iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3 comparison review: iPhone is faster but LG offers more for less

The iPhone 6 Plus is the biggest and most expensive iPhone ever made but how does it compare to the LG G3? Find out in our iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3 comparison review. See also: Best smartphones of 2014.

iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3: Price

The iPhone 6 Plus is one of the most expensive smartphones on the market as it starts at £619 for the cheapest model (£789 for the top model). The LG G3 launched earlier in the year at a reasonable £479 which is a big difference to the new Apple rival. Since it has been around for a while, you can now pick it up for around £380 making the gap even bigger – nearly £250. See: Where to buy iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the UK.

That's a significant price difference and you may have decided which one to buy simply on this fact but read on to find out how the two smartphones compare in hardware, performance and more.

iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3: Design

Apple loves making each new iPhone thinner and the iPhone 6 Plus is just 7.1mm, an impressive figure for a phablet. The LG G3 is thicker at 9.1 mm by our own measurement but that's the thickest point of the curved back and the device is a fair amount lighter at 149 g compared to 172 g.

Much of the iPhone 6 Plus' thinness is negated by its weight and overall size. Despite these phones using the exact same screen size, the LG G3 is much more manageable with its more ergonomic shape and tiny bezels. You can see the size difference, mainly in height, in the photo below.

Each device is available in a similar trio of colours and the iPhone's advantage is that it feels more premium with the aluminium uni-body. LG has added a metal effect with what it calls a metallic skin on the removable plastic rear cover but it doesn't cut it when compared to the iPhone 6 Plus.

On the downside, the delicate build of the iPhone 6 Plus, like previous generations, means you'll want to buy a case to protect it and sadly cover up its flowing lines. There are cases available for the LG G3 should you want one but it doesn't require one.

iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3: Screen

As we've mentioned, these two smartphones have the same screen size which is 5.5in – just making them phablets by our book.

The iPhone 6 Plus is the first time Apple has used a Full HD 1080p resolution on a smartphone and means a pixel density of 401ppi. While that's the highest ever seen on an iPhone, it's blown out of the water by the older LG G3's Quad HD display which uses 1440 x 2560 and a whopping 534ppi. It's crisper than a burnt pancake.

Both use an IPS panel providing excellent viewing angles so it's the resolution which is the big difference here.

iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3: Processor, memory and performance

The LG G3 comes equipped with a 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor and either 2- or 3 GB of RAM depending on the storage capacity. Meanwhile, Apple had installed the 64-bit A8 chip inside the iPhone 6 Plus with the M8 co-processor and 1 GB of RAM.

Although the A8 is 1.4 GHz, the iPhone 6 Plus outpaced the LG G3 in all of our benchmark tests. The difference looks quite big in some areas but bear in mind that these are synthetic tests and you won't notice the difference in real life. We've found both phones to be smooth and speedy, as we would expect from flagship devices.

	GeekBench 3	GFXBench T-Rex	GFXBench Manhattan	SunSpider
iPhone 6 Plus	2917	41fps	19fps	369ms
LG G3	2233	20fps	7fps	977ms

iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3: Battery life

Despite the difference in screen resolution, we've found both phones last a couple of days before needing to be charged - a good performance in today's standards. The LG G3 does have a couple of advantages in this area which are wireless charging and a removable battery.

iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3: Storage

To get the 3 GB in the LG G3, you'll need to opt for the 32 GB capacity. The 16 GB model comes with 2 GB of RAM. These are the only two options but LG realised it made a mistake by leaving the LG G2 without a microSD card slot so you can add up to a further 128 GB on the G3.

As per usual, Apple doesn’t offer expandable storage but it does give customers more choice in terms of capacity. You can choose 16-, 64- or 128 GB now the 32 GB model is gone. More choice is good but you'll have to pay a lot for the larger models.  

iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3: Wireless

Both the LG G3 and iPhone 6 Plus are fitted with the latest dual-band 11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, 4G LTE support and NFC. However, it's worth noting that Apple, at least for now, is restricting the use of the NFC chip inside the iPhone to ApplePay.

Read: iPhone 6 NFC chip is restricted to ApplePay.

iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3: Unique features

Depending on what you're looking for in a smartphone, unique features might be difference in choosing between two.

In this case, the iPhone 6 Plus has Apple's Touch ID fingerprint scanner which you can use to unlock the phone and to verify payments including the App Store.

The LG G3 doesn't have a fingerprint scanner but it does offer you an IR blaster which you can use to control other electrical items such as your TV with. It also supports wireless charging and high resolution audio (up to 24bit/192kHz) making a nice trio of features.

iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3: Cameras

The 6 Plus has the best rear camera of any iPhone to date and although it's still 8 Mp, there are some new things going on which improve the overall performance. Optical image stabilisation is a key feature which even the iPhone 6 lacks the same isn't true of the LG G3. Other features include 'Focus Pixels' which mean almost no focus hunting, particularly in videos, time-lapse and 240fps slo-mo.

The LG G3's camera is higher resolution at 13 Mp and, like the iPhone, has a dual-tone flash.  Its headline feature is a laser powered autofocus which we've found to be lightning fast. The 'magic focus' feature is a little gimmicky but it can shoot video in up to 4K quality while the iPhone 6 Plus is limited to Full HD 1080p.

It's swings and roundabouts here as both phones have excellent cameras with a few features not found on the other. Check our in-depth reviews of each phone for a more detailed look.
At the front, the LG G3 trumps the iPhone with a 2 Mp camera which can shoot Full HD video. The iPhone 6 Plus is lower resolution at 1.2 Mp and limited to 720p video.

iPhone 6 Plus vs LG G3: Software

As usual, one of the main differences here is that the iPhone 6 Plus runs Apple's own iOS platform while the LG G3 has Google's Android OS. If you're already loyal to one then and don't want to switch then that's pretty much the decision made for you.

If you're not set on one or the other then this is a key judgement to make. In a nut shell, iOS is reliable and smooth but more restrictive because Android is open and offers more customisability.

Since these phones are of the larger variety, both Apple and LG have implemented tools to help you use the software on a big screen. iOS 8 supports landscape orientation on the iPhone 6 Plus and a reachability feature means a double tap on the home button will bring icons or content towards the bottom half of the display so you can reach it with one hand.

LG offers an optional button which you can add to the navigation bar which will pull down and return the notification bar so you don't have to stretch to the top of the display for it. You can resize the keyboard and adjust the position of the lock screen PIN and dial keypad for one-handed operation. Furthermore, you can use dual-windows to run two apps side by side which the iPhone 6 Plus can't do.

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 comparison: What's the best Android Lollipop tablet?

Nokia yesterday announced its N1 Android Lollipop tablet, but how does it compare to that other high-end Android Lollipop tablet, the Nexus 9? Here we compare the Nokia N1 and Nexus 9 spec for spec to see which offers the better deal on paper. 

Also see Nokia N1 UK release date, price and specs, Nexus 9 UK release date, price and specs, and our Nexus 9 review. We'll get a full review of the Nokia N1 as soon as it is available for testing. 

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 comparison: Price and UK availability 

Google's Nexus 9 is available to buy now. Prices start at £319 for the 16GB model; it's also available in a 32GB version for £399 and a 32GB + 4G LTE model for £459. Also see: Best tablets 2014 and Best Android tablets 2014 

Nokia's N1 is not yet available to buy in the UK. It will roll out in China in February, followed by Russia and EU markets. The Nokia N1 will command a $249 price; a straight conversion to Sterling is £158, but don't expect to get it quite so cheap in the UK. Our money is on £200- to £250. Also see: Tablets buying advice 

 

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 comparison: Design and build 

Nokia's N1 is a smaller tablet than the Nexus 9, with a 7.9in rather than 8.9in screen (both with a 4:3 aspect ratio) and slimmer bezels. The Nexus 9 is not surprisingly thicker (8mm versus the N1's 6.9mm, although the tapered edge makes it feel thinner than it is) and heavier (425g versus 318g). You could hold either tablet in a single hand, but the N1 is more suited to this. Also see: Tablet Advisor  

The Nokia N1 also looks better than the Nexus 9, at least in our opinion. The N1 features a unibody sandblasted aluminium chassis, with a zero air gap laminated display, while the Nexus 9 has brushed-metal sides but a soft plastic rear. While the Nexus 9 is available in black, white or sand, Nokia's N1 is either natural aluminium or lava grey. 

Both tablets are fitted with IPS panels, which offer sharp images, vibrant colours and good viewing angles. A 2048x1536 resolution is provided by each tablet; stretched across a smaller screen the Nokia has a higher pixel density of 324ppi against the Nexus 9's 287ppi. 

But while the Nokia may have the sharper screen, the Nexus' larger display is perhaps better suited to work. This is backed up by an optional (£110) Keyboard Folio case, which snaps to the Nexus 9 via magnets and lets you alter the typing position, turning this tablet into a makeshift laptop.  

Stereo speakers are built into each tablet, although the Nexus 9's are better. Made by HTC, the Nexus 9 offers BoomSound front-facing speakers for immersive, distortion-free sound. Meanwhile, the Nokia N1's twin 0.5W speakers are visible on the bottom edge of the device.

 

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 comparison: Hardware and performance 

Both these tablets feature 2.3GHz 64-bit quad-core chips and 2GB of RAM, but the Tegra K1 found in the Nexus 9 outclasses the Nokia N1's Intel Atom Z3580. With nVidia's graphics history, it should also be a better tablet for games than the Nokia, with its 533MHz PowerVR G6430 chip. 

Of course, that's just our guess. Until we've got the Nokia N1 into our lab we can't properly assess its performance. 

In our tests the Nexus 9 scored 1904- and 3352 points in Geekbench 3 single-core and multicore respectively, 22- and 48fps in GFXBench 3.0's Manhattan and T-Rex tests, and 955ms in SunSpider. 

Runtime from the 6700mAh battery was very good - we played a video on loop at 50 percent brightness for just over 11 hours. The Nexus 9 then took around four hours to recharge. 

Nokia claims the N1 will last 9 hours, which isn't surprising given its smaller-capacity 5300mAh battery. 

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 comparison: Storage 

Whereas the Nexus 9 comes in 16- and 32GB storage options, the Nokia N1 comes with 32GB as standard, making its lower price even more attractive. Neither tablet features a microSD slot for adding more, although you will be able to take advantage of Google Drive and third-party cloud-storage services.

 

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 comparison: Connectivity 

The Nexus 9 is the clear winner in terms of connectivity. While both offer dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MIMO and Bluetooth 4.0 (okay, 4.1 for the Nexus 9), the Nokia N1 can't match the Nexus' NFC and optional mobile connectivity. 

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 comparison: Cameras 

We're still not convinced that snapping photos on a tablet will ever truly take off, but if it does it will happen first with smaller tablets such as the N1. So it makes sense that the N1 has the better spec here. 

While both feature 8Mp rear cameras capable of 1080p video, the Nokia N1 bests the Nexus 9's 1.6Mp front camera with a 5Mp selfie camera. Just don't expect it to be a camera of PureView quality, now that Microsoft has bought Nokia's mobile phone business. 

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 comparison: Software 

The Nexus 9 and Nokia N1 both run Android Lollipop out of the box. But while the Nexus 9 has a vanilla implementation of Lollipop, Nokia adds its Z Launcher. You can switch this off if you prefer, which means there will be no difference in the software running on each of these tablets. 

Z Launcher is unlike other launchers in that it strips back Android to reveal only the basics, such as the time, date, an upcoming calendar event, a few apps, web pages and contacts - it will learn to display those you use most frequently. At the bottom are shortcuts to the dialler, Hangouts, Google Maps, Chrome and the apps menu. 

Z Launcher also features Scribble, which lets you scribble letters on the launcher to quickly open an app - for example, T for Twitter.  

For now it looks as though the Nokia N1 therefore has the better deal on software, but remember that being a Nexus device the 9 will always be first to get any updates to Android. 

Nokia N1 vs Nexus 9 comparison: Verdict 

Looking at the specs alone it is very difficult to tell which of these tablets offers the better deal. While the Nokia N1 is cheaper, with a better screen and front camera, and more storage as standard, the Nexus 9 is straight out of Google's stable and will get all the associated benefits. It's probably faster, and it has a larger - if not sharper - screen, plus better speakers. The Nexus 9 is also available, and we've held it in our hands. Which makes it difficult to recommend the Nokia N1 over the Nexus 9, especially bearing in mind that this is no longer the same Nokia that makes great phones, and that this is not a Windows Phone but an Android tablet. 

Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter. 

The Origin of the Baby New Year

Every year it's the same thing. Some diapered little baby is paraded around wearing a sash with the new year written on it. Who hasn't been to a New Year's Party that ended that way, huh? Okay, me neither. But the Baby New Year is still an iconic image that even popped up in a really bad sequel to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Baby. Usually in concert with the Baby New Year there is also a wizened old man with a ZZ Top beard. But this article isn't about that. It's about that naked baby.

 

 

The use of an infant as a symbol of the start of the new cycle that begins with the passage of the year dates back to ancient Greece. The festival of Dionysus, who was the god of wine, song and merriment let us not forget, was a big thing for the Greeks. No doubt the festival of Dionysus often ended long after the womenfolk had been sent to bed and each male reveler had left his male Greek friends behind to unsteadily walk home to the little woman.

Before these parties got down to the good stuff, however, it was the custom of the time to parade a newborn baby around in a basket. The baby was a symbol and a herald for fertility of the crops. (Probably just the crops since Greek style doesn't produce much in the way of offspring.

None so's you want to keep, anyway.) Across that big lake, the Egyptians were also fond of holding a ceremony of rebirth that involved the use of a young baby. In fact, there was a specific ceremonial ritual involving a young man and an older bearded man carrying a baby inside a basket that was discovered on the lid of a sarcophagus that is now on display in a museum.

The symbol of a Baby New Year was ubiquitous throughout the pagan religions so it should come as no surprise that the Catholic Church disallowed it for centuries. Finally, thanks to a fact that Bush seems incapable of grasping---that it is next to impossible to kill an idea that people cleave to with all their might---the Catholic Church gave in and allowed infants to be used in New Year celebrations. Okay, they made one adjustment. The Baby New Year was transformed from a pagan symbol into a symbol of the Baby Christ.

The contemporary image of the Baby New Year comes to us, like the Christmas tree, courtesy of those fun-loving, always-with-the-joke Germans. It was the Germans, you see, who first slapped a diaper on the Baby New Year. The newly diapered Baby New Year first cropped up in German woodcarving illustrations in the 1300s. When the German immigrants poured into Pennsylvania they brought with them the Christmas tree, Groundhog Day and our current image of the Baby New Year.

 

BlueStacks App Player

BlueStacks App Player allows users to run Android applications on a Windows 7 PC.

If you have an Android phone, you've probably installed an app or two. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to run them on your Windows PC? BlueStacks App Player makes this possible for certain apps.

BlueStacks App Player is the alpha version of an emulator that lets you use Android on PC. It works a bit like a widget. When clicked, BlueStacks App Player will display the ten apps that have already been pre-installed, which are mostly games.

BlueStacks App Player's interface is easy to navigate. You can install new applications by clicking the "Get More Apps" button. Currently, there are more than 25 apps you can install this way. Hopefully, the number will grow as BlueStacks App Player develops.

The BlueStacks App Player team is currently taking emails for volunteer signups for an upcoming beta release as well. You can add your name to the list on the program's official website.

BlueStacks App Player is onto a good start when it comes to running Android apps on your PC.

Skype Qik (for Windows Phone)

• Pros

  Fast, easy video shooting. Ephemeral messages automatically deleted. Can remotely delete messages.

• Cons No text chatting. No still images. Requires your phone number. No video review before sending. No reusable smiley videos as in iOS and Android versions.
• Bottom Line

  Skype's Qik video messaging app for Windows Phone is a snap to use, but it lacks many features found in competitors like Facebook Messenger.

By Michael Muchmore, Max Eddy

Skype Qik (free) is a rare thing these days—a Windows Phone app that came out at the same time as its iPhone and Android counterparts. The video-messaging app features the same appealing design, too. But is there room for another messaging app, even on Windows Phone, where you can use not only traditional Skype, but also Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Kik, Line, or even BBM? The Skype Qik difference is that you communicate with short, Vine-like selfie videos. It's a beautifully designed app, but do you really need another way to message your peeps? Let's find out.

Qik Start
You don't need a Skype account to use Qik, but, as with many messaging apps (think WhatsApp and Viber), you do need to enter your mobile phone number and grant access to your phone contacts. That makes it easier for you to find people and vice versa. Snapchat and Skype itself, however, do not require you to enter a phone number.

Interface
Qik is simple and beautiful to look at and use. Like Snapchat, it eschews traditional app design to put the most important features up front. Once you've got a few conversations going, your Qik screen shows them as wide bands with the users' names and blurry images. Swiping across these lets you hide them. A cool interface touch is that you can swipe up and down between shooting view and inbox view at any time. As with Snapchat, Qik's messages are impermanent. Any message you send is deleted automatically after two weeks. As with just about every app that has anything to do with photos or videos, with Qik you tap the big lens icon at top center to get going.

When you tap the record button, the screen blacks out, except for the record button and camera view. Michael has come around to Max's preference for the Vine-style hold-down-record-and-release-when-you're-done; Qik instead uses separate presses to start and end recording.

You've got 40 seconds to complete your video message. That's more generous than Vine and Instagram, though the regular old Skype app lets you send video messages of up to 3 minutes. After shooting, you need to choose recipients, unless you did so before shooting. If you've done that, tapping the record button again stops recording and immediately sends your videogram to your friend(s). Choosing a recipient after shooting sends the vid instantly, or you can hit the Plus sign to create a group video chat.

We didn't love that you can't review a recording before sending it. You can, however, simply hit an X if you want to abort the production. Qik seems designed to encourage you to send selfies before you're ready, in the name of immediacy. Its method is more flexible than Facebook Messenger's flinging your vid or pic off as soon as you release the button, but less than Snapchat's letting you review what you shot.

One limitation in Qik is that you can't upload existing video from your phone storage (as you can in Instagram and now Vine), though for an app designed for immediacy, that's not necessarily a minus. Nor can you stop and start recording, as you can in some apps—it's a one-shot affair.

Each conversation includes a row of circular video thumbnails, which you're free to review (or delete) until they expire. When you delete one of your Qik vids, it's immediately deleted from everyone else's phone, too. This isn't so much of an issue with Snapchat or Wickr, since their videos disintegrate upon viewing, though Qik does let you remotely delete videos even before they're viewed.

Qik Fliks are one feature missing in the Windows Phone app but present in the iOS and Android versions. These are reusable short videos that take the place of emoticons. It's a shame that even a Microsoft-owned company produces a Windows Phone app with a feature deficit compared with its mobile platform rivals.

Qik Enough for You?
Skype Qik for Windows Phone is well designed and a pleasure to use. We also like its remote message deletion and the fact that messages are ephemeral. The app is pretty bare-bones, even more so in the Windows Phone version, since it lacks Qik Fliks. In some cases, a severely limited feature set can be a plus, but, in the case of a messaging app, you probably want to at least be able to send text. And still photos. Qik is truly video-only, and sending video messages back and forth isn't always the easiest way to communicate. So many apps that most of your pals already have on their phones already include Qik's main capabilities that it will have to expand its feature set before we can give it an unqualified rave review.