Sunday Debate: How Does LG Rank Up Against Other OEMs?

LG is one of the bigger smartphone manufacturers, and while it’s not as popular as its South Koran neighbour Samsung, the company has managed to do a lot for its users by providing a different vision of Android with their (Optimus) G line.

Yet LG is not just about their traditional flagships with their LG UI on top, but also about the purest of Android. The company’s Nexus 5 was one of the most acclaimed Android smartphones of all time due to its amazing combination of price, horsepower, and a pure Android experience — those things were much rarer at the time, but now they are starting to become commonplace. The Nexus 5X rekindled the Nexus 5 brand with yet another (mostly) affordable smartphone, and the LG V10 is one of the newest entries in the LG flagship smartphone family, offering some of the most compelling specification sheets of 2015.

But despite the hype their phones typically generate among our circles, particularly the Nexus 5 and Nexus 5X, the company’s smartphone division is not a financial powerhouse, sometimes reporting pennies of profit per smartphone during a quarter. With all of that in mind, and more below, we want to know how you think LG ranks up against other manufacturers. So we ask,

• How has LG evolved in recent years?
• What aspects of their hardware or software does LG need to improve?
• What was their best offering in recent years, and why?
• What do you think is holding LG back from better earnings?
• How can their next iteration of phones improve upon their current ones?
• Would you like to see another LG Nexus after the Nexus 5X?

Join the discussion!

Hardware

In terms of hardware, LG is one of the more enthusiast-friendly OEMs out there, as it decided to incorporate (with the G3) and keep (throughout 2015) features like removable batteries and expandable storage, which power users love. Their phones have sported great to decent (in that order, G2 to V10) bezels ratios, nice designs, and some of the best specification packages at their time of release. Their Nexus phones, from the Nexus 4 to the Nexus 5X, are fan-favorites that many XDA users still use to this day. LG has also pushed forward new hardware configurations, like the back buttons, OIS (and 2.0), curved screens, and laser auto-focus. However, their phones haven’t been able to utilise the hardware to the maximum, as the LG UI typically slows down LG phones, and in some cases on the G3, their hardware and software combo led to performance, battery and heat issues. Lately, though, LG has been improving on this, particularly the camera, as the V10 focuses on camera software more-so than other phones do.

Software

LG’s skinned Android is a stark contrast with the pure Android of their Nexus offerings, and many users will agree that it’s a mixed bag. On one hand, LG puts many useful features in their LG skins, including a dual-window mode for multitasking similar to Samsung’s — a much-requested feature on Android. LG’s UI also allows for plenty of customization in their launcher and everything about it, and also navigation keys, as it includes extra options to put down there as well. But LG’s UI is arguably not as attractive as the regular Material Design of their Nexus 5X, nor the old HOLO of their Nexus 5 upon release. LG also doesn’t offer easy ways to customize the notification panel (which many have called a cluttered mess) nor their stock apps and settings. Meaning, if you don’t like the look, the launcher is as far as you go without extra tweaking.

Debating

LG has created some of the most acclaimed smartphones out there, and to us, their Nexus phones have been some of the best Android packages ever. But the company still has not captured the market in an overly profitable way, and with the rapid iterating they did in 2015 with their V10 – a phone some consider redundant and undermarketed – it’s hard to predict where LG is going. But looking at the present, and their recent achievements and lows, one can at least form a good idea of how LG ranks up against other OEMs. So,

• How has LG evolved in recent years?
• What aspects of their hardware or software does LG need to improve?
• What was their best offering in recent years, and why?
• What do you think is holding LG back from better earnings?
• How can their next iteration of phones improve upon their current ones?
• Would you like to see another LG Nexus after the Nexus 5X?

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