LG Q6 Smartphone Review

Name: LG Q6
Brand: LG

Trimmed. The looks of the LG Q6 closely resemble those of the LG G6, only at a much lower price point. The trade-off is its trimmed performance, a performance that makes the phone struggle hard in its price range. We will find out whether the phone is a recommendable purchase.

Florian Wimmer, ✓ Stefanie Voigt (translated by Pascal Kilian), Published 08/23/2017 🇩🇪 🇭🇺 ...

Android Smartphone Touchscreen

For the original German review, see here.

After the modularity experiments with the LG G5, the manufacturer returned to a classical smartphone for a flagship with the G6. This was a step in the right direction, as we rated it a heavenly 90% in our review. Consequently, LG used this as a blueprint for a less equipped model for the mid-range segment. The new LG Q6 is a spitting, lower performance version of its older brother, the LG G6. At the time of writing this review, there is no word on pricing for the Q6 for the US. In Europe, you can get your hands on one less than 349 Euros (~ $410). There will be two Q6 models: the Q6a (alpha) and the Q6 plus with a little more storage.

The mid-range price segment of the smartphone market is already very saturated with attractive devices, e.g. the Lenovo P2 with its giant battery, the Asus Zenfone 3, or the Samsung Galaxy A5. We will be using these three devices for direct comparison in our review with the Q6 and we will outline differences to the LG G6.

Test device courtesy of LG Deutschland

Download your licensed rating image as PNG / SVG

LG Q6 (Q Series)

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 8 x 1.4 GHz, Cortex-A53

Graphics adapter

Qualcomm Adreno 505

Memory

3 GB

Display

5.50 inch 18:9, 2160 x 1080 pixel 439 PPI, capacitive touchscreen, IPS, glossy: yes

Storage

32 GB eMMC Flash, 32 GB

, 22.5 GB free

Connections

1 USB 2.0, Audio Connections: 3.5mm Audioport, Card Reader: microSD up to 256 GB, NFC, Brightness Sensor, Sensors: acceleration sensor, Gyroscope, proximity sensor, compass

Networking

802.11 b/g/n (b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/), Bluetooth 4.2, GSM (850/900/1800/1900), UMTS (850/900/1900/2100), LTE (B1/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B20/B28/B38), LTE, GPS

Size

height x width x depth (in mm): 8.1 x 142.6 x 69.3 ( = 0.32 x 5.61 x 2.73 in)

Battery

10.5 Wh, 3000 mAh Lithium-Ion

Operating System

Android 7.1 Nougat

Camera

Primary Camera: 13 MPix f/2.2, contrast-AF, LED flash, video @1080p/30fps
Secondary Camera: 5 MPix f/2.2, video @1080p

Additional features

Speakers: mono-speaker on the back, Keyboard: virtual keyboard, power adapter, USB cable, headset, Msart Doctor, LG Mobile Switch, SmartWorld, QuickMemo+, 24 Months Warranty, UKW radio, LTE Cat. 6, bandwidth (download/upload): 300Mbps/50Mbps; SAR values: 0,277 W/Kg (head), 1.540W/Kg (torso), fanless

Weight

149 g ( = 5.26 oz / 0.33 pounds), Power Supply: 48 g ( = 1.69 oz / 0.11 pounds)

Price

349 Euro

Links

LG homepage
LG notebook section

Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

see all specifications

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Case

The LG Q6 is smaller than the LG G6 with its 5.7-inch screen. The overall dimensions of the phone are smaller, except for the thicker height in the Q6. Thanks to the slim bezels on the left and right sides of the device, its dimensions are very compact for a smartphone with a 5.5-inch screen. We have the silver and blue model in our hands, but the Q6 is available in black and gold, as well. The back of the phone is made of plastic and its frame is metal. The compact build is very rigid. Pressure to the front or back of the phone does not show on the screen and it does not bend, either.

The smartphone has a well-balanced feel in the hand and is of very good build quality. An attractive aspect is the rounded corners of the display.

Like most new phones, the LG Q6 does not have a removable battery.

Equipment

The LG Q6 offers 32 GB of mass storage and 3 GB of RAM. The standard LG G6 model has the same storage capacity but 1 GB more RAM. As mentioned before, LG plans on offering two different Q6 models with different mass storage and RAM capacities. The Samsung Galaxy A5 comes with the same storage equipment; all other competitors offer more storage for the same or even lower price tag.

There is a dual-SIM iteration of the LG Q6, but we tested the single-SIM one. Replacing the SIM often comes with a forced reboot of the phone. By using a microSD card, users can boost their mass storage by up to 256 GB, although it cannot be formatted as internal storage. It is still possible to move apps onto the external storage.

right: standby button

bottom: microphone, USB 2.0, 3,5mm audio jack

Software

LG preinstalled Android 7.1.1 OS. During our test, we received a security patch from 1 July 2017, which is still recent as of writing this review in mid-August 2017. LG promises the update to Android O.

The manufacturer added some changes to the standard Android UI, e.g. the settings are grouped. Users can further choose whether they want all apps displayed on the home screen or in an app drawer. The lock screen offers many customizing options. Most of these changes are only on a visual level and Android veterans will not have a hard time handling the device.

Fortunately, LG did not preinstall apps for advertising purposes but lots of LG-specific bloatware some users might find helpful, others not so much. The RemoteCall app allows LG customer service to make remote repairs with the user´s permission. There is SmartDoctor, which aims to resolve system issues, an e-mail app, and a task planner app. These are just a few examples of apps for which free alternatives can be found preinstalled as standard Android apps or on the Google Play Store anyways.

Communication and GPS

The Wi-Fi module of the LG Q6 is not capable of the fast 5 GHz communication and instead relies on 2.4 GHz with the 802.11 b/g/n standards. The LG Q6 is faster than the Asus Zenfone 3 in this aspect, but falls behind every other competitor in this category, which does not come as a surprise as the Lenovo P2 and the Galaxy A5 both offer speedy 802.11ac Wi-Fi capability. In our field test, we put the smartphone in close proximity to our reference router and observe hesitant browsing speeds. The Wi-Fi connection strength was halved when the distance was increased to 10 meters (~ 33 feet) and three walls were between the phone and the router.

The LG Q6 only supports 11 LTE bands, which is bad compared to the G6, but very good in its price segment. For Europe, users should not be concerned about reception. Compared to the LG G6, speeds were cut from LTE Cat. 11 to LTE Cat. 6 in the Q6. This is still more than enough for current European networks, but the LG G6 is more future-proof. Inside an urban apartment in a German city, we often got 3 out of 4 reception bars (Vodafone carrier).

Networking
iperf3 transmit AX12
LG G6 Adreno 530, SD 821, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	220 MBit/s +345%
Lenovo P2 Adreno 506, 625, 32 GB eMMC Flash	216 MBit/s +337%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 Mali-T830 MP3, Exynos 7880, 32 GB eMMC Flash	167 MBit/s +238%
LG Q6 Adreno 505, 435, 32 GB eMMC Flash	49.4 MBit/s
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL Adreno 506, 625, 64 GB eMMC Flash	31.2 MBit/s -37%
iperf3 receive AX12
LG G6 Adreno 530, SD 821, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	325 MBit/s +525%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 Mali-T830 MP3, Exynos 7880, 32 GB eMMC Flash	214 MBit/s +312%
Lenovo P2 Adreno 506, 625, 32 GB eMMC Flash	88.8 MBit/s +71%
LG Q6 Adreno 505, 435, 32 GB eMMC Flash	52 MBit/s
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL Adreno 506, 625, 64 GB eMMC Flash	32.9 MBit/s -37%

The GPS module cannot pick up the satellites indoors. Outdoors it takes rather long to pick to the signal, but the accuracy of 6 meters (~ 20 feet) is very good.

We took the LG Q6 and our professional Garmin Edge 500 reference navigation system for a 6.6 km (~ 4 miles) long bicycle ride where we measured a huge difference of 250 meters (~820 feet) on the Q6. Looking at the GPS recording in more detail, we can see that the LG Q6 picks up significantly less location points than the professional navigational system. Hence, it sometimes connects two distant locations by straight lines, which reduces its accuracy. Despite this, GPS on the LG Q6 is better than expected and it can be used as a navigation system on occasion.

Telephony and call quality

The dialer app has not been changed much by LG. It displays dials and most recent calls. The tabs on the top can be used to change to a complete call list or all contacts.

Sound quality is very good. The earpiece can get very loud, if desired, and the microphone transmits voices clearly and comprehensibly. The microphone echoes on hands-free mode and seems further away than on other smartphones. The loudspeaker is loud and clear.

Cameras

There is no dual-camera setup as in the LG G6 and although several recent mid-range smartphones feature a 16 MP camera, the LG Q6 relies on a standard 13 MP shooter with good sharpness in the center and significant loss of it towards the outside of the image. Many recent smartphone cameras deliver better details, although the LG Q6´s color reproduction and overall performance is respectable. To exploit all the pixels of the sensor, users need to switch to a 4:3 image ratio, since the popular 18:9 images are simply cut off 4:3-images that look good on screen but become problematic when printed out.

Videos can be recorded at 1080p with 30 frames per second. Quality, color reproduction, and ambient exposure adjustments are good.

Both, the LG G6 and Q6 feature a 5 MP front-facing camera with wide-angle capability if needed. It has issues with taking pictures against the light. Edges are quickly pixelated, color reproduction is unimpressive and sharpness is lacking. There are mid-range smartphones with better front-facing cameras out there.

Image Comparison

Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.

Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3

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click to load images

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Our laboratory tests in standardized lighting conditions conclude that the front-facing camera has pale color reproduction and bad sharpness performance in the center of the image. The images get sharper towards the outsides of the frame.

ColorChecker color card: the patch field below shows target colors.

Accessories and warranty

A small power adapter, a USB cable, a SIM card tool, and an in-ear headset come with the smartphone. LG does not offer any other specific accessories for the Q6.

Our German test device comes with a 2-year guarantee.

Input devices and handling

LG´s keyboard app is convenient to use, but its impression suffers a little from the double occupied keys.

Even in the corners, touchscreen sensitivity is good. Users can unlock the LG Q6 via face-recognition instead of fingerprint-recognition. This methods works quickly and well but we would not recommend it because it is easy to trick simply by holding a photo displayed on another smartphone in front of the camera.

Double-tap-to-wake and using the volume up and down buttons to activate the camera or the note pad, respectively, are handy features to have in the LG Q6.

▶ load Youtube video

Display

The 18:9 screen ratio with its 2160x1080 pixels is very unusual but is equivalent to 1920x1080 pixels in a regular 16:9 screen. The LG Q6 uses IPS technology and emits light with up to 498 cd/m², which is a little dimmer than the higher resolution screen of the LG G6. The screen has an illumination of 88%, which is average but good enough to make the same color appear the same over the entire length.


511 cd/m²	521 cd/m²	490 cd/m²
489 cd/m²	523 cd/m²	483 cd/m²
461 cd/m²	509 cd/m²	496 cd/m²

Distribution of brightness

tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2

Maximum: 523 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 498.1 cd/m² Minimum: 3.44 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 88 %
Center on Battery: 523 cd/m²
Contrast: 2179:1 (Black: 0.24 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 6.4 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.94
ΔE Greyscale 7.4 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
98.1% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.4

	LG Q6 IPS, 2160x1080, 5.5"	LG G6 IPS LCD, 2880x1440, 5.7"	Lenovo P2 AMOLED, 1920x1080, 5.5"	Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 Super AMOLED, 1920x1080, 5.2"	Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL IPS, 1920x1080, 5.5"
Screen		19%	27%	42%	-14%
Brightness middle	523	646 24%	479 -8%	539 3%	658 26%
Brightness	498	611 23%	477 -4%	542 9%	633 27%
Brightness Distribution	88	89 1%	91 3%	93 6%	93 6%
Black Level *	0.24	0.23 4%			0.66 -175%
Contrast	2179	2809 29%			997 -54%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *	6.4	4.5 30%	2.4 62%	1.6 75%	4.9 23%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *	11	8.3 25%	5.6 49%	2.6 76%	9.1 17%
Greyscale dE 2000 *	7.4	6 19%	2.8 62%	1.5 80%	5.8 22%
Gamma	2.4 ^92%	2.27 ^97%	2.28 ^96%	2.28 ^96%	2.26 ^97%
CCT	8641 ^75%	7996 ^81%	6702 ^97%	6422 ^101%	7840 ^83%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)		67.74
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)		99.05

* ... smaller is better

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

ℹ

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.

Screen flickering / PWM not detected

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17204 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

Nowadays, some mid-range phones are equipped with AMOLED screens, which offer great contrast because pure blacks are simply displayed by switched-off pixels and because of the absence of a backlight, no light passes through. LG furnishes the LG Q6 with an IPS screen with a surprisingly good black value of 0.24 cd/m² (contrast ratio 2,179:1) leading to very deep blacks.

We tested the color accuracy of the display with a spectral photometer and the CalMAN software and measured an apparent blue hue. Fortunately, it is possible to adjust the white balance in the settings to remove this blue hue. In theory, users could even set the display to black and white. In standard mode, the color deviates a lot from the reference color space. Red tones appear too dark.

Display Response Times

ℹ

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.

↔ Response Time Black to White
26 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↗ 13 ms rise
26 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↘ 13 ms fall
The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 59 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.1 ms).
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
38 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↗ 19 ms rise
38 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↘ 19 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 51 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.1 ms).

The maximum brightness of the display is very high, hence it has good outdoor visibility. In direct sunlight, however, the usability suffers from the LG Q6´s reflective front. The light sensor reacts well to ambient light changes and is able to push the screen brightness all the way up to the maximum.

Viewing angles are very good and we could not observe color or brightness changes on the sides.

Performance

We are surprised by the utilized SoC. For the price tag, we would have expected to find a 600-series Snapdragon SoC. Instead, LG furnishes the smartphone with an octa-core Snapdragon 435 capable of clock speeds of up to 1.4 GHz. LG cannot even be awarded with a certificate of participation in this price segment. The LG Q6 gets within reach of the Samsung Galaxy A5, but all other competitors are not even visible anymore from that far behind. The LG Q6 comes in with one third of the processing performance as the G6. This may not be apparent while navigating smoothly through the menus; more complex apps or photo retouches will take their fine time though. The SoC comes with an Adreno 505 graphics solution clocking at 450 MHz. All current graphic APIs are supported, but the performance is still significantly behind its competitors.

AnTuTu v6 - Total Score (sort by value)
LG Q6	42718 Points
LG G6	151751 Points +255%
Lenovo P2	63522 Points +49%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	60603 Points +42%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	62484 Points +46%

PCMark for Android
Work performance score (sort by value)
LG Q6	5081 Points
LG G6	5703 Points +12%
Lenovo P2	4810 Points -5%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	5035 Points -1%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	6785 Points +34%
Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value)
LG Q6	3710 Points
LG G6	5152 Points +39%
Lenovo P2	4810 Points +30%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	4060 Points +9%

BaseMark OS II
Overall (sort by value)
LG Q6	282 Points
LG G6	2496 Points +785%
Lenovo P2	1226 Points +335%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	1408 Points +399%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	1215 Points +331%
System (sort by value)
LG Q6	1489 Points
LG G6	3646 Points +145%
Lenovo P2	1960 Points +32%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	2593 Points +74%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	2923 Points +96%
Memory (sort by value)
LG Q6	736 Points
LG G6	1930 Points +162%
Lenovo P2	1451 Points +97%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	1508 Points +105%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	1042 Points +42%
Graphics (sort by value)
LG Q6	591 Points
LG G6	5138 Points +769%
Lenovo P2	1016 Points +72%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	1528 Points +159%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	1019 Points +72%
Web (sort by value)
LG Q6	10 Points
LG G6	1073 Points +10630%
Lenovo P2	783 Points +7730%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	659 Points +6490%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	702 Points +6920%

Geekbench 4.4
64 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value)
LG Q6	647 Points
LG G6	1831 Points +183%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	773 Points +19%
64 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value)
LG Q6	2210 Points
LG G6	4369 Points +98%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	4104 Points +86%
Compute RenderScript Score (sort by value)
LG Q6	1840 Points
LG G6	7080 Points +285%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	3002 Points +63%

3DMark
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value)
LG Q6	8137 Points
LG G6	29276 Points +260%
Lenovo P2	13808 Points +70%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	13256 Points +63%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	13955 Points +72%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value)
LG Q6	7924 Points
LG G6	32128 Points +305%
Lenovo P2	13398 Points +69%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	13314 Points +68%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	13466 Points +70%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value)
LG Q6	8983 Points
LG G6	22335 Points +149%
Lenovo P2	15462 Points +72%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	13057 Points +45%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	15984 Points +78%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 (sort by value)
LG Q6	465 Points
LG G6	3282 Points +606%
Lenovo P2	831 Points +79%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	1155 Points +148%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	842 Points +81%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Graphics (sort by value)
LG Q6	404 Points
LG G6	4121 Points +920%
Lenovo P2	726 Points +80%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	1053 Points +161%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	719 Points +78%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Physics (sort by value)
LG Q6	995 Points
LG G6	1961 Points +97%
Lenovo P2	1682 Points +69%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	1752 Points +76%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	2112 Points +112%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) (sort by value)
LG Q6	230 Points
LG G6	2669 Points +1060%
Lenovo P2	459 Points +100%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	816 Points +255%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	465 Points +102%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Graphics (sort by value)
LG Q6	188 Points
LG G6	2980 Points +1485%
Lenovo P2	380 Points +102%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	710 Points +278%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	380 Points +102%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Physics (sort by value)
LG Q6	1016 Points
LG G6	1955 Points +92%
Lenovo P2	1673 Points +65%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	1713 Points +69%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	2109 Points +108%

GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
T-Rex Onscreen (sort by value)
LG Q6	12 fps
LG G6	46 fps +283%
Lenovo P2	23 fps +92%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	33 fps +175%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	21 fps +75%
1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen (sort by value)
LG Q6	13 fps
LG G6	75 fps +477%
Lenovo P2	23 fps +77%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	34 fps +162%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	23 fps +77%

GFXBench 3.0
on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL (sort by value)
LG Q6	5.4 fps
LG G6	27 fps +400%
Lenovo P2	10 fps +85%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	15 fps +178%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	9.7 fps +80%
1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (sort by value)
LG Q6	5.8 fps
LG G6	38 fps +555%
Lenovo P2	10 fps +72%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	15 fps +159%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	9.9 fps +71%

GFXBench 3.1
on screen Manhattan ES 3.1 Onscreen (sort by value)
LG Q6	3.5 fps
LG G6	16 fps +357%
Lenovo P2	6.7 fps +91%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	9 fps +157%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	6.1 fps +74%
1920x1080 Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen (sort by value)
LG Q6	3.8 fps
LG G6	29 fps +663%
Lenovo P2	6.2 fps +63%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	9.1 fps +139%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	6.2 fps +63%

GFXBench
on screen Car Chase Onscreen (sort by value)
LG Q6	2.1 fps
LG G6	11 fps +424%
Lenovo P2	3.7 fps +76%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	5.2 fps +148%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	3.4 fps +62%
1920x1080 Car Chase Offscreen (sort by value)
LG Q6	2.2 fps
LG G6	20 fps +809%
Lenovo P2	3.4 fps +55%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	5.2 fps +136%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL	3.4 fps +55%

Legend

LG Q6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 435, Qualcomm Adreno 505, 32 GB eMMC Flash

LG G6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro, Qualcomm Adreno 530, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash

Lenovo P2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, Qualcomm Adreno 506, 32 GB eMMC Flash

Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 Samsung Exynos 7880, ARM Mali-T830 MP3, 32 GB eMMC Flash

Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, Qualcomm Adreno 506, 64 GB eMMC Flash

Web browsing benchmarks leave the LG Q6 exhausted, far behind the competition. The demanding HTML5 game (letsplay.ouigo.com) stutters and commands are enforced with apparent delays.

JetStream 1.1 | Octane V2 | Mozilla Kraken 1.1 | WebXPRT 2015

JetStream 1.1 - Total Score
LG G6 (Chrome 57)	56.6 Points +242%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 (Samsung Browser (Chrome 44))	32.22 Points +95%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL (Chrome 53.0.2785.124)	31.12 Points +88%
Lenovo P2 (Chrome 56)	28.88 Points +75%
LG Q6 (Chrome 59)	16.53 Points

Octane V2 - Total Score
LG G6 (Chrome 57)	9113 Points +239%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 (Samsung Browser (Chrome 44))	5256 Points +95%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL (Chrome 53.0.2785.124)	4905 Points +82%
Lenovo P2 (Chrome 56)	4435 Points +65%
LG Q6 (Chrome 59)	2689 Points

Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total
LG Q6 (Chrome 59)	13102 ms *
Lenovo P2 (Chrome 56)	8463 ms * +35%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL (Chrome 53.0.2785.124)	8041 ms * +39%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 (Samsung Browser (Chrome 44))	6442 ms * +51%
LG G6 (Chrome 57)	2464 ms * +81%

WebXPRT 2015 - Overall
LG G6 (Chrome 57)	122 Points +122%
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 (Samsung Browser (Chrome 44))	89 Points +62%
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL (Chrome 53.0.2785.124)	84 Points +53%
Lenovo P2	84 Points +53%
LG Q6 (Chrome 59)	55 Points

* ... smaller is better

Benchmarks on the external storage speeds seem to make the LG Q6 look quite good. In fact, it even beats its high-end sibling, the LG G6, with our Toshiba reference microSD card. Admittedly, this current benchmark used the newer Exceria Pro M501, while our past benchmarks were done on its predecessor.

Benchmarks on the internal storage position the LG Q6 well ahead the Samsung Galaxy A5.

	LG Q6	LG G6	Lenovo P2	Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
AndroBench 3-5		31%	50%	-21%	6%
Sequential Read 256KB	263.1	428.7 63%	270.1 3%	182 -31%	282 7%
Sequential Write 256KB	133.5	122.8 -8%	76.7 -43%	77.1 -42%	188 41%
Random Read 4KB	54.3	95.2 75%	38.2 -30%	22.41 -59%	74 36%
Random Write 4KB	9.2	16.58 80%	44.4 383%	12.13 32%	7.4 -20%
Sequential Read 256KB SDCard	84.8	77.6 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401) -8%	79.3 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401) -6%	73.7 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401) -13%	79.2 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401) -7%
Sequential Write 256KB SDCard	62.6	53.3 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401) -15%	59.4 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401) -5%	56 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401) -11%	50.1 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401) -20%

Games

Thanks to the GPU´s support for modern APIs, users can play many modern games. For demanding games, either the graphic settings need to be lowered or players have to live with less-than-optimal frame rates and stuttering games. Asphalt 8 can be displayed at 30 fps only on lowest settings. Dead Trigger 2 runs smoothly. Less demanding games such as Angry Birds obviously does not pose any issues.

The smartphone controls, i.e. position sensor and touchscreen, are responsive enough for gaming.

Asphalt 8: Airborne
	Settings	Value
	high	25 fps
	very low	30 fps

... in comparison

Dead Trigger 2
	Settings	Value
	high	30 fps

... in comparison

Emissions

Temperature

The LG Q6 reaches acceptable maximum temperatures of up to 34.6 °C (~ 95 °F) on the outside. The temperature differences between idling and operation under load are barely perceptible. Under load, the performance decreases 5% after some time. This leaves us optimistic not to encounter any major performance issues under long loads.

Max. Load

Idle


31.7 °C 89 F	32.5 °C 91 F	34 °C 93 F
32.5 °C 91 F	33.3 °C 92 F	34.1 °C 93 F
33.6 °C 92 F	34.1 °C 93 F	34.6 °C 94 F

Maximum: 34.6 °C = 94 F
Average: 33.4 °C = 92 F


30.6 °C 87 F	32.3 °C 90 F	30.3 °C 87 F
32.1 °C 90 F	34 °C 93 F	31.5 °C 89 F
32.4 °C 90 F	33.7 °C 93 F	31.7 °C 89 F

Maximum: 34 °C = 93 F
Average: 32.1 °C = 90 F

Power Supply (max.) 37.9 °C = 100 F | Room Temperature 22 °C = 72 F | Voltcraft IR-350

(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 33.4 °C / 92 F, compared to the average of 32.8 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 34.6 °C / 94 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.2 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 34 °C / 93 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 31.4 °C / 89 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.

Speakers

The speakers are on the back of the device, but fortunately, the sound does not get too attenuated when placed on a table. It can get quite loud, but basses are not present and deep mids are barely audible, giving the sound a very shallow feel. Generally, everything other than a short taste of a song or a YouTube video ask too much of the speakers and the use of the included pair of earphones that can be plugged into the 3.5 mm audio jack or a Bluetooth speaker are recommended for comfortable audio quality.

LG Q6 audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.5 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 36% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (10% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 13% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (12.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 7.9% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (4.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (35.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 83% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 16% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 92% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 6% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 15.5% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 9.4% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (7.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 5% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (7.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (23.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 48% of all tested devices in this class were better, 9% similar, 43% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 67% of all tested devices were better, 7% similar, 26% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Frequency diagram in comparison (Toggle check boxes on/off!)

Battery runtime

Energy consumption

The LG Q6 consumes quite a lot of energy when idling despite its low general performance. Under load it is more efficient than some competitors. Generally, it is not a very efficient smartphone and reaches average values. In fact, this is very disappointing to see as it is a very low performing device. This is probably because of the aged SoC production process that leaves it much thirstier for energy than modern SoCs.

Power Consumption

Off / Standby	0.11 / 0.13 Watt
Idle	0.92 / 2.19 / 2.24 Watt
Load	3.38 / 4 Watt


Key: min: , med: , max: Metrahit Energy Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.

	LG Q6 3000 mAh	LG G6 3300 mAh	Lenovo P2 5100 mAh	Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 3000 mAh	Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL 3000 mAh
Power Consumption		-25%	39%	28%	-4%
Idle Minimum *	0.92	0.62 33%	0.54 41%	0.64 30%	0.83 10%
Idle Average *	2.19	1.43 35%	1.01 54%	1.36 38%	2.11 4%
Idle Maximum *	2.24	1.48 34%	1.03 54%	1.4 37%	2.12 5%
Load Average *	3.38	5.52 -63%	1.78 47%	2.53 25%	3.41 -1%
Load Maximum *	4	10.47 -162%	3.98 -0%	3.63 9%	5.46 -37%

* ... smaller is better

Battery runtime

The battery of the LG Q6 has a capacity of 3000 mAh (10.5 Wh), which is 300 mAh smaller than the one in the LG G6. In combination with the average energy consumption values this makes for a phone with the shortest battery runtimes compared with its rivals. 8:22 hours in our Wi-Fi test are not bad, but the Lenovo P2 almost doubles that. At the end of a normal day, the LG Q6 requires a thorough rest where it takes up to 2:30 hours to fully charge due to the small power adapter. Many competitors offer fast charging capabilities, while the LG Q6, unfortunately, does not.

Battery Runtime

Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)		22h 47min
WiFi Websurfing		8h 22min
Big Buck Bunny H.264 1080p		10h 23min
Load (maximum brightness)		4h 11min

	LG Q6 3000 mAh	LG G6 3300 mAh	Lenovo P2 5100 mAh	Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 3000 mAh	Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL 3000 mAh
Battery Runtime		24%	101%	72%	39%
Reader / Idle	1367	1789 31%	2841 108%	2418 77%	1502 10%
H.264	623	779 25%	1199 92%	984 58%	905 45%
WiFi v1.3	502	692 38%	978 95%	843 68%	797 59%
Load	251	252 0%	528 110%	467 86%	352 40%

Pros

+ small side bezels

+ very rigid case

+ current Android version

+ many LTE bands

+ respectable voice quality

+ viewing angle-stable screen

+ quick storage access

+ hardly gets warm

Cons

- unsafe face-recognition

- low general performance

- average front-facing camera

- relatively high energy consumption

- long charging time

Verdict

Tested: LG Q6. Test device supplied by LG Germany.

LG trimmed the performance of the Q6 a little too much and the price tag a little too little. The LG Q6´s price tag competes with devices that have more performance and more battery life – two important factors to a potential customer. There are other areas, too, where the LG Q6 just cannot keep up: the speakers are below average, the Wi-Fi module is rather slow, and the equipment is just okay.

Then again, LG does implement some nice features: the very rigid and unique case with its unusual body ratio and small side bezels do make for a very attractive device. The OS is up-to-date and LG promises fast updates in the future. Call quality is okay, the main camera captures good images, and the case warms up only slightly under load.

LG made cuts in a lot of places. Especially, the LG Q6´s performance is too low for this price segment. The solid case, the slightly above average battery runtime, and the very good screen save the phone from drowning.

We advise potential customers to wait until LG adjusts the pricing down a little before purchasing. There are many better devices in its current price segment of around $400. If you fancy the slim design and are fine with the lower performance, you will be getting a solid companion for your daily life.

LG Q6 - 2017-08-21 08/21/2017 v6 ^(old)
Florian Wimmer

Chassis

89%

Keyboard

65 / 75 → 87%

Pointing Device

88%

Connectivity

36 / 60 → 60%

Weight

92%

Battery

91%

Display

85%

Games Performance

16 / 63 → 25%

Application Performance

38 / 70 → 54%

Temperature

91%

Noise

100%

Audio

54 / 91 → 59%

Camera

72%

Average

71%

82%

Smartphone - Weighted Average

Price comparison

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Editor of the original article: Florian Schmitt - Managing Editor Mobile - 1185 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2009

I initially wrote about gaming laptops when I joined Notebookcheck in 2009. I was then involved with the setup of the comparison portal Notebookinfo and worked with social media concepts for large companies like BMW and Adidas, while also returning to work for Notebookcheck in 2012. Nowadays, I focus on smartphones, tablets, and future technologies. Since 2018 I have been Managing Editor for mobile device reviews, working alongside my colleague Daniel Schmidt.

contact me via: @FloSchmi26, LinkedIn, Xing

Translator: Sergey Tarasov - Senior Tech Writer - 2416 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2010

I love reading stuff. I also love dealing with different electronic devices, be that a remotely controlled toy or a new MacBook. When I am not at work, you can try searching for me somewhere in the mountains of Altai Republic, Russia.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > LG Q6 Smartphone Review

Florian Wimmer, 2017-08-23 (Update: 2024-08-15)

LG Q6 Smartphone Review

Case

Size comparison

Equipment

Software

Communication and GPS

Telephony and call quality

Cameras

Accessories and warranty

Input devices and handling

Display

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

Display Response Times

Performance

Games

Emissions

Temperature

Speakers

LG Q6 audio analysis

Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 audio analysis

Battery runtime

Energy consumption

Battery runtime

Pros

Cons

Verdict

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