LG is a Korean brand that produces high-quality mobile equipment. It also produces televisions and other electronics, household appliances, but in this case we are interested in mobile phones. The main feature of LG devices is compliance with the MIL-STD-810G and IP68 protection standards. This means that LG phones are difficult to break or drown. Moreover, this applies even to the middle segment, and not exclusively to flagships.

1st place – LG G8 ThinQ

The new top-class phone is the best in the LG line so far, which will cost an average of $700. Yes, the device is expensive, but the price is justified by the functionality and hardware.

What's good:

• Water and dust resistant, MIL-STD-810G compliant.
• Cool OLED screen with infinite contrast, support for HDR10, Dolby Vision and 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space. Here the display is also used as a sound amplifier, which made it possible to get rid of the speaker.
• The 7nm Snapdragon 855 processor is the best Android processor so far and will remain so in 2019.
• Camera with wide-angle and telephoto lenses, optical stabilization. See examples of photographs in full. 4K/60 FPS shooting possible.
• 3D ToF scanner on the front panel, with which the Hand ID function is implemented - palm scanning. The smartphone detects the pattern on the hand, as well as the location of the veins, which in theory provides better protection. In practice, the technology is “crude” and requires improvement, so this should not be considered a serious advantage.
• Dedicated 32-bit audio chip, DTS:X Surround Sound support, headphone output.
• 3500 mAh battery – 25 hours of calls and 11 hours of video playback at a brightness of 200 cd/m2. Fast charging is supported – 42% in 30 minutes; average result on the market.
• NFC, Wi-Fi 5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C.

What's bad:

• Hand ID technology in this flagship is the main value. So far, the function is crude - it takes a lot of time to recognize a hand and unlock the device.
• A large “unibrow” on the screen is not comme il faut in 2019.
• Only one full multimedia speaker. A resonant OLED screen is used as a speaker, which is not suitable for creating a stereo pair.
• Low charging speed.
• Very strong competitors in the form of Huawei P30 Pro or Samsung S10.

Helpful information:

Examples of photos from G8 ThinQ cameras:

Main sensor:

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Wide Angle Camera:

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Photo at night:

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Examples of photos in Portrait mode:

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Selfie examples:

2nd place – LG V40 ThinQ

The second flagship that has already gone on sale is the V40 ThinQ. In many ways it is similar to the G8 ThinQ, but in terms of hardware it is inferior.

What's good:

• Water and dust protection IP68 + MIL-STD-810G; withstands immersion under water and lasts 30 minutes at a depth of up to 1.5 meters.
• P-OLED display with a resolution of 3120x1440, Gorilla Glass 5, support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
• 3-module camera with regular, telephoto and wide-angle lenses, optical stabilization, 2x-zoom. See full examples of photos from the camera.
• 32-bit audio chip, DTS:X support, therefore, the sound in the headphones is great, there is a 3.5 mm output.
• Fast charging Quick Charge 3.0 – 50% in 36 minutes.
• Wireless charging 10 W.
• NFC, Wi-Fi 5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.0 with atpX HD support.

What's bad:

• The battery capacity is 3300 mAh – withstands 21:41 hours of calls and just over 10 hours of video playback at a brightness of 200 cd/m2.
• Snapdragon 845 processor (10 nm) – the G8 has a 7 nm SD855.
• High color rendering deviation - the average DeltaE error is 4, which is not typical for flagships.
• Frankly weak front camera.

Even with its shortcomings, the LG V40 ThinQ remains one of the best in LG's lineup. Let me add that the new LG V50 ThinQ is already on its way - expected in the second quarter of 2019. The phone received an SD855 processor with a 5G modem - relevant for South Korea, where the 5G network is fully launched and functioning.

Reviews:

Benchmark testing results:

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

AnTuTu 7

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Examples of photos from cameras – main (clickable):

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Wide Angle:

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Telephoto (clickable):

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Selfie (clickable):

Portrait mode

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3rd place – G7 ThinQ

This flagship of 2018 became the best in terms of sound and took 1st place in. Inside there is a dedicated QUAD DAC ES9218P audio chip with 8 DAC modules, which produces cool sound in high-impedance headphones.

Other advantages:

• Water and dust protection IP68 + MIL-STD-810G.
• IPS screen with support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and most importantly, a record brightness of 920 cd/m2 and a contrast ratio of 2044:1. This is one of the best IPS panels in the world.
• The flagship processor of 2018 is the 10nm Snapdragon 845. In this it is inferior to the LG G8 ThinQ with the SD855 chip.
• Sound The LG G7 ThinQ is one of the best phones on the market when it comes to sound.

Flaws:

• Weak battery life - only 23 hours of communication and almost 10 hours of video playback.
• Photos in poor lighting are of poor quality and are not worthy of a flagship.
• 4K video recording is available, but without EIS. Overall the video quality is good, but it would be better with EIS.
• Design – large unibrow on top.

It makes sense to buy a smartphone if you don’t have money for the LG G8 ThinQ and sound quality is your priority.

Reviews:

4th place – G7 Fit

This model can hardly be classified as a flagship; it is rather a mid-segment, albeit based on the best processor of 2016-2017. To be honest, LG is a little surprising. Instead of using modern mid-range chips (like the Snapdragon 710 or 712), LG uses older flagship processors.

What's good:

• Water and dust protection + MIL-STD-810G.
• A very cool IPS screen with a resolution of 3120x1440 with support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
• Dedicated 32-bit audio chip with DTS:X support, headphone output.
• A good camera with a resolution of 16 megapixels and a function for shooting 4K video. The quality corresponds to the middle class.
• Fast charging from an adapter supporting QC 3.0 with a power of 18 W.
• NFC, USB Type-C, Wi-Fi 5 GHz.

What's bad:

• The weak 3000 mAh battery does not inspire confidence given the high resolution of the IPS screen - expect to have to charge the phone every day.
• The old Snapdragon 821 processor, which was installed on the 2016 Xiaomi Mi 5s.
• Price – 400-420 US dollars. For this money there are better options, although without a dedicated audio chip and water protection.

Helpful information:

5th place – Q7

And finally - a “state employee” for little money. And although the Q7 model belongs to the low segment, it also has water protection and compliance with the MIL-STD-810G standard. The device is powered by a Snapdragon 450 processor, out of the box it comes with Android 8.1 OS, inside there is a weak Snapdragon 450 processor with Adreno 506 graphics.

Support for DTS: X is declared, so the sound should traditionally be good. Screen – 5.5 inches, IPS, with Full HD+ resolution. As for the cameras, they correspond to the middle class and produce moderately good pictures during the day, noisy and without details at night.

We are testing the first LG Q series smartphone. The LG Q6 model, which should become the star of the mid-price segment. Will he be able to?

Advantages

• fits perfectly in the hand,
• very good 18:9 screen,
• "frameless" case,
• decent main camera
• normal operating speed,

Flaws

• the price is too high
• plastic back cover,
• only one Wi-Fi band
• non-replaceable battery
• no fast charging
• microUSB 2.0 port.

LG positions the Q6 as a thin, bezel-less smartphone. Well, the Full Vision 18:9 aspect ratio does add some subtlety to the smartphone, but just like the G6, it's not completely bezel-less. Another thing is that the frames, although they are there, seem to be almost nonexistent, so perhaps this is all nitpicking. And there is no truly frameless phone in the world yet. Even the best representatives in this matter, Samsung Galaxy S8/Note8, have minimal frames, but there are approximately 1mm on the right and left. I have to admit that the build quality of the LG Q6 is impressive. I know the back cover is plastic. But I, unlike my colleagues, somehow failed to scratch it for two weeks. Perhaps it all depends on how you handle your smartphone.


It's a pity that the smartphone does not have a sealed case (although field tests showed that the Q6 is not afraid of rain). And the microUSB 2.0 port is not a serious problem. The lack of fast charging is disappointing, although with the performance shown by the LG Q6, most likely we will not encounter the problem of the Q6 not surviving until the end of the day.

No fingerprint sensor

The LG Q6 screen has a diagonal of 5.5 inches with an aspect ratio of 18:9 (the effective diagonal in 16:9 mode is less than 5.2 inches). The elongated body makes it extremely comfortable in the palm. The digital camera lens on the back is close to the corner, so we probably won't be able to get our finger on it when we instinctively look for the fingerprint sensor reader.

As you already understood, there is no fingerprint scanner. The smartphone can be unlocked traditionally - there are still many supporters of this type of solution, using a code or a pattern. When the phone is not locked, you can activate it by double tapping on the screen (roughly speaking, “knock”). Unlocking by Bluetooth devices is also supported, and something new is the facial recognition function. The function is also biometric, but cannot be an alternative to a fingerprint scanner. It works in different ways and requires illumination of the face. There is a delay, more than with older fingerprint readers, but overall there are no problems with recognition. This blocking works well not only during the day, but even in poorly lit rooms - the operating condition is minimal face illumination. When the light is very weak, it may take some time, then it is better to enter the PIN code.

LG Q6 - price

The average cost of a smartphone at the time of publication is 17,500 rubles.

Full Vision Screen

LG Q6 has a Full Vision screen with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. Like the G6, you can adapt apps to the 18:9 aspect ratio. In 16:9 mode, there is FullHD content and even more - the panel with buttons and the notification panel use extra pixels when working in portrait orientation. The 18:9 aspect ratio is ideal for films wider than 16:9.

The screen produces very good colors (but not as perfect as the G6) and detailed images. It has crisp touch responsiveness and is bright enough to work in most situations (but I found myself setting the brightness to 50 points or more more often than usual). In strong sunlight, the Q6, even after turning on the automatic mode (which can increase brightness), does not cope sufficiently, but this is a problem with other smartphones (except that Super AMOLED screens have practically solved this problem).

What's inside? Some kind of Snapdragon 435

The smartphone we received for testing has 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory, of which about 22 GB is available to the user. Memory can be increased using microSD cards. I didn't expect any particularly high performance (more below), but despite this, except with particularly demanding games, I had no reason to complain about the speed.

The smartphone is powered by Snapdragon 435 - not the most powerful processor.

There is a speaker on the back panel. It plays quite loudly, but without any peculiarities. The 3,000 mAh battery is non-removable, meaning microSD and nanoSIM cards fit in a slide-out tray.

Are there any other cool features?

Hm. As an interesting feature, I would highlight facial recognition. Also... Unfortunately, there's not much else to brag about here. Even Wi-Fi is only one band (802.11n). LG Q6 has a standard set of functions (except perhaps a fingerprint sensor, which is simply missing) and Android 7.1.1. All this will in most cases satisfy the needs of many users. What’s interesting about the LG Q6 is that the most important notable “feature” is that everything works very smoothly as a whole, and not just any individual features.
The equipment is not particularly rich. Standard headphones, a traditional charger cable (LG Q6 does not support fast charging) and a pin to remove the memory card and nanoSIM slot.

LG Q6 performance

Synthetic test results

• 3DMARK UNLIMITED - 8206
• GFXBENCH T-REX - 11 KL/S
• SUNSPIDER JAVASCRIPT - 1336 MS
• ANTUTU 5 - 34193
• GFXBENCH MANHATTAN - 5.4
• ANTUTU 6 - 43064
• JETSTREAM - 16
• 3DMARK (SLING SHOT) - 472

In a nutshell - generally enough, but not amazing

The use of the Snapdragon 435 means that we may not be dealing with the slowest of smartphones, but it won't set any performance records. Despite this, I did not experience much discomfort for two weeks. On the contrary, it turned out that Snapdragon 435 and 3 GB of RAM are enough for comfortable work. Yes, running demanding applications, including games, made me feel a lack of power, but not so much that I couldn’t afford to play my favorite mobile games. The speed of work, whether large or small, can be noticed by opening the photo or video editing tools. It will lose direct competition with the more powerful LG Q6 smartphone, but fortunately there were no really long processing times either. With just a little patience, you could edit a video recorded by the Q6 or heavily edit a photo in Snapseed. To sum it up, the LG Q6, as I said, runs surprisingly smoothly.

Working hours

The 3000 mAh battery capacity hints at noticeably longer battery life than competitors. The battery life of the LG Q6 ensures comfortable use throughout the day, and if you are a little more modest, the battery charge can last even the next day. A fully charged battery allowed me to watch videos for about 10 hours. Web surfing lasted about 11 hours. These are not amazing results, but they do not contradict what I wrote above. The battery consumption in standby mode is not particularly high. There is a chance that you can safely use your smartphone without recharging, even after several days in standby mode. Unfortunately, the LG Q6 does not have fast charging - with a standard charger you need to wait about 2 hours to fully charge the battery. The smartphone heats up noticeably during games and other more demanding applications, but without exceeding dangerous levels.

Operating system and applications

LG Q6 is equipped with Android 7.1.1 and LG UX - this means that we can enjoy all the features provided by the latest version of the operating system. An update to Android 8.0 (Oreo) is also planned. The software is similar to other LG smartphones with an emphasis on simplicity. As usual (in almost pure Android), there are pre-installed Google applications. There are few additional applications - only everything you need (a special camera application, a simple voice recorder, File Manager, LG Mobile Switch for transferring between devices, Quick Memo+). There is also Google Assistant, which is rumored to be about to speak Russian.

Application scaling

Since the LG Q6 screen still has a non-standard aspect ratio of 18:9, it is possible to scale application windows in the display settings. We can choose one of three operating modes - compatible with 16:9, Full screen LG Q6 18:9 and something in between - 16.7:9. The latter mode is useful when the program window performs particularly poorly in a mode other than 16:9.

Camera LG Q6

Time for some hands-on camera testing.

Camera software

LG has decided to keep the camera app simple. There are only three modes: Auto, Panorama and Food. The last mode, paradoxically, is great if we want to change the white balance (by the way, it is already well selected in automatic mode). You can shoot with different aspect ratios. Naturally, there are 4:3 images (13 megapixels), 16:9 and 18:9. The latter seems to give a wider field of view than the main mode, but this is just an illusion. 18:9 photos are part of a 4:3 frame cropped at the top and bottom. The 1:1 square mode already known from the G6 is also available. There is a mode with a preview of the captured image, a mode for combining photos, and you can also create a mosaic of four images. The square photo mode (1:1), in combination with the continuous shooting mode (we have up to 30 photos in a series), is ideal for creating animated GIF files. GIFs can also be made through the gallery by selecting photos to be used to create GIFs. In this case, the choice of photos is larger than when creating GIFs directly from a series of photos. Video stabilization is available in video mode, and the maximum resolution is 1080/30p. There are no quick shooting or time-lapse modes.

Sample photos

The photos of the LG Q6 are good and it's pretty obvious that they are quite natural looking.

The Q6 certainly doesn't produce as good or detailed photos as the G6, but there's no reason to be disappointed. The photographs are pleasing to the eye, and this is the most important thing. However, when you zoom in, you can see that the images blur a little around the edges of objects, this is affected by the optics used, as well as image processing. In low light (this also applies to the dark parts of photos taken during the day ​), photos already noticeably deteriorate, and this is probably the camera's biggest drawback. The lack of optical stabilization (only electronic stabilization in video and it works well) leads to blurring. In low light it is also easy to get blurry pictures (consider them out of focus), and photo processing artifacts spoil a lot. There is a panorama shooting mode. The photos come out pretty good. In the case of a horizontally oriented camera, the panorama covers almost 360 degrees, and the file resolution is about 30 megapixels (12272 x 2384 pixels).

Selfie

Selfies turn out tolerable. I can't really complain about the front camera. Yes, of course it could be better, but most likely it’s because I’m not the most photogenic. Plus, a lot depends on the shooting conditions.

Video shooting - Full HD only

Video recording speed is about 17 Mbps in 1080/30p mode. The video is pretty good, autofocus is where it needs to be, stabilization is there where it is needed. Even though it is electronic, it does its job very well. But as for the Full HD resolution, this data transfer rate (17 Mbit/s) is too low for such a resolution. Videos when viewed on a computer screen no longer look very good, although they still look decent on a smartphone. Example of a video taken: Example video at night:

Summary

It's not easy to evaluate the LG Q6 objectively. This is a smartphone with the front design and bezels of the LG G6, with an 18:9 screen that fits very well in the palm and looks really cool for its price range. The criticism of the plastic back cover is mostly nitpicking, but I understand that it may be a deal-breaker for many.
The LG Q6 has a very good 18:9 FullVision screen (a nice exception in this class of product), which I only complained about outdoors on sunny days - and they've been in short supply lately. The photos are very decent. I would even say that I can hardly agree with the criticism of the main camera that is already circulating on the Internet. True, everything is fine with the camera until it gets dark) When I wrote this text, I did not know the expected price of the LG Q6. I was counting on 13,000 rubles and was wrong. It costs more than 17,000 rubles. Let's say, for almost this money you can buy one, which has a number of objective advantages. First of all, it has a waterproof body, a fingerprint sensor and a Super AMOLED screen, and it looks more solid.
The LG Q6 is a good smartphone, but it has too little technology in this price range. Most likely, one Full Vision screen, which provides convenient operation, is not enough. Buyers in the price range of 15,000-20,000 rubles expect to receive at least a waterproof case and a fingerprint scanner. Its absence did not bother me during prolonged contact with the Q6, although I experienced some discomfort during the first hours of use. In addition, the fingerprint sensor is used not only to unlock the smartphone. Despite these caveats, LG must be commended. Not for the price, but for the direction that the company chose when creating the LG G6, and then the entire Q line. So, let's summarize:

Advantages

• nice design in the style of LG G6,
• fits perfectly in the hand,
• very good 18:9 screen,
• "frameless" case,
• decent main camera
• correct exposure and color reproduction in both cameras,
• good digital video stabilization,
• normal operating speed,
• operating system Android 7.1.1.

Flaws

• the price is too high
• no fingerprint scanner,
• plastic back cover,
• only one Wi-Fi band
• non-replaceable battery
• no image stabilization when taking photographs,
• Photos don't turn out very well in low light conditions
• no fast charging
• microUSB 2.0 port.

Video review

At the end, we invite you to watch a video review from our colleagues:

The first thing that catches your eye is, of course, the direct drive of the LG washing machine. Indeed, such a distinctive feature of this brand has given it a big head start over other manufacturers and has caused a large number of positive reviews, but at the moment, negative reviews are appearing more and more often; I will tell you what this is connected with later, but now let’s return to the positives. It was the direct drive on this SM that contributed to the fact that this brand has become one of the leaders in sales. Many buyers are simply crazy about this washing machine; if previously you could hear the cracking of the brushes and the rustling of the belt, then thanks to the direct drive, these inconveniences were reduced to zero. Also, the direct drive made the machine shake much less, especially during the spin cycle, and in addition to this, the service life of the drum bearings increased. I would also like to say something about do-it-yourself repairs, since this issue interests many buyers. As for the control module, it is of course better to contact a specialist, but it is quite possible to change the remaining parts yourself, even such a spare part as a direct drive motor - the main thing here is to be able to handle a screwdriver and pliers. Unlike Samsung, the LG washing machine has a hatch on the back and if you remove it, you will have access to many parts of this washing machine. In general, repairing our manufacturer’s SMA will be simple and not very expensive. Now let's look at other parts of this washing machine. Almost everything here is the same as everyone else's

1. water pump→ it costs universal, that is, with three screws, its cost is much less than, for example, Whirlpool or Bosch. Even a layman can replace the drain pump in the field of washing machine repair.
2. Pump filter→ designed in such a way that it retains almost all small objects. It is very convenient to get to it, in most cases you do not need to remove the lower decorative strip
3. Shock absorbers→ not expensive, it is quite possible to install them from another washing machine. Replacing shock absorbers is not very difficult
4. Control module→ reliable, withstands overvoltage well, can be repaired in 90% of cases. The only inconvenience is that it is filled with silicone, but the craftsmen have already gotten used to this and have found a way to deal with it. One more thing should be noted here, unlike other brands, the components of the control unit mainly consist of powerful resistors and diodes, for example on Indesit or Zanussi, the entire module is stuffed with SMD resistors that do not withstand voltage surges and short circuits.
5. valves→ there are some comments here. If you take a washing machine like Samsung, then you rarely encounter a problem with the valve, but on LG, I have to change this spare part quite often. It’s not for nothing that I mentioned Samsung, these are the valves that I will leave for El G washing machines, for some reason they work much better
6. Pressostat→ it's electronic, but quite reliable. Over the years, this detail has remained unchanged, I think that says something. In general, Koreans really don’t like innovation, and if something new appears, then in most cases it is a well-thought-out step

   I made a video here in which I talk about the main details of this washing machine, and about the quality in general, I highly recommend watching it so that you have an idea of ​​what will be discussed next. Do not pay attention to the fact that in the video, a washing machine with a belt drive is used as an example. I assure you, this fact has little effect on the relevance of this video. The only thing is, be sure to read customer reviews and my answers under this video

   Watch video, reviews about the LG washing machine
   

   What's wrong with an LG washing machine?

   I think you’ve watched the video and are now about to run to the store to make a purchase. WAIT – I didn’t have time to mention one little detail. Remember at the very beginning of my article, I said that buyers are mostly satisfied with these washing machines “but until recently.” So what happened in such a recent past - the irreparable happened, the LG washing machine began to be produced in Russia. Now my cry from the soul is how much you have to hate your people in order to make such a miracle out of a very good washing machine, which now lasts barely three years. Don't be surprised, that's exactly it. Now I want to remember the Indesit washing machine, essentially an awesome washing machine, it turned into a sign of low-quality products and only thanks to the fact that our designers made one change there - they made a tank with 202 and 203 bearings, which globally affected the service life of this washing machine . Let's go back to LG, it looks like here the fucking design bureau tried not to stand aside, no, they didn't change the bearings, these scoundrels went a different route to ruin the equipment, that is, so that it would serve no more than three years, these guys are just In total, they took and covered with nickel the bushing on which the oil seal sits, as a result, even the best oil seal cannot come out for more than three years. Honestly, I don’t know, maybe in China and Karelia these bushings are also nickel-plated, but over the past three years, washing machines made in China and Korea have not come into my workshop, I mean those SMAs that are no more than three years old. Unlike the Koreans and Chinese, Russian-assembled El G is a frequent guest in my workshop. In general, draw your own conclusions; as a master, I can only state a fact. Otherwise, I have no complaints, it’s up to you to decide, understand, this should be your choice, and not those who write such comments. Below you can read some questions and reviews from my channel, which I tried to answer to the best of my ability.

   Customer reviews about the LG washing machine

   In mid-2015, I bought a Russian-assembled LG washing machine, but when I bought it I didn’t pay attention to the country of the manufacturer. The machine worked flawlessly for 2 years, but in the third year of operation the bearings became damaged. The service center told me that the warranty period for servicing my machine was only one year, although the seller swore that it would be under warranty for 5 years. To hell with this warranty, I'm more interested in whether it's worth repairing. The fact is that on the Internet they write about some kind of bushing, due to which the oil seal fails. In general, it seems like in a Russian assembly, this bushing is anodized with something, and if I change the bearings and oil seal, the machine still doesn’t last long

   Yes, indeed, on Russian-assembled LG washing machines, there is a nickel-plated bushing, and it is on this that the working part of the oil seal runs. If you want your machine to last longer, it is advisable to change this bushing, that is, install a bronze or stainless steel one. Regarding the warranty, I always tell buyers to read the warranty card, especially those places where there is fine print

   I have an LG washing machine, it worked for about 15 years. At the moment it still works, but I want to buy something newer and have a larger selection of functions. My wife insists on LG, but after reading customer reviews about what is currently on sale, I somehow wondered if it was worth getting into, maybe I should choose something else

   LG washing machines, as before, are of high quality; first of all, pay attention to the country where the washing machine is assembled. Of course, I wouldn’t want to talk badly about 1/6 of the land, but our designers did everything to ruin this brand. In principle, they did the same with Indesit. Chinese production is quite good, Korean too

   My sister and I bought 2 cars, I got a Russian assembly, and my sister got a Chinese-assembled LG. Then I thought that I had fooled her, but as it turned out, they had fooled me. In general, after a year and a half, my washing machine broke down, they called the service center, they came and changed the bearings, and they took a shit ton of money. In short, they said that my machine has a warranty period of only one year, and they showed where it was written on that coupon. 2 weeks ago, my sister’s washing machine began to constantly fill with water, and the other day the warranty service came, repaired it and didn’t take any money at all, just for the journey. It turned out that her washing machine was under warranty. She's in seventh heaven, the service technicians said that this machine has a 3-year warranty. I wonder why it turned out that I had a one-year warranty, and she had three years, although they bought it in the same store. Does it really all depend on the country of origin?

   It is quite possible that it depends on the country of manufacture, but it may also depend on which company supplied the equipment. Before buying a washing machine, you should have read the maintenance terms and conditions thoroughly. I advise my clients to do the following. Before you buy a washing machine, pick up the warranty card. Dial one of the service departments listed there. Ask a simple question → “2 years ago, I bought a washing machine in such and such a store, now it has stopped working.” Finally, ask how much it will cost to replace the motor on this washing machine if it is under warranty. Be sure to indicate the model of the SM you have chosen and your place of residence. If they offer you a sum that is comparable to the cost of a new SMA, then there can be no talk of any guarantee.

We will talk about the good and bad sides of this phone, remind you of its technical characteristics, and at the end we will summarize: why the smartphone became a failure for the company a year ago, and is it worth the money today?

After a controversial experiment with the modular LG G5, the Korean manufacturer had a hard time. But it turned out that last year's G6 did not correct the situation at all. The smartphone turned out to be worthy in its own right, but it could only compete with the Galaxy S7 Edge, which was released a year earlier.

What's wrong

The heart of the phone is the 8-core Snapdragon 821 with Adreno 530 graphics. And everything would have been fine, but at the same moment competitors debuted with Snapdragon 835 or Exynos 8895 “on board” - more energy-efficient solutions.

And LG's miscalculation was choosing an older generation system and, accordingly, reducing the G6's battery life. Add to this the lack of inductive charging in the European model and an mediocre camera - we get a phone that does not cost 60 thousand rubles! Now we see: the main problem with the G6 was the astronomical price. We'll come back to it a little later.

What's good

The disadvantages presented in the previous section, of course, do not negate the advantages of the device. The phone is characterized by high quality and durability, and has an IP68 water resistance certificate. The front part of the device is occupied by a 5.7″ IPS LCD display with a very high pixel density (564 dpi), protected by Gorilla Glass 3. A year after the premiere, the smartphone still looks solid. The camera, although not the best on the market, is acceptable.

4K video recording speed is 30 frames per second, 1080p is 60 frames per second. The Snapdragon 821 processor does not seem to be a “performance demon”, but most demanding games and applications are not a problem for it, which only confirms the belief: the results of synthetic tests should not be a priority when purchasing.

Conclusion: The G6 would have been a really nice smartphone with interesting solutions if it had appeared on the market a year earlier or at least cost less.

It's 2018 - is it worth taking the model?

Interestingly, the LG G6 was positioned as the fastest cheap flagship in 2017. But, alas, from a sales point of view, the product turned out to be a defeat for the Korean manufacturer. Potential customers preferred the slightly more expensive Galaxy S8 or the proven solution in the form of the already cheap S7 Edge. And LG priced their product too highly - as a result, the market quickly brought the Koreans back to earth.

Sales of the LG G6 turned out to be so weak that the manufacturer quickly began to reduce the price of the product. Just a few months after the debut of the smartphone, it fell in price by 40%. And currently the G6 can be bought for about 20-25 thousand rubles. In our opinion this is excellent value for money.

LG G6 is somewhere between a top-end (almost) smartphone and an affordable price. On the day of release it was difficult to say the same about it, but now it’s a completely different matter. This situation should teach us one thing: it’s not worth buying a new product right on the day of its premiere. Especially when it comes to an LG product. Today the G6 is a good smartphone for the money. We highly recommend!

Most people, when buying a TV, least of all think about what technology is used in the production of the matrix. A buyer comes to the store and wants a new TV: the ideal candidate should be “flat, with a large diagonal, and cheaper.” And also - so that “to show it beautifully.” And already at home it turns out that the picture is faded, you can’t see it from the corners (you can see it only if you sit in the center), and it eats electricity like a voracious wolf.

It is then that the buyer understands that the stingy one pays twice, and the discomfort from viewing cannot be compared with those “extra” tens of dollars that he would have to pay for a higher-quality TV with the same or even slightly smaller diagonal.

Smart speeches

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology appeared quite a long time ago, but its development today is such that you can know about the technology itself and what an “emissive layer” is, but have little idea of ​​the differences between an OLED TV from a simple LCD.

But it will be difficult to describe the technology in a few words in another language, so we will try to simplify it for those who are interested. According to the encyclopedia, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) “use thin-film multilayer structures consisting of layers of several polymers.” If we translate these and other words into human language, we can say that an OLED TV is a TV in the matrix of which organic light-emitting diodes are the main functional element. The principle of operation is to pass electrical impulses through organic compounds, which leads to a bright glow of the latter: the use of various phosphors makes it possible to obtain a glow of a given color. Therefore, by combining the luminescence of red, blue and green organic light-emitting diodes, you can obtain a large number of different and high-quality colors.

LG has topped it all off with its own patented WRGB (White Subpixel) technology. This is a proprietary technology for forming color shades on LG TV screens, using not the usual RGB system (which consists, as can be seen in the previous paragraph, not only of three pixels of different colors: red, blue and green), but also has an additional fourth subpixel of white colors. This solution allows you to achieve a more saturated, accurate and realistic transmission of halftones and various color shades. Thus, the technology provides the maximum number of transmitted colors, and as a bonus, it consumes less energy than other competitive technologies.

In simple terms

If we move away from complex explanations of what OLED is in technical terms, then we can explain the advantages and disadvantages of OLED even more simply and point by point.

Let's start with the advantages. The first of them is very high contrast and brightness parameters with lower energy consumption than traditional liquid crystal (LCD) or plasma TVs.

Secondly, the OLED display is much thinner than any, even the thinnest modern LCD screen - the OLED thickness is millimeters (counted on the fingers of one hand). This allows you to create truly thin panels: which is of particular importance for mobile phones and other gadgets for which compactness is the first requirement today. And we are not talking about a “bending iPhone”, since this is a problem with the case manufacturer, not the display.

The third is the possibility of creating flexible screens, which manufacturers have not failed to take advantage of (by creating curved TVs and the same smart watches, for example).

The fourth advantage follows directly from the first and second: smaller dimensions and weight of the final device, which opens up the possibility of creating a screen with a higher resolution in relation to the physical size of the screen.

The fifth advantage relates to the large viewing angles compared to traditional LCD panels: the image can be viewed without loss of quality from any angle. This, of course, can be said about IPS panels, but they also cannot yet completely replace simple LCD matrices of the TN+film type, so this advantage is still important. As well as instant response.

Well, the last benefit will probably be appreciated more by developers of monitors for industrial devices: this is a large range of operating temperatures (from −40 to +70 °C)

OLED also has its disadvantages, of course. Today, the number one drawback is the rather high retail price, which, however, happens with all innovative technologies that are just beginning to enter the world market. But the same company LG has already begun to solve this problem by releasing an inexpensive 55-inch OLED model LG 55EC930V with Full-HD and a curved screen, which was made possible by optimizing the production of OLED panels. The new product has an updated design - thanks to the detachable leg, the TV can now be hung on the wall - and a new webOS operating system, which runs the smart Smart TV platform. The 55EC930V retails for 150-160 thousand rubles and is the most affordable OLED TV with a curved screen today.

OLED of today

If you ask the question “why such beautiful screens were not produced before,” then the answer is quite simple: progress in this case was hindered by the global crisis of 2009. Production was supposed to begin shortly before, but since the crisis has thrown everything into disarray, the industry has only now returned to actual production plans.

Considering that OLED displays are quite thin and can bend, they can be used to make new-fangled curved screens. And as an example, it’s worth citing OLED TVs from LG, which is far from producing the first model of such a TV, and, accordingly, has already managed to hone their production well, rid the devices of “childhood diseases” and - what is important for the end buyer - reduce cost of the device.

The recently introduced 65-inch LG 65EC970V TV also has a curved screen. Unlike previous models, this one has an updated design and a new operating system, and displays the picture in 4K resolution (Ultra HD, 3840x2160). Plus, it has a new patented WRGB OLED technology (additional white subpixel), which we have already described above.

Combining this technology with 4K Ultra HD resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels), the 65EC970V delivers a whole new level of picture quality and realism. The color gamut can be adjusted either automatically or using a huge number of settings; there is also a proprietary High Dynamic Range (HDR) algorithm, which is responsible for adjusting clarity. The proprietary LG 4K Engine Pro processor allows you to extrapolate video in SD, HD or Full-HD resolution to 4K quality. And the Motion Estimation Motion Compensation (MEMC) mechanism makes the action on the screen smoother, clearer and more realistic.

Particular attention should be paid to the stand. Thanks to the metal stand, the TV is almost impossible to tip over. It can also be hung on the wall using the special design mount included in the kit. In addition, the 65EC970V has a full set of interfaces, including 4x HDMI 2.0, but the good old SCART is also present, albeit in the form of a remote adapter.

But what's especially impressive is the thickness. Only 4.3 mm (so really, counting in millimeters on the fingers of one hand), not counting the block with TV filling, and they allow us to call this device the thinnest and most elegant TV with such a large screen size.

The software is also not far behind: the OLED TV 65EC970V has full Smart TV functionality, which is provided by the new webOS operating system, which has become more convenient, clearer and faster. Operation speed is an important factor, since the system is multitasking and allows you to work simultaneously with many applications, including the browser. There are a lot of image settings (including twenty-point white balance), unlike most TVs, so if you have the desire and free time, you can make the picture just perfect for yourself. The model will go on sale in December 2014 and will be a great New Year's gift.

And, of course, with these TVs, the buyer will receive all the benefits of OLED technology.