We’ve reviewed a few Amazon Prime Exclusive phones in the past. These phones are pretty much the same phones as their carrier or unlocked counterparts with some exceptions. Until just recently, these Prime Exclusive phones, including the LG G6+ version, all had lockscreen ads. Amazon offered the phones at a discount but essentially took over your lockscreen. Now, Amazon has backpedaled on that practice and removed these ads.
This makes the Amazon version of the LG G6+ that much better. Now the phone is essentially the same as any unlocked or carrier version, but without lockscreen ads. Read on for our full review of the LG G6+ Prime Exclusive flagship smartphone.
Specifications
The LG G6+ Prime Exclusive smartphone has the following features and specifications:
- Display: 5.7″ IPS LCD 2880×1440 HD with 561 ppi
- OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
- Memory: 128GB
- RAM: 4GB
- Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 821
- CPU: Quad-Core 2350 MHz, Kyro, 64-bit, 14nm
- GPU: Adreno 530
- Front-facing camera: 5 MP wide-angle
- Rear-facing camera: 13 MP, f/1.8
- Battery: 3,300 mAh battery
- Sensors: Fingerprint sensor, Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Compass/GPS
- Waterproof rating: IP68
- Dimensions: 5.86 x 2.83 x 0.31 inches (148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9 mm)
What’s In The Box
- LG G6+ Android smartphone
- Earbuds
- Wall wort
- USB Type-C to Type-A charging cable
- Documentation and Manuals
Design
The LG G6+ isn’t unlike many other flagship phones when it comes to design. Slim bezels along the left and right and slightly larger bezels at the top and bottom. This makes it feel like you’re holding all screen, and that is not a bad thing at all. The front-facing camera is just above (left) the screen and the earpiece is hardly noticeable in the center.
Flipping the phone over reveals the glass back. The glass on the back doesn’t feel nearly as slick as the iPhone X or Essential PH-1. The dual-cameras are also on the back along with the dual-LED flash, and fingerprint sensor/power button. Yes, the power button. The power button on the LG G6+ is integrated with the fingerprint sensor on the back and I’m not a fan of the placement. Along the top edge of the phone, you’ll find the Hi-Fi headphone jack and one microphone. The headphone jack has a 32-bit DAC built in allowing you to plug in really nice headphones and listen to Hi-Fi audio.
Along the bottom edge of the phone is where the USB Type-C charging port, the second microphone, and speaker are found. The left of the edge houses the volume buttons and the right edge of the phone has the SIM/SD card tray. All of the buttons on the LG are tactile and give good feedback aside from the power button which is a little annoying to deal with, for my taste.
The phone feels nice in hand with its aluminum frame. It’s not overly heavy but actually feels sort of feathery. It is also IP 68 rated, so it can go into around 5′ of water for up to 30-minutes without damage. Just be sure you let it dry out completely before plugging it in.
Overall, this is a nice simple design that’s sort of standard amongst smartphones these days. It should appeal to just about everyone.
Display
Like other flagships, the LG G6+ is sporting an 18:9 aspect ratio that is popular these days. The display is 5.7″ with a QHD+ resolution of 2880×1440 which is fairly normal for phones of this caliber. The mostly-display front is currently a must for smartphones. Bezels are distracting and ugly and LG got the message.
The display also features HDR10 and Dolby Vision support which makes watching movies that much better. The added features of HDR10 and Dolby Vision help make colors pop, blacks get deeper, and gives better over detail to the images. You will see this best with HDR content. It won’t affect non-HDR content so be sure to try watching Netflix HDR on this smartphone.
LG also gives you numerous display options in the settings app, which include:
- Font type
- Font size
- Bold text
- App scaling (adjusts the screen size of apps)
- Display size (sets items on the screen to a size easy to see)
- Comfort view (reduce eye-strain with this setting)
- Brightness
- Always on display (this turns the always-on lock screen on or off)
- Home touch buttons (pick, choose, and arrange your on-screen buttons)
- KnockON (lets you double tap lock screen to turn on/off)
The LG G6+ display is truly a flagship display. One thing of note that needs to be added: our first LG G6+ review unit suffered from some bad ghosting or banding. We contacted Amazon and they sent out a new unit immediately. The new G6+ display was absolutely perfect, so if you land a bad display, you should contact Amazon immediately for a replacement.
Overall, this is a really great display. Not only is it fun to use to watch Netflix HDR content but it’s just a very nice panel overall.
Software
This device ships with Android 7.0 installed, with hopes LG will push an 8.0 update. As with any other manufacturer, you will get LG’s own interface over Android. Much like Samsung, LG offers three different modes to use the phone in. You have Home, Easy Home, and Home & App Drawer. The Home choice is more like what you would see in China, Korea, and other countries. It’s very much like an iPhone with all of your apps on the home screen and no separate app drawer.
The Easy Home mode is a stripped down version with big fonts and very easy to use navigation. This is probably the one you’ll want your grandparents or kids using. The Home & App Drawer mode is more like what we’re used to here in the U.S. with a home screen and app drawer separate. The LG interface takes some navigating to get through the menus and figure out how you want your settings. But it’s not hard to figure out.
There are a handful of LG apps pre-installed, and, since this is an Amazon Prime Exclusive phone, you get all of the Amazon apps pre-installed. The good news is, there is 128GB of storage, so these apps aren’t eating up all of it. While the apps can’t be uninstalled, they can be disabled so they don’t show up on your homescreen or app drawer. Android 7.0 runs nicely on the LG G6+ but we’re hoping to see Android 8.0 at some point soon.
Overall, this is typical Android with manufacturer overlay. There are a few extra apps that may be annoying and the LG UX may not be your cup of tea but you can install a different launcher and take care of that.
Performance
The LG G6+ flagship phone is sporting the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 with 4GB of RAM. Gaming on the phone ran smoothly and CPU intensive games will make the phone slightly warm but nothing crazy. Browsing, email, app switching, and daily tasks were all smooth. Scrolling was also smooth, once in a great while there was a stutter on some web pages but nothing that was a deal breaker.
Overall, the performance of the LG G6+ was exactly as I expected given the specs on the phone. Most everyone should easily be satisfied with this phone’s performance.
Camera
This is a flagship device and thus should have a good camera, and it does. Smartphone cameras have really become a subjective thing lately, most flagships are fairly competitive with one another. At least for the average consumer they are. You will find fanboys of certain devices declare their camera superior. Frankly, average buyers are going to be happy with almost any flagship device’s camera.
That being said, the LG G6+ produces pretty solid images. Photos taken with good light are very good, with nice color saturation but not super oversaturated. Low light performance is acceptable. Even the best cameras will have grain issues in low light. There are other flagships better in low light, but the LG G6+ does a decent job.
There’s a ton of settings inside the camera app if you’re wanting more granular settings. I suspect most average users will never go into camera settings and just point and shoot.
Overall, the camera is solid on the LG G6+. It will get the job done, and it’s on par with other flagship devices, give or take.
Speakers/Sound
Some smartphones are doing a better job of upgrading their speakers. The LG G6+ isn’t one of them. The bottom firing speaker is tinny and lacks any bass response. It will do for YouTube videos that don’t involve music, but you’ll want to use a good pair of headphones for optimal sound for entertainment.
Speaking of headphones. The headphone jack has a 32-bit DAC integrated into it so you can listen to Hi-Fi audio. Not only does the headphone jack deliver better sound overall, but if you have a subscription to Tidal or FLAC files you want to listen to, this headphone jack will playback in high-quality audio. Bluetooth headphones are an option but you won’t get Hi-Fi playback.
Overall, the sound from the onboard speaker is weak, nothing really out of the ordinary. The upside is, the headphone jack provides Hi-Fi audio on supported files and streams.
Reception/Call Quality
The reception was good, I used this phone on T-Mobile’s LTE network and everything was spot on. Call quality was also good, callers could hear me and I could hear them clearly as well.
Battery Life
I typically start using my phone at 5 a.m. by streaming music and podcasts on the way into work and taking calls, texts, replying to email, browsing, watching YouTube, and playing games throughout the day. I also have Wi-Fi on all the time, as well as GPS, Bluetooth, and screen brightness set to 100%. The LG G6+ lasted me from 5 am until 9 pm with around 5-10% battery left at the end of the day. Your results may vary depending on your use.
Price/Value
LG and carrier pricing on the LG G6+ is $799.99USD. The Amazon Prime Exclusive price is a paltry $519.99USD. That is a tremendous value for this phone.
Wrap Up
The LG G6+ holds its own against other flagship devices in most categories as well as its price. But the Amazon Prime Exclusive version is a real steal with Prime pricing. You just can’t beat $519.99USD for a phone of this caliber. And with lockscreen ads now gone, it’s an even sweeter deal.
