Abans unveils LG’s premium smartphone G4 in Sri Lanka

 From left: LG Electronics Singapore Business Director Mobile Communications David Yoh, Abans Director Behman Pestonjee, Abans Deputy Director Dinesh Perera and Abans Asst. Brand Manager Fritz Fernando 

By Shehana Dain

The underdog in the smart phone arena, LG unveiled its much-awaited smartphone LG G4 to the local market yesterday (8), giving Samsung and HTC, the much stronger contenders, a rationale to perform better.

While LG is not a newcomer to technological advancements, it’s still new to the smartphone showground. As Samsung leads the pack in terms of android flagship devices, LG has chosen to stay well out of the ‘me too’ concept by doing its own thing. 

LG research and development teams put a great deal of effort into having the features of the G4 be deemed consumer worthy, after going ahead with its largest-ever consumer experience campaign which involved thousands of participants across 15 countries to test drive the flagship.

The smartphone revolves around three core notions, namely, comfortable elegance, a great visual art and a human centric user experience, which are interconnected in the final product.

“We are living up to our promise of innovation for a better life with a fashionable, premium smartphone that is more focused on delivering a balanced user experience that can compete with the best of the best,” said Abans PLC Sri Lanka Deputy Director Dinesh Perera. 

“We wanted to give consumers a truly human-centric device that combined the analogue sensibilities with technologies that delivered real world performance. From the design to the camera to the display to the UX, this is the most ambitious phone that LG has ever created.” Perera added.

LG Electronics Singapore Business Director mobile communications David Yoh noted that the strategic synergy between LG and Abans has been a partnership that has been very successful, and this cooperation would continue to grow after the launch of the LG G4.

At a time phone launches have turned into annual or sometimes even semi annual events, the device has to make a considerable amount of effort to score top points in some departments. Below are some of its key features.

Design

LG has paid special attention this time around to its design rather than going with the trend of steel back covers of almost all of its top contenders. LG has sacrificed the sleek upscale slimness of its device to deliver to the consumer a removable battery and the ability to load up in cheap storage, which is by far one of the main disadvantages other smart phones in the market face at the moment.

However, it should be noted that LG was generous enough not to be laid back with a basic plastic cover as well. The LG G4 is available in handcrafted, genuine full grain leather in three beautiful colours (black, brown and red). The vegetable tanning process employed is an age-old tradition that requires skilled craftsmen to produce and dye the leather. Nonetheless some may question the durability of the leather cover as it ages, which is a point to note.

The G4 is defined by a slim arc which runs along the entire body, which was a cue taken from its predecessor, the LG G3. The makers claim that the slim arc offers 20% better durability than a flat smartphone in face down drops. Button-less sides are another G3 feature the new flagship G4 has transferred to its design.

 

Camera

The LG G4 undoubtedly has one of the best smartphone cameras in the market. G4 makers leave nothing untouched when it comes to promoting its camera. 

LG designed the 16MP camera in the LG G4 to capture beautiful images, even under lighting conditions that are less than ideal. The camera module features a wide F1.8 aperture lens that allows 80% more light to reach the sensor. 

LG improved low-light performance even further; what makes the G4 stand out from the rest is its relative similarities to a professional camera which the makers boast about, and rightly so. The manual mode which goes a step ahead of the regular auto mode in most of the other devices does the trick. An inquisitive user may find this option a ground to explore its limits.

To keep up with selfie craze, the G4 is equipped with an industry leading 8MP front facing camera.

 

Visual display

Taking a quantum leap in display technology, the LG G4 is the first smartphone to use LG Display’s new 5.5-inch IPS Quantum Display, which offers 20% greater colour reproduction, 25% improvement in brightness and 50% greater contrast. 

It is the first Quad HD display to employ Advanced In-Cell Touch (AIT) technology, which combines the LCD and touch sensor into a single layer to provide better colour reproduction and touch sensitivity. However, it should be stressed that with such a visual performance LG G4, buyers should look into how the battery aligns with it.

 

Battery life

The G4 comes equipped with a 3000mAh removable battery, to compensate the HD display it offers in the carrier. The makers claim the device can typically last a full day of normal use and they also stressed the fact that the G4 is estimated to last 20% longer than the G3, from the same capacity battery.

Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe