NEW YORK: The upcoming smartphones LG G3 and Google Nexus 6 are going to hit the market with their revolutionary features. Both of these marvellous devices not only come with an impressive spec sheet, but also come with a completely new design language which is sure to leave its footprint on the market for years to come.
When it first launched, the LG G3 didn’t have any rival with a Quad HD display on the market, with the exception of the Oppo Find 7, which was not widely available. Now though, the G3 has two other new phablets to compete with: the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the Google Nexus 6. Today, we’re going to compare the LG G3 with the Google Nexus 6, and see if it is still a good buy after the advent of more powerful Quad HD phablets like the Google Nexus 6.
Design
As far as the design and build quality are concerned, the Google Nexus 6 is clearly the superior device. It looks very similar to the 2nd Gen Moto X smartphone and comes with a curved back cover and a metallic frame that makes it look a lot more appealing than the LG G3. The polycarbonate used on the Nexus 6 is also of a more premium quality and feels much better in the hand. However, it is definitely a lot less compact than the G3 due to its 5.96-inch screen size.
The LG G3 is made entirely out of polycarbonate and features a design that is very similar to the LG G2 from 2013. The bottom strip with its faux-metal finish does add a bit of flair to the design, but overall it isn’t among the best looking smartphones on the market. Where it does shine though is with respect to its high screen-to-body ratio, which makes it one of the most compact smartphones available with a 5.5-inch screen size.
Display
The Google Nexus 6 comes with a 5.96-inch Quad HD 2560 x 1440 Super AMOLED panel with a pixel density of 493PPI. The display is the largest Quad HD Super AMOLED panel on the market and offers great levels of contrast and vibrant color reproduction. However, it isn’t the most accurate smartphone display around and is also among the dimmest displays on any flagship Android smartphone.
The LG G3’s 5.5-inch Quad HD display offers higher sharpness thanks to its higher pixel density of 534PPI. It also offers generally better color accuracy, although the overall color reproduction on the G3 panel is more on the pale side and may not appeal to those of you who love vibrant colors. Additionally, although it is brighter than the Nexus 6 panel, it is a lot less bright than other IPS LCD panels.
Camera
Both the Google Nexus 6 and the LG G3 come with 13 megapixel rear cameras. They both also feature Optical Image Stabilization and also come with dual-LED flashes at the back. The LG G3 flash is of the dual-tone variety though.
As far as image quality is concerned, both cameras perform well and are capable both under good lighting conditions and in low-light. The two smartphones also shoot great quality videos at 4K resolution.
So as far as the cameras go, both are pretty similar and neither is going to disappoint you. The front-facing camera on the G3 offers a very slightly higher resolution of 2.1MP compared to 2MP on the Nexus 6.
Specifications
The Google Nexus 6 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad-core chipset clocked at 2.7GHz. The Snapdragon 805 chipset is an upgrade over the Snapdragon 801 chipset used on the LG G3. More than the application performance, it is the graphics performance that really differentiates the 805 from the Snapdragon 801 chipset. The Adreno 420 GPU on the Google Nexus 6 is significantly more powerful than the Adreno 330 on the LG G3.
Google Nexus 6 and LG G3 comparison
As far as RAM goes, the 16GB variant of the LG G3 comes with 2GB RAM, while the 32GB variant of the smartphone comes with 3GB RAM. The Google Nexus 6 comes in two storage options, 32GB and 64GB, and both come with 3GB RAM. However, the Google Nexus 6 doesn’t support expandable memory, like previous Nexus devices. Google’s Nexus 6 does have an advantage when it comes to battery life, thanks to its larger 3,220mAh capacity battery.
Connectivity options are better on the Nexus 6 as well. It offers LTE Cat.6 support for download speeds up to 300Mbps and also comes with Bluetooth version 4.1. As far as software goes, the Google Nexus 6 comes with Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box, while the G3 is receiving the Android 5.0 Lollipop update right now. However, it is the Nexus 6 that has the advantage thanks to its stock Android experience that is a lot more responsive and smoother than any of the third party skins made by other Android OEMs.
Overall, it does seem like the LG G3 doesn’t have much of an advantage over the Google Nexus 6 in most areas. It is cheaper though, so if you want a Quad HD smartphone but do not wish to spend over $600 for it, the G3 is a great option. It’s also a lot cheaper on-contract from all US carriers.