LG’s new flagship smartphone, the G4, is official. If you’ve been following this space, none of that should come as a surprise: virtually everything about the phone has either leaked or has already been announced by LG over the past few weeks. But the lack of surprise doesn’t take away from the fact that the G4 is LG’s new flagship, the phone that will go head to head with the Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6 when it hits shelves in a few weeks.
Disappointed that the Galaxy S6 dropped the SD card slot and removable battery? Good news: the LG G4 has both of those.
Not really good news, since the phone is too damn big. If I wanted a phablet, I would’ve picked up a Note 4 at the end of last year. It’s really hard to find a good Android phone under 5.5″, and virtually impossible to actually walk into a store and put your hands on one in the US. Either the software is piss-poor, the camera is embarrassing when compared to the iPhone’s, the battery runs low by 1pm with semi-heavy use, a paltry amount of internal storage, or any combination of the above. Even at $700+, the phones are decent at best.
I had the same problem as you. My old trusty Nexus S finally had to be retired and while looking for an alternative I found out that all the decently spec’d phones are fugly monstrosities that don’t fit in your pocket and require two hands to operate.
I was about ready to give up and sit this generation out when I came across Sony’s compact line (Z1 and Z3 compact). Flagship specs wrapped around a 4.5” screen. The only downside of these phones is the lack of a removable battery, which sucks, but the rest is too good to pass up:
– Small body
– 20.7 MP camera
– 2.2/2.4 GHz quad-core CPU
– Waterproof
– Excellent power management, I’m getting nearly 2.5 days of fairly moderate use with stamina mode on
– Up to date Android (5.0) without extensive skinning
– Cyanogenmod support (Z1 only so far, but I’m fairly confident Z3 isn’t far behind) + Sony supports unlocking the bootloader (check the CM wiki)
– Awesome sound output (no idea what DAC they have, but it’s good)
– SD Card up to 64GB
– FM radio (call me old fashioned, for me it’s a plus)
Now that the Z3C has been released you’re starting to find the Z1C pretty cheap, and trust me, it’s an absolute steal. Not sure you can find it in the US though.
Now that the Nexus line has been downgraded to jumbo size the Sony compacts are probably the best best for those with normal sized pockets and hands.
Yeah, the Z3C is probably the only one, but as a 1st gen Moto X owner, a little too small for me. I’m just going to hold on to the Moto and hope something decent in the 5″ range comes out eventually …
Really? You are complaining about lack of choice on Android? It seems that the Galaxy S6 would fit all your requirements and that is probably the easiest phone to find anywhere.
I have a 4.5″ Lumia 1020, my wife has a 6″ Lumia 1520 and I would prefer the phablet any day.
Just because you would prefer something huge doesn’t mean we all do. Some of us still put our phones in our pockets.
And as for choice, we have far less on Android now than we once did. My ideal form factor, around a 4-inch screen with a slide-out keyboard, doesn’t even exist anymore. It seems like every phone manufacture is determined to make nothing but slabs, and bigger ones at that. So yes, I’ll complain about lack of choice even on Android because I now no longer have choices that fit me.
A 6″ phone only looks huge until you get used to it, it does fit in your pocket and my wife is small.
Of course if you want a 4″ with a slide out keyboard…good luck with that. The market has spoken and those are NOT what (enough) people want to buy anymore.
Yeah….no.
I’ve had a Oneplus One (5.5 inches screen) for about 1 month. I loved it but sold it because of the size. In my front pockets when riding a bicycle, it would painfully destroy my pelvis.
I tried to get used to it, I just couldn’t.
I am now using a 4.8 inches Galaxy S3. This is ok, but still a little bit too big. I guess 4.6 or 4.7 would be ideal for me.
Have you tried (I haven’t) a case like that:
http://www.amazon.com/Naztech-12555-Sliding-Bluetooth-Keyboard/dp/B…
?
Edited 2015-04-29 13:29 UTC
By most accounts, it seems like Samsung was more concerned about a glass back than making sure the phone had decent battery life. When you’re paying $700+, you shouldn’t have to be tethered to a charger.
Leather back looks great when new but I bet it will either come off, or accumulate lots of grime where it attaches to the metal. Otherwise looks good.