Monday, February 20, 2017

LG G6 review

The LG G6 is slated to be announced this month, and it is the anticipated follow-up to last year's G5 and its mostly-miss modular parts.
This will be LG's best chance to take on Samsung, after Samsung's premium Galaxy Note 7 went down in infamy for its exploding battery woes. Because Samsung recently wrapped up its Note 7 investigation, the company is likely to delay its Galaxy S8 phone launch, giving LG the opportunity to jump on its South Korean rival.
After sending out save-the-dates for February 26, LG officially called out the G6 in a follow-up invite for the enormous Mobile World Congress, held each year in Spain. The company also teased the attributes of the phone, implying that it's the "ideal smartphone" in a YouTube video.

So far, here's what is true/likely true about the 

  • It'll be unveiled on February 26 in Barcelona
  • Feature a bezel-less display and rounder edges than the G5
  • Waterproof design (rumored up to IP68 rating)
  • One-handed usability
  • Won't be modular or have modular accessories
  • Will have Google Assistant AI software built in

  • Here's what's rumored/possible

  • LG will officially unveil the G6 later in February.
  • May have a 5.7-inch display or smaller with an 18x9 aspect ratio
  • Preorders may begin March 9 and ship out in US on April 7
  • In addition to Google Assistant, it may run Alexa too
  • May have Snapdragon 821 processor (according to sources close to LG's plans, it's because Qualcomm's latest 835 processor won't be largely available until after the Galaxy S8 launches)
  • Google Daydream-ready (given the G6's anticipated top-tier specs)

  • Perhaps the most notable item on this list is the fact that the G6 won't be
  • modular. The previous G5 flagship had a detachable chin, which makes it possible to swap in a new battery or other accessories like a camera grip or a high-definition digital-to-analog audio converter.  Though the concept was novel, the phone didn't sell so hot. And despite LG saying at the end of last year that it wouldn't rule out modularity just yet, it ultimately decided to ditch the feature.
  • Another item to note is the bezel-less design (or "Full Vision" as LG calls it). This aesthetic has always been en vogue, and it makes sense for any phone maker to jump on board. Handsets with thin, barely-there edges like the Xiaomi Mi Max are consistently drool-worthy and we don't blame LG for touting that in the upcoming G6.

    Case maker VRS Design plans to sell G6 cases. The phone may have dual rear cameras like the G5.
The phone's water resistance is also interesting. LG has never made a waterproof flagship before, and went as far to say that it was "not that useful" in a 2014 interview with Trusted Reviews.But as both Apple and Samsung made their headlining phones splashproof (not to mention Sony doing it for years prior), it comes as no surprise that LG is changing its tune and following suit.
At this point, it's still anyone's guess. CNET will be on the ground at MWC 2017 and for LG's keynote event, so check back as we update this piece with more details as they roll out.

On that note, it's still a question whether the G6 will have a removable battery or not. LG's flagships usually have a swappable battery, and it's often cited by users as their favorite feature. But because of speculation that the G6 will be waterproof, it'd make sense that LG would limit the number of seams and seal off the battery for a unibody design.
However, one teaser from LG noted that the G6 will have "more juice to go." On one hand this could just mean the battery is big enough to keep you "going" throughout your day. But on the other, it could mean that the battery is removable and you can take it "to go."