The LG Q6a smartphone made a good impression in terms of performance and design. In addition, it showed excellent autonomy, which is a rarity in combination with a Full-HD screen. However, the device has somewhat reduced equipment and, as the test showed, it does not have the best cameras. At the same time, it is worth considering that this model belongs to the budget segment and you probably should not expect flagship capabilities from it.

Pros:

• Great design and ergonomics
• High-quality assembly, durable aluminum body
• Good performance
• Wonderful big screen
• Detailed speaker sound

Minuses:

• Slippery, easily scratched plastic cover
• Speakers lack bass
• No LED event indicator
• Low detail in the front camera

Pleasant in all respects, but...

LG, having released the flagship model LG G6, which is very good both in terms of an innovative Full-Vision screen and equipment, decided to experiment and offer fans of the brand a line of inexpensive models that are very similar in appearance. We are talking about its announcement. Then the company announced the entry into the Russian market of two models - Q6 and Q6a, which differ in the amount of operational memory and built-in flash storage.

As fate would have it, the younger brother of the line, the Q6a in black, was included in the CHIP editorial team. In Russia, this model can now be bought for about 13,000 rubles, which is very inexpensive, although it is equipped rather modestly. It should be noted that this device immediately made a good impression on our veteran testers, who had seen dozens of flagship smartphones, and this can be considered a good sign.

LG engineers tried to make the smartphone pleasant in all respects, however, they were probably given the task of not crossing the path of the head of the family (LG G6), and they tried to solve it “perfectly”.

Equipment: equal to junior ones

Our LG Q6a sample has 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of built-in flash disk, of which 740 MB and 8 GB, respectively, are initially available to the user. The heart of the model is the eight-core Snapdragon 435 processor with a clock frequency of 1.4 GHz. This is a very modest set of components that most smartphones from well-known Chinese brands are equipped with today.

However, in the case of our test hero, not everything is so simple. The main highlight of the Q6a is the Full Vision screen with a diagonal of 5.5 inches and a resolution of 2160x1080 pixels (for some reason the benchmark shows 2004x1080).

A good size, comparable in width to 4.7-inch models, slightly elongated in height, providing a comfortable one-handed grip and the popular diagonal figure (although, of course, this is not the “correct” 5.5 inches). At the same time, narrow frames at the top and bottom with rounded corners really create a pleasant impression of “rational” use of visual screen space.

The display itself is very clear and has good color reproduction, close to ideal. Our testers, owners of Samsung and iPhone devices, noted the white color with a slight blue tint and advised adding yellowness in the settings (this function is available in the shell settings). However, in our opinion, pure white is better than one with a yellowish or greenish tint.

Another important pleasant factor is the weighty monolithic body (although the weight is very small - 146 g), made of durable A7000 aluminum.

Duration of work

The LG Q6a has a non-removable 3000 mAh battery, which is quite capacious for this class of smartphone. With an average load: 30 minutes of talking, 1.5 hours of web surfing, 1 hour of listening to music and 2 hours of watching videos, the battery lasts for a full 2 ​​days, which is very good result considering more than Full HD screen with 70% backlight brightness.

The Antetu tester benchmark also confirmed excellent battery performance, showing 11421 points, which is almost three times higher than that of the Nexus 5. Conveniently, in the battery settings you can set the charge percentage to be displayed in the tray. In addition, there is a function to enable energy saving mode.

The smartphone charges from 5 to 100% in less than 2 hours - quite quickly, considering the decent battery capacity. By the way, the model is equipped with a standard microUSB port, which is great, given the widespread availability of cables with such a plug.

Note that during the charging process the entire body and even the screen do not heat up very much - up to 37 degrees.

Performance and Control

As we have already mentioned, LG’s device turned out to be very balanced and fast. We did not observe the slightest lag in the interface or when launching programs, even with large applications open, such as Google maps, the Chrome browser and Google Photos.

Now about the results of synthetic tests. As the popular Antutu Benchmark v.6.27 showed, the overall result for this model is 36050 points. At the same time, the eight-core CPU earned 11,512 points, and the RAM earned 4,561 points. The graphics system, built on Adreno 505, gave 7897 points.

Another benchmark, GeekBench v.4.1.3, showed an overall result of 1544 points, while in the single-core test the smartphone scored 530 points, and in the multi-core test - 2007, which is approximately equal to the performance of the Nexus 5X.

Camera and image quality

A module with a 13 megapixel sensor manufactured by LG with a regular LED flash is integrated here as the main camera. The front camera has a 5 megapixel sensor, and it is possible to switch between normal and wide-angle modes (viewing angle 100 degrees).

Test images showed that the main camera can produce quite detailed frames in clear and cloudy weather. However, indoors, even in good lighting, the sharpness drops somewhat - in a group photo, small details can no longer be seen when enlarged. When shooting in difficult lighting, the main camera often had errors in setting the white balance.

At the same time, we really liked the work of the optical image stabilizer and the ability to zoom the frame up to 6 times without much loss in image quality. Also, I would like to note the relatively high-quality optics, which produce an image without distortion, although the clarity could be higher.

The camera settings were somewhat disappointing, including the lack of the ability to manually set white balance (even inexpensive Chinese models have this function). Also, with the declared 13 megapixels, if you set the frame size to 16:9, the image resolution is immediately reduced to 9.7 megapixels. Of the available modes, the manufacturer left only “Auto”, “Panorama” and “Food photography”.

But for fans of social networks and Instagram there is a special type of shooting “Square”. It allows you to take photos at once with this aspect ratio or combine two square images vertically.

As for the front camera, the manufacturer clearly hasn’t made any improvements here - the pictures in both normal and wide-angle modes are not detailed enough.

By the way, the smartphone has a function to unlock the device using facial recognition, which should compensate for the lack of a fingerprint scanner module.

Speakers and sound

The manufacturer has equipped the smartphone with a separate headphone output, a speaker for calls on the rear side and a speaker. Both provide fairly high-quality, detailed sound, but it lacks low frequencies.

Equipment features

Let us separately dwell on the components that are in great demand in everyday life. In particular, we liked that the manufacturer provided two trays in the case - one standard - for the main nano Sim and microSD memory card, and the second - for an additional nano Sim.

As with most dual-SIM smartphones, only one selected SIM can work in 4G and LTE mode. It is noteworthy that in the settings you can separately set which SIM card to make calls from and which to send SMS. Very comfortably.

Also, we emphasize the presence in this model of a gyrocompass and a very sensitive GPS module, which is convenient to use for pedestrian and automobile navigation - the direction of movement is visible immediately, and not after you walk 10 meters.

It's a pity that there is no NFC module here - you can't check your metro ticket and you can't quickly connect Bluetooth headphones. But this is not critical. But the lack of an LED indicator that shows the charging status, received SMS and notifications, as well as missed calls is puzzling. However, I am glad that the manufacturer did not abandon FM radio.

Main technical characteristics:

Software platform	Android 7.1.1 Nougat, LG UX 6.0 shell
CPU	64-bit, octa-core Snapdragon 435, up to 1.4 GHz
Graphics controller	Adreno 505
RAM	2 GB
Built-in memory	16 GB
Display	5.5 inches, IPS, 2160×1080 pixels, 442 ppi
Main camera	13 MP, LED flash
Front-camera	5 MP, viewing angle 100 degrees
Battery	3000 mAh, built-in
Audio jack	3.5 mm
Ports	USB Type-B 2.0
Wireless connection	LTE 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, FM radio
Dimensions	142.5 x 69.3 x 8.1 mm
Weight	149 g

Photo: manufacturing companies, Andrey Kireev

LG was the first to show a relatively inexpensive smartphone with a screen covering the entire front surface. Such smartphones are usually called frameless, despite the fact that they still have frames. And they are called frameless because of the display, which has an unusual aspect ratio of 18:9. And the first sign in the mid-segment with a similar design is LG Q6.

Design

There are three devices in the Q6 line: LG Q6, Q6a and Q6+. Externally and in a number of technical characteristics, they are identical, but differ mainly in the amount of memory. We tested the most affordable version of the LG Q6a.

Externally, this is a very nice smartphone that fits perfectly in the hand. Its dimensions are as convenient and comfortable as possible. Despite the fact that this is a 5.5-inch smartphone, its dimensions are more than modest. If you compare it with other 5.5-inch devices, the difference will be obvious. Although, with equal diagonals, the Pixel XL has a much larger screen area due to a different aspect ratio. Based on the finishing materials, this is a budget device, but with protective glass on the screen, metal ends and a plastic back cover. This cover is extremely scratch-resistant due to its glossy finish. After a week of very careful use, the smartphone became covered with small scratches and abrasions. At the same time, it was always in my pocket or on the table.

In terms of controls, everything is familiar here: the power button is on the right, the volume rocker is on the left, and underneath there are two trays for one nano SIM card and for a SIM card and a memory card. You won't have to sacrifice anything. But there were no casualties in this smartphone. LG has abandoned the fingerprint scanner. For secure unlocking, it is suggested to use face recognition. In seven cases out of ten, the smartphone is unlocked, but you can fool it with a simple photo.

Screen

The screen of the LG Q6a and other modifications is the same. This is a 5.5-inch IPS display with Full HD+ resolution and an 18:9 aspect ratio. LG calls these FullVision screens because of their thin bezels. Perhaps the screen is the main asset of this smartphone. It is because of this that it looks more expensive than it actually is. There are simply no other similar devices in this segment. Most likely, inexpensive smartphones with a screen covering the entire front surface will begin to appear next year. Thanks to the screen, LG Q6a can still be called a unique device.

The display itself is very good, the viewing angles are maximum, the brightness is sufficient. There are no complaints about the screen. As in the older version, some applications can be expanded to full screen. You can choose which applications to stretch in the settings.

Iron

Technically, the smartphone can be classified as middle class. There is 2 GB of RAM, an eight-core Snapdragon 435 processor, Adreno 505 graphics and 16 GB of permanent memory. The smartphone's interface is fast, but you shouldn't expect lightning-fast app launches or switching. It happens that it gets thoughtful, although in general the speed of operation is adequate and not annoying. Time killers, runners and other small toys run great on the Q6a. Heavy ones, like WoT Blitz, will run on minimum settings with an average of 45 fps. It’s clear that with such characteristics, the Q6a is far from a gaming smartphone, but it’s quite possible to play in case of urgent need.

Camera

All versions of the Q6 have the same 13 megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture. You shouldn't expect miracles from this camera, but it's not bad. The slightly mediocre autofocus is not always accurate, but during the day the pictures are quite good. In insufficient lighting, of course, you shouldn’t expect a good result, but even here you can get a decent result with the right approach. The pictures are quite suitable for Facebook or Instagram. The smartphone shoots video in Full HD resolution, there is no 4K here. There is stabilization in the settings, but apparently only software and not the best. During the day, the video is acceptable; in low light, noise is already noticeable.

5 MP front camera with a wide 100-degree viewing angle. Suitable for group selfies, but the quality leaves much to be desired.

Battery, sound and shell

The Q6 has a 3000 mAh battery. Not the largest capacity for a smartphone with a 5.5-inch screen, but one charge is enough for a full day of work. From morning to night, with normal loading, the smartphone is guaranteed to work, and nothing more is required. It’s strange that in such a modern device there was no place for USB-C. Here, a regular micro-USB is used for charging, but it’s not that bad.

The LG UX 6.0 shell is much more frustrating. It seems that everything is according to Google’s precepts, here you have Flat design and Android 7.1.1, but still the launcher is a little overloaded. The settings menu has a colorful abundance of tabs. LG tried to make everything clear and convenient, but it turned out the opposite. Compare what it looks like on pure Android - simple and concise. It's time for LG to bring its launcher up to modern trends or even think about switching to pure Android. Many manufacturers do just that. As for the sound, it uses a single speaker on the back side, it is loud, but the sound is very high-pitched.

conclusions

LG Q6a is interesting at least due to its design. The dimensions, excellent display, ease of use and operating time speak for this smartphone. On the other hand, there is an easily scratched back cover, the absence of a fingerprint scanner and a price of 260-300 dollars. But in this price segment no one offers a “frameless” design and a screen of this level. And everything else is at least not annoying, which is generally an excellent indicator for mid- and entry-level smartphones.

Earlier this year, LG was the first to release its flagship LG G6 with a screen whose aspect ratio was 18:9 (2:1). A few months later, a model with almost the same display was shown by Samsung in the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+. This month LG will release two more flagships LG V30 and LG V30 Plus. Samsung will show off the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. These future models will also feature 18:9 displays. In September, Apple will show its smartphone, which, according to the latest data, will have an aspect ratio of 2.25:1 with a resolution of 2800x1242 pixels. This trend indicates that the usual 16:9 ratio screens will soon be used only in mid-range and budget models. While other brands are just picking up the trend, LG presented the first mid-budget smartphone with an ultra-wide 18:9 display – LG Q6. It is this smartphone that will be considered in detail.

We're reviewing the LG Q6α. It received 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. LG Q6 (3 GB RAM, 32 GB ROM) and LG Q6+ (4 GB RAM, 64 GB ROM). In addition to the minimum amount of RAM and storage, the LG Q6α does not have an NFC chip.

Equipment LG Q6

Inside the regular black box is the LG Q6 itself, a warranty card with instructions and a paper clip, a microUSB cable and a charging block (5V, 1.2A). There is an empty place where apparently there should be headphones, but not for the Ukrainian market.

Design and ergonomics of LG Q6

The main feature of the LG Q6 is the display, which LG calls FullVision. The smartphone is very similar to its older model LG G6 and, in principle, is a mini flagship. Looks a little smaller and much simpler. For example, the LG G6 in black looks more expensive, since the metal itself at the ends was not painted black. But this is visible only with direct comparison. In the hands of LG Q6 it gives a WOW effect at first.

The big disadvantage is the thick frames on the sides of the display - approximately 2.5 mm. Top of the display 8 mm, bottom 9 mm. Like the LG G6, the LG Q6 moved away from the fashionable 2.5D glass trend and installed a standard protective flat glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 3), slightly recessed into the body. The practicality of such a solution is much higher, and for many potential buyers this may be a plus. Display diagonal 5.5 inches.

The metal frame of the smartphone is made of 7000-series aluminum. LG specifically emphasizes the durability of the LG Q6. It can withstand being dropped onto a flat surface from a height of 1.5 meters.

The back panel is covered with glossy plastic, which perfectly collects all fingerprints. At first it may seem that this is glass and due to this, the LG Q6 looks a little more expensive. The design is very similar to the LG G6, which had Gorilla Glass 5 on the back surface. Unfortunately, there is no talk of any expressiveness compared to the older model. The smartphone has one 13 MP module along with a flash, located in the upper left corner. At the bottom there is a fairly loud speaker.

There is nothing on the front panel except the display itself, the camera, the voice speaker and several sensors. The buttons on the LG Q6 are located at the bottom of the screen and are quite flexibly customizable. A total of up to 5 buttons can be installed. There are 6 to choose from. At the same time, you can change their location in any order.

On the right side there is a power button for the smartphone.

On the left is a volume key and 3 slots for 2 nano-SIM and microSD cards. Cards up to 2 TB are supported.

The second microphone is located on the top edge. On the bottom edge there is a main microphone, a headphone input and a microUSB connector.

The dimensions of the device are 142.5x69.3x7.9 mm, weight 163 g. These are dimensions comparable to 5-inch smartphones, and only the length will be several millimeters longer. The width of the display itself is identical to the 5-inch models, and the length is approximately 14 mm longer. Using LG Q6 is convenient. By reducing the side edges, it could easily become even more compact. At the same time, do not forget that the diagonal of this display is equal to the current popular standard of 5.5 inches. The iPhone 7 Plus, for example, is 1.5 cm longer, 8 mm wider and 25 g heavier.

Reaching the top of the display to lower the shutter is not difficult. You can also install a separate button for this. Even though I installed it, out of habit I still reached with my thumb towards the top edge of the screen.

Although the LG Q6 is rugged, it unfortunately does not receive any protection from water and dust.

Without the screen turned on, the smartphone looks austere, but not expensive. The rear glossy plastic panel, which at first can be mistaken for glass, looks modern, but one main camera and a single-color flash make it clear that this is a budget phone. It is also not clear from the outside that the smartphone uses good aluminum, since the metal is always painted in the color of the body. The exception is the LG Q6 in platinum.

LG Q6 is available in black, gold and platinum colors. The front part is always painted black. Although the matrix displays very deep blacks, it is much more effective to use light themes.

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LG Q6 display

The LG Q6 has a 5.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2160x1080 pixels (442 ppi). Since the screen is the main feature here, it was made of extremely high quality. There are no compromises. Excellent viewing angles from all sides. In the sun, colors almost do not lose contrast and brightness. Despite the fact that Full HD+ resolution is used here, and not QHD+, as in the older model, we can only talk about the lack of pixels per inch at 442 ppi when using a magnifying glass.

It is possible to adjust the display of each application individually. Available in 16:9 and 16.7:9 ratios. In both cases, the keyboard is always displayed and there are black bars at the top and bottom of the picture. In the first case they are wider. There is also an 18:9 ratio, which is actually why you buy the LG Q6. I recommend using it for games. You can always bring up the keyboard by swiping your finger from bottom to top. There you will also be given the opportunity to change the ratio of the displayed image. The application will reboot.

The same applies to video. But it turned out that it’s not so easy to find a video on YouTube with an aspect ratio of 21:9. Most trailers already come with black bars for 16:9 screens. As a result, we get black stripes on all sides. There is no such problem with downloaded films.

There is no ability to constantly display the time and other notifications, like the LG G6. Although both smartphones use an IPS matrix that is not the most economical for these purposes.

But it is possible to unlock the screen using the owner’s face. Just look at the LG Q6 and the screen is unlocked. Sounds better than it works. The unlocking itself is very fast. But not always. Doesn't work in the dark. It hardly works in low light. It may not work during the day. The fingerprint scanner is more stable, but it won’t surprise anyone. When entering a PIN code, if the face is not recognized, not everything is smooth either. After entering the password, you need to click on the check mark. I'm already used to the fact that the login occurs automatically as soon as I entered the last correct character. A small thing, but important.

LG Q6 Platform and Performance

The heart of the LG Q6 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 435. It is an eight-core 64-bit processor with Cortex-A53 cores, with a maximum clock speed of 1.4 GHz. The Adreno 506 is responsible for video. A lot of good things can be said about this processor, but it is definitely a budget solution, and it’s strange to see the Snapdragon 435 in a mid-budget device. It can be called the weakest point in the LG Q6.

Android 7.1.1 with a proprietary shell from LG. Bluetooth 4.2. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n. It takes less than 3 seconds to determine your location using GPS when cellular and Wi-Fi connections are turned off.

Snapdragon 435 cannot be called cold. While playing games, holding a smartphone in your hands is not pleasant. But the processor is located on the left side, almost in the middle of the case. It is enough to turn the LG Q6 to the right rather than to the left and it will be much more comfortable to use. The main heating zone will not be affected.

In synthetic tests, the LG Q6 with Snapdragon 435 does not show impressive results, as expected. But still, a smartphone cannot be called unplayable. You will be able to run any game from the Play Market with good fps, but not always with good graphics settings. No freezes were noticed. He performs all daily tasks more than perfectly.

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About 8 GB of internal memory will be available. By modern standards, this is extremely small, so it is very good that there is a separate slot for microSD.

LG Q6 interface

Compared to the LG G6, there have been no significant changes. I won’t describe it in detail. Let me just say that the system works quickly and smoothly. It did not cause any complaints during operation, despite the impressive screen resolution with a budget processor.

In the display settings, you can enable night mode, which is called “Comfort Viewing” here. Unfortunately, no automation is provided. In the “App Scaling” section, you can adjust the screen size for each application.

It is worth paying attention to the ability to work with two applications simultaneously. This mode, of course, will not be available for most games and cameras. But it won’t be difficult for you to run Word with a translator or several instant messengers on one screen. Of course, many smartphones can boast of this functionality. But they do not implement this for such a wide range of applications and are not so convenient.

Cameras LG Q6

As for the average person, the cameras shoot objectively accordingly. The main 13 MP camera pleased with the work of the digital image stabilizer. Shots well during the day. At night, noise appears and the edges begin to blur. In general, the picture is standard for this type of device. Aperture f/2.2.

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Both cameras can record video at maximum Full HD resolution with stereo sound. Below is an example of recording video with the main camera.

There is support for HDR mode. To take advantage of such a wide screen, LG offers a “Square” photo mode.

Musical component of LG Q6

Since the LG Q6 is a mini-flagship of the LG G6, it did not receive a DAC as expected. But there is a 3.5 mm jack, and it is located on the bottom edge. In addition, the device supports FLAC format playback. I would describe the sound quality as very good, and the maximum volume is more than sufficient. Listening to music on headphones with the volume turned up to maximum is physically unpleasant.

The external speaker of the LG Q6 is quite loud, but there is not even a hint of low frequencies.

When you connect headphones, you can listen to the radio.

In general, apart from the lack of a DAC, the music component of the LG Q6 is at the level of the LG G6.

Autonomy LG Q6

The LG Q6 has a 3000 mAh battery, which is enough for it. In the Work 2.0 application, the smartphone was discharged in 7 hours and 44 minutes at 70% display brightness from 100% to 20%. This means that if you spend at least 30% of your time at work, the device can last 1 day. When playing games, you should expect at least 4-5 hours of use on the LG Q6.

The LG Q6 charges in about 2 hours. There is no fast charging.

Conclusion:

It is worth understanding that at the moment this is the only mid-budget smartphone (6999 hryvnia from official dealers) with an 18:9 display on the market. Its processor may seem weak; for some, the second main camera or RAM may not be enough. But if you want an interesting mid-budget smartphone that stands out from hundreds of other devices, then there is simply no choice. All disadvantages, most of them minor or corresponding to the A-brand price. They disappear within a day of using the device.

Budget smartphones from non-Chinese brands (LG, Samsung, Sony, HTC) in recent years have been losing popularity not because they are outdated - after all, people are buying archaic “third-rate” refurbished iPhone 5s for the same amount. The problem is that the “grandees” consider themselves so cool that they do not hesitate to price smartphones with a low-power processor, a grainy screen and a tiny battery at a couple of hundred US dollars. They say that it’s not a sin to pay extra for an authoritative nameplate on the body.

But Chinese brands no longer suffer from narcissism (Lenovo is an exception, but that’s a separate conversation), and either offer the same hardware cheaper, or stuff smartphones with higher-quality screens, cameras, and processors for the same money. Therefore, why on earth should I pay extra for a Chinese screen with huge frames, a Chinese processor, a Chinese camera and essentially the same Android in a Korean or Japanese smartphone? And one could say that such crafts are no different from “Chinese phones,” but the situation has moved from a dead point and public sector employees of famous brands have finally found their face. For example, LG, which introduced an unprecedentedly high-quality display into the inexpensive Q6 model. Let's talk about him.

Is there one like this, but not LG?

Koreans have very different approaches to “import substitution” of fillings in their electronics. If a Samsung smartphone almost always has a Samsung display, a Samsung processor, Samsung memory and a Samsung battery. Therefore, in the situation with the Galaxy Note 7 fire, managers did not even have the opportunity to point to someone outside the company and say “these bastards are to blame for the incident!”

Life is Good works differently - the monstrous division of LG Display, which churns out IPS and OLED matrices for every third TV in the world and for a huge number of smartphones, is “sprayed” on LG smartphones relatively rarely. Managers are not against bargaining with a third-party supplier if its displays turn out to be cheaper than “cutting” colorful panels into mobile phones of their own production. And only in the flagships of the G and V series are the displays truly original and cool “for all the money”.

Budget LG smartphones have so far been content with screens “like everyone else’s or a little worse,” but now a revolution has happened - the branded Full Vision display has come to a model costing 17 thousand rubles. The snickering “reviewers”, fed up with flagships, shrug their shoulders and say “nothing special,” but, in reality, this is a significant event.

The display looks good not only “on paper”, but in practice

Because LG Q6 has no competitors in terms of screen type! Samsung Galaxy S8 with a similar screen costs 55 thousand rubles, and LG G6 - 52 thousand (approx. 30 thousand in “gray” retail). If we forget about flagships, there is no other smartphone with “cut off” top and bottom margins in Russian retail, and in foreign stores there is only Doogee Mix (a parody of Xiaomi Mix) with an HD display and a disgusting camera. Plus - the reputation of a defect manufacturer, and all this for 12 thousand rubles without a guarantee in Russia. Therefore, LG is still a leader in the field of frameless budget smartphones.

5.5" display in a 5.0" body

“This cannot be - there must be a gap!” LG decided, and did not fight with the side frames, but increased the length of the display. Due to the upper and lower indents, as in the flagship G6. It turned out beautifully - and in comparison with its brothers, which have a large display Nothing, and in comparison with the Chinese, who, in addition, disfigure their smartphones around the displays.

And there are benefits too - a 5.5-inch smartphone is now equal in size to the Meizu M5c, Honor 6C or Sony Xperia E5 with an exactly 5-inch display! It's also the same size as your 5.1-inch flagship Samsung Galaxy S6 or Huawei P10 - not bad for a model costing 17 thousand rubles.

You can argue about the design for a long time, but in terms of the ratio of screen to body size, the Q6 is unrivaled

Why do you need a display that is elongated in height? LG marketers are confident that smartphone buyers will create collages of photographs from two square frames vertically. In fact, most of the far-fetched options in the camera will remain in oblivion, and few will even bother to turn on HDR in the depth of the settings. But there is a benefit from the additional space at the top and bottom of the “simple display”: more space for text in the browser, instant messengers, SMS, “readers”, the shooting and settings keys do not overlap the frame when the camera is on, more space for widgets and application shortcuts, and screen keys work together with a Full HD display, rather than eating up part of it for their needs.

You can’t find fault with the quality of the matrix - I’m not a colorimeter person, but the brightness reserve is huge (in appearance - higher than in any Xiaomi Redmi or Meizu M-series), the display does not fade when viewed from an angle, and the colors are not “thermonuclear”. It is unlikely that in terms of maximum brightness and contrast, the LG Q6 display will be comparable to the Xiaomi Mi6 or ASUS ZenFone 3 matrix, but there is no desire to criticize the quality and clarity of the matrix.

The gloss and abundance of metal in the LG Q6 look great

Q6 Alpha is also beautiful, but terribly dirty

But there is a desire to criticize the quality of the case in the LG Q6α - there is nothing shameful in the fact that the cheaper version of the smartphone is made of plastic, but the smartphone is always slippery and always dirty, like a piano that has been rubbed with smoked sausage. It’s good that at least the side edges in the “alpha” are matte, otherwise holding the smartphone in your hands would be problematic.

“Simply Q6” looks much better. A black front panel, a thick, thick layer of chocolate metal, like an adjustable wrench, and a shiny, playful “luminium” on the back panel. By the way, there are questions about aluminum in appearance - in the photographs it seems that it is just skillfully polished foil. But in real life the smartphone looks decent, and you can’t press through the metal with your finger. Good material - beautiful and practical at the same time, this used to be the case in Honor 5C, but since then Huawei has gone for either a “pan” texture or glass gloss.

And the Q6 case is certified according to the MIL-STD-810G standard - this is a guarantee that the smartphone will not break into mush when dropped from a height of human height onto a flat surface. True, such a case will still not be considered a warranty, so do not try to repeat this at home.

Not shockproof, but shockproof

A pleasant surprise is full-fledged separate slots for two SIM cards and a separate slot for microSD. Not combined, as the scumbag marketers design it with all the new smartphones, but standalone! Apart from budget Samsung and any Motorola models, no one has “honest” slots today.

I give a standing ovation. Thank you!

In return, so that life doesn’t seem like honey, LG removed the fingerprint scanner from smartphones. “Why are you indignant? Now it’s fashionable to unlock the screen with your gaze or the retina,” company representatives shrug. Oh? Is it okay that this method can be deceived using a photograph of the owner? How can I log in to banking applications now? Cramming passwords after buying a smartphone for 17-20 thousand? Brilliant “saving on matches”!

Facial recognition is good, but a smartphone without a fingerprint scanner today is an inferior smartphone

Cameras are not impressive

LG is keeping quiet about the detailed characteristics (sensor model, aperture, pixel size) of the cameras in the Q6 - probably because there is nothing special to brag about. A cheap 13-megapixel sensor on the back, a slightly modified budget 5-megapixel front camera on the front.

Most likely, the cameras migrated to the Q6 straight from the budget LG K10 (2017). That is, a budget matrix with an f/2.2 aperture without optical stabilization and fashionable large pixels at the core. Expect slightly better photos than the Redmi Note 4, Meizu M5 or Sony Xperia XA, that is, something on the level of the Honor 5C or Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016). HDR, software stabilization, color filters. Good pictures during the day and terrible ones at night. You can live, but it’s sad.

Here's what the LG Q6 widescreen camera is for

The front camera has a viewing angle of 100 degrees - in the summer, with the right level of lighting, you can capture a lot of everything around you. And if, on the contrary, you don’t want to photograph your surroundings, you can switch to a narrower viewing angle. The problem is that with a narrow angle, the camera just... zooms in a bit. The sensor's aperture is also not outstanding - even in a room with good light, the level of sharpness will be so-so. What do you want? The Q6 is a budget phone dressed up in frameless fashion, there’s no getting around it.

Photo on the rear camera of LG Q6

Photo on the rear camera of LG Q6

Eight “some” cores

The owner of a Chinese phone will look at the characteristics of the LG Q6 and say “disgrace!”, but young Aliexpress users have their head in the clouds and probably don’t know that in Russia Meizu is freely rolling out an HD display and MT6753 (which was budget back in 2015) for 14 thousand rubles. With much lower quality cameras and without any exotic displays. Samsung is asking 18 thousand rubles for the Galaxy J5 (2017), which is comparable in speed, and LG representatives look at those who like to cite processors in Xiaomi and LeEco as examples, like Toyota buyers look at the owners of tuned Zhiguli cars.

In principle, the Snapdragon 435 is not as scary as it is painted - the performance level of Xiaomi Redmi 4/Honor 8 Lite/Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) is enough for buyers who are not spoiled by flagships. In video, the processor is omnivorous, messengers also handle it without complaint. Unless the autonomy with 3000 mAh with a 5.5-inch IPS display will be “one-day” and nothing more.

• Operating system: Android 7.1.1 Nougat
• Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 435 MSM8940
• Display: 5.5 inches FullVision, 18:9 aspect ratio, FHD+ resolution (2160 x 1080 / 442 ppi)
• Memory: 2GB RAM/16GB ROM
• Camera: main – Sony IMX258 13 MP, standard, 1/3" sensor size, 1.12 nm pixel size / front – SuperPix SP5506 5 MP, wide-angle, 1/5" sensor size, 1.12 nm pixel size
• Networks: LTE / 3G / 2G
• Connections: Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n / Bluetooth 4.2 / USB Type-B 2.0
• Other: Face Detection/Google Assistant/Square Shooting/Steady Record/FM Radio
• Battery: 3,000 mAh (built-in)
• Colors: black, gold, platinum.
• Dimensions: 142.5 x 69.3 x 8.1 mm
• Weight: 149 g

Introduction

About a month ago, LG Electronics introduced the LG Q6 mobile device (version α and simply Q6) to the Russian market. And literally at the beginning of August, the new product began to be sold in wide retail.

If you look at the technical characteristics of the device, they will seem quite boring and relatively primitive. However, the most important feature of the LG Q6 is the ratio of the body size and the display matrix. The fact is that the South Korean company decided to take the right step, from my point of view: to give potential buyers without a large “wallet” the opportunity to get the experience of using a huge screen in a compact case. Among A-brands, no one has done this yet, so Q6 can be considered the world’s first smartphone with a FullVision display under 17,000 rubles.

In general, at the beginning of the text it is worth saying that the developers tried to design the device in such a way as to fall into the price segment of up to 20,000 rubles, but at the same time present an adequate device from all points of view.

For example, the back panel is made of plastic, it looks primitive, is subject to scratches once or twice and wears out. At the same time, the side edge is made of 7000 series aluminum, durable and strong. It is alleged that the Q6 will soon receive MIL-STD 810G certification - this is a US military standard that allows you to determine the resistance of equipment to all kinds of impacts: falls, twisting, vibration, and so on.

The smartphone was deprived of a fingerprint scanner, although now not a single modern device can do without this sensor. Instead of the scanner, face recognition was installed.

Memory is extremely small: 2 GB of RAM, of which about 700 MB is available, and 16 GB of internal memory, where the user is allocated (after installing standard applications) about 2.5 GB. However, LG introduced the Q6 model with 3/32 GB of Flash memory, but for a lot of money. For some reason they decided to use microUSB instead of USB-C...

In short, there are a lot of trade-offs to consider before purchasing.

Design, dimensions, control elements

From a design point of view, there are no unusual design elements or original solutions here: this is a typical smartphone, especially if you look at the gadget from the back. Naturally, the Q6 shares many similarities with the flagship G6 model.

It has already been said that the back cover is plastic (flat, but flows smoothly to the sides), the frame is metal (rolled), and the screen is protected by third-generation Gorilla Glass. There is an oleophobic coating, the quality is average, fingerprints are erased quickly, the finger glides easily.

There are absolutely no questions about the strength and quality of workmanship: the body is monolithic, the lid does not press down to the battery, nothing creaks or plays.

Due to the relatively small width of the gadget (just under 70 mm), the Q6 fits like a glove in your hand: it’s very convenient to use with one hand, even despite the elongated screen. The smartphone does not slip in the palm. That is, from the point of view of design ergonomics, everything is decent in the new product from LG!

The LG Q6 is available in three colors: black, gold and silver. Frankly speaking, they are all quite dull, especially the gadget in black. If you were targeting young people, then it was worth considering options in red, green, blue, yellow or orange. However, it’s better not to argue about taste and color; I only expressed my subjective point of view.

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On the front panel at the top there are: a camera, sensors and a speech speaker. The speaker has high volume and good intelligibility. You can be heard clearly and loudly.

If you noticed, I didn't say anything about the missed event notification indicator. Alas, it is not here, although almost all LG mobile devices were equipped with this, in my opinion, important element. If you remember about AlwaysOn, then it is missing too.

Since the screen occupies almost 80% of the front side, the buttons were made on-screen.

At the bottom there is a standard 3.5 mm audio output for headphones, a microUSB port and a microphone. On top there is an additional microphone for noise reduction.

On the left side of the device there are two separate volume control buttons (clear movement, pleasant pressing), a slot for nanoSIM and another slide for installing nanoSIM and microSD. Please note, not a combination slot, but separate connectors.

On the right is only the power button.

On the back side you can see a large camera lens and a round single-section flash. At the bottom there is a slot for the speakerphone.

LG Q6 and Huawei Nova 2

LG Q6 and Honor 9

Display

The LG Q6 uses a screen with a diagonal of 5.5 inches. The physical size of the display is 62x124 mm. The frame is 8.5 mm on top, 9 mm on the bottom, 3.5 mm on the right and left. There is an anti-reflective coating.

Display resolution is FullHD+, that is, 1080x2160 pixels, density is 439 pixels per inch, aspect ratio is 18:9. The matrix is ​​made using IPS technology without an air gap.

The maximum brightness of white color is 357 cd/m2, black color is 0.36 cd/m2. Contrast – 1000:1.

The brightness and gamma curves are almost perfect.

The gamma at maximum brightness increases.

RGB graph: there is a lot of blue.

The temperature does not change.

Judging by sRGB, the obtained data somehow fits into the triangle. This means that the colors will be quite faded

All gray points are located outside the radius DeltaE=10, which indicates that other shades will be present in gray colors

Battery

This model uses a 3000 mAh battery. It is not removable. The manufacturer does not provide any data on the operation of the device.

In fact, before testing the smartphone, I was sure that the LG Q6 would run out of charge by lunchtime, given the impressive resolution of the matrix and the rather large diagonal of the screen. It’s good that I was wrong: on average, the Q6 “lived” until late in the evening under my normal load. If the gadget is heavily loaded with data transfer (2G - 4G with poor connection quality), music and communication on social networks, then you can expect to work from 9 am to 6 pm. The screen glow time at maximum brightness was about 3 hours 30 minutes.

The video can be watched for almost 7 hours (maximum backlight brightness, FullHD video). The discharge was smooth, I did not notice any sudden jumps.

In general, the operating time did not surprise, but did not leave me indifferent: almost all modern gadgets function exactly the same (Huawei Nova 2, Nova 2 Plus, Huawei P10, Honor 9 and others) - until the evening with the screen glowing for 3-4 hours (if you take devices with a 5000 mAh battery).

Communication capabilities

The LG Q6α device “understands” 2G (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)/3G (HSPA+ B1, B2, B5, B8)/4G (B1, B3, B7, B20, CA, VoLTE). There are two slots for nanoSIM format SIM cards and a separate slot for a microSD memory card, which is rare today.

Standard things are available: Wi-Fi b/g/n without DLNA and Miracast, Bluetooth version 4.2, USB 2.0 with OTG support.

GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou are also present. The sensitivity is excellent, the device sees up to 25 satellites in a few seconds. ,/

Memory and memory card

I don't have the best news for you in this section. The LG Q6α uses only 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory. Moreover, out of 2 GB of RAM, 700 MB on average is available without applications, and from 16 GB Flash - about 4 GB (after installing the minimum number of programs, about 2.5 GB remains). One way or another, you will have to buy a card with at least another 16 GB.

Despite the small amount of RAM in the device, I did not feel a lack of memory. The Q6 performs well with the standard set of applications. Of course, if you don’t open a couple of games and dozens of applications.

Cameras

The LG Q6α is not positioned as a photo flagship, so minimal complaints will be made against it. The main module is supplied by Sony - IMX258 - 1/3" sensor size, 1.12 nm pixel size, f=2.2 aperture; front - SuperPix SP5506 5 MP, wide-angle, 1/5" sensor size, 1.12 nm pixel size, f= aperture 2.2.

I was surprisingly pleased with the quality: natural colors, accurate white balance, good sharpness, good dynamic range. Focusing speed is average, accuracy is excellent. In the evening and at night, naturally, the quality decreases and the picture becomes blurry.

The front camera is wide-angle, and you quickly get used to it. The quality of the LG Q6 selfie camera pleasantly surprised me. I even took some home shots with it, since from a short distance everyone fits into the frame.

There is exposure adjustment both by tap and by slider (in photo and video modes).

In general, I can pass the modules!

The downside is the lack of manual settings.

Video recording is typical for any similar device - FullHD 30 fps. Focus is very slow but accurate. The sound is mono, clear.

Selfie videos are also FullHD. The quality is good, the frame is wide-angle (can be switched to normal - a simple crop of the picture).

Sample photos

Performance and OS

The LG smartphone was equipped with the not-so-powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 (MSM8940) chipset: 64 bit, 8 Cortex-A53 cores, 28 nm, maximum frequency 1.4 GHz. Qualcomm Adreno 505 is responsible for graphics.

The device behaves quite decently, despite the high screen resolution. No glitches or slowdowns were noticed. The only nuance that most likely relates to the UI is the strange design of the interface: after unlocking, the main screen appears and a second later a line with the “Back” / “Home” / “Menu” menu appears. Almost always, after pressing the Home button, the interface appears slowly. The same situation happened with some other LG gadgets like G4, View...

It is not specified in the specifications, but at the presentation I was told that the LG Q6 has an additional graphics engine, which is located far from the processor and is equipped with a simple heatsink (a copper plate with a heat-conducting tube).

Under load, the case hardly heats up, but when the battery is charging, the heat is felt.

Once again I would like to repeat that the LG Q6α copes with all the assigned tasks well.

In the Antutu test, the gadget scores a modest 38,000 points.

Among the pleasant little things: the latest Google Android version 7.1.1 is used as the system. As a user shell - a proprietary UI.

As for face unlocking, the function works well, but the recognition speed is not the highest, about 1 second. Functions in all cases except complete darkness.

Multimedia

The speaker produces an average volume, the quality is good, no complaints.

The sound in the headphones is not for everyone: not very expressive, weak bass and high frequencies. The volume is high.

FM radio available, works only with headphones.

Conclusion

As a result, we have a device that is simple in terms of technical characteristics, the cost of which should not exceed 10,000 rubles (including the brand). However, it is worth considering that LG used a screen with minimal frames, like the flagship model, and high resolution in the Q6α. Apparently, a lot of resources were spent on this technology, since the company had to abandon the fingerprint scanner, the notification indicator, more memory for the same money, and so on.

It seems to me that the best option would be to wait for the Q6 model without the α prefix. It already has 3/32 GB of RAM and has NFC. I don’t know how much it will cost, most likely 3,000 – 5,000 rubles more.

The Q6α model is worth taking if you don’t know why you need NFC, and you’re not going to push the device to its fullest, but you really want a big screen in a small body. I used the Q6α as my main device for almost 3 weeks and did not feel any discomfort: it performs all typical tasks perfectly, and the FullVision display leaves only a pleasant impression.

The price of LG Q6α is currently 17,000 rubles.