LG G4 Discussion and owners

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2802 posts

Uber Geek

#1377691 1-Sep-2015 12:25

The Johnsonville 2Degrees store has the G4 in stock, but I've not seen it anywhere else, nor do they mention it on their website. Does this mean there is possibly a more suitable firmware available?

Otherwise is consensus that the Poland or "Open" Europe 10D version is the one to go for?

@KnightNZ

MartinGZ

359 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#1377920 1-Sep-2015 20:59

I finally took the plunge a few weeks ago. Bought locally (HN) as wanted a new phone before travelling. Came with a spare back & sd card.

So have the H815T. Firmware did OTA update when first run (didn't notice to what.) Currently travelling & probably by coincidence, when first turned in the UK another OTA was there - to 10f. On the phone it is listed as 10f-AUS-XX. No idea what changes this brought. I remember the box had AUS on it as well, so I guess this is an OZ version of the H815T? Would have been nice to get the H815, but time was against me.

My impressions. Compared to my old S3 running CM11, I honestly can't see 3 years of progress. Sure it is faster, brighter, bigger, but functionally there is not a lot of difference. That's not a critisism of the G4 as I really like the phone & LG's interface. (I was running Nova on the S3, but think LG interface is better.) Probably more a tribute to how good the old S3 was.

My biggest criticism is not the G4, but Android 5.x & the lack of support from software vendors when writing to the ext-sd card. I collect data and reports on the phone and save to the ext card. Had to throw away all the software I was using & search for the few that support this. E.G. was using Kingsoft & MS Excel for spreadsheets, but found that Mobisystems Officesuite was the only one that did what I required. Bit of a time waster sorting all that out.

Back to the G4, I notice that after a few weeks in the jeans pocket, the leather back is wearing out on the corners & in a few more weeks will be down to the plastic. Not very good really, should have put the plastic cover on. Guess I might be testing the CGA in the near future :-) Will get a case for it, but I find that it is a pretty snug fit in the pocket as it is.

Other than that I like the phone & would I go back to the S3? Nope :-)

Nokia 6110, 6210, 6234, Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1, Huawei Ideos X5 (Windows Mobile), Samsung Galaxy SIII, LG G4, OnePlus 5, iPhone Xs Max (briefly), S21 Ultra. And I thought I hadn't had many phones - but the first one around 1997.

Kopkiwi

2617 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1378063 2-Sep-2015 09:35

MartinGZ:

My impressions. Compared to my old S3 running CM11, I honestly can't see 3 years of progress. Sure it is faster, brighter, bigger,

Whut?

Better battery life, far FAR superior camera. Better build material.

I mean seriously, what else could they do?

ejo

32 posts

Geek

#1378071 2-Sep-2015 09:44

stevenz: The Johnsonville 2Degrees store has the G4 in stock, but I've not seen it anywhere else, nor do they mention it on their website. Does this mean there is possibly a more suitable firmware available?

Otherwise is consensus that the Poland or "Open" Europe 10D version is the one to go for?

I have the H815 (from Expert Infotech) and got an OTA update last night. Went from 10B to 10C. Phone seems more responsive after the update and certainly an improvement. I did have some issues with not registering the knock on to unlock. That seems to have improved but too soon to say if it's 100%.
Can't comment on the 10D version though...

julianz

118 posts

Master Geek

#1378076 2-Sep-2015 09:50

MartinGZ: I notice that after a few weeks in the jeans pocket, the leather back is wearing out on the corners & in a few more weeks will be down to the plastic.

Wow, I've done the same and the phone looks the same as the day it arrived. Which colour did you get?

MartinGZ

359 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#1378161 2-Sep-2015 12:08

Kopkiwi. Yes it is a very good camera for a phone, & better than the S3. Will quite happily use it for some things I would normally resort to the DSLR for.

Battery life seems about the same for my use. I get between 6 hours & 1.5 days on both depending what I'm doing. It's not like I got 1 day one the S3 & now get 2 on the G4.

Better build material? Yup the leather is really nice in the hand, but I've honestly never had a problem with plastic covered phones. Never could understand all the huha of one material over another - they all break when you drop them on the concrete.

As for what else could be done, I guess my point is that the changes are fairly small given the cost of the phone. If I had been stuck on a stock S3, then yes it would have been a huge relief to get the G4, but the fact that for my purposes, a rooted S3 does the same things the G4 does, but to a lesser standard is not too bad.

A couple of other pluses. The screen is more easily read outside. The GSM radio is an improvement. I'm often in areas with poor signal where the S3 would stuggle but the G4 performs well, but I guess this may be the same with many newer phones, not just the G4.

Julianz. I've the brown one. It's not like there's acres of leather missing, but the chrome surface of the leather has rubbed off. Thinking about it, soft material on relatively sharp hard corners is a bit a hiding to nothing & time will tell how long it will hold out I guess. Not too worried as hopefully this one will see me through at least 3 years like the S3 did, by which time it's not worth much in resale anyway

MartinGZ

359 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#1378162 2-Sep-2015 12:08

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MartinGZ

359 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#1378166 2-Sep-2015 12:11

Opps, double post, not sure how that happened.

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#1378296 2-Sep-2015 14:42

So I ordered my phone from Supero on Monday, and it turned up today! Not bad at all.

It's a SEA version (Singapore) which at best has version 10b - will try installing the Europe Open 10d firmware onto it and see how I go.

Very nice device, much lighter than my M8 (plastic versus metal so not too surprising). Now I just have the usual process of migrating all my apps over and seeing if I can live without root access as it sounds like that's currently a bit of a tricky proposition.

@KnightNZ

julianz

118 posts

Master Geek

#1378300 2-Sep-2015 14:45

MartinGZ: Julianz. I've the brown one.

Ah OK, mines the black one, maybe there's a difference there. I think you can get replacement backs anyway if necessary. And yep, I'm planning to use this for 3 years, same as my S3.

delacrum

22 posts

Geek

#1378376 2-Sep-2015 15:38

Now I just have the usual process of migrating all my apps over and seeing if I can live without

I suggest installing the LG Backup app on your old phone, then use the "copy data to new device option" while the new G4 "Receives data" using the same LG Backup app.

I read from the xda forums that there's a new firmware released in Europe (10E), hope it gets pushed to my TWN device on 10D as well

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#1378388 2-Sep-2015 16:00

You're right, 10E linked to here; http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=62615088&postcount=107

And a rooted system image here; http://forum.xda-developers.com/g4/general/h815-europe-10e-rooted-image-t3191469

Not exactly a trivial process but might give it a crack.

@KnightNZ

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#1378825 3-Sep-2015 10:18

So, flashed the Open Europe 10E firmware to my SEA variant H815 and it works happily other than the complaint about the mismatch when you first boot.

Flashing the rooted system image is also super straightforward as it turned out as the guy in the link above had already done the fiddly part of it.

So, now a nicely rooted G4 with the latest(?) firmware with Stagefright patch(es).

Nice device, a setting to turn the LED off when it's in "No interruptions" mode would be nice, as that thing is very bright. Pretty much my only real gripe so far.

@KnightNZ

delacrum

22 posts

Geek

#1379080 3-Sep-2015 14:07

I'm still on the fence if I should flash the 10C for my TWN phone or go with the 10E Polish KDZ since my current firmware is already 10D.
Seems like the TWN 10C is the same as the 10D/E European firmware based on the XDA forum

delacrum

22 posts

Geek

#1379981 4-Sep-2015 20:57

so I flashed (again) my firmware from a Polish 10D to the TWN 10C which has the stagefright patch.
I must say there is a slight improvement on the touchscreen responsiveness and it feels smooth as butter.
The Knock Code to unlock is much improved as well on the TWN 10C.

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