LG’s G6 has already impressed us in a few ways: namely in terms of design and its overall fit and finish. However, like with any other phone, there are a few more details that LG didn’t make perfectly clear right off the bat. So, let’s take a closer look…
The LG G6 doesn’t support fast wireless charging
The LG G6 supports wireless charging in the US. Awesome! Well, sort of. LG may have built-in both Qi and PMA wireless charging, but it’s Qi standard is a bit older compared to something like the Galaxy S8/S7. According to LG, the LG G6 won’t support fast wireless charging; instead it’s restricted to the slower speeds we saw on devices before the Galaxy Note 5. Why the lack? Well, we know that Samsung is using a somewhat proprietary method to make use of fast wireless charging, but that shouldn’t stop LG from taking advantage of the officially available Qi fast charging method. Oh well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Gorilla Glass 5 on the back, 4 on the camera, 3 on the front?
Like Samsung’s recent smartphones (and now its tablet), the LG G6 is equipped with a “glass sandwich” design. While that’s a plug for some reasons, it does lead to a more fragile design. Luckily, LG is taking precautions. The back of the phone is equipped with the more impact resistant Gorilla Glass 5, and the camera sensor is covered with Gorilla Glass 4. Oddly enough, though, LG opted to go with Gorilla Glass 3 on the front panel.
As Android Authority reports, the front panel is entirely made from Gorilla Glass 3. Now, Gorilla Glass 3 is by no means bad, but it seems odd to say the least that LG would opt for the glass first shown off almost four years ago. According to an LG spokesperson, the G6 uses Gorilla Glass 3 on the front for sake of the thickness, but that doesn’t really make much sense, even though it is apparently the thinnest available version. It could also be a cost saving measure, but it seems odd that LG would effectively make the class on the front of the phone ─ the most crucial part ─ the weakest link.
There’s an advanced heat pipe for the battery to avoid any “Note”-able issues
As LG pointed out in its G6 announcement, the company is taking heat seriously, especially concerning the battery. This, of course, makes sense considering everything that happened with the Note 7. An early teardown from iFixIt reveals the heat pipe LG was talking about, which is designed specifically to keep both the Snapdragon 821 and 3,300 mAh battery cool.
Those corners are curved for a pretty clever reason
By now you’ve undoubtedly noticed that the corners of the LG G6 are curved, and while it looks fantastic aesthetically, there’s actually a physical reason for the phone to have those curved corners. Apparently, LG decided to literally cut off the corners of the G6’s display (think of a sheet of paper with the corners cut off).
Why? LG says that when a phone is dropped on its corner, the shock of that impact hits the display all in one spot, the corner. On a bezel-light phone especially, this is a cause for concern. However, by cutting off the corners, the surface area where that impact is felt becomes wider, thus reducing the chances that the display itself will shatter. Sadly, the same won’t apply to the glass, but at least it’ll save damage like the Mi Mix is susceptible to.
Pricing could be a little high
Pricing is one of the things LG has been very quiet about on the G6, but this morning an LG executive has seemingly confirmed the phone’s cost, at least in Korea. Apparently, LG will sell the phone in its home country for 899,800 KRW, roughly $796 here in the United States. While that’s not too much higher than something like a Pixel XL or iPhone 7 Plus, it’s an undeniably high asking price, especially given the fact that LG is coming off of a pretty bad year.
However, I wouldn’t expect LG to price the G6 quite this high when it does release. The LG G5 fell into a price around $650 when it launched, and the V20 can be purchased for as little as $670. I’d expect the phone’s price to fall along those lines, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it ends up a bit higher…
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