scout out the subject of your photo and focus on it almost instantly. The G3’s camera was able to focus a bit faster than the Galaxy S5’s camera — there’s barely any noticeable pause when you lift the G3 to take a photo.

Like other Android smartphone makers, LG outfits its phones with its own custom skin that adds some extra features. In the past I’ve found LG’s software to be a bit cluttered and overwhelming, but it looks neater and more streamlined this time around.

Some of the app icons, such as the Contacts and Phone apps, have a softer, more rounded look that make the software feel more modern as well. LG calls this change Simplified UI.

Like Samsung, LG has thrown in some extras aimed at easier multitasking. For example, you can open more than one app at a time and run them side-by-side on the home screen.

The LG G3 is an attractive, slim, and powerful Android phone. The G3’s screen is impressive in its own right, but it gets too dim. LG has also made some improvements across its software that make it feel much cleaner and easier to use than previous its previous phones.

However, LG’s decision to put the power and volume keys on the back of the phone still doesn’t feel natural. It took me a while to remember where the keys were, and I still found myself instinctively grabbing for the top or side of the device.

Still, the LG is a welcome step up from the G2 and is certainly among the best Android phones out there. It"s an excellent choice for Android fans that need a phone with a big, roomy display, so long as the idea of the power and volume buttons being in an unfamiliar place doesn’t bother you.

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