The G4 is a big phone with a great display, great camera, and a battery that lasts all day. It doesn’t have a design that turns heads or an emotional appeal that might come from an iPhone or Galaxy S6. It’s not a bad smartphone — it actually functions just fine — but you’re not going to see it in the hands of every person at the state fair this summer.
The harsh reality is that LG is likely never going to escape the shadow of Samsung or Apple, which are far more popular. The company’s not unaware of that: president and CEO of its mobile division Juno Cho recently told CNET that LG only expects to sell 8 million G4s by the end of the year, a far cry from the tens of millions of units Apple sells each month. But while it can’t match their popularity, it can offer an alternative, which is exactly what it’s done with the G4.
The G4 is really for the Android diehard, the person that loves the Galaxy S6’s camera and performance, but can’t imagine living with a phone that doesn’t have a removable battery or Micro SD card slot. It’s all fast processor and big screen and weird camera features — it’s what most people think of when they think of Android. And that’s exactly what some people want.
