LG just brought another device to the very competitive market of flagship smartphones. Ditching last year’s modular design for the G5, the South Korean brand is making a comeback with a beautiful slab that is the LG G6. The company’s new handset was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress this Sunday, and it has every right to threaten other phones from big companies. In particular, it can challenge Google’s Pixel-branded device that debuted in October of last year. The latter is built with top-of-the-line specs and features, and LG also did the same thing with the G6. Now the big question is: Which is the better Android flagship phone between the G6 and the Pixel?
Performance
Google and HTC did a good job in bringing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset to the Pixel. The processor is composed of two 2.15 GHz Kryo and two 1.6 GHz Kryo cores. Last year, the 821 chip was of course the talk of the town given that it offers 10 percent better performance than the 820 chip. Also, Qualcomm has said that the Snapdragon 821 is three times as fast as the X10 LTE of the 810 chip thanks to its X12 LTE support. The two companies also coupled the 821 chip with the Adreno 530 GPU to ensure that the Pixel performs seamlessly in terms of graphics and compute capabilities.
LG was running short on options when it was developing the G6. Samsung had already ordered the major bulk of Qualcomm’s 835 CPU for its Galaxy S8, so LG had to make do with what it has access to. Hence, the G5’s successor is running on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset as the one on the Pixel. Even the GPU is the same here, so it’s like saying the G6 and the Pixel were cut from the same cloth in terms of processing power. Thus, one can expect both to generate photorealistic graphics that are up to par with console-quality gaming and to launch apps in a fast and smooth manner.
Display
To be honest, there’s nothing really special about Google Pixel’s display. It is a 5-inch AMOLED capacitive screen that has a 1080 x 1920 screen resolution and a 441 ppi pixel density. It’s screen-to-body ratio is at 69 percent due to its rather large top and bottom bezels. The front panel is covered and protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4, which was designed to resist damage to a certain extent and to survive multiple drops — both accidental and intentional.
When it comes to the G6, it’s easy to see that LG worked hard to offer something new to consumers. The device has a 5.7-inch IPS LCD display that has an 18:9 aspect ratio, 1440 x 2880 screen resolution and a pixel density of 564 ppi. From here, one could say that the G6 has a better display than the Pixel’s. Add to this the almost edge-to-edge design of the device and the 78.6 screen-to-body ratio of the G6 and there is already a winner for this round. The G5 successor then continues to trump the Pixel because of its Dolby Vision/HDR10 support and Always-on feature. Unfortunately, there is still a downside when talking about the LG flagship handset’s display and it’s the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 glass on its front. For some reason, LG opted to use the Gorilla Glass 3 despite the fact the Gorilla Glass 4 is more damage-resistant and can be thinner and stronger than the former.
Camera Technology
The Google Pixel came with a primary camera that’s comparable to the one found on the iPhone 7. It has a 12-megapixel sensor, phase detection autofocus and dual-LED flash. It also has an f/2.0 aperture, but does not sport optical image stabilization, which is sad knowing this is Google’s flagship smartphone. At launch, the Pixel’s camera made a lot of noise for scoring the first 89 and highest rating in DxOMark benchmark. The front camera is an 8-megapixel selfie snapper with an f2.4 aperture and is capable of taking 1080p photos.
On the contrary, LG equipped its new flagship device with a dual-camera module on the back. While both lenses have 13-megapixel sensors, only the one with an f/1.8 aperture has optical image stabilization and 3-axis adjustment capability. The other lens has an f2.4 aperture. The front-facing camera of the G6 has a 5-megapixel sensor, an f2.2 aperture and a 1080p recording feature. On paper, LG’s camera technology for the G6 sounds really promising. Hopefully, its performance would live up to its specifications when the device officially makes a public debut. Also, it is important to note that LG tweaked its Camera app to make the most out of the distinct features of the dual-camera module.
Miscellaneous
The Pixel smartphone impressed many when it launched with a fingerprint scanner and its very own Android Nougat v7.1 OS. It debuted with 4GB of RAM and internal memory options of 32GB and 128 GB. It does not have microSD card support and it only has a fast-charging 2770 mAh Li-Ion battery. Its big advantage is its exclusive Nougat features, like its built-in Google Assistant. It also has support for the Daydream View headset for viewing VR content. Alas, the handset is splash and dust resistant.
The LG G6 also has a similar rear-mounted fingerprint scanner as that of the Pixel’s. It is set to launch with Android version 7.0 Nougat OS. It will come with 4GB of RAM and two internal memory options: 32GB and 64GB. Sadly, LG will make the 32GB exclusive to the international market, while the 64GB will be readily available to its homeland and other Asian countries. Both variants have microSD card slots for expanded memory. The new LG flagship houses a non-removable 3300 mAh Li-Ion battery. Although it doesn’t come with the exclusive Android features, it has its own software, the LG UX 6.0 UI, that gives it a unique user experience. Also worth mentioning is the IP68 certification of the device, which makes it water resistant and dust/waterproof.
Which do you think is the better Android phone between the LG G6 and the Google Pixel? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
LG just unveiled its G6 flagship smartphone, and many are wondering if it can hold a candle to Google’s Pixel device. Photo: YouTube/The Verge/Marques Brownlee
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