LG G3:
The World’s First “Superphone”

By Kia Dargahi

“Well hey, I’ve had plenty of phones in the past and I thought that they were super, what makes this one so special?” Good question reader, I present to you the LG G3’s specs in all of their nerdy glory: (the following was reported directly from LG’s presentation)

• 5.5-inch Quad HD 2560×1440 display

• 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor

• 13-megapixel rear camera with Optical Image Stabilization+, Laser Auto Focus

• 2.1-megapixel front camera

• 16GB/32GB storage

• microSD slot with support for cards up to 128GB in size

• 2GB/3GB of RAM

• 3000mAh removable battery

• Android 4.4.2

• 4G LTE

• NFC  

• Metallic Black, Silk White, Shine Gold, Moon Violet and Burgundy Red color options

• 146.3 x 74.6 x 8.9mm

Even at first glance, the numbers ooze of state of the art technology implemented into a phablet sized phone (even though it is still technically a phone and not a phablet). Easily the most remarkable of the G3’s array of specs is the 2560x1440 QHD display. Different from 4K, (I know the resolution terms can get confusing) this 2K display is the sharpest on the global market and outmatches all other global smartphones in terms of pixel density at a whopping 538 ppi. Now, I do specify global market as there have been phones in China for example with 2K displays and similarly impressive specs as well. The G3 marks a milestone as the first phone to be sold on the global market with a 2K display. So, other than to win geeks over with its specs, this begs the question, what can the average user do with this gorgeous display?

Well first off, photos and videos taken at a higher resolution with the industry standard 13MP shooter will look brilliant. Speaking of cameras, you may have noticed “laser autofocus” at the top there; well, other than sounding like a weapon out of a science fiction series, this represents a leap forward in fast image snapping. The laser autofocus works exactly as it sounds, by using a laser in order to focus on the subject at hand in order to acquire quick and excellent results. While there are yet to be sample photos, LG assures us that this technology works marvelously, but we’ll have to wait and see if this works on a practical basis.

“Well I guess the display and camera are sort of impressive, what makes this a true ‘superphone’?” The questions continue to be on point reader. With its aluminum encasing, amazing display, impressive camera, great sized screen, exceptional battery life, and on screen buttons, it truly is everything that the tech community could ask for. Now, while it may sound as if I was paid off by LG (oh what a world that would be), there still is one huge underlying issue, well relatively huge. But before I get to that, some of the more technologically savvy readers will be wondering how it’s possible that a battery feed this display and manage to last the whole day. LG responded to this by showing of the G3’s “Three ‘A’s”: adaptive clocking, adaptive frame rate, and adaptive timing control. Adaptive clocking allows for the processor to use the most efficient frequency to run at for any given operation (see “underclocking” and “overclocking”), adaptive frame rate ensures that only the pixels that need to be active are active, and adaptive timing is a little more complex but essentially makes sure the display driver is working at its best (I know, vague).

But for all the good I have to say about this phone, there is one element that almost makes these specs look like numbers on a chart, and that is that the phone has no character. This phone is almost a demo to the world that we are able to manufacture things as impressive as this but instead of advertising this phone as a “superphone”, they’ve just let the specs talk for themselves. This technique might work for techies (guilty as charged) but LG is looking a much larger public than those who spend their days reading about the latest and greatest in tech. The phone is thus doomed to a relatively small niche despite its excellent characteristics. Its phabletesque (This is now a word) screen size doesn’t make its case either. The 5 inch flagships are still too big for some to handle, I guess that’s why we have Apple right? (Wrong, see things we can expect from the iPhone 6).