My LG G3 D855 was humbled recently by receiving its 5.0 update. While it is exciting to experience this new flavour of Android on this device, and here are the main changes that I found in using this for about two weeks.

It comes with the usual perks of Android 5.0, but the changes on LG’s side are not too significant.

The launcher remains almost identical to that of 4.4.2. A few changes LG made were to the notification panel, which got Lollipop-ified, and the toggles got new animations when clicked on.

LG G3 Lollipop Notification PanelAlso, the multitasking panel got its Lollipop makever, making individual Chrome tabs into different applications and having the vertical screenshot stack look.
LG G3 Lollipop Multitasking PanelLG also introduces the ‘ripple’ effect on interactions in Lollipop, which looks wonderful.
LG G3 Lollipop settings pageBy now, you might have noticed a few things; that the soft buttons have not changed aesthetically to the much more minimalistic stock Lollipop buttons, and that LG still does not have a quick toggles part of its notification panel, unlike most other OEMs.

These aesthetic changes brought a drastic change the user experience. However, this is not all for the best. The handset is prone to occasional crashes, overheating, and subsequent battery drainage. While I could get through a day and a half on one full charge with the occasional conversation on Facebook or Snapchat, this new software cannot support this, and drains battery quicker, at a rate of almost 15% per hour, when in on-off usage, for example, when conversing.

Due to the regression of performance, the overall user experience has declined dramatically in quality and in-app performance has also decreased. During a sporadic 2-hour Youtube viewing, my device overheated so much that my phone crashed. I have had numerous experiences like this, for example, when playing Real Boxing, or any other high-graphics games.

This update feels almost unstable, in that even in light usage, apps are prone to crashing and stuttering. This is almost worse than most of the nightly builds of Cyanogenmod I have used, and it is unacceptable for a public, official build from a company as rich in resources and bountiful in talent as LG. While I am happy that LG feels responsible to deliver quick, snappy updates, however, I believe that a more complete testing and development period for the new software would have served more purpose.

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28 COMMENTS

  3. He forgot to mention that in 5.0 No root + Bump for now…
    (Maybe soon LG will block in 5.0 and provent you to downgreat)
    only bump +root on 4.4.2 then flash 5.0 coustm rom so you can keep root+BUMP
    and you can downgreat safely…

  6. I got same unstable behavior after doing the OTA update .. but if you factory reset .. it’s better .. probably helps in certain cases .. just a suggestion ..

  9. Upgraded to 5.0 couple of days ago before reading this review. (Wrong move) Now I want to switch back to the previous version. Will factory reset do the trick? Not rooted.

  10. Bad upgrade. Every word is true. Extremely slow keyboard response. Takes at least twice the time to write. A central task that was simply not tested seriously or its test findings swept under a carpet in favor of “speedy upgrades”. There is a fundamental issue here that must be QUICKLY rectified. I have paid top dollar for this device. A lot, to ensure serious respect from LG!!
    The following is not a reliable statement…
    “LG is absolutely committed to giving our customers the best mobile experiences available and bringing Android Lollipop to G3 owners as soon as possible is a top priority,” Dr. Jong-seok Park, LG’s mobile chief stated. “The new features and improvements in Android 5.0 will bring a whole new user experience to the G3 and make it even better than it already is.”

  11. I was so exited about the lolipop update that i didnt thought i should wait and see reviews well i regret updating its crap and main issues
    – high graphic apps have started to crash
    -phone has become slow
    -gets hot with slight use
    – keyboard is not responding well
    – phone reboots some times automatically
    I hope lg makes these unstable functions stable with next update and it comes sooner .

  12. I have recieved OTA update of L in india, from then the battery gets drained with in 6 hours, its a worst part for an update of L for D855 version. LG should soon releaset he bug free version of L.

    • I have LG G3 32 gb midel. got my lollipop update when I connected to PC LG Tools app.
      But since the update the phone heats a lot. Also battery life has suddenly dropped. Few apps to crash (like my daily app for local train in Mumbai, not graphics intensive at all).
      Also battery save mode has no option to individually control what connections you need to disable.
      Also due to lollipop notification update no longer can we add widgets on lock screen.
      Overall a bad experience. Can Somebody guide me to get back on kit kat.

  13. I upgraded my G3 to 5.0 and immediately installed the extra update. Works like a charm. No factory reset needed. Very smooth. The QHD is crispier under ART and finaly makes the difference. No overheating, way better than kitkat. Maybe a slight improvement in battery drain but I have no data to confirm this. I was hoping to find measurements te performance improvement and battery on this site, but clearly too soon – should retest with extra update!

  14. I received the OTA last night and loaded it, it’s a new phone and so I didn’t think much about it. I received 5.01 and now I can’t figure out how to do a screenshot, I used to just pull the option up from the bottom but now I only get the google app when I pull up from the bottom. Any suggestions? I think that my battery life may not be as good, but I was doing a search for my work so that may be why it dropped from 100% to 88% in a very short time.

      • The option you are talking about can be added to the bottom menu bar of the screen. it is a square with a line at the bottom right hand corner made to look like a pencil, or a funny Q.
        Goto> Settings> Display> Home Touch Buttons> Button Combination
        On the upper half of the screen drag and drop the square with the line through it into the area for the home touch buttons. I also added the four arrows pointing at each other which is the Qslide apps. I really don’t use it but I don’t like the look of the four menu buttons as opposed to 5.
        Try the voice recognition it is amazing. It even gets first and last names right most of the time.
        Hope that helps

        Barry

  15. I updated to Lollipop 5.0.1 The day it became available 2/11/15. I have a white AT&T LG G3 that was replaced 3 months ago because of issues with email and texts not being sent or received. I am not noticing a significant change in battery life. I am not experiencing any more freezes than I did before and no overheating although I am in New England and it has been very cold with record breaking snowfall this season. I will say that the improvement in voice recognition is amazing. I think a lot of the issues have been resolved with update 5.0.1. I would recommend the update. The last update I received eliminated my ability to copy and paste to Q memo and this update fixed that issue. I would recommend giving 5.0.1 a shot so far I really like it and I have had it for a week.

    On a side note
    For battery issues I picked up a car charger that is also a battery pack so I just pull it out of the cig lighter socket and keep it plugged into my phone till it charges. I picked it up a Kohl’s for 25 bucks. I was on call this Friday and worked 16 hours straight the whole time getting a lot of texts and calls. The phone got to around 20% at 8PM around 14 hours of use. That’s when I pulled the car charger/battery pack out of the cig lighter socket and plugged it into my phone. It got me through the rest of call. I don’t like the batteries that significantly increase the size of your phone.
    I wish they made a form fitting case that has a battery in the case and charges the phone when the battery is low like a morphine.

    • Agree typing text is back to normal using 5.0.1 and no overheating. Battery still drains significantly quicker… Something for the next patch…

  16. I like many of the lollipop additions however my battery life has become significantly worse. The power saving options are worse,LG would do well to come up with an alternative like Sony’s stamina mode.

  17. Upgraded to 5.0 couple of days ago before reading this review. (Wrong move) Now I want to switch back to the previous version. Will factory reset do the trick? Not rooted.

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