LG G4 review: Sharp and shooter

Performance

LG made a somewhat controversial decision to not use the top chipset for its flagship, going for the Snapdragon 808 over the 810 found in the LG G Flex2.

One major difference is in the big cluster of the processor - it uses two Cortex-A57 cores instead of four. It still has four Cortex-A53 cores in the LITTLE cluster. The other is in the GPU, the 808 has Adreno 418, which will have a tougher time rendering at QHD.

Still, as we saw with the Snapdragon 810 achieving maximum performance is a matter of temperature. For short, bursty jobs the 810 will be faster, but sustained usage quickly degrades performance.

Let's start with the processor. Basemark OS 2.0 shows little difference in single-threaded performance, modern flagships just let the Cortex-A57 do its job.

Basemark OS 2.0 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6
  6306
• LG G4
  5871
• LG G Flex2
  5597
• LG G3
  5396
• HTC One M9
  4688

Going to multiple cores, shows that the Snapdragon 808 is very competitive with the 810 and Geekbench 3 confirms it. Unfortunately, this has more to do with how inefficient Snapdragon 810 is. The Galaxy S6 chipset is built on a smaller process, which produces less heat and the performance advantage is there for everyone to see.

Basemark OS 2.0 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6
  26799
• LG G Flex2
  18856
• HTC One M9
  18047
• LG G4
  17739
• LG G3
  16485

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6
  5215
• HTC One M9
  3761
• LG G Flex2
  3604
• LG G4
  3509
• Sony Xperia Z3
  2860
• LG G3
  2370

Overall performance measured by AnTuTu again shows a fairly even performance between both Qualcomm chipsets. Basemark OS 2.0 even puts the LG G4 and Galaxy S6 on fairly even ground, though AnTuTu 5 strongly disagrees.

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6
  69396
• HTC One M9
  51427
• LG G4
  49295
• LG G Flex2
  47680
• LG G3
  42038
• Sony Xperia Z3
  40393

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• LG G Flex2
  1726
• Samsung Galaxy S6
  1674
• LG G4
  1584
• HTC One M9
  1365
• LG G3
  1189

When it comes to graphics, the simpler GFX Benchmark 2.7 shows a sizeable disadvantage compared to the Adreno 430 found in the higher-up Snapdragon. Which is especially visible in the on-screen test - Adreno 418 is faster than the 330 used in the LG G3, but not by much.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6
  59
• HTC One M9
  49
• LG G Flex2
  49
• LG G4
  34.5
• Sony Xperia Z3
  27.7
• LG G3
  26

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC One M9
  50
• LG G Flex2
  48
• Samsung Galaxy S6
  38
• Sony Xperia Z3
  29.3
• LG G4
  24.7
• LG G3
  20

The more complicated GFX 3.0 test shows an even smaller difference between the LG G4 and the G3. A phone with a QHD screen really needed a bigger GPU update. Here the Galaxy S6 has a noticeable lead. When looking at on-screen results keep in mind the difference in resolution - the G Flex2, One M9 and Xperia Z3 render at only 1080p.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6
  24
• HTC One M9
  23
• LG G Flex2
  22
• LG G4
  14.8
• Sony Xperia Z3
  12
• LG G3
  11

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC One M9
  24
• LG G Flex2
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S6
  14
• Sony Xperia Z3
  12.7
• LG G4
  9.4
• LG G3
  7.7

Basemark X shows a healthy improvement over the G3, though the LG G4 is still well behind the other QHD phone in the mix, the Galaxy S6.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6
  27169
• HTC One M9
  19848
• LG G Flex2
  19360
• LG G4
  15040
• Sony Xperia Z3
  12637
• LG G3
  10580

LG dropped their customized browser and rely on Chrome, which proves to be a wise decision as far as JavaScript performance is concerned - you get close to double the performance of a Lollipop-running LG G3, even the Galaxy S6 can't get ahead.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• LG G4
  4085
• Samsung Galaxy S6
  4154
• LG G Flex2
  4621
• HTC One M9
  5500
• Sony Xperia Z3
  6355
• LG G3
  7632

When it comes to rendering a page at QHD resolution things aren't as fast though. The LG G4 still handily beats its predecessor, but the Samsung pulls ahead.

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6
  2718
• LG G Flex2
  2086
• LG G4
  1990
• HTC One M9
  1681
• Sony Xperia Z3
  1533
• LG G3
  1453

LG made the right call using the Snapdragon 808 over the 810 as far as general performance and web browsing are concerned. Both chipsets are essentially equals for sustained performance. The one problem - and it's a big one - is that the GPU just doesn't have enough oomph for QHD gaming. It's an improvement over the previous phone, but not a very big one and certainly not one worthy of a 2015 flagship.