LG G4 rumor roundup

During CES 2015 LG brought us a new flagship device, the LG G Flex 2. Featuring bleeding edge specs and improvements to flexibility and self-healing when compared to its predecessor, the G Flex 2 is a stunning device to say the least. Of course that doesn’t mean LG is standing still when it comes to pushing the bar forward.

It’s only a matter of time before the LG G4 rears its head, and while we haven’t heard a ton of rumors yet, enough details have surfaced to give us a least a small peak at what the next-gen LG G series phone will offer. For the rest, we fill in the blanks based on speculation and invite you to talk about what you’d like to see different with the LG G4. Keep in mind that this rumor roundup is subject to change, and so take everything you read with a grain of salt.

DESIGN

The G Flex 2 is the most recent LG flagship device, will the G4 follow this same G3-inspired aesthetic, or are we in for bigger changes?

Since the arrival of the LG G2, LG has been incorporating the rear-button power/volume design into just about all of its devices. With the LG G3, LG took this iconic and unique design and infused some major refinements into the aesthetics while also introducing a metal-looking plastic back that gave the phone a more premium look.

While there haven’t been many rumors on what to expect from the LG G4’s design, we would imagine that LG won’t be giving up on its thin-bezel, no side-button design language anytime soon. Like the LG G3, LG will instead likely just refine the overall setup.

As for the build materials? It’s hard to say for sure. With rumors that Samsung is finally going metallic, we wouldn’t be too shocked if LG follows suit, that or they’ll risk being one of the few major manufacturers that still pushes plastic builds. This could mean a metallic back that’s somehow removable or yet another unibody design.

That said, perhaps LG will instead continue to drive down its flagship’s pricing (something we saw with the G3) and focus less on trying to compete when it comes to build materials.

DISPLAY

It seems likely that the G4 will have a similar size and resolution to the G3.

Considering LG already packed a large 5.5-inch display with a QHD resolution, we’re not sure how much they can really improve things here. Going higher than QHD would be more than overkill, and much larger than 5.5-inches would make it harder to reach the volume/power buttons on the back of the device.

If we had to take a guess, LG will keep the display similar to the LG G3, though it could focus on improving brightness, viewing angles and other aspects.

LG G4 SPECS

The rumor mill suggests the LG G4 will offer a Snapdragon 810 with 3GB RAM. Considering the LG G Flex 2 is already packing a Snapdragon 810, nothing about this rumor seems unbelievable.

Aside from this, there’s really been little talk about the sensors and other features that might be featured in the device. While LG has yet to avoid the fingerprint scanner craze, with more players coming onboard that train, perhaps LG will finally join the likes of Samsung and others.

CAMERA

While we don’t know any specifics as to the exact sensor the LG G4 will deploy, the latest rumors claim the G4 will offer a 16MP wide rear camera that will offer an improved experience over the 13MP snapper found within the LG G3. The front camera is also allegedly getting an upgrade, moving from 2.1MP on the G3 to 5.1MP with the G4.

In addition to better camera hardware, we imagine that the software will also see at least a few minor tweaks and improvements, but we really know very little about that at this stage.

SOFTWARE FEATURES

When it comes to OEM skins, LG offers one of the more bloated, feature packed experiences on the market. Although Touchwiz typically has even more bloat, the rumor mill claims that this situation could be changing with the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy A3 and A5’s more minimalist Touchwiz implementations seem to back up the notion.

With Touchwiz hopefully scaling down a bit, will the Optimus UI follow suit? Unfortunately it appears to be too early into the G4 rumor game for us to know for sure.

For now, the only thing we can say for certain is that the skin will almost undoubtedly run on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop.

THE G PEN AND THE END OF G PRO

Will LG end the G Pro line in favor of simplifying its product line?

Back in early December a trademark filing showed up for a G Pen and G Scrawl, and while the descriptions were pretty open-ended and vague, there has been speculation that the G Pen could be a special stylus designed to better compete with Samsung’s S Pen from the Note series. As for G Scrawl, it seems plausible that this could be some kind of software feature that works in conjunction with the G Pen.

With rumors of the G Pro series death and the fact that no one has given the world a real Note competitor, what if LG is planning to position its main flagship line as a true Note-worthy alternative? Obviously this is just speculation at this point, but adding a more functional stylus to the LG G4 could give it a way to compete with both the Galaxy S6 and the Note 4 all in one swoop.

RELEASE DATE AND POSSIBLE PRICING

Unlike most other flagship lines, LG hasn’t been that consistent with the release timeframe for the G series. The Optimus G arrived in November of 2012, the G2 in September of 2013 and the LG G3 on May 28th of 2014.

So when can we expect the LG G4? From what we’ve gathered from various sources, the April/May timeframe seems likely for at least an announcement if not actual retail release but we really don’t know for sure.

Turning to pricing, again there’s not really anything concrete to report. Still, it’s worth mentioning that the LG G3 debuted at pretty aggressive pricing for a high-end flagship device so we wouldn’t be too surprised to see the LG G4 follow suit. This means a $500 – $650 launch price wouldn’t be too unexpected.

Then again, if LG does introduce special technology like the G Pen, they might want to position the G4 as an ultra-high-end device and that could mean the price might be even higher this time around.

WRAP UP

G2 and G3 compared, how will the LG G4 differ?

Okay, so a lot of this post was early rumor and a good dose of speculation. The fact that so little is known about the LG G4 either means that LG is doing its best to keep this monster under wraps, or the launch of the next-gen flagship is still many months off. We created this post to serve mostly as a first stop for those looking for news on the LG G4 as it evolves, so be sure to check back weekly as we’ll be regularly updating and expanding this rumor roundup as we learn more details about the upcoming LG G4.

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