LG G4 vs Apple iPhone 6 – in-depth comparison

As a follow up on our in-depth LG G4 review, we decided to compare the smartphone to another popular flagship device – the iPhone 6. In this comparison we are going to take a look at all the important aspects that make these devices some of the best picks currently on the market and also give theory and practical-based opinion on which phone is better for the different type of consumer. We are going to take a closer look at the usual categories such as design and construction, display, specs, battery life, performance and camera of both devices.

You can read the full LG G4 review here.

You can read the full Apple iPhone 6 review here.

Contents

Design and construction

As with our previous comparisons we are starting with what materials each device is made of and the look and feel that they provide, since the design and build quality of flagship smartphones is one of the main selling points.

LG has always strived to perfect their design in order to achieve better functionality and comfort. They don’t rely on using premium materials in their offerings to improve their appearance, but rather on innovative ideas, which has brought them a considerable amount of success.
Since the release of LG G2 in 2013 they have stayed loyal to the crazy idea to having the power button and volume rocker at the back. This was one of the features that distinguish them from the rest.

On the other side, Apple has always been using premium materials like aluminum and glass for their devices, except for the iPhone 5c (being a budget variant). All of their devices have had great appearance over the years and a superb feel as well.

Now let’s get back to the devices at hand.

LG G4’s design follows that of its predecessors, with the a significant overhaul in terms of build quality. While the G2 and G3 were plastic, the G4 comes in two options – plastic and leather. The back panel of the device is removable, meaning you have access to the battery micro SD card slot and the SIM card. Also, you can switch between the leather and the polycarbonate back covers. The device is pretty thin and light, measuring at 6.3 mm at the thinnest point (around the sides) and 9.8 mm at the thickest (at the center), and 145 g weight. The device is bigger than its predecessor and the screen to-body-ratio is slightly lower (G3 – 75.3%, G4 – 72.5%).

The Apple iPhone 6 is made completely out of aluminum and has a clean and simple design. The phone measures at 6.9 mm thickness and 129 g weight (note that the camera adds 0.77 mm to the profile, which makes a total of 7.7 mm). iPhone 6 has curved sides and edges, which seamlessly go around with the screen. On the left side, you have the silent ON and OFF switch with the volume rocker beneath, while on the right we see the Sleep/Wake button, as well as the sim card tray.

Display

The display of LG G4 is one of the best currently found in smartphones. It is 5.5-inch LCD IPS with QHD screen resolution (1440 x 2560 pixels). The PPI count is 534 and the pixel pitch is 0.0476 x 0.0476 mm. When viewed from distance of 15 cm or greater it becomes “Retina”, meaning you will not be able to see individual pixels.

The iPhone 6 features a 4.7-inch IPS display with 1334 x 750 pixels resolution. There are 326 pixels per inch and the distance between each pair is 0.078 x 0.078 mm. For the screen to be become “Retina” it must be viewed from a distance of at least 28 cm.

Moving on to more detailed information about each device’s screen.

Color Gamut Coverage (CIE)

We managed to measure 515 cd/m2 maximum brightness on the G4, which is slightly higher than that of the iPhone 6 – 512 cd/m2. The contrast ration on LG’s flagship, however, is a lot higher than that of Apple’s: G4 – 1600:1, iPhone 6 – 1250:1. You will be able to see perfectly almost everything under direct sunlight. The LG G4 and Apple iPhone 6 have almost identical sRGB color gamut coverage – 97% and 96% respectively, but the iPhone pulls slightly ahead in the Adobe RGB (70% vs 75% respectively).

Color Reproduction

The color reproduction of both phones is pretty good, with some small deviations. The result of the iPhone, however, is slightly better. The DeltaE for LG G4 is 2.12, while the iPhone got 1.45. On the images below you can see how each phone reproduces various colors.

Specs sheet

Battery life

Battery life depends on a lot of factors. The most important are the battery capacity, software optimization, screen and SoC. LG G4 has a way bigger battery, compared to the iPhone 6 – 3000 mAh vs 1810 mAh, but also has a bigger screen with higher resolutions consuming more energy. If we look at how LG G4 and iPhone 6’s battery life stacks up to their predecessors, we will see that Apple have done a better job at perfecting the battery life, since their latest flagship got better results in our battery tests, compared to the iPhone 5S. Even though LG G4’s SoC is designed to be energy-efficient, the device performed worse than the LG G3. You can read about it here.

In the graph below you can see the results each device got in our battery tests.

Performance

The SoC found in the G4 is Qualcomm Snapdragon 808. LG decided not to go with the Snapdragon 810, because of its overheating issues. Even though the SoC isn’t high-end, it is powerful enough to satisfy all the needs of the general users. The Snapdragon 808 integrates a hexa-core CPU with 2x ARM [email protected] and 4x [email protected] cores that support 64-bit set of instructions, Adreno 418 GPU and 3GB of LPDDR3-1866MHz RAM for fluent multitasking. The lower clocked cores of the CPU are design to take care of less-demanding apps and tasks in order to preserve battery life, while the more powerful and higher-clocked ones are here to take care of the heavy, more demanding stuff.

The iPhone 6 sports Apple’s A8 processor clocked at 1.4 GHz, the operational memory isn’t increased from its predecessor and it remains 1GB, and the GPU found on board is PowerVR GX6450. Apple iPhone 6 also has a coprocessor, just like the one found in the iPhone 5s, but it is more advanced. The A8 chip uses the two Cyclone cores, clocked at 1.4GHz, just like the A7, but it is tweaked and improved, and the cores are built through a 20-nanometer fabrication process by TSMC. The size of the A8 is smaller, than that of the A7, but the number of transistors found in it are nearly twice as much (2 billion). This allows the CPU to consume 25% less power and achieve much higher performance.

Judging only by specs, the LG G4 should blow away the iPhone 6, but we have to give credit to the different OSes for having a great impact on the device’s speed and performance. The G4 runs on Android v5.1 Lollipop, which is the latest version currently available. Google have gotten a great deal of success in improving their OS. However, there are still some things, that need polishing despite the overall improvement. The fluidity of Android is now close to that of the iOS. On top of Android, LG runs their custom UI, which adds a lot of useful functions and features to the G4. It is one of the heaviest skins (along with TouchWiz).

iPhone 6 runs on iOS 8 having some changes in iOS, that added a little more room for tweaking. In iOS 8 you can download and install other keyboards, as well as add widgets to the notification menu.

Below you can see how both flagships performed in our benchmark tests.

Camera

Specifications

LG G4’s camera has a 16MP sensor with the widest aperture of f/1.8 on the Android market so far. The camera also comes with IR laser to assist the auto-focus even in low-light conditions, dual-tone LED flash as well as improved OIS+ 2.0 (optical image stabilization). The camera is capable of taking photos with a resolution of 5312 x 2988 pixels or recording 4K video at 30fps or [email protected]

Apple iPhone 6 has an 8-megapixel (3264 x 2448 pixels) rear camera with a completely new sensor, f/2.2 aperture and software image stabilization.

Specs Sheet

Camera features, options and modes

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of LG G4’s camera is its software. You have the option to choose between three camera modes – basic, automatic and manual.
Automatic mode basically means that you just point and shoot – the software of the camera regulates all the settings, like ISO, white balance, exposure, etc.
Manual mode is where things get interesting. The camera app allows you to tweak the settings, so that you may achieve the result, that you desire. Not only that, but you can also choose to shoot photos in RAW format.

As far as the iPhone 6 camera settings go – only basic tweaks are allowed, but the software does a great job at adjusting settings automatically.

LG G4

Apple iPhone 6

In-depth tests

Color reproduction

In the scheme below you can see how accurate the color reproduction is. Both devices performed well.

Resolution

We measure the camera’s resolution in LPH (Lines per Picture Height), which is affected by both the lens and the sensor. To conduct our test, we use the ISO 12233 test chart.

Using our test composition, we can gain a subjective but fairly accurate view of the resolution, sharpness, color noise and chromatic aberrations.

LG G4

Apple iPhone 6

LG G4

Apple iPhone 6

The text is easy to read in both photos.

Color noise and aberrations

LG G4

There are no signs of chromatic aberrations. The low-light parts of the image are well managed without a lot of noise.

Apple iPhone 6

Minor signs of chromatic aberrations and low levels of color noise, mainly in the shaded areas.

Verdict

Both LG G4 and Apple iPhone 6 are great choices for a flagship device. The design of both phones is great, even though each manufacturer has used different materials in the construction. Purely looking at the specs, features and hardware of each phone, the G4 outshines the iPhone 6, but as it seems this isn’t always the case, especially if Apple is involved. We can’t give you an exact science regarding the “right” choice between these phones, but we can help you decide what suits you best. If you are a power user, who likes being able to control almost everything on their device, or just really enjoys having various features, go with the G4. You also get a removable back cover, so if your daily life includes a lot of traveling and not many opportunities to charge your phone, you can just make a quick swap.

However, if you prefer more simplistic, fast and straightforward user experience go with the iPhone 6. Furthermore, the biggest plus is the continous support of the iOS – 3 years. That’s a rarely seen practice in the Android world.

You can read the full LG G4 review here.

You can read the full Apple iPhone 6 review here.