NEYORK—Samsung HTC aren’t the only ones dueling it out in the premium smartphone game this spring. ’s throwing its own entry into the ring, too, with its fourth-generation flagship device, the G4.
Here’s what to expect when the phone eventually comes stateside next month, though if you live in Korea you can buy the phone beginning April 29.
nt more on the G4? Check out our hs-on impressions.
t’s try leather for a change
That’s real cowhide right there.
The G4 offers something its opponents don’t: a leather outfit. There are eight different leather backings, as well as two polymer (plastic) ones, including one ceramic-coated back, all of which are interchangeable so that you can match them with your outfits as you see fit.
The leather is real cowhide that’s “vegetable aged” with banana peels other organics, which is why it will take three months before the leather back is ready to outfit the phone. said that the leather it chose is “the same leather used in the premium br hbags sold on Fifth Avenue.”
The G4 is just a tad thicker— longer—than the G3.
The phone itself is a tad thicker than its predecessor, the G3, it definitely has a bit of heft to it compared to the Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 ge. It also sports the same rear-facing buttons as the G2 G3, which now refers to as the “identity” of its smartphones.
A Snapdragon… 808?
didn’t power the G4 with a Snapdragon 810 processor, despite the fact that it’s used in the company’s G Flex 2. Instead, the G4 runs a Snapdragon 808 processor, supported by 3GB of RAM a 3000 mAh removable battery pack.
Forget ’s marketing terminology for a second enjoy the G4’s high contrast QuadHD display.
Those components also power the phone’s 5.5-inch Quad HD I “Quantum Display.” Rather than using conventional blue yellow light sources, the G4 utilizes blues, reds, greens, which says contributes to the “[Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI)] quality display in the G4.” It’s the same quantum dot technology used in the company’s latest TVs.
doesn’t offer its own proprietary mobile payment system, like Samsung does. The company opted to stick with what Android natively offers, which is llet via NFC. There is also no mention of fast charging capabilities, though the Snapdragon 808 supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge. reless charging will only be possible with the G4’s Folio case, which is sold separately.
Rear-facing camera with a cherry on top
The rear-facing camera got a makeover, too. increased the resolution from 13- to 16-megapixels, balancing pixel size on the small sensor with resolution. The camera module employs an f/1.8 aperture lens that lets in more light to improve low-light photos it has the same optical image stabilization (OIS) laser autofocus featured in the G3.
The G4’s manual-shooting mode is particularly impressive.
The companion camera app also offers a manual shooting mode, which lets you adjust every little facet of the photo, including white balance shutter speed, as well as the option to save your photos in RAformat. en you’re ready, you can then take those photos adjust them as you like with desktop apps like otoshop or ghtroom.
The front-facing camera is 8-megapixels, which beats out both the HTC One M9 Galaxy S6’s front-facing cameras. The G4’s front-facing camera offers a “beautify” mode, which smoothes out your skin makes you look cherub-like. In addition to this, added a new selfie mode that takes four photos at once, each a second apart, so you can decide which photo looks best for sharing with your social network. It’s sort of like a photo booth.
A little more
Chrome is the default browser on most of the G4 devices.
said it “spent a lot of effort with to deliver the best Android experience,” regardless of the fact that the G4 is not a Nexus device.
Depending on the carrier, Chrome will be the only browser installed on the phone. There are still a few apps, however, like its Smart calendar, which has direct integration with Facebook’s location services, a Gallery app, which said it overhauled to make it faster more concise. also teamed up with to offer 100GB of Drive storage for anyone who brings home a G4.
Anything extra?
Gasp! It’s a removable battery!
Those of you rueing the loss of the removable battery storage expansion slot on the Galaxy S6 might want to give the G4 a try when it goes on sale. played up those facts even said it expects to sell a whole lot of removable batteries for its flagship device this year. It’s a deliberate dig at Samsung, though it’s a wonder if a removable battery pack is really going to be the major selling point of a flagship device.
itor’s note: updated this story at 4:45 p.m. on April 28 with correct information about the G4’s camera sensor.
