The LG G4 is currently the newest member on the Android flagship block, and with it come plenty of smartphone "firsts," mainly in the camera area, like a unique color spectrum sensor, or a tri-axis optical image stabilization. The internals are not the only thing lifted out of the ordinary, though, as the LG G4 also offers variants with unorthodox stitched leather backs, and we are talking genuine tanned calf skin here.
With this comparison, we will be pitting the G4 against HTC's finest for the season, the One M9, which offers a smaller, lower-res display, but a premium metal body, 20 MP camera, stereo speakers, and is running on Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 810 system chip, while the G4 chugs along on Snapdragon 808. Will the faster chipset and premium chassis of the M9 be enough to offset the next link in the G line evolution? Let's find out...
Design
Premium vs flexible design – it's your choice of a more compact M9 with a metal body, or the G4 with swappable battery pack.
LG is the only major flagship maker this season that offers a removable back cover, replaceable battery and expandable storage at the same time. This combo allows for the ultimate flexibility when you want to change the look of the phone with an optional leather rear, or swap the battery on the go. Granted, the compromise is that it is not as exquisitely stylish as the aluminum casing of the One M9, but to each their own.
Needless to say, the LG G4 is harder to hold and operate with one hand, due to the considerably larger screen size. The One M9 is taller than average for its screen size, but decently narrow, so holding it in your palm and operating the display interface with your thumb only is pretty easy. LG sticks with the position of the power and volume keys on the rear, which is mostly a love-it-or-hate-it decision. The One M9 has a more orthodox button placement on the right side, and the buttons are easy to feel and press, though their feedback is a tad shallow.
Since both screens exhibit cold, somewhat inaccurate color presentation, the only tangible advantage of the LG G4 screen before the One M9's is its larger size.
Another obvious difference between the One M9 and the LG G4, besides the exterior design, are their displays. The M9 features a 5” Super-LCD 3 display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, while the G4 comes out swinging with a larger, 5.5” LCD panel with 1440 x 2560 pixels. Despite the G4's higher pixel density of 538ppi against the 441ppi of the M9, both screens deliver sharp imagery, with no noticeable icon or text jaggies, even at closer examination.
LG might tout the “Quantum Display” technology used for the G4 screen, but when it comes to color quality and presentation, both the G4 and M9 deliver rather cold colors, above the 8000 Kelvin mark, with 6500K being the reference white point. The primary and secondary colors are mostly off the reference targets, too, especially the reds on the M9, and the greens on the G4, which on top of that are rather saturated there.
The HTC One M9 has a tad brighter display, which can be expected considering that the backlighting of the G4 has to seep through much more pixels, but its contrast and minimum brightness are worse than on LG's phone, which would be an issue at night. Overall, the only tangible advantage of the LG G4 screen before the One M9's is its larger size, which would appeal to media junkies.
The numbers below represent the amount of deviation in the respective property,observed when a display is viewed from a 45-degree angle as opposed to direct viewing.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
The flat and squarish LG UX 4.0 is no match for the sleek Sense 7, but when it comes to functionality, LG has the upper hand.
Both handsets offer their own take on the default Android 5.1 Lollipop interface, painting it over with LG UX and HTC Sense UI, respectively. The new LG UX 4.0 interface of the G4 follows in the flat, colorful and minimalistic manner that was introduced with the G3. Functionally, it bears many of the same core features of LG’s experience – such as Knock On to turn on/off the screen by performing a double tap, QSlide apps that get placed over whatever we’re doing, and Dual Window for true multi-tasking with apps running side-by-side. There are some other useful tricks in tow, too, like the pull-down gesture when the screen is off to quickly peek at the time, or the so-called Smart Notice that dish up useful tidbits. For example, Smart Notice reminds us that there’s rain in the forecast, so it’s a good idea to bring an umbrella. Alternatively, if there’s an app in the background that’s not being used, but is taking up some processing power, the G4 will recommend ending it to conserve power.
As for the M9, HTC uses its latest Sense 7 UI custom interface, and it remains one of the fastest Android skins out there: with zippy, to-the-point animations, HTC’s improved BlinkFeed social news aggregator, and a few more HTC touches. The biggest innovation in HTC Sense 7, however, is in the plenty of customization options built right in with Themes - an easy way to change the appearance of Android. Each theme carries its own wallpaper, fonts, sounds, icon style, and it even allows you to tweak the look of the Android navigation keys. The HTC One M9 lockscreen now integrates with services like Yelp and Foursquare to automatically offer you places for dinner, a touch that will please the gourmands. Then, there is the new home screen: it is now a smart home panel that changes with your location, displaying one set of icons when you are at work and a different one when you are home, for instance.
Processor and memory
LG went with the 64-bit hexa-core 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 to power its latest flagship in the G4. This particular setup breaks down to four ARM Cortex-A53 and two ARM Cortex-A57 cores that are complemented by 3GB of RAM and the Adreno 418 GPU. The HTC One M9, on the other hand, was one of the first devices around with the latest Snapdragon 810 system chip, coupled with 3 GB of RAM as well. The RAM memory technology is DDR4, however, while the G4 is paired with the less power-efficient DDR3 tech.
Given the potential for overheat and the subsequent throttling that comes with Snapdragon 810, though, LG might have been wise to go with 808. Still, looking at the benchmarks, it’s easy to notice that the One M9 is above and beyond when it comes to the graphics screen-on tests, making it a better choice for gaming. Overall, HTC’s conservative choice of screen resolution and powerful GPU, allows the phone to run the latest games at high frame rates with ease.
Both phones start you off with 32 GB of internal storage, and have microSD slots should you need more space, and HTC also offers the One M9 in a 64 GB version, which will run you a Benjamin more.
Gone is the choice of two browsers we’ve had for years – both the LG G4 and the HTC One M9 come with Google Chrome only as the default browser. In Lollipop, Chrome defaults to opening every tab as a separate process, so that you can switch between tabs using the multitasking key, but – if you're not a fan of that - there is also the option for it to work in the same way as before. Surfing the web is a fast and smooth experience on both devices: it’s hard to notice any slowdowns when scrolling or panning in a page, or zooming in and out.
Both being devices with Snapdragon chipsets, you can rest assured that the G4 and M9 have multi-band LTE support, 42 Mbps HSPA+ to fall back on, and a plethora of other radios, like dual-channel Wi-Fi, aGPS with Glonass, Bluetooth 4.1, and NFC. The phones also have infra red (IR) blasters, along with dedicated apps that allow consumers to use the handset as a TV, AC, or home stereo remote.
Camera and Multimedia
The abominal quality of the M9's night shots makes it a pretty easy target for the decked-out, optically stabilized camera of the G4, both in pictures and video footage.
The LG G4 comes with a 16 MP 1/2.6” camera sensor, and very wide, f/1.8 aperture lens, while HTC opted for a 20 MP 1/2.4” sensor with the more orthodox f/2.2 aperture lens. Don't let the simple resolution count fool, you, though – LG introduces a bunch of smartphone “first” in the G4 camera department, such as a tri-axis optical stabilization, and a color spectrum analyzer, adding to the laser autofocus technology that made a cameo in the G3 last year. Situated right below the single LED flash, the color spectrum sensor is there to measure the ambient light, determining the source – artificial or natural - then adjust the software accordingly.
LG’s camera app has acquired a bunch of new settings and features to expand its capabilities, including the ability to shoot in raw DNG format, and in manual mode. This move obviously targets enthusiast who want a higher degree of control – dishing up options to adjust white balance, focus, exposure compensation, ISO, and shutter speed. The latter option is an intriguing one, just because very few phones can offer long exposure times, which in this case is up to 30 seconds. Additionally, the phone can instantly run the camera app, focus, and take a snapshot in a few seconds by merely double pressing the volume down button. The interface on the One M9, on the other hand, has not changed much from the original M8, and that’s a good thing as you get very quick snapping, and access to some manual controls, in addition to the usual bells and whistles.
When it comes to image quality, the LG G4 surpasses the One M9 in color presentation, as HTC's phone often gets thrown off towards the colder side of the spectrum, while the G4 colors stay truer to the original. The wider aperture and the OIS tech that LG uses get a good run, as its shots are much better exposed when there is plenty of light around, not to mention indoors or night pics where the difference between the One M9 and the G4 becomes drastically in favor of the LG handset. The 20 MP camera captures good detail outdoors, but the pictures come out a tad soft, while the G4 manages to deliver sharper imagery.
The One M9 comes with a dual-tone LED flash, which appears to be stronger than the single LED on the G4, and lights things up evenly, while the G4 splashes it somewhere in the center, and tends to produce cold-colored, greenish scenes with the flash on.
In terms of video, both do 4K videos at 30 fps, as well as 1080p at 60 fps, but the One M9 video has slower auto-focusing with a weird, ‘jumpy’ effect, plus the lack of stabilization shows when you start panning around. The G4 exposes the footage better, with rapid adjustments when needed, good levels of detail, natural colors, and steadier capture. HTC, however, delivers better stereo audio recording, while the one from the G4 sounds a bit thin.
Multimedia
To each their strength - music fans will love the output from the M9, while media buffs are going to appreciate the large and vibrant G4 screen.
Throughout the new Gallery app of the G4, we’re able to fluidly scroll through our collection with little to zero evidence of delay. At the same time, it’s been rearranged to offer present content in an album, timeline, memories, favorites, and videos view, too. With the Memories feature, it uses the GPS location attached to each piece of content, and organizes them as a collection according to location – similar to the Zoe feature in the HTC One M9. HTC paid close attention to the gallery app on the M9 as well, and all its various image-editing option, allowing for neat effects like double exposure as well as other, manual adjustments to the exposure and colors of a picture.
The music player in LG UX 4.0 doesn’t see any notable changes, so, despite its rich functionality like equalizer presets and the like, it is much blander looking that the slick and polished music app in HTC Sense 7. Moreover, it terms of playback, it's the One M9 that truly shines with its BoomSound dual front-firing speakers. Technically, the amplified speakers are a bit quieter than the ones on the M8 (at 72.8dB on the M9), but you get the same rich sound with depth to the lower tones that is practically missing on the single speaker of the G4, which is, however, very strong at 79 dB. The Dolby Audio surround mode of the M9 adds more spatial volume to the sound, so watching YouTube videos on the phone, for example, is a rather pleasing experience. HTC is also including high-quality audio amps in the One M9, for the speakers and for the headphone output, contributing to a great sound, while both phones come with quality headphones out of the box.
The 5.5” Quad HD display is a visual feast to the eyes, but its true potency is experienced while watching videos on it. Obviously, the display comes to life thanks to the brilliant colors and smooth operation of the handset – something that’s accentuated with the addition of a multi-tasking element where a video can be layered on top of everything else in the interface. Both handsets play most major video formats that you load on them, and even 1080p resolutions are not an issue.
Call quality with the G4, for the most part, is unchanged from what we experienced last year with the G3. In the greater scheme of things, it gets the job done, as the earpiece and speakerphone produce strong volumes to make them useable in noisy environments. However, there’s a slight hint of distortion to voices through the earpiece that make them sound a little bit artificial, but it isn’t too terrible. On the other end of the line, things seem to flow better, since voices have great audible command and robustness.
The HTC One M9 is loud and clear when it comes to calls: there are no issues with hearing your contacts in the earpiece, and voices on the other end of the line also sound clear.
Battery
Move over, people, nothing to see here – both phones will probably get you through the day with normal usage, and that's that.
Although LG increased the dimensions of the G4 over its predecessor, there’s no change to the battery capacity whatsoever – so it’s packing along the same 3000 mAh battery under the hood. It’s good to carry us a solid one-day of normal usage, but don’t expect the long-lasting results of the Motorola DROID Turbo here. When we turn to our battery test that puts phones through some tough non-stop usage with displays pre-calibrated at the same 200 nits, a comfortable brightness level for indoor use, the G4’s 3000 mAh juice pack propels the phone through 6 hours and 6 minutes in our test, which is very close to the mark of its predecessor.
Our battery life test on the HTC One M9's 2840 mAh unit yielded a result of 6 hours and 25 minutes, with charging being slightly faster – 106 minutes from zero to hero, compared to the 127 minutes that it takes the G4 charger to top off the phone completely.
The LG G4 and One M9 turned out to be two very similar flagships in an evolutionary way, as both don't offer the earth-shaking upgrade from their predecessors that Samsung did with the S6. LG, however, throws in more unique bells and whistles for the G4 to be an inherently worthier upgrade, while HTC kept novelties to a minimum, addressing chiefly the rear camera resolution with a 20 MP piece.
With the price equality, and the obvious screen size and design differences, it will be a matter of personal preference whether you'd pick the more compact, more premium-looking M9, or the G4 with a larger, Quad HD screen, and removable battery. If you are a music aficionado, we'd recommend that you go with the One M9, while the G4 is the phone for shutterbugs and media buffs, with its superb picture and video taking and playback abilities.
Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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