My LG G4 - what I love, and what I don't love

I've had my LG G4 for about a year now. And here's how I feel about the phone:

Overall, my experience has been great with the device. I had the misfortune of dropping it while saving my son from a nasty plunge a few months ago, and the screen cracked. While in for repairs, I used my old Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Boy oh boy was it clunky! I then realised just how smooth and seamless the user experience is on my G4. Thankfully my LG is insured, so I got it back in a few days, repaired.

I would give the phone a solid 8.5 out of 10. Where it loses most of its points are with battery life and the phone getting very hot.

Firstly, battery life. When I got the phone, the deal included an extra battery with a charger - and now, after using the phone for a year, I realise why. If I use the phone during the day, especially if I play a game or two and watch some videos, it doesn't last a day. Thankfully for the extra battery, but I have to swap it out every day at least.

Then, overheating. Playing any sort of game gets my phone very hot, to the point where I get the message that it's too hot and will shut down to avoid damaging the device. I read up about this, and the suggestion was to put the phone in battery saver mode, which I did. This restricts apps in the background from using resources, but it does put this ugly orange bars at the top and bottom of the display to indicate you are in battery saver mode. So, I constantly see that, which is a bummer. This does make the battery last longer too, and actually works in preventing the phone from overheating, so I guess it's a solution for that. Some people also suggested taking the cover off (speaking of which, I do it every day to swap out the battery, and so far it hasn't given any issues regarding removing it that often).

The things I love - EVERYTHING else basically. Especially the camera! Wow does this thing take amazing photos and videos! My wife has a iPhone 6S Plus, and I'm afraid that the Apple just doesn't come close (for me at least). The phone's interface is really smooth and fluid, and it's just the right size at 5.5 inches. Also, the display is stunning to look at! One tiny thing I do miss from my Samsungs is the OLED displays, the main thing about this is that blacks aren't perfectly black, there's still some light shining out of the screen even if the display is showing a pure black item - on the OLED displays, the pixels are actually turned off.

To summarize, I love my LG G4, it's a great device, even with its minor flaws. I will definitely consider getting another LG with my next upgrade, which will only be in a year's time though. One thing I missed from my Samsungs is the better warranties. Samsungs gets a two year warranty in South Africa, and if your screen gets broken, or your device takes a swim, the first time they'll fix it for free. This was the first time ever though, that I've broken a screen on my smart phone. It sucked.

Till next time!