Galaxy S6 vs. LG G4 – Which Phone Should You Buy?

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If you are on the fence between the Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge or the LG G4, you may want to consider several factors like size, display, battery life, storage, and some more.  These are probably the two of the baddest of Android smartphone this year and here’s my recommendations based on using both of them as daily drivers for more than 2 weeks.

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First, the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge and LG G4 are different type of beasts.  The Galaxy S6/S6 Edge are phones considered “normal” or “small” while LG G4 certainly is a “phablet” device (5.5-inches or larger phones) that require two hands for typing (unless you are a giant).   In other words, they are two different types of devices, think of it as a cheeseburger vs. a whopper.

Now, many of you who want a one-handed operation of your smartphone may want the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge more, especially if you are coming from a smaller phone like a Galaxy S5 or Moto X.  On the other hand, if you tend to like large smartphone phablets like the Note 4 or Nexus 6, you may want to get the LG G4 as the screen on the Galaxy S6 is simply way too small.  As a phablet lover myself, I prefer the size of LG G4 and if I had to choose one device, it’s definitely going to be the LG G4 because of the size.  I just find it much harder to type on the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge for a long time (and I type on my smartphone all day long) plus everything looks very small while the LG G4 gives me plenty of room to type and smaller letters on websites look much bigger.

With that said, if you don’t read rest of this review, at least I would like you to try both phones and see which size fits your hands the best and decide.  For some, it could be that they prefer the LG G4 even if you have small hands and for others, it could be that they prefer the Galaxy S6 even though you are 7-foot giant.

 

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Galaxy S6 has that nice glass feel but I do highly suggest using a case for it as the glass on the back can easily shatter.  With a case, the glass feel is obviously gone, beating the purpose of it.

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LG G4 has a practical, curved back which naturally fits in your hand.  Even with a case, you still get that nice curved fit.

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Second, if size isn’t really the most important thing for you when buying a new smartphone, perhaps performance is.  As far as raw CPU power and performance, the Galaxy S6 eclipses the LG G4 by many moons scoring near 70K on Antutu while the G4 can barely break 50K.

Although these are just benchmark numbers, if you compare CPU-intensive apps side-by-side, the Galaxy S6 will win every time.  Of course, in real life usage, I didn’t find that the LG G4 was far behind as most light apps (like G-mail, browser, Twitter, etc…) don’t require much power.  I only experienced differences in performance when playing graphic-intensive games.   If you don’t use apps that require a lot of CPU/GPU power, performance is about the same for both but if you do play a lot of hardcore games or do video editing on your phone, the Galaxy S6 will win it.  It’s physics, the Exynos 7420 on the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge runs faster and cooler than Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor on the G4.

If performance is absolutely the most important thing to you, Galaxy S6/S6 Edge is the right choice.

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Third, both of these phones have great 1440P screens with 2560×1440 pixels.  I find that for normal usage indoors, both of these displays perform great, showing great detail and contrast.  The Galaxy S6/S6 Edge comes with AMOLED screen while the LG G4 comes with an LCD screen.  The AMOLED screens on the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge are much brighter than the LCD screen found on the G4.  With that said, if you don’t use your phone in the sun often, it’s not going to matter too much.  But if you do, the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge can get almost twice brighter in the sun.  The viewing angles on the LG G4 is great but it’s excellent on the S6/S6 Edge due to its brighter screen along with better AMOLED technology.

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Also AMOLED screens on the S6/S6 Edge have the ability to show whiter whites and dimmer blacks/greys.   Again, this isn’t going to matter hugely unless you are nitty gritty about displays.

Overall, I would have to give an edge to the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge due to its better display but for normal smartphone usage (not in the sun), they both do awesome job.

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Fourth, battery life on the LG G4 is not as good as the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge (when tested with same screen brightness) but the LG G4 comes with removable battery while the S6/S6 Edge comes with Ultra Power Saving Mode that can let you use your phone for a long time on black and white.

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If you absolutely need to have long battery life (perhaps you are a journalist who travels and takes a lot of photos/videos with a smartphone), you may want to consider the LG G4 more.  Physically, the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge has fast charging and Ultra Power Saving Mode but it still needs to be recharged at some point in time.   The LG G4 requires no recharging if you carry an extra battery and charger, simply swap out your battery and you can keep using your phone.  If Murphy’s Law applies to your life very often, you may be stuck with a phone that does not work the next time you forget to charge your Galaxy S6/S6 Edge and even your USB power bank runs out of battery at the crucial moment you need to take an important phone call for your next job.

If you need long battery life, simply you cannot go wrong with LG G4.  No matter how many fast chargers and USB power banks you own, they simply don’t compete against removable batteries.

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Fifth, the camera on both LG G4 and Galaxy S6/S6 Edge are excellent.  We are almost reaching the days where we can ditch our DSLR cameras and both phones outperform anything else on the market including iPhone 6, HTC One, Moto X, Nexus 6, etc…etc…

There are minor differences between the LG G4 and the Galaxy S6 but in most cases, I would say they are very equal in terms of photo/video quality and 4K OIS.

The Galaxy S6 does however offer 60fps (frames per second) at 1080P while the LG G4 doesn’t.

The LG G4 offers full manual mode with shutter speed control while Galaxy S6 doesn’t.

We could probably go on forever about differences but overall, you cannot go wrong with either phone. 

For my full comparison, see my LG G4 vs. Galaxy S6 Camera Comparison.

 

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Speakers on both phones are very loud with the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge scoring near 120dB while the LG G4 scored 110dB at maximum volume.

I prefer the speaker position on the bottom of the phone like the Galaxy S6 as you can hear it much louder if you like to listen to your music with the phone in the pocket.  But they are both pretty good with Galaxy S6 being slightly louder.

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Galaxy S6 also comes with a fingerprint and heart rate sensor (which I forgot to mention in my video) while the LG G4 doesn’t.

Overall, you should really consider what you really want out of your new smartphone.  Is it the perfect size/feel, gaming/CPU performance, display/brightness, battery life, storage, or camera?

After all these thing are considered, you may want to buy the phone with the features you want.  There’s a perfect for everyone and it could be the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge or the LG G4.

 

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Max Lee

Max Lee is the founder of HighOnAndroid.com. Max makes Android tutorials and review videos for people who want to get high on Android over at his YouTube channel and Korean YouTube channel.