Introduction
Do we have a good one for you today – Apple’s flagship, the iPhone 7 Plus takes on the new LG G6. I must repeat that many readers complain when we compare an iOS phone to an Android phone and I just do not understand their objections. Who wouldn’t want to see how Apple’s flagship stands up to one of the top Android devices? Android Headlines is a website about Android devices, and naturally, we believe in our OS and the freedom and customization that Android OS offers over the iOS environment. I just know if I owned LG G6, I would certainly want to know how it compares to its chief iOS rival. These two devices couldn’t be more different in their specifications or design philosophy, but let’s take a look and see just what common threads we can find.
When it comes to specifications and looks, the iPhone 7 Plus and the LG G6, could not be further from each other. Even though the LG G6’s display is 2/10 of an inch larger, its physical size is almost 10mm shorter than the iPhone 7 Plus and about 15 grams lighter. Besides their size, the displays use different technology and different resolutions. The iPhone 7 Plus uses its own Apple A10 Fusion processor, and the LG G6 uses the Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor. The iPhone offers 32GB, 128GB, or 256GB of fixed internal storage while the LG G6 offers 32GB of expandable UFS 2.1 storage. The primary cameras areas on both devices offer a dual camera set up – dual 12MP on the iPhone 7 Plus and the LG G6 uses dual 13MP cameras. The front-facing cameras (FFC) are two megapixels a part – 7MP on the iPhone and 5MP on the LG G6. Both will provide you with excellent photos and social media selfies. Both smartphones use a non-removable battery, but the LG G6 is larger and offers rapid charge and wireless charging. They both provide a fingerprint sensor for unlocking the phone and authorizing mobile payments – Apple Pay only on the iPhone while the LG G6 offering Android Pay and Samsung Pay. They have the usual suspects – WiFi, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, and NFC (the iPhone’s is only good for Apple Pay), and they each have a connector for charging and data transfer but the Apple plug is proprietary, and the LG G6 uses a standard reversible Type-C port.
Please take a thoughtful look at the detailed Specifications Comparison chart below, and here you will see just how these two great devices stack up against one another – click on the “View Full Comparison” link at the end of the chart to expand the details. After that, we will look at each device in greater depth and point out some of its pros and cons. From all of this information, we will try to determine the winner based on specs and execution of design and functions.
Specifications
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
The Apple iPhone 7 Plus, which was released in September 2016, looks very similar to its predecessor, the iPhone 6s Plus, with the usual enhancements throughout the device. This will soon become a problem for Apple as the iPhone is quickly become ‘dated’ looking with all of the new bezel-less designs and curved displays all hitting the market. Apple cleaned up the 7 Plus by moving the antenna positioning to the outside edges for a cleaner look, and the old physical Home button is now a touch-sensitive button with no moving parts. Apple introduced 3D Touch on the iPhone 6 and made improves to both it and the Display Zoom – great features, but they still appear on a typical looking smartphone. Apple added stereo speakers, but took away the 3.5mm earphone jack and now you must go through the Lightning plug adaptor or turn to Bluetooth earphones. The processor is much improved and they finally added IP67 dust and water resistance, and added a dual camera only on the iPhone 7 Plus. Let’s take a look and see just how the iPhone 7 Plus holds up to the new LG G6.
The Apple iPhone 7 Plus sports a 5.5-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD display with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 401 pixels-per-inch (PPI.) The display features an improved 3D Touch that allows the user to press a finger, with varying degrees of force, to make multiple selections. The processor is their new Apple A10 Fusion quad-core clocked at 2.23GHz and coupled to a PowerVR Series 7XT Plus six-core graphics processor. The iPhone 7 Plus packs 3GB of DDR4 RAM and either 32GB, 128GB, or 256GB of non-expandable internal storage. Apple has still refused to drop in 4GB of RAM, although for all that the iOS will allow, 3GB is probably enough. Apple finally eliminated the 16GB option, which was a complete waste, and now starts at 32GB – but why doesn’t Apple just include expandable memory and be done with it.
Apple decided to add dual cameras, but only on the iPhone 7 Plus model and it now features a new dual 12MP sensor – one for wide-angle with a larger f/1.8 aperture and one for telephoto shots with a much smaller, f/2.8 aperture. The dual cameras use phase detection autofocus (PDAF), Quad-LED dual-tone flash, and OIS. For its FFC the iPhone 7 Plus uses a 7MP sensor with an aperture of f/2.2 for selfies and video chatting, or AppleTalk, in their nomenclature. It uses a 2900mAh non-removable battery to supply power and Apple still offers no form of rapid charging for their batteries, which is another area that Apple needs to address.
The new Apple iPhone 7 Plus, although physically looking a little outdated, comes with many internal refinements – a much improved processor, a dual-camera (Plus model only), improved camera lens, and Quad LED flash. Apple then improved the 3D Touch, improved the stereo sound and increased the volume, improved Home button, and added IP67 dust and water resistance. They increased the RAM from 2GB to 3GB, did away with the 16GB model, and now offer 32GB of non-expandable memory as the smallest amount available. In what appears to be an increasing trend, Apple has removed their 3.5mm earphone plug and supplied an adapter for you to use with regular earphones or you can switch to Bluetooth earphones to avoid lugging around the extra dongle. The iPhone 7 Plus measures 158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3mm and weighs in at 188 grams. Apple still uses its proprietary plugs and ecosystem services like iTunes, Apple Pay, iMessage, and AppleTalk, making it increasingly difficult for iPhone users to communicate with Android folks. Pricing starts out at $770 for the 32GB model and will cost you $870 for the 128GB model.
LG G6
The newly designed LG G6 will soon make you forget about the old LG G5 that it replaces – a great thing for the new LG G6 owners, but it leaves many LG G5 owners out in the cold without any new modules that support the G5 design. The LG G6 turns the corner with an all-new updated glass design with smaller bezels ridding itself of the unpopular painted metal and modular body form of the G5. The new sealed design allowed it to gain an IP68 certification, but did away with one of LG’s most sought after features – the removable battery – in a field of growing non-removable batteries. To help compensate, LG increased the battery size and added standard wireless charging. LG generously increased the display from 5.3-inches to 5.7-inches and gave it an 18:9 screen ratio that makes it slightly taller and narrower. LG kept the dual cameras but changed their megapixels. Let’s see if LG did enough to their LG G6 and see just how it stacks up to the Apple iPhone Plus.
The LG G6 sports a larger 5.7-inch IPS LCD QHD+ display with a new 18:9 screen ratio. This ratio causes the display to be slightly taller and narrower, but allows more display in a smaller area. LG incorporated the ‘always on’ feature that saves battery life and makes glancing at notifications much easier and quicker. The resolution comes in at 2880 x 1440 pixels with an impressive 564 PPI and is now Dolby Vision/HDR10 compliant. The switch to this ratio gives a more natural theater-like picture when watching movies and it allows two perfect squares for on-screen multi-tasking. LG chose the SD821 quad-core processor over the SD835 and this caused many to question LG’s judgement – however, with the SD835’s availability issues, it may turn out to be a wise move that. It has dual cores clocked at 1.6GHz and another dual-core clocked at 2.35GHz. The LG G6 packs 4GB of DDR4 RAM and 32GB of internal memory that is expandable to 2TB via a microUSB card.
The trend seems to be moving toward a dual-camera design – something that LG has never shied away from – just look at the LG V10, V20, G5, and now the G6. The LG G6 uses dual cameras with the same 13MP sensor for both the primary and secondary camera. The LG G6’s primary shooter comes with all of the goodies, such as an f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, OIS, and dual-tone LED flash. This is the camera the G6 will use for regular picture taking. The second 13MP camera has an ultra-wide-angle lens for capturing a wider group shot or a landscape picture and has a fixed focus with a smaller f/2.4 aperture. On the FFC, LG went from an 8MP to a 5MP sensor and gave it an f/2.4 aperture for selfies and video chatting. LG did take away the removable battery, but increased the size from 2800mAh to a 3300mAh, added Quick Charge 3.0, and standard wireless charging.
The small bezels of the LG G6 caused LG to keep the fingerprint sensor on the back of the device and it still acts as the on/off switch. LG G6 did away with its perennial IR Blaster, but kept the FM radio around in certain markets. The LG G6 is also the first non-Google smartphone to include Google Assistant onboard. You can use your LG G6 to communicate with Google Home and Chromecast. The LG G6 measures 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9 mm, weighs in at 163 grams and comes in Mystic White, Astro Black, or Ice Platinum. The device is available on all the leading carriers for about $700 for the 32GB model.
…And The Winner Is…
The Final Word
The LG G6 is the winner of this comparison – not because of the obvious advantages of the Android OS over iOS – we are picking it because the LG G6 is a more modern looking smartphone. It is more innovative, it has a larger and better display with a QHD+ resolution and always-on technology. It has more RAM for better multi-tasking in multiple windows, it has expandable memory, a larger battery with rapid charge and wireless charging, better water protection, has just as good a camera, more features, and better mobile payments at more places with Android Pay. Considering all things, it is just a much better looking device, more practical, and $70 cheaper than the iPhone 7 Plus.
The Apple iPhone 7 Plus is well built and a very popular device, but not because of any outstanding qualities – just because it is an iPhone. The iPhone 7 Plus restricts your mobile purchases only to retailers that can afford to purchase a special piece of equipment. While it is a nice looking device, it is getting a little outdated when compared to the new line of Android devices that actually try to innovate with new designs. For a phone that loves to drain its battery, Apple still resorts to smaller batteries and offers no quick charge feature while Android phones have offered that for years. Apple still refuses to add expandable memory – they would rather charge the user a $100 more for each memory upgrade. Apple charges $770 for a 32GB and gives you a 5.5-inch FHD display versus $700 for a 32GB LG G6 with expandable memory and a 5.7-inch QHD+ display.
We will almost never convince an iPhone user to buy Android, but the LG G6 gives you more bang for your dollar, and it looks better while giving you more. The LG G6 is the winner of this comparison.