LG reveals the G4 Smartphone – with more than just a touch of leather

In Singapore today LG have unveiled their newest flagship phone, the successor to the G3 which LG says exceeded their sales expectations.  So, in a battle against some hugely popular phones what has LG thrown at us?

In the battle for smartphone sales you need a point of difference, and LG has picked a doozy this time – Leather.

The LG G4 is available in “genuine full grain leather” in six colours.  The colours are created using a vegetable tanning process which really does create a stunning looking result.

In addition to the leather back, you could also choose a ceramic white with 3D patterns and a Metallic Grey or Shiny Gold.

LG’s Flex phone hasn’t been a mass-produced item, but the DNA of that bendable and curved glass is in the G4 with a subtle curvature on the screen.

Out back there’s a 16 MegaPixel camera with an F1.8 aperture lens and what LG claims to be improved low-light performance and improved stabilisation.

To make the device more desirable to photographers, the LG G4 features a Manual Mode so you can control focus, shutter speed, ISO, exposure and white balance.

Continuing the use of the word “selfie” to sell new phone camera features, LG says “for selfies good enough to frame” there’s an 8 MegaPixel camera on the front which features new features like additional shots taken at intervals with Gesture Shot where you open and close your hand twice in front of the camera to trigger four shots spaced apart by two seconds.

The LG G3 had an excellent screen, with Quad HD resolution, this year the G4 features Quad HD along with a new Advanced in-cell touch technology which basically improves the touch sensitivity.

Google Office comes pre-installed, and you’ll get an extra 100GB of Google Drive space for two years when you buy one.

And if you’ve got a Volkswagen (“selected vehicles” no word on which or Australian availability) there’s also a “car-friendly” version of the G4 interface in-dash – which sounds like an interesting competition to Apple’s Car Play while not using Android Auto.

Watching the event, and looking at the information LG released, it appears that almost all their eggs are in the design basket – this Leather look will get attention in store, and should make for some great marketing.  Question is which colours and finishes will be available in Australia and when.

Local pricing and availability is not yet available.

LG G4 Specs:

• Chipset: QualcommSnapdragon™ 808 Processor with X10 LTE
• Display: 5.5-inch Quad HD IPS Quantum Display (2560 x 1440, 538ppi)
• Memory: 32GB eMMC ROM, 3GB LPDDR3 RAM / microSD slot
• Camera: Rear 16MP with F1.8 Aperture / OIS 2.0 / Front 8MP with F2.0 Aperture
• Battery: 3,000mAh (removable)
• Operating System: Android 5.1 Lollipop
• Size (ceramic): 148.9 x 76.1 x 6.3 – 9.8 mm
• Size (leather): 148.9 x 76.1 x 6.3 – 10.1mm
• Weight (ceramic): 155g
• Weight (leather): 157g
• Network: 4G / LTE / HSPA+ 21 Mbps (3G)
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 4.1LE / NFC / USB 2.0
• Ceramic Colours: Metallic Gray / Ceramic White / Shiny Gold /
• Genuine Leather Colours: Black / Brown / Red / Sky Blue / Beige / Yellow
• Other: Manual Mode / Gesture Interval Shot / Quick Shot