LG debuts the G4 with a 5.5-inch QuadHD 2560 x 1440 screen, camera with f1.8 lens aperture and autofocus, Snapdragon 808 processor, and leather back
LG's new G4 is a powerhouse phone wrapped in leather — LG's new flagship smartphone, the G4, is official.
Context & Ripple Effects
LG's G4 lands almost exactly as predicted by mid-April leaks that flagged a 5.5-inch screen, removable battery, and both leather and plastic rear covers — so today's announcement is less a surprise than a confirmation, with the f/1.8 lens aperture and QuadHD panel doing the differentiating work.
What happens next in this coverage matters more than the launch itself: within weeks LG stretches the brand into phablet and budget versions, and the follow-up review finds the plastic back cheap-feeling and the software poorly designed even as it praises the camera, battery, and display.
First-order effects
- Buyers choose between the leather and plastic rear covers at purchase, but the review's verdict means the leather option carries the premium feel while the standard model undercuts the flagship positioning.
Second-order effects
- LG immediately segments its own flagship: the phablet and budget G4 variants announced in May let it cover price tiers with one brand rather than conceding mid-range buyers to cheaper Android rivals.
- The Snapdragon 808 — a step below the era's top chip — makes the camera aperture and display resolution the spec-sheet battleground against competitors shipping flagship-tier silicon.
Third-order effects
- The design story doesn't hold: the G5 pivots to plug-in modules, then the G6 moves to metal, thin bezels, and an 18:9 display — suggesting leather was a one-cycle experiment and LG kept resetting the flagship formula annually rather than compounding on any single identity.
The trend: LG's 2015-2018 flagship line shows a vendor treating each annual release as a fresh design bet — leather, modules, bezels, notch — instead of building durable differentiation around one strength like its consistently praised cameras and displays.