Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE Sept. 7, 2016: I'd loved this phone so much, I'd purchased a second one for a family member in Jan. Less than a year later, the phone is dead. After some research, it appears to be a known hardware fault (search for "LG G4 Boot Loop") affecting a large segment of the phones. The reason I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 is because for the time it did work, it was a great phone. Knock on wood, the other phone hasn't had any problems yet.. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Please note: The interface you'll see in the video isn't the default interface of the phone; I've taken the time to personalize it, but all the features I demonstrated are those available by default in the phone. PROS + Removable battery + Expandable memory via microSD card (see Neutrals) + Comes with Android 5.1 (Lollipop) + Universal remote control using IR rather than Wi-Fi--it can even learn a remote control if it's not already in the list of available remotes (see Cons) + Charges rapidly--going from 15% to 100% takes just under two hours using the included wall charger/cable + Gorgeous display + Great touch accuracy and sensitivity (though I have noted a few times that accuracy has been marginally off) + When in manual mode, the camera is amazing, especially for macro photography--and it gives you access to white balance, focus, shutter speed, and ISO + The camera can save files in JPG or RAW formats + Camera supports voice command--you can simply say one of several preset words (smile, cheese, kimchi, etc.) and the camera will snap a pic (this, of course, can be disabled) + As you might expect, the camera also has a timer feature--3 and 10 second delay options + The battery life, though not the best I've encountered, is good--a full charge can last for 10 hours of moderate use with the screen brightness set to auto (see Neutrals), but significantly less if you manually keep the brightness over 80% or play intensive games (I got a battery use warning while playing Words with Friends) + Default LG keyboard supports swipe typing and, despite a few outliers, is fairly intuitive and accurate + Has a 'Do Not Disturb' feature (it's called 'Interruptions') which can be set manually for specific times + Excellent microphone and even has background noise reduction; was told voice clarity was excellent regardless of whether I was speaking directly into the phone or on speaker + Fast and responsive, even with more intensive apps + Dual window is cool (it allows two app windows to occupy the screen, especially great when clicking links from emails), but I've noted a few sporadic glitches with the feature + Uses a microUSB cable rather than a proprietary data charging cable + You can double-tap the screen to wake it up/put it to sleep (a bit trickier putting it to sleep because you may inadvertently open an app instead) NEUTRALS * The auto brightness control tends toward dark--to the point it might cause eye strain (it hovers between 10-60% on average)--even when the baseline is set to 100% * The location of the microSD card slot means you can't swap it out often, at least not without some aggravation, because you'd need to remove the battery each time * Front facing camera has built-in photoshopping for faces (it smooths and brightens the skin)--though some would slot this under 'Pros', I'm not sure how I feel about it, which is why I listed it as neutral * This phone runs warm--not hot, mind you, but noticeably warm to the touch; it also heats up quite a bit during charging * Photos taken using the 'Auto' settings tend to be a touch dark, cool, and oversaturated, especially when compared to my digital camera and iPhone--it's not egregious nor all that bad, just noticeable, and can be compensated for by using the 'Manual' mode CONS - Volume/power button placement is impractical and lends itself to accidental touches of the camera lens - Button position also makes taking a screenshot cumbersome using the volume down + power button method - No spell check (red squiggles)--you can install the Google keyboard and restart the phone, but that will only add the functionality to certain applications, not all - The back cover, made of plastic, doesn't have much texture and can become slippery - Speaker is on the back rather than bottom which means if you tend to put your phone down on its back, the audio can become muffled - Although it can learn from an existing remote, you have a very limited amount of space on which to place the remote's icons/buttons (and the icons can't be resized nor can you create another overlay/tab, which is a feature of some of it's built-in remotes); this is problematic if you have a robust remote control with many buttons--you'd need to either create a remote with the most often used buttons or create multiple individual remotes NITS TO PICK (although I mention these, they didn't factor at all into my overall rating) * Doesn't have the touch to return to top feature that I've gotten attached to in iPhone, wherein you touch the top of the browser or other window to quickly return to the top of the page * Didn't come with a pair of earbuds (not a big deal in the grand scheme, but still would have been nice) VERIZON SPECIFIC STUFF (CON) The bloatware is galling, especially since some of it you can't even uninstall (in fact, there are currently 120MB or about 20+ MP3's worth of disabled apps wasting space on here) (CON) The FM chip (a feature of the phone) is rendered inaccessible, which means no free (non-streaming) radio (CON) Number blocking (a feature of Android) is crippled--you'll need to sign up for a specific phone plan if you want call rejection and blacklists enabled (CON) Multi-user profiles (another Android feature) is also crippled (CON) LG's Smart Settings feature, which allows you to customize the phone's actions based on location, is crippled (CON) Setting up service with Verizon via the website and phone was a futile game of frustration--skip it altogether and just call customer service (which, by the way, is routed to a Mexican call center) or visit a Verizon store if you don't already have service with them (CON) Streaming media isn't that great, even on their 4G LTE platform (video streaming via Hulu and Netflix spent more time buffering than actually streaming) (MAJOR CON) Simultaneous talk and surf on 4G is disabled; you can talk and surf only if you're connected to WiFi while talking or if you're on one of their plans which has 'Advanced Calling' (PRO) Good reception and coverage--it's on par with AT&T in terms of reception, however, voice calls went in and out much less I won't sugarcoat: although I'm not gobsmacked by the Verizon service, I'm enthralled by this phone. There is just so much to love, and if not for a few things, this would warrant an unflinching 5 stars. As I continue using this phone, I'll periodically update this review with additional notes and observations. In the meantime if there's something you want to know about the phone or my experiences with it, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer.