LG G4 announced, coming sim-free to Mobile Fun

The LG G4 was announced this week in a star-studded event in London. Our second-favourite Korean chaebol showed off its 2015 flagship, complete with a new leather look and heavily upgraded internals. There’s a lot of exciting stuff to talk about, so let’s get right into it!

The first thing you’ll notice with the new G4 is the display. It’s the same size and resolution as the LG G3 that preceded it, but thanks to a new display technology called “Quantum IPS”, it looks a hell of a lot better. LG say that is has the same impeccable colour accuracy as displays used for colour-grading films, plus it’s 25% brighter and has 50% better contrast. Despite these leaps, the display is also 11% more efficient than its predecessor, allowing LG to maintain a 3,000 mAh battery without worrying about a decrease in performance. The screen is also slightly curved – not nearly as much as the LG G Flex 2, but enough that it should keep the screen intact in the event of a drop.

The other thing you’ll notice about the G4 is its back. Yes, LG’s characteristic rear-mounted buttons are still present and correct, but this time the innovation is in the choice of materials. The back of the G4 is made of real vegetable-tanned leather, which provides a unique look, feel and even smell. You can also find the G4 with a standard plastic back if leather’s not your thing, but LG are really pushing the leather option to differentiate their phone from its competitors.

The back of the phone is removable, revealing a replaceable battery and a micro SD card slot. That wouldn’t be a unique feature a few years ago, but even battery cover stalwarts like Samsung have switched over to closed, unibody designs that don’t allow you to easily swap batteries. That makes the G4 something of a rarity; it’s a feature that LG hopes will attract road warriors and power users who feel betrayed by Samsung and others.

Internally, the G4 is fully upgraded for 2015. There’s a Snapdragon 808 processor (newly announced for the G4), backed with 3G of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and a highly accurate GPS system that LG say is twice as good as other phones.

The G4’s camera has also been brought into the modern day, with a 16-megapixel sensor, a bright f/1.8 aperture lens and upgraded image stabilisation. The laser autofocus system that debuted on the G3 makes a reappearance, alongside a “colour spectrum sensor” that should improve colour accuracy and white balance. In terms of software, we’re also getting more manual controls that should be appreciated by photography enthusiasts.

Speaking of software, we’ve got upgrades across the board here too. The G4 ships with Android 5.1 Lollipop with LG’s custom user interface on top. Like Samsung and HTC, the Korean company has removed a lot of superfluous apps for their Google counterparts, making for a leaner experience out of the box. LG are also teaming up with Google to offer 100GB of Drive space for two years.

The G4 looks like a strong alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9, particularly if you’re looking for a replaceable battery, removable storage and a top-notch camera.

The LG G4 will launch on May 28th, at a similar price point to the LG G3. That’s £499 for the plastic version, and £520 for the leather version. We’ll be selling the G4 sim-free and unlocked, and as a special bonus we’ll be tossing in an Olixar screen protector worth £13 with every order.

To place your pre-order or see our LG G4 accessories, visit the links below:

• SIM Free LG G4 32GB – Metallic Gold
• SIM Free LG G4 32GB – Metallic Grey
• SIM Free LG G4 32GB – Leather Brown
• SIM Free LG G4 32GB – Leather Black
• See our LG G4 accessories
• See our LG G4 cases

Thanks for checking out our article on the LG G4! Please stay tuned for more information, and be sure to let us know in the comments if you have any feedback or questions! We’ll have much more to come on the G4 in the weeks and months to come!