2 years ago 0
Cool camera! What else do I, a traveler, need from a smartphone))
2 years ago 0
Compactness, display, battery, cameras, laser autofocus, proprietary LG features, design, performance, powerful speaker.
2 years ago 0
Stylish, cool appearance, microSD and 2 SIM cards, holds a charge for a long time, good camera, has a cool case.
2 years ago 0
Stylish design, two SIM cards, high-quality housing, large display with narrow frames.
2 years ago 0
All that is needed.
2 years ago 0
Decent camera, two SIM cards, double tap unlocking, appearance, optional branded case - a very convenient thing, a very loud speaker - screams so loudly that you can definitely hear it in a noisy environment.
2 years ago 0
*Display *Ringer volume *Guest mode *Click button *Double tab to turn on/off the display *Navigation buttons on the display, call the curtain in any application. *Size *Wide variety of cases *There is a phone function)) (EasyHome)
2 years ago 0
camera, laser autofocus, code button lock
2 years ago 0
Availability of 2 SIM cards. Good display. Not a bad look. Relatively large battery, enough for a day.
2 years ago 0
Price, performance, 2 SIM cards.
2 years ago 0
2 years ago 0
I didn't find the case
2 years ago 0
The display is dirty, there is no light sensor
2 years ago 0
LTE is missing
2 years ago 0
I didn't find any shortcomings.
2 years ago 0
No important ones
2 years ago 0
Generally uncritical. This is the absence of an oleophobic coating, which is solved by film. Lack of auto brightness, which is also not particularly critical for a mini-flagship. The inner shell is not particularly pleasant to use; it can be solved with a launcher or flashing the firmware. The sound quality of the speaker is not very good, the solution is trivial - don’t listen to music through the speaker, find good headphones and ok.
2 years ago 0
After updating Andryukha to 5.0 it started to slow down a lot
(after the last update it became a little easier)
-the sound from the speaker is not for listening to music
-below average sound card plays on acoustics at 2- (Jack 3.5)
- games with a large cache do not have enough memory)
- original charger of low quality (replaced after a month)
-many restrictions for applications from the market, I did not encounter this problem on other devices (Root helped)
2 years ago 0
2 years ago 0
The phone started overheating after several months of use. 15-20 minutes of 3D graphics or 30 minutes of GPS and the processor heats up to 75 degrees!
It is almost impossible to work in this case. In the summer I broke down with GPS navigation. The phone simply overheated.
Very small amount of memory on the device. Despite the partial transfer of all applications to the SD card, there is constantly not enough memory!
Despite the fact that the LG G3 S smartphone can be mistaken for a mini version of the flagship, it cannot be called small: the diagonal of the “mini flagship” is as much as 5 inches (versus 5.5 inches on the LG G3). However, the LG G3 S is smaller in size than most 5-inch smartphones and comparable to the LG Nexus 5 thanks to its narrow bezels on the sides, top and bottom. And the ratio of the display area to the surface area of the smartphone tends to one, who knows, maybe the side frames on the next LG flagships will have to be examined with a magnifying glass? As for the weight of the smartphone, the “light” version has become thicker than the original - the thickness of the convex body reaches 10.4 mm. The LG G3 S fits more comfortably in your hand than its older brother, but you can't handle it with one hand.
The design of the smartphone repeats the LG G3 down to the smallest detail: the same speaker grille, audio jack on the bottom edge, the “sides” of the smartphone are free of control elements, which makes the LG G3 S look narrower. A meticulous consumer will only note that on the LG G3 the microphone holes were to the left of the USB connector, and in the LG G3 S it was moved to the right, but the difference is small. And of course, the main feature of the series is that the volume keys and power key are located on the rear panel. And yet, in our opinion, a person with long fingers will find it inconvenient to use these buttons. In addition to the unusual buttons, one can note the convex back of the smartphone and its metal stylization, which is created using parallel serifs.
The body of the LG G3 S is made not of metal, but of plastic, but it is assembled with high quality. By the way, the case is collapsible, the cover can be easily removed, along with it you can remove the smartphone’s battery, insert a memory card and two Micro-SIM cards. But putting the cover back is not so convenient; most likely, you will have to “walk” and press on some individual latches.
The LG G3 S smartphone can be purchased in white, gold or black (or titanium) colors.
Screen - 4.0
The LG G3 S's display left us with mixed impressions, although given the device's price, some shortcomings are to be expected. The screen diagonal is 5 inches, the resolution is typical for mini versions of flagships - 1280x720 pixels, matrix type - IPS. The pixel density is not the highest - 294 pixels per inch; those who wish can even look at individual pixels on the screen. True, you may be more annoyed by fingerprints; apparently there is no oleophobic coating here. But the screen is covered with protective glass.
What about the display resolution, compared to the Quad HD on the LG G3 (2560x1440 pixels), it looks more than pale, but if you compare it with the recently released LG G2 mini with its resolution of 960x540, the LG G3 S screen seems " super clear." Our opinion on this matter is that the resolution is simply typical for devices of this class.
The display brightness level is slightly above average - 397 cd/m2, albeit with a small margin. Viewing angles are average, not even close to flagship ones, but the colors on the display look quite realistic. In the sun, reading the display becomes noticeably more difficult, but remains real. For some reason, only flagship LG smartphones are equipped with a light sensor, since the LG G3 S is not one of these, it does not have an auto-brightness function, only a pale copy of it - you can set “night hours” when the display brightness decreases. Although in the accessibility features, to our surprise, there was a “Shade” function, with which it is proposed to “dim the backlight, ensuring the blind save battery power.” Maybe it's just translation difficulties.
Camera
The LG G3 S smartphone has two cameras of 8 and 1.3 MP. Perhaps the only cool technical feature that the G3 S got from the flagship is laser focusing. With the help of a laser, the smartphone focuses faster, but in all other respects it is a completely typical smartphone camera, with shooting quality slightly above average. The only thing that can be called unusual is shooting by gesture with the front camera, that is, you have the opportunity to take a selfie using your hand: you need to show your palm to the camera and, when it detects it, squeeze your fingers. It’s not very clear why this is needed, but it’s interesting.
The set of functions is quite standard, face recognition, LED flash, HDR mode, shooting using a voice command, shooting panoramas, etc.
The maximum photo resolution is 3264 by 2448 pixels. The camera interface looks minimalistic, there are few settings here. The front camera shoots with a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels. The maximum resolution for video recording is Full HD 1920 by 1080 pixels at a speed of 30 fps. The front camera can shoot video in HD resolution, which should be enough for video calls.
Photo from camera LG G3 S - 3.5
Working with text - 1.4
The LG G3 S uses the same convenient built-in keyboard as the LG G3. Unfortunately, the markup of additional characters is not available in the Cyrillic layout and is only available when working with the Latin alphabet. At the same time, a separate number row hangs on top of the keyboard; it is possible to switch between languages with one button and a number of functions typical for an LG keyboard. For example, one-handed operation - you can “move” the keyboard left or right, adjust its height, layout, and split it by swiping two fingers outward, after checking the desired setting. In general, everything is fine, but it’s not clear why there is no input with the stroke of a finger (Swype).
Internet - 3.0
The LG G3 S smartphone comes pre-installed with Google Chrome and a standard Android browser. With the first, everything is clear: synchronizing tabs with desktop Chrome and “one-time” text scaling to a pre-selected size. In the second case: the standard Capture Plus trick for taking a screenshot of the entire page. But there is no repeated scaling of the text to fit the width of the screen, no separate reading mode, but you can ask the browser not to load images.
Interfaces
In terms of interfaces, the LG G3 S was a little disappointing. It, of course, supports the most common wireless interfaces: Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n standards), with the ability to distribute the Internet to another device. Bluetooth with low energy consumption and an A2DP profile is available for transmitting music, A-GPS with GLONASS support, and the only unusual thing here is an infrared port for controlling home electronics. However, with all this, dual-band Wi-FI is not supported in this smartphone, there is no NFC chip, and there is no LTE support. LG has released a modification of the LG G3 S (D724), capable of working in LTE networks, but in Russia it is almost not widespread; in our country, as a rule, the D 724 is sold. Even the USB connector does not support USB-Host or MHL. LG G3 S has support for two SIM cards, but only one radio module, so when talking from one SIM card, the second one becomes inaccessible.
Multimedia - 5.0
The video player in the LG G3 S supports many common formats and video codecs and plays videos normally in high quality. There is also support for subtitles. The audio player in the LG G3 S supports popular formats like MP3, WAV, the player itself did not find uncompressed audio in FLAC format, but if you point it to files through the file manager, then they are played too.
Battery - 2.9
The LG G3 S smartphone has a removable lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 2540 mAh, the capacity is not bad, but the results are still not that high and are only slightly ahead of the flagship “woeful results”. The phone played HD videos at maximum brightness for about 6 and a half hours. When listening to music with the screen off, the device was discharged in 56 hours. You'd expect better results than the LG G3 due to the much lower resolution, but apparently the lower capacity didn't help.
Performance - 1.9
Everything is predictable, the LG G3 S uses an inexpensive mid-level platform - Qualcomm MSM8226 Snapdragon 400 with a quad-core processor with a frequency of 1.2 GHz, Adreno 305 graphics subsystem and 1 GB of RAM. The results in terms of performance are average, sufficient for typical telephone tasks. Although during “heavy” browsing the smartphone slows down, and web design elements such as page sliders move intermittently and not smoothly. The phone is not suitable as a gaming platform, although you can run most modern games, but with graphics limitations.
By the way, in the 3dmark Ice Storm Unlimited test, the smartphone received 4655 points, which is slightly higher than, for example, ASuS Zenfone 5. In AnTuTu - 17635, which the benchmark rated as “good”, but ASuS Zenfone 5 usually received about 19 thousand points in the same test.
Memory - 3.5
The total amount of internal memory in the LG G3 S is 8 GB, of which just under 4 GB is available to the user. You will have to buy a memory card, the good thing is that there is a memory card slot and supports cards up to 64GB. It is also possible to hot-swappable, you just need to remove the cover, then access to the memory card is not difficult in any way, you do not have to restart the smartphone to work with the card.
Peculiarities
LG G3 S runs on Android 4.4.2 OS, with a proprietary shell from LG. It has its own launcher, browser, dialer and many other built-in applications with their own design and features. It is worth noting that it is possible to turn on the display without pressing the power button - by double-clicking on the display. Also interesting are the buttons on the rear panel, which take some getting used to, and laser autofocus, although it doesn’t really help improve the quality of shooting. As for the buttons on the back of the device, not everyone will find it easy to get used to them: if you have a large palm, you will have to bend your finger unnaturally, and a “risky” situation may arise when the smartphone may fall out.
Among the applications we can note a proprietary file manager, radio (only with a headset), Quick Remote. Like many smartphones, there is a smart screen feature - the display will remain on while the phone recognizes your face opposite.
From year to year, almost every major manufacturer releases a mini version a month or two after the release of the flagship. As the market shows, vendors have different attitudes towards this type of device.
For some minis, these are the same powerful characteristics as their older brother, only the display diagonal is smaller, trivial due to the fact that not everyone is comfortable using large screens, but for others, these are specifications cut down on all fronts and a big name of the flagship, just with the prefix "mini", or, as in our case, "S". Both options, in my opinion, have a right to life, the main thing is not to spoil the experience of use and not to raise the price for a well-promoted name. I bring all this to the point that we need to figure out which category to include the LG G3s - the hero of our today's review, let's find out together.
Video review of LG G3 S
Comparative characteristics
To begin with, I propose to understand in what and how the G3 S is inferior to the G3, in what areas the smartphones have parity, and in what areas the younger model is superior to the older one.
| Telephone | LG G3 S | LG G3 |
| Type | smartphone | smartphone |
| SIM card type | Micro-SIM | Micro-SIM |
| General characteristics | ||
| Standard | GSM 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 | GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 850/900/1900/2100, LTE 800/1800/2600 |
| High speed data transfer | GPRS, EDGE, HSPA+ | GSM/EDGE, HSPA+42Mbps/HSPA+21Mbps, LTE Cat4 (50 Mbps UL, 150 Mbps DL) |
| Number of SIM cards | 2 | 1 |
| operating system | Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) | Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) |
| RAM, GB | 1 | 3 |
| Built-in memory, GB | 8 | 32 |
| Expansion slot | microSD (up to 64 GB) | microSD (up to 128 GB) |
| Dimensions, mm | 137.7x69.6x10.3 | 146.3x74.6x8.9 |
| Weight, g | 134 | 149 |
| Protection from dust and moisture | no | no |
| Accumulator battery | 2540 mAh | 3000 mAh |
| Screen | ||
| Diagonal, inches | 5 | 5,5 |
| Permission | 720x1280 | 2560x1440 |
| Matrix type | IPS | IPS |
| PPI | 294 | 538 |
| Dimming sensor | No | There is |
| Touch screen (type) | touch (capacitive) | touch (capacitive) |
| Other | Protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | |
| Processor Specifications | ||
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 8226 + GPU Adreno 305 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (MSM8975AC) + GPU Adreno 330 |
| Kernel type | Cortex-A7 | Krait 400 |
| Number of Cores | 4 | 4 |
| Frequency, GHz | 1,2 | 2,5 |
| Camera | ||
| Main camera, MP | 8 | 13 |
| Autofocus | There is | There is |
| Video shooting | 1920x1080 pixels, 30 fps | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, HDR |
| Flash | LED | double LED |
| Front camera, MP | 1,3 | 2,1 |
| Other | digital zoom, laser autofocus | laser (infrared) autofocus system, module with optical stabilization OIS+ |
| Communications | ||
| WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 (LE, A2DP) | 4.0LE (APT-x) |
| GPS | yes (GLONASS) | yes (GLONASS) |
| IrDA | There is | There is |
| NFC | There is | There is |
| Interface connector | USB 2.0 (micro-USB) | USB 2.0 (micro-USB), SlimPort |
| Additionally | ||
| Audio jack | 3.5 mm | 3.5 mm |
| MP3 player | There is | There is |
| FM radio | There is | There is |
| Type of shell | monoblock | monoblock |
| Keyboard type | screen input | screen input |
| More | proximity and light sensors, accelerometer, A-GPS receiver, vibration alert | case coating imitating metal, 1 W multimedia speaker, sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, compass |
So, we see the following situation, the G3 has a larger and better screen, more powerful hardware and a better camera, but the battery capacity is only 460 mAh more. Having reduced the characteristics of its mini flagship, the company focused on battery life, which, it seems to me, will be no less than that of the older brother of the hero of our review. And of course, support for two SIM cards, one of the fundamental advantages for many, which in our comparison only the LG G3 S can boast of. An equally fundamental criterion is, of course, the price; in Ukrainian retail you will have to pay for the LG G3 7,999 UAH, while for LG G3 S - 3,499 UAH. That is, the difference in cost is more than double. In Russian stores, next to the older model there will be a price tag with numbers. RUB 29,990, and near the younger one - RUB 12,990. With this, you can end the buyer’s guide and go directly to the review of the smartphone for which we have all gathered here today, let’s go.
Appearance, materials, arrangement of elements, ergonomics
Externally, the LG G3 S is the twin brother of the G3. One colleague from a resource friendly to us once told a funny story about how his entire editorial team confused these two devices with each other, they are so similar. This is not surprising, because both devices differ in appearance only in size and built-in sensors. By the way, I couldn’t find a brightness sensor on the front panel; the Koreans apparently abandoned it in order to reduce the cost. Let's better talk about what the smartphone has, on the front you can find a front camera, an earpiece, an LED indicator and a proximity sensor, on the bottom edge there is an LG logo on a very pleasant silver circular texture, to be honest, for the first time I don’t mind the logo the manufacturer was located in front, because if it is decorated with such an insert that pleases the eye, then why not? The main part of the front panel is occupied by a 5" screen, which is covered with protective glass with just a very poor oleophobic coating. If you don’t wipe your smartphone for 2-3 days, you will probably be uncomfortable showing it to your friends; the glass very quickly becomes covered with fingerprints and greasy stains . A small fly in the ointment is that all the above-described bullshit from the screen is very easily erased. By the way, in terms of the design of the front panel, I noticed that the top panel is very similar to the OnePlus One, and the appearance and arrangement of the elements are almost identical. No accusations of plagiarism, just a fun feature and it looks very nice. And the entire front panel turned out beautiful and expensive, maybe it’s because of the silver insert at the bottom or just a nice shape, but the aesthetic impressions are very pleasant. Moving on to other parts of the smartphone, you can immediately skip the side edges, which have been empty for the second year in a row, because the control keys have moved to the back cover of the smartphone, which, by the way, is removable. Under it there is a removable battery, two slots for SIM cards and a slot for a MicroSD card up to 64 GB. At the top of the rear panel, the designers placed an entire area that combines the main camera, volume control buttons and a lock key. The feel of the control buttons is excellent, they have a very nice and pleasant texture to the touch, and the lock button itself shimmers beautifully. On the sides of the above-described area there are camera assistants - flash and laser focus, a new feature of the Korean company. The LG logo is located in the center of the rear panel, and the only main speaker is at the bottom right. The appearance of the back panel is very reminiscent of brushed metal, but in fact it is just plastic with such a texture, the feel is something in between. Picking up a smartphone after some time, you certainly won’t feel the pleasant coolness of the metal, but you definitely won’t have to complain about the tactile sensations from the LG G3 S. The phone, by the way, just fits perfectly in the hand thanks to the rounded back panel. The ergonomics are in perfect order here. On the top of the device there is an additional microphone and an IR sensor for controlling household appliances. At the bottom there is a 3.5 mm headphone input, a MicroUSB input for charging, and a conversational microphone. There are no complaints about the assembly of the smartphone; questions arose only about the rattling internal elements of the camera, but this cannot be considered a minus, just a feature of the optics. What really upset me in terms of assembly is that the back cover does not fit tightly to the smartphone, this happens in the area where there is a recess for removing this very cover. Perhaps I will attribute this minus to the fact that we have a test sample of the G3 S in our editorial office; in the retail version, I assume that there will not be such a problem with the assembly.
Screen
The LG G3 S has a 5-inch display, these are the current sizes of the echelon of mini flagships, growing beyond their years, but... no, everything is correct, over the years. The screen resolution is 1280 x 720, the number of pixels per inch is 294. The color rendering of the smartphone is not the best; the picture takes on a bluish tint. The fonts are too sharp, the same problem, by the way, is present in its older brother - G3. On the plus side, I would like to note good viewing angles; noticeable color distortion occurs only with a strong tilt. The device does not use up the brightness reserve, in sunny weather you can view the picture on the device without problems, only the brightness should be at maximum, and you will have to turn it up manually, since there is no light sensor here. But I would say that the biggest disadvantage is the oleophobic coating, the aversion to which I already wrote above, not the color rendition, not oversaturated fonts, nothing else spoils the picture quality in the G3 S, like greasy stains and fingerprints. This is the main disadvantage of the screen, which in itself is not bad.
Sound
The only speaker located on the rear panel has very good sound. Despite its location, the speaker is not muffled thanks to the rounded shape of the rear panel. It is quite loud, and at maximum there is no particularly noticeable loss in sound, however, if you are sitting alone, you are unlikely to need to turn the volume up to 100%. The bass is also okay here. In general, the speaker turned out to be surprisingly successful. Why is it surprising? This is just my personal experience, after using the LG G2, Nexus 4.5 and G Pad 7.0, I thought that the Korean company didn’t care about sound quality at all, but the LG G3 S made me change my mind.
Cameras
The main 8 MP sensor produces images of acceptable quality in good lighting conditions, as for detail, in the photograph of a stream of cars you can see that the license plates of the nearest cars are clearly visible and easily distinguishable, but the far part of the stream is not entirely expressive, the same situation on the sides of the photo. As for pictures at night, you can see the overall picture without problems, since the camera successfully captures a lot of light, but dark areas such as the sky are noisy, and moving objects are easily blurred. The G3 S can take good macro shots; in good lighting, the central object in the photo turns out to be quite detailed, and the background blurs beautifully.
Examples of photos taken with the rear camera
The front camera has a resolution of 1.3 MP, pictures taken with it turn out to be inexpressive and with a lot of noise, but the shades of the face are all right, by the way, there is an HDR mode and it processes photos quite interestingly, the face turns out to be more detailed and smooth.
Examples of photos taken with the front camera
The standard camera application has two operating modes, the first is super simple, absolutely all settings are hidden in front of you and a photo is taken by clicking on any area of the screen. The second mode differs from the first in that you can select a shooting mode, by the way, there are only two of them here - auto and panorama, turn on the horizon grid, voice commands, select the photo resolution and turn on HDR, by the way, the standard application has an Auto mode HDR, in which the camera itself determines whether the photo needs to be processed in HDR or not. By the way, regarding resolution, the rear camera is capable of taking pictures in a resolution of 3264 x 2448 and shooting video in Full HD. The maximum resolution of pictures on the front camera is 1280 x 960, and videos are obtained in HD quality.
Camera application interface
Performance
The heart of the LG G3 S is a 1 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor. The graphics accelerator here is Adreno 305. The RAM in the device is 1 GB. The overall performance of the device is at an average level, the smartphone does not fly, but in most cases it works quickly and smoothly, although it is not difficult to make it slow down, from time to time the phone begins to take a long time to respond to the navigation buttons, lose frames when scrolling through tabs in applications, opening the control center, etc. Further. In heavy games, the performance is not bad, they run on low or medium graphics settings and work without problems, while the device heats up very little even if you play at maximum settings in Dead Trigger 2, by the way, even with such parameters there are no big complaints about the speed of operation occurs, the action in the game is a little slower than on medium and low settings, but overall you can play.
Autonomy
The LG G3 S has a removable battery with a capacity of 2540 mAh, taking into account not the most top-end hardware and good optimization, with this device you can safely count on a day of active workload and 4 hours of screen time with heavy games, calls, and frequent checking of social media. networks and so on. With more gentle use, the smartphone will last 2-3 days with 5-5.5 hours of screen without any problems. When playing HD video, the device will last about 9 hours, and in heavy games about 6. With the G3 S you definitely won’t be lost at the end of the day, but just in case there is a power saving mode; it doesn’t perform any particularly complex actions, it simply turns off the communication modules, reduces screen brightness and so on.
Software
LG G3 S runs on the current version of Android 4.4.2, on top of which an updated version of the proprietary Optimus UI shell is installed. The appearance of the system was refreshed, it became more restrained, the color scheme from bright, and in some cases, poisonous colors was replaced by calm pastel tones, and icons and standard applications shed the volume that is outdated in the modern world of interfaces and became completely flat. The changes regarding the appearance, in my opinion, can be considered successful, although it cannot be denied that lovers of bright, colorful interfaces may get bored with the calm shades of Optimus UI. The shell itself is intuitive and convenient; increase the speed of operation a little and everything would be fine, but here the complaints are more about optimization. The shell contains a quiet clock that can be configured to turn on according to a given schedule; they change the sound profile, turn off the LED indicator and block incoming calls. All these options can be customized. The sound and vibration settings for calls and SMS are different for each SIM card. The proprietary features Knock On and Knock Code work well in about 8 cases out of 10, the bigger drawback is the speed of response to tapping; sometimes you have to wait more than a second for the screen to light up. On-screen buttons can be swapped, for which many thanks to the developers; to be honest, for a long time I don’t understand why this feature has not yet become a standard in all other shells. In addition to changing the location of the keys, you can choose the color of the screen area they occupy; white and black options are available, with or without a gradient. Inside the shell itself there is a smart cleanup feature that periodically analyzes your files and offers to get rid of application cache and other temporary content. Optimus UI has had the ability to back up phone settings, apps, and other content for quite some time now. Separately, I would like to note the multitasking menu, which in my opinion is one of the most convenient among all shells, as well as the system for displaying notifications from standard applications in the form of pop-up windows.
Results
The LG G3 S is a controversial product, I would like to start with the shortcomings. The first is the speed of operation, usually it is at an acceptable level, far from Nexus, but overall not bad. What’s alarming is that it’s not difficult to make the phone slow down, I don’t see the point in looking for the culprit here, but you can blame it all on poor optimization, small amount of RAM or, in the end, that we have a test sample on our hands. I personally hope for the latter option. But the fact remains that the smartphone often shakes and this affects the user experience. The second drawback is the oleophobic coating, which creates an unpleasant contrast between the overall premium one. the design of the smartphone and its front panel, which will often get dirty and covered with greasy stains. All other disadvantages, in my opinion, are not very significant. Of the advantages, I would note the appearance of the smartphone and its ergonomics. its price, and it fits comfortably in the hand. Another advantage of the LG G3 S is its battery life, the battery capacity here is higher than the average of competitors in the class, and in symbiosis with the not the latest hardware platform, excellent battery life is achieved. Well, the fundamental advantage for many is the cost of the LG G3 S; among other mini flagships, this is the most affordable device.
Prices in online stores
It is possible to display similar models if this one is not in the catalog.
Even if you bought an LG G3 with a maximum memory of 32GB, you will only have 25GB available for direct use. To compensate for such a significant loss, multimedia lovers buy microSD cards, but how to insert them correctly into a brand new smartphone? Now let's figure it out!
If you decide to expand the memory capacity of the LG G3, then memory cards up to 128 GB inclusive are available to you. Below we have described a simple and clear way to install a card in a smartphone.
Open the back cover
The first thing you need to do is remove the rear protective cover of your G3. Hook your fingernail into the small slot in the lower left corner (as viewed from behind) and pull it open. Don't worry, you won't break it. The back panel of the smartphone is completely removable.
Insert a microSD memory card into the slot
Right next to the camera on the right side there is a SIM card slot. Just on top of it is a slot for a memory card. Unlike many other smartphones, the LG G3 does not require you to remove the battery to replace the card. Place the microSD memory card you purchased with the contacts facing down and the flat side on the left (the side of the card with the “step” will remain on the right).
Insert the memory card all the way into the slot
The last step is to simply insert the card all the way into the slot upwards, as shown in the photo. Approximately 20% of the card's surface will be hidden in the case.
To remove the memory card, hook your fingernail on the uneven edge and pull down with a little force. Please note that to prevent possible data loss, it is recommended to turn off the smartphone when removing the memory card.
You can buy the LG G3 smartphone itself and its accessories.
It came to me from St. Petersburg under the reliable care of EMS Russian Post, I had already read reviews of this gadget and numerous reviews of it. And I couldn’t figure it out: what is he like? Will I like him? More precisely, not to me, but to my soulmate, because I dedicated my victory to her (along with the prize). Judging by the description, the smartphone is confidently average both in terms of hardware and software components. But the reviews about the next creation of the Koreans were very mixed - from enthusiastic to derogatory. The power and volume buttons, located on the back cover directly below the camera, evoke perhaps the strongest (but so different) emotions. The material of the case and its shape do not cause any rejection, but they also do not amaze with their perfection.
Dual SIM support? It’s good, but the bad thing is that they are both micro format (old SIM cards must either be changed or cut). The screen is generally somewhat dull, and even without any oleophobic coating. A camera with laser autofocus seems to focus quickly, but it takes pictures no better than cameras from other devices that are conditionally equal in terms of hardware. The fact that the Android hardware buttons "Recent Programs", "Home" and "Back" became on-screen was never a highlight, and for some it was completely inconvenient. And the 2540 mAh battery seems to be not small, but how long will it be enough for everyday use? Only, probably, tapping the screen to lock/unlock is unequivocally approved.
In general, I had a lot of questions, but no clear answers. Now, after a month, I can already say that this model from the LG smartphone line deserves your (and our) attention, it just needs a little trickery. But I won’t get ahead of myself, everything is in order (like decent people). And, first of all, the reflection of the spring sky and green grass in our hero’s screen.
The review turned out to be unexpectedly large, because the smartphone turned out to be unexpectedly interesting. You can safely skip small deviations from the topic of the review, especially if you are not at all interested in my opinions and some purely technical details.
FIRST IMPRESSION
Here is a smartphone in the hands of a researcher, that is, me. A white and red box, inside is the phone itself, underneath is literature - a quick guide and warranty card, a charger and a microUSB cable.
We put the pieces of paper back into the box, the box into a far, dark corner and forget about it. The charger goes into the bottom drawer of the desk. It was made in China, and made well. No adapters, straight European standard and European certification. At the output, the charger gives 0.85 A, which makes you remember your higher mathematical education: if you divide the battery capacity by the output current of the charger, you get 3 hours minus a few minutes - the time it takes to charge a smartphone with a complete charger.
Well, finally, the first start! We wait, we wait a little more. We look at the logo of the manufacturing company. Enter the information required when you turn it on for the first time. Hurray, it's on! Yes, the first startup took almost a minute. I hasten to reassure you, the following inclusions happened and are happening much faster. Oh, what is it that’s already stuck on the screen and doesn’t come off, but just smudges? Yes, these are my “sweat-fat ones,” as they say in the TV series “Trace.” I didn’t even expect that the lack of oleophobic coating would be so critical for the screen. There will be no photographs of this horror, you can believe me - it’s an unsightly sight. And the most attentive readers could already notice from the second and third photographs that, most likely, protective glass was glued to the screen. But more on that later. And now about first impressions.
For a device with a five-inch screen, the LG G3 S looks tiny. This fact is facilitated by thin side frames (not minimal, but thin) and a small space under the screen occupied by the LG logo (the buttons have moved to the screen). And the beveled side edges of the back cover give the smartphone a thinner appearance than it actually is. At the ends of all edges there is a silver insert “like rough-cut metal”, which gives the smartphone some elegance and a little distances it from the image of a large piece of soap.
The smartphone lies quite comfortably in the hand, but the side edges are somehow sharp or something. It seems that with an awkward movement they will scratch the palm or fingers. Personally, I had a desire to process the ends of the device with a file (at the same time I’ll check what kind of inserts are made of “roughly processed metal”), but concern for the safety of the gadget won out, and the file, which had perked up, went disappointedly back to its place.
Those same power and volume buttons, located in such an unexpected place, did not cause any inconvenience when finding and pressing them. The index finger almost immediately accurately rests on them and, based on tactile sensations, immediately transmits to the brain information about the purpose of the button that is currently asking the finger to press. Why is it so easy to recognize buttons? Because the middle one - power - is slightly (but sufficiently) higher than the volume buttons, so they can be distinguished very easily by touch. Additionally, the power button is smooth while the volume buttons are textured. Only occasionally does a finger, out of habit, end up in the camera's peephole. “Out of the box” the buttons are protected with a transparent sticker so that, probably, the magical customs gnomes who can check unopened boxes do not scratch them.
This sticker has already collected dust, but here is a photo without the sticker:
The screen, despite reviews about dullness and cold colors, turned out to be quite pleasant and bright. It is actually somewhat pale, but to a large extent it is made so by the only design theme, made in some dim colors. All labels are drawn without all those flashy orange-red-blue-green colors that Samsung uses. All built-in wallpapers are distinguished by the same moderation in color. I couldn’t see individual pixels on the screen, no matter how hard I tried. In bright sunlight, the screen remains readable; in principle, you can even read small text, but glare will interfere.
By the way, about glare. The screen is made without the use of OGS technology, but glare in bright light (especially in natural sunlight) does not occupy a dominant position on the screen. If we compare it with the screen of the Samsung 3 Lite SM-T 110 tablet, then there is very little glare at all.
The screen also looks a little concave, although in fact it is perfectly flat.
So, the first impression is quite good: good assembly (no creaks, comfortable to hold in the hand), good screen (brightness and color rendition), convenient power and volume buttons. Let's move on to a more detailed consideration, taking into account the time when the smartphone was heavily used, its capabilities were explored and its strengths and weaknesses were determined. First, let's look at the technical specifications.
SPECIFICATIONS
OS: Android 4.4.2.
Processor: Qualcomm MSM8226 Snapdragon 400 - four cores with a frequency of up to 1.2 GHz, Adreno 305 video processor.
Memory: RAM - 1024 MB, ROM - 8 GB (4.77 GB available to the user).
Screen: 5-inch TTF-IPS matrix with a resolution of 1280*720, pixel density 294 ppi (screen coating - glass, OGS - no), aspect ratio 16:9, 5-point touch sensor.
Camera: main - 8 MP with laser autofocus and flash, front camera - 1.3 MP.
Network: GSM 900/1900, WCDMA 900/2100.
Number of SIM: 2 micro-SIM.
Communications: Wi-Fi - 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, infrared.
Navigation: GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS support.
Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor.
Battery: lithium-ion, removable, capacity - 2540 mAh, NFC - no.
Physical dimensions: 137.75 x 69.6 x 10.3 mm.
Memory card support: microSD up to 32 GB.
Synchronization with PC: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microUSB cable.
Event indicator: yes, red LED.
SECOND AND ALL SUBSEQUENT IMPRESSIONS...
...from the screen
And since we’ve just discussed the impression of the screen, let’s start with that. The screen of the LG G3 S turned out to be the most unexpected and pleasant surprise presented by the smartphone. As I already said, the G3 S matrix has natural color reproduction, but it cannot boast of color saturation. When looking at the desktop picture, the strange words “pastel colors” come to mind. Developing this idea, I will explain that pastel colors or tones are obtained in painting by adding white paint to the main color. But this already leads to another thought: was pen tile technology used here (adding a fourth, white or another green pixel to the main three pixels - red, green and blue). In general, Samsung suffers from this, but LG? But there seems to be no pixelation, but it would be on a pen tile display. Unclear. But, choosing between the acidic red-yellow-blue-green colors of Samsung and the “pastel” of LG, I still prefer the latter, especially since on this particular G3 S the brightness is quite sufficient. To be fair, it should be noted that in the settings menu there is one item called “Color Settings” and placed in the “Special Features” section.
The explanation says that here you can adjust the color contrast of the screen. To do this, you need to move a small circle (four millimeters in diameter) across the picture (screen with the application menu). And so we move our finger across the screen, and the colors of the screen change in the most unpredictable way: blue suddenly becomes bright green, blue - purple, red - first yellow-green, and then some kind of purple. In general, you can get any color from any color, but there is no pattern. I remember in Photoshop you press Ctrl+b and you get three scales for adjusting colors - everything is simple and clear, but here... And everyone in the reviews writes that the screen of the G3 S is not very good, but you can change the settings in the menu colors; However, many people add that the colors are unnatural. Very unnatural, I tell you.
And then, on one forum (I don’t remember which one) I came across a small note with a recommendation for adjusting the color on the LG G3 S display. It (in the note) said that experimentally (using special measuring instruments) it was found that the gamma coefficient of the G3 S display is 2.0 instead of the required 2.2. And also attached was a screenshot of the color adjustment screen, showing where to place that same circle to get a gamma value of 2.2 (and even 2.4).
A small digression from the topic of the review. Without going into too much detail, gamma coefficient (or simply gamma) can be defined as the ratio between the numerical value of a pixel and its actual luminosity. This gamma is necessary because digital technology and the human eye perceive light differently. For example, doubling the illumination for our eyes means that it has become slightly brighter, but a light-measuring device (or a camera, or another device that perceives light) will record twice the number of photons. Therefore, gamma is also called the conversion of lighting equipment readings to the sensitivity of our eyes. The gamma value for LCD displays is assumed to be 2.2. A change in gamma causes a change in brightness and contrast: when gamma decreases, brightness increases and contrast decreases; As gamma increases, brightness decreases and contrast increases. In general, I don’t really understand this myself, but somehow this is used in the settings of the LG G3 S. Let's return to the review.
I followed the advice, moved the circle to the required place (gamma 2.2), and... a miracle happened! All the “pastel” of the flowers disappeared as if by magic! The screen became not only bright and clear, but also rich! Positively, I did not expect such a spectacular transformation. And immediately a perplexed and rhetorical question to the developers: was it really impossible to make just two buttons - “make the screen worse” and “make the screen better”, why organize such a charade? Well, okay, the main thing is that there is a result and the result is excellent!
As already mentioned, I could not see individual pixels on the screen, but digital technology, and specifically the Canon EOS 1100D camera, helped me with this. This is the collage I ended up with:
I won’t say anything about the glass covering the screen; there is simply no information about it. Regular glass or tempered glass? No answer. For statistics: after two and a half weeks of use, the glass did not receive a single scratch, although the smartphone was carried without any protection in the same pocket with keys and other small items (I confess, I did this on purpose - for a test, although it was a little scary), and also made a rash a jump from a height of one and a half meters onto a roughly processed wooden floor (I will mention this jump later).
The disadvantages of the screen include the absence of a light sensor. So you have to manually adjust the brightness of the display when changing external lighting (fingers, to be precise).
Now let’s finish off the topic of the screen by considering the problem of the lack of an oleophobic coating. And here everything is simple and unambiguous. There is no oleophobic coating - this is very bad. Very. It is necessary to glue any, even the most seedy protective film. But many owners of smartphones and tablets do not like films, they even cannot stand them, and I am one of them. What to do, how to be? I don’t want to give away a smartphone with such an obvious flaw. And then I remembered that you can glue not only films to the screen, but also glass. I looked at the information on protective glasses online, and looked at the price tags in stores. Bourgeois prices. But there is Aliexpress! I ordered a protective glass with good reviews and specifically for the LG G3 S model for four and a half hated dollars.
Two weeks later I received a completely intact, not broken (good packaging - a big plus for the seller) piece of glass with a bunch of napkins and stickers to remove dust. The glass itself is glued together from a whole bunch of different layers designed to perform their specific function. The thickness of the glass is 3 mm, but it seems to me that it is thicker, because the manufacturer lied (as they all do) and did not calculate the thickness of the silicone layer, which acts as glue. The edges of the glass are processed - rounded, so it is impossible to cut yourself.
Gluing the glass turned out to be a very simple matter: I wiped the smartphone screen, peeled off the transport film from the glass and, after taking aim, placed it on the screen. The glass stuck evenly, but only about sixty percent of the surface; air remained under the rest of the surface. Then, right before our eyes, the glass straightened into an ideal plane and within literally five seconds squeezed out all the air down to the slightest bubble. Once I had to glue the film, so I suffered much longer there. And again a pleasant surprise! If we exclude small (very small) gaps between the edge of the glass and the frame of the case, as well as a cutout in the glass for the speaker, proximity sensor, camera and indicator, then it turned out just lovely. The picture did not deteriorate one iota, the finger began to slide across the screen much easier (and somehow more pleasant), and the oleophobic coating on the Chinese glass turned out to be, although not perfect, quite decent. To be fair, I won’t hide the fact that there is a little more glare from the sun, but these are minor things, because the main problem has been solved: an oleophobic coating has appeared, and additional protection for the screen from both scratches and impacts (not one hundred percent, but still).
The next thing I will describe may not be related to the screen, but I will do it now (I will describe it and refer it to it). Knock Lock is a proprietary LG technology that allows you to both unlock and lock the device by double tapping the screen. Until now, this method has been rarely used (it seems that Motorola had something similar, and HTC, although I’m not sure), but LG has emphasized this. Overall, a very convenient feature. I am not very favorable towards any programmed physical actions with the device - shaking, turning over, waving, and so on - there are a lot of random operations. In the Knock Lock technology, accidental activations are minimized, although “even an old woman can find a hole”: when running, when the phone is in your pocket with the screen facing the body and close to this very body, there are also accidental unlocks. In general, the sensor is very sensitive, it works even when wearing knitted construction gloves (I tried it and it worked), although there is no corresponding setting.
There are small applications for Android that allow you to lock your device with a double (or triple - everything can be customized) tap on the screen; But with unlocking it’s somehow difficult, I didn’t find such applications. So LG is leading in this direction.
That's all on the screen. Scoring screen.
...from the body and buttons
I don’t know, maybe I should have called the review “Ugly Smartphone”? It had an average screen, but it became excellent. It had some sharp and scratchy side edges, but it became smooth and comfortable. How did this happen, you ask? And here it is: a strip of rather thick and hard film was glued to each of the four edges of the smartphone, which created a scratchy feeling. I noticed the film only when it began to peel off around the edges of the socks in my pocket.
The screen also seemed concave to me, but this impression appeared due to the beveled edges of the back cover (it is convex) and the side frames of the case protruding above the surface of the screen. But after sticking the protective glass on, it began to protrude slightly above the frames and the smartphone no longer seemed concave from the front, even the image on the screen somehow changed subtly. I didn’t understand what was going on here right away, but only after reading the news about Oppo R7, where it was written: “The screen of Oppo R7 is covered with glass with the so-called 2.5D effect - protruding above the edging running along the sides and rounded at the edges.” That's right, 2.5D! How did I not understand right away?!
In general, based on the appearance of the case, the smartphone is suitable for both women and men. But, in my opinion, there is a little more femininity in it, but no brutality at all. Due to the beveled edges of the back cover, the smartphone seems much thinner than it actually is.
Now let's check the smartphone body for bending and torsion. Hmmm... If you apply more effort, the back cover begins to crunch. If you don’t overdo it, the assembly of the case is on par. The technological holes are not cut perfectly, but neatly, without burrs. There are no plugs - neither plastic nor rubber - so there is no protection against dust, and it was not claimed.
I’ll say a few words about the convenient and conveniently located power and volume buttons. Yes, they are comfortable. Yes, they are easy to distinguish tactilely. Yes, the first impression has not changed: the buttons are great. Taking a screenshot with the power button and the volume down button is very convenient, although sometimes you get not a screenshot, but a decrease in volume. It’s very, well, just very convenient to turn pages when reading books: the index finger rests on the slightly concave textured volume down button (easily configured for turning pages in any e-reader) like in a chair and lazily commands the pages to turn. Beauty! The buttons themselves do not dangle, do not protrude much above the lid, and look very natural and stylish under the camera; Pressing the buttons is clear, with a barely audible click. Accidental clicks have not happened yet (not noticed). There are suspicions that for people with long fingers the buttons will no longer be as convenient as, for example, for me with short fingers.
The entire front side of the case is covered with glass. The screen does not blend in color with the black frames of the case, but the impression of this is not spoiled by the gray lower part of the case with the LG logo. But the front camera, proximity sensor and LED, located next to the voice speaker, stand out unsightly with their unsightly appearance: they seem to be almost invisible, but still they scratch the eye.
By the way, about the LED. He is red and modest. When the battery is charging, it glows steadily with a dim red light. For any missed event, it blinks with the same red light and just as dimly once every ten seconds. I think this is enough, so I didn’t bother with additional settings of the indicator using third-party programs. In the settings, the LED can be turned off altogether or configured for any of the specified events.
There is nothing particularly outstanding under the back cover: a removable battery, slots for SIM cards and memory cards, a speaker and other screws. Well, if you're interested, take a look:
And it’s time to remember that case of a smartphone falling, which I already mentioned. So, on one bright, bright day, in one bright, bright room with a beautiful wooden floor (never soft, but rather the opposite), one little girl (my beloved daughter) with an LG G3 S smartphone in her left hand was photographing everything. . And she showed each photo to dad, that is, to me. And so, seven nannies, that is, two normal and moderately dexterous people, had a smartphone fall to the floor face down, bounce up, bounce again, turn over in the air and finally land with the back cover down.
Do you see the consequences? The glass is strong, although maybe I was just lucky, but the plastic of the back cover is very soft. On the same Aliexpress, a bumper (five dollars) and a cover (almost ten dollars) were ordered. The bumper is still wandering around somewhere, but the case has already undergone initial fitting for the smartphone and is in full use, so let’s move on to the next impression...
...from using a smartphone in a case
Eugene
