LG G6 review: Cutting corners... Like a pro

Synthetic benchmarks

Yes, yes, the G6 is powered by the Snapdragon 821, a slightly beefed up version of the 820 that was all the rage last year. The Snapdragon 835 is right around the corner, but Samsung has dibs on it for the Galaxy S8, allegedly, and LG couldn't have any.

LG is trying to spin this predicament into an advantage by saying user experience ranks higher than raw power, and we understand the logic behind such an approach. They've had plenty of time to optimize for the S821, LG says, so the G6 should be just fine with a chipset that's not exactly cutting edge.

And in our experience that's indeed the case, though we haven't seen the S835 in a production device to know just how much we're missing with the S821.

LG does indeed have some tangible improvements to show off on the G6. Tangible, if you take the phone apart, that is, to reveal its Advanced heat pipe (capital A - it's a name, sort of). LG's advanced touch is a copper plate that sits on top of the SoC, thus providing more contact area for the heat pipe to take away... heat from the chip. LG's internal testing has shown it to bring a 10% reduction in temperature under sustained gaming load, and in our testing the G6 never got uncomfortably hot.

Anyway, moving on to the benchmarks. As usual, we kick off with GeekBench for some CPU performance comparisons. In the single-core test the G6 outperforms key rivals Galaxy S7 edge and HTC U Ultra, both running on the original S820, and Google Pixel XL with a slightly underperforming S821 implementation. The OnePlus 3T makes the best case for the S821, scoring on par with the Exynos 8890 inside the (other) S7 edge and the Kirin 960s in the Huawei Mate 9 and P10.

GeekBench 4 (single-core)

Higher is better

•  Huawei P10
   1927
•  Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
   1911
•  Huawei Mate 9
   1898
•  OnePlus 3T
   1890
•  Xiaomi Mi Note 2
   1824
•  LG G6
   1733
•  Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
   1696
•  HTC U Ultra
   1647
•  LG V20
   1576
•  Google Pixel XL
   1507

In the multi-core test the Kirin 960 claims what rightfully belongs to it. Only the Exynos-equipped S7 edge tries to keep up, but the Snapdragons are way behind. Still, the G6 posts one of the better scores here for team Qualcomm.

GeekBench 4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

•  Huawei Mate 9
   6112
•  Huawei P10
   6069
•  Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
   5645
•  OnePlus 3T
   4364
•  Xiaomi Mi Note 2
   4278
•  LG G6
   4209
•  HTC U Ultra
   4201
•  Google Pixel XL
   4152
•  Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
   4128
•  LG V20
   3824

The G6 storms through Antutu, losing only to the OnePlus 3T and the Moto Z Force, of this select group. The V20 is close by as is the Pixel XL, but the G5 and assorted Galaxy S7 edges are lower down the Antutu chart.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

•  OnePlus 3T
   165097
•  Lenovo Moto Z Force Droid
   152548
•  LG G6
   143639
•  LG V20
   141945
•  Google Pixel XL
   141186
•  Xiaomi Mi Note 2
   140324
•  HTC U Ultra
   139750
•  LG G5
   134541
•  Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
   132849
•  Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
   129629
•  Huawei P10
   126629
•  Huawei Mate 9
   122826

Basemark OS II 2.0 isn't as favorable to the G6 though. In this compound benchmark that assesses overall performance (like Antutu), LG's latest isn't LG's greatest, losing to the V20, but beating the G5. Minimal margins both ways, but what's worth pointing out is that the three LGs place last among these top-class competitors.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

•  Huawei P10
   2910
•  Lenovo Moto Z Force Droid
   2689
•  OnePlus 3T
   2678
•  Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
   2670
•  Huawei Mate 9
   2637
•  Xiaomi Mi Note 2
   2381
•  Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
   2352
•  Google Pixel XL
   2281
•  HTC U Ultra
   2222
•  LG V20
   2159
•  LG G6
   2126
•  LG G5
   2065

Switching to graphics-only exercises, the G6 isn't quite living up to potential in Basemark ES 3.1. It inches ahead of the V20 (S820), but the G5 (S820) does better in this test while other Snapdragons 821 like the Pixel XL and OnePlus 3T post even higher numbers.

Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal

Higher is better

•  Huawei Mate 9
   794
•  Huawei P10
   716
•  Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
   680
•  Lenovo Moto Z Force Droid
   645
•  OnePlus 3T
   641
•  Google Pixel XL
   626
•  Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
   624
•  LG G5
   587
•  HTC U Ultra
   582
•  Xiaomi Mi Note 2
   556
•  LG G6
   541
•  LG V20
   526

Another one of Basemark's suite, the X isn't too flattering for the G6 either. At least it's ahead of stablemates G5 and V20, and pretty much on par with the Pixel XL, there are a lot more successful Snapdragons around and the Kirin 960 snatches top prize here inside the Huawei P10.

Basemark X

Higher is better

•  Huawei P10
   39433
•  OnePlus 3T
   36958
•  Huawei Mate 9
   36519
•  Xiaomi Mi Note 2
   36506
•  Lenovo Moto Z Force Droid
   36405
•  HTC U Ultra
   35875
•  Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
   32609
•  Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
   32160
•  Google Pixel XL
   30861
•  LG G6
   30507
•  LG G5
   29456
•  LG V20
   29385

All in all, the G6 does very well in CPU-intensive tasks, and is below average in graphics-specific tests. Depending on who you ask, it's either a top performer overall (Antutu) or just hanging in there with the others (Basemark OS II 2.0). In any case, we didn't experience any hiccups in our interaction with the phone, which, honestly, is a weird to say about a top-class chip like the S821.