LG may have gotten a bum deal in making their G6 flagship when Samsung scored an exclusive deal with Qualcomm for their Snapdragon 835 processor, which is leaps and bounds ahead of the 821 that ended up in the G6, but new reports have surfaced saying that LG is planning to take the fight to Samsung by marketing the G6 and stating that it differs from Samsung’s flagship, and touting its usability, ergonomics, and reliability. The details on this campaign come courtesy of a leaked internal document, and LG is reportedly aiming the campaign at millennials, who are typically shown to value experiences over materialism.
LG allegedly compares their G6 to the Galaxy S8 directly, making for a head on battle. While the Samsung flagship is technically superior, the G6 has advantages of its own that may make some prefer it. The camera, for example, comes from a long line of devices with excellent wide angle cameras, and does that particular niche in a way that’s quite different from Samsung’s approach. The UI is also vastly different, and the LG G6’s design is far more minimalist and intentionally modern than the Galaxy S8’s luxurious, nature-inspired design. The ergonomics behind both designs are obviously different, though both have their ups and downs. Essentially, LG wants to push the G6 not as outright superior to the Galaxy S8, which the document acknowledges is simply not true, but as an entirely different experience, and one that some consumers may like better than the one offered by Samsung’s devices.
While the internal document mostly keeps to the high road and refuses to bash on its competitor, it does go way below the belt in one area; reliability. The LG G6, strictly speaking, has nothing on the Galaxy S8 from a consumer standpoint, but some studies have shown that Samsung’s reputation was shaken by the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, and LG is reportedly going to take full advantage of that, albeit subtly. They’ll be marketing the G6 as a more durable and reliable alternative to the Galaxy S8. It should be noted, of course, that their assertion here actually has a bit of truth to it; the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ sport a glass front and back with a metal frame, which means that a single accident during daily use could spell a repair bill. The LG G6, on the other hand, boasts an all-metal frame except for the glass screen. Both have been put through their paces on durability, and this is one area where LG could conceivably convince consumers that their device is better. Reliability, however, could be a bit less so given LG devices’ reported tendency to end up bootlooping. Reports say that the internal document essentially conceded the fact that the Galaxy S8 is the overall better device, so if LG is indeed going to go forward with taking the fight to Samsung in the flagship marketing wars for 2017, they have their work cut out for them.