Last week Chinese company OnePlus unveiled its latest flagship the OnePlus 5. And despite being more affordably-priced, the OnePlus 5 comes to compete head-to-head with the other high-end smartphones on the market including the LG G6.
In what follows, we’re going to take a quick look at how the LG G6 stacks up against OnePlus’ new latest and greatest effort.
Design and Display
One of the main complaints about the OnePlus 5 is that its design is very reminiscent of the iPhone 7 Plus due to its antenna lines curving along the top and bottom metal edges. The dual camera setup and fingerprint sensor placement don’t help the OnePlus 5 make a case for unique design either.
Still, the OnePlus 5 is the sleekest flagship released by the company so far, coming with a full metal body and a really thin frame of 7.25mm.
The LG G6, on the other hand, brings forth a refreshing design with its slim bezels and an extra-tall screen with 18:9 aspect ratio. The round corners bring an extra touch of class, but the metal-glass combination is a fairly common among flagships and phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and HTC U11 also offer it.
The LG G6 has its fingerprint sensor housed on the back, while on the OnePlus 5 it’s embedded in the home button.
Moving on to the display, the LG G6 features a 5.7-inch display with Quad HD+ resolution (2,880 x 1,440) with 564ppi and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The OnePlus 5 goes for the more typical approach with a 5.5-inch screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution.
Beyond the extra height and pixels, the LG G6’s screen also offers mobile HDR support for compatible content. In contrast, the OnePlus 5 uses the same display panel as the OnePlus 3T.
Performance
LG rushed to release the G6 before the Samsung Galaxy S8, so given Snapdragon 835 shortages at the time, the phone runs on the older Snapdragon 821 (quad-core processor clocked at 2.35GHz). At launch, the device was offered with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, but LG recently announced it will start offering a 64GB version as well.
The company also unveiled the G6+ model which comes equipped with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
The OnePlus 5 on the other hand, takes advantage of the latest Qualcomm chipset – Snapdragon 835. There are two options available for purchase – either with 6GB of RAM/64GB of internal storage or with 8GB of RAM/128GB of storage. The OnePlus 5 does not come with a microSD card slot, while the LG G6 includes a microSD slot which allows for memory expansion up to 256GB.
Cameras
Both the OnePlus 5 and LG G6 boasts dual-camera setups. The OnePlus phone has opted to include a 16-megapixel main sensor with f/1.7 alongside a 20-megapixel telephoto ally with f/2.6. The phone also includes a Portrait Mode and a variable zoom that does not sacrifice quality.
On the G6, LG has taken a different approach that couples two 13-megapixel units together. The standard one includes f/1.8 aperture, while the additional one is a wide-angle lens with f/2.4 aperture.
As we told you in our LG G6 review, the phone is capable of taking fantastic images with great detail and natural colors. Although there’s room for improvement in the low-lighting scenarios.
When it comes to selfies, the LG G6 includes a 5-megapixel 100-degree secondary camera that can shoot 1080p video and come with a beauty mode. As for the OnePlus 5, it houses a 16-megapixel self-portrait snapper with f/2.0.
Battery and other features
The LG G6 relies on a 3,300 mAh battery and so does the OnePlus 5. While in our review, we found the LG G6’s battery life a bit lacking, it’s not a huge complaint. The phone also includes wireless charging in the US and Quick Charge 3.0 – which should allow users to juice up their phone super-fast.
The OnePlus 5 also features an improved Dash Charge technology, which should soften the blow of having a smaller battery (the OnePlus 3T relied on a 3,400 mAh juice box). The presence of the power efficient Snapdragon 835, as well as software optimizations, should also help.
As for extra features, the LG G6 comes with IP68 certification (dust/water proof over 1.5 meters and 30 minutes). The OnePlus 5 is not waterproof or water-resistant.
And with the advent of the LG G6+, the Korean company will also offer the audio DAC feature in more markets (the feature has been limited to Asia so far).
Software
The OnePlus 5 comes with Android 7.1.1 Nougat with OxigenOS on top. It’s a minimalist approach to Android with plenty of extra features like a dedicated Reading Mode, Automatic Night Mode, extended screenshots and an in-game Do Not Disturb mode.
The LG G6 relies on Android 7.0 Nougat with the company’s LG UX on top which offers a cleaner experience overall. LG recently announced a software update for the LG G6 which is bound to add a new Face Print feature that will allow users to unlock the phone with their face, as well as a new Lower Power Consumption mode.
Pricing
The LG G6 has been out for some months now, so it can be purchased at a discounted price. For example, T-Mobile is selling it for $500 (down from $650) which sort of puts the LG G6 on par with the OnePlus 5 price-wise.
The factory unlocked version of the LG G6 (with no US warranty) can be purchased for $457 from Amazon right now.
The OnePlus 5 was just launched. You can grab the 6GB/64GB for $479, while the 8GB/128GB version is $539.
So what should you get? Well, it’s up to you – really. But to summarize it all, the LG G6 offers the advantages of a QHD+ display, a more striking design, water resistance and microSD slot (and maybe soon DAC), while the OnePlus 5 has more RAM, a newer processor, and more affordable price-tag.
