It finally happened. After over a decade in the smartphone game and a year-long string of loss-making quarters, LG has officially announced that it is leaving the smartphone business.
The news came after reports earlier this year that the company was reviewing various options and even debating with several companies to sell its wireless business. Still, now is a good time to look back on the company’s legacy in the industry and remember the best LG phones ever made.
We only focus on LG branded smartphones. This means that the Pixus Nexus 4, Nexus 5 and Nexus 5X manufactured by LG will not be considered for this list.
LG G2 (2013)
LG’s first G-series smartphone, the Optimus G, was a pretty good flagship compared to Samsung and HTC’s efforts at the time. But the company built on this foundation with the G2 2013.
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The efforts of LG’s second G-series first introduced the power and volume buttons on the back of the company’s flagship line, drawing a lot of attention. This was a feature that would remain a staple of the G-Series until 2016, when LG adopted traditional volume buttons for the G6 but kept the rear power button.
The G2 wasn’t a one-trick pony either. It had powerful internals (Snapdragon 800, 2GB of RAM), a larger battery than the Galaxy S4 and HTC One M7 at the time, and a solid camera experience (including 1080p / 60fps recording when Samsung didn’t support it).
LG G3 (2014)
Was the LG G3 the culmination of the company’s flagship smartphone efforts? It certainly makes a strong competitor. With the HTC One M8, the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Motorola / Google Nexus 6, it could more than hold its own at this time.
The G3 has shown some nice features to the industry, including a laser autofocus module that is derived from its robotic vacuum cleaners. Laser autofocus is one of several autofocus technologies popular in the industry today. It was also among the first smartphones to offer QHD resolutions (alongside Oppo), followed by Samsung and others.
At that time, LG also introduced an interesting alternative to biometric and PIN authentication in the Knock Code. That way, you can tap an unlock pattern using four quadrants of the screen. Fingerprint scanners make this a contentious feature, but it was a good solution at the time.
LG G4 (2015)
In 2015, LG brought more of the same, but what the same with the G4. Perhaps the most noticeable thing about the flagship was the leather back of some variants – no wonder Huawei, Oppo and Vivo have copied this feature since then. To be fair, Motorola offered the Moto X2 with a leather option, although this was mostly done through the Motomaker website.
The Korean manufacturer also focused on the imaging experience, bringing a 16-megapixel main camera with a color temperature sensor for better snapshots. And we’ve also improved low-light performance and taken the battle to Samsung. Other notable specs include the microSD expansion and a removable battery, which were missing from the Galaxy S6 series at the time.
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The biggest problem with the G4 during this period was LG’s well-documented boot loop issues. The G4, V10, V20, and several other LG phones had a serious hardware problem that caused the phones to not boot up. This led to a class action lawsuit and tarnished an otherwise fantastic proposal.
LG V20 (2016)
2016 may have been a difficult year for LG due to the failure of the G5, but that same year the company also released a popular phone for the LG V20. This was the first LG device to offer quad DAC hardware for a better audio experience. Almost all subsequent flagships had this function.
The V20 also provided a secondary ticker display at the top that was used for notifications, quick toggle settings, and more. That feature disappeared when LG adopted the Always On Screen feature, but it was another interesting concept nonetheless.
Perhaps the biggest reason to still consider the LG V20 in 2021 is that it was one of the last high-end phones to offer a removable battery. This means that if your old battery has deteriorated or if you need a fully charged battery in no time, you can swap out the batteries. It’s just a shame that this phone suffered from those darn bootloop issues too.
LG G6 (2017)
The Korean giant made a misstep with the LG G5 in 2016. Sure, it offered an ultra-wide camera for the first time in the industry, but that wasn’t enough to offset the modular design with few mods and loud build quality. In fact, I would argue that this was the beginning of the company’s decline.
But the G6 gave us hope that LG could get back on its feet and that better days are ahead. For the first time in the series, the 2017 flagship has a water-repellent design, a pretty cool 18: 9 screen ratio, and the wide-angle camera on par with the main shooter in terms of resolution.
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However, the phone had some drawbacks, such as LG’s nonsensical decision to limit certain features to certain markets. Features limited to different markets include the quad DAC, 64GB of storage, and wireless charging. And unfortunately, EMEA customers have received a variant without these functions. Another strange move was the decision to adopt last year’s Snapdragon 821 chipset in place of the Snapdragon 835. Reports at the time suggested that Samsung had Dibs on the new chipset, but Qualcomm denied that it was.
Even so, the G6 showed that LG is still capable of making a fantastic phone. But the above strange choices did him no favors. Those strange decisions would later become an issue, for example offering the LG G8 in dual or triple camera variants in different regions.
LG V60 (2020)
The last traditional flagship LG released deserves a spot on this list too, and not just because it’s fresh in our memories. The V60 has a powerful Snapdragon 865 processor, a massive 5,000 mAh battery for two-day lifespan, wireless charging, and an expected IP68 water / dust resistance.
LG’s flagship for early 2020 also offered a great camera experience and narrowed the picture quality gap with the top players. Throw in the 3.5mm port, quad DAC audio, and $ 900 price point that has dropped in just a few months and you have one of 2020’s sleeper hits.
The V60 wasn’t perfect, however, as it couldn’t quickly charge its competitors, ditched a telephoto lens in favor of a mediocre digital zoom, missed a high refresh rate, and was a powerful device. But you can still get a powerful, long-lasting smartphone at a good price these days, including the latest Android 11 update.
That’s it for our look at the top six LG phones ever made. We would also offer the LG V10, LG Wing, and LG G Flex 2 as Honorable Mentions. Which LG flagship do you think is the best? Let us know by taking our survey below.
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