LG G3 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Specs Battle

The LG G3 is no doubt one of the most appreciated smartphones of the year and its 5.5-inch screen would easily allow it to compete against high-end smartphones. Since Samsung’s last year Note 3 was the best selling smartphone on the market, we though we should put t he two smartphones head-to-head into an LG G3 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 3 specs battle.

Even though the Galaxy Note 3 was released almost a year ago, Samsung’s stylus-friendly device is still one of the most powerful smartphones on the market. We are eager to see how will it handle a fight against LG’s latest and greatest handset.

Our loyal readers may know form our previous Versus posts that the LG G3 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 3 specs will consist of ten different battles. We will be judging the performance of the two devices in terms of Dimensions, Display, Processor, Memory, Operating System, Camera, Connectivity, Battery Life, Design, and Price. Each round is worth one point and, at the end of the battle, the smartphone that manages to score most points is declared the winner.

Dimensions

The size of the modern smartphones is increasing whit each generation. Fortunately, the manufacturers are capable of finding ingenious ways to keep them as compact as possible despite increasing the screen size.

The LG G3 is 146.3 mm tall, 74.6 mm wide, and 8.9 mm thin, while having a weight of 149 grams. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 measures 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm and weighs in at 168 grams.

As you can see the LG G3 is both more compact and lighter than the Note 3. This is why the Dimensions round goes to the LG flagship.

Display

The smartphone displays are getting better each year and so let’s see what G3 and Note 3 have to offer. Especially that the two smartphones have similar-sized screens.

The LG G3 boasts about a 5.5-inch True HD-IPS + LCD screen with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels and a density of 534 ppi. It also has Gorilla Glass 3 protection. On the other hand the Galaxy Note 3 packs a 1080 x 1920 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with 386 ppi and Gorilla Glass 3 a protective layer.

Even though it has a slightly smaller screen, the LG G3 has significantly higher resolution. Another point for the LG G3.

Processor

Qualcomm is currently dominating the high-end smartphone market when it comes to processing solutions. Unsurprisingly, both devices are powered by chipsets manufactured by Qualcomm.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 comes with a Snapdragon 800 SoC with quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 CPU and Adreno 330 GPU. On the other hand, the LG G3 is underpinned by a Snapdragon 801 chipset based on four Krait 400 cores clocked at 2.5 GHz and an Adreno 330 GPU.

Even though the Snapdragon 801 SoC of the G3 is slightly more powerful than the Snap 800 unit of the Note 3, the end users will hardly feel a difference between the two. This round ends as tie.

Memory

When you purchase a new smartphone you really have to take the amount of storage into consideration. There are a lot of apps and games you will want to install on your device, not to mention about your music collection or favorite TV shows.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 features 16/32/64 GB of internal storage and has support for microSD cards up to 64 GB. It also comes with 3 GB of RAM. LG G3 comes with either 16 GB storage and 2 GB of RAM or 32 GB storage and 3 GB RAM, both models coming with support for microSD cards up to 128 GB.

Both 2 GB and 3 GB of RAM are enough for a great multitasking experience, while 128 GB storage (max for Note 3) are more than enough for your apps and files. This round ends as tie.

Operating System

Even though we are dealing with to smartphones running Android 4.4.2 KitKat they are quite different when it comes to the software component. That’s because each manufacturer applied its own interface on top of KitKat.

The interface of the new LG flagship is called G3 UI. It brings a smart Keyboard that is size adjustable, a flat interface, and it allows users to delete pre-installed apps to provide more free space. LG G3′s software features also include Smart Notice, which is some sort of personal assistant that “suggests what you you need, even before you need it.” You’ll get Smart Cleaning to erase apps you haven’t used in a while, Call Log-based Reminder, and Low Battery Alert which reminds you to turn on battery saver when your batter level is below 10%.

But Knock On and Knock Code are two of the most appreciated features of the LG G3. The latter one allows you to unlock your phoe using a customized knocking patter of three to eight taps.

Galaxy Note 3 is running Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz UI. Because the device comes with an S Pen you will be able to enjoy stylus-optimized apps such as Action Memo, Scrapbook, S Finder (unified search), Pen Window, or Screen Write. It also comes with Samsung Knox security solution, Group Play, Smart Scroll, Smart Pause, Air Gesture, and Air View. Samsung’s phablet also comes with a lot of camera-related features such as Dual Shot / Recording, Drama Shot, Eraser (allows you to erase moving objects from photos), Best Face, and more.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3′s software features are more useful (even though some are just eye-candy) than the ones of the G3, especially those that are S Pen-related. The Operating System point goes to the Samsung device.

Camera

In my opinion the best camera is always the camera you’re carrying with you. That and probably the fact that I’m not good at all at taking photos.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 packs a 13 MP primary camera with autofocus, LED flash, Dual Shot, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, panorama, HDR, and 4K video recording support. On the front panel it has a 2 MP camera with 1080p@30fps video recording capabilities.

LG G3 features a 13 MP rear-facing shooter with phase detection/laser autofocus, optical image stabilization, dual-LED (dual tone) flash, 1/3” sensor size, simultaneous video and image recording, geo-tagging, face detection, HDR, and 4K video recording capabilities. It also has a 2.1 MP user-facing camera capable of recording 1080p@30fps videos.

Even though both smartphones have 13 MP cameras, the real-life tests have shown that the one mounted on the back of the LG G3 is superior. The LG flagship wins another point.

Connectivity

The connectivity options have pretty much became standard for the high-end smartphones of the last couple of years. The same happens with the devices involved in our battle.

The LG G3 brings HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 21 Mbps; LTE, Cat4, 50 Mbps UL, 150 Mbps DL, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, NFC, IR blaster, and microUSB 2.0. On the other hand the Galaxy Note 3 comes with  HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 21 Mbps; LTE, Cat4, 50 Mbps UL, 150 Mbps DL, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, NFC, IR blaster, and microUSB 3.0

Did you spot the difference? Yes, that’s the right answer. Note 3 has microUSB 3.0 while the G3 comes with microUSB 2.0. Anyway, that’s not enough for the Samsung device to steal the Connectivity point. We’re calling it a tie.

Battery Life

Let’s be honest, the battery life is the biggest problem of the modern smartphones. Fortunately, both the G3 and the Note 3 have above-average autonomy.

The LG G3 arrives with a Li-Ion 3,000 mAh battery. In our tests the handset was capable of getting through about two-days of typical usage.

The Galaxy Note 3 is kept alive by a Li-Ion 3,200 mAh battery. Our tests have shown that the Samsung phablet is capable of staying awake for around 2 days of typical usage.

As I was mentioning above, both devices bring above-average battery life. We simply can’t choose a winner here. That’s a tie.

Design

Samsung has received a lot of bad reviews for the design of their high-end smartphones. Well, the South Koreans tried to show everybody that they can build premium-looking smartphones too, and the Note 3 is a good example.

Galaxy Note 3 brings an elegant design and the faux-leather back is the icing on the cake. We also appreciate the shiny bezel that imitates metal and the classic design with sharp edges and rounded corners.

The LG G3 fits into the design language introduced a year ago by its predecessor, the G2. Anyway it has less rounded corners, but it keeps the rear-mounded volume and power keys. On the left and right of the camera sensor you will be able to find the laser autofocus and dual LED flash, respectively. The metallic finishing used for the rear looks pretty neat.

Even though the Note 3 is a good-looking smartphone, the LG G3 clearly steals the crown in the beauty contest. The point allocated for the design round goes to the LG G3.

Price

We all like to get our hands on cheap smartphones, especially one they are high-end ones. Because most devices are sold on-contract this is the price that we will be comparing.

The Galaxy Note 3 debuted at $299 on-contract, but since the smartphone is almost a year-old now, the big US carriers cut off its price in the meantime. AT&T is selling it at $229.99, Verizon at $99.99, and Sprint at $249.99. The LG G3 is on the market for only a couple of months, so it’s price didn’t get a discount. All the aforementioned carriers are selling it at $199.99 with two-year contracts.

Fortunately, Amazon comes in our help when it comes to on-contract smartphone deals. On Amazon, the AT&T LG G3 is available for free with a two-year contract, theVerizon LG G3 costs $99.99 on-contract, while the Sprint model also has a price of $99.99. The online retailer is also running deals for Samsung’s phablet. The AT&T Galaxy Note 3 is available for free, the Verizon variant has a price tag of $99.99, whilethe Sprint Galaxy Note 3 costs $149.99.

As you may see, the two smartphones come with similar prices, which vary depending on carrier. That’s another round that ends as tie.

Conclusions

Here we are at the end of the LG G3 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 3 specs battle. It’s time to do the math and see which smartphone managed to score most points.

We’ve had five rounds that ended as tie. Both devices were equally matched in the Memory, Connectivity, Battery Life, Processor, and Price rounds.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 scored 1 point after it won the Operating System round. Samsung’s TouchWiz UI was the one that made the difference here.

The LG G3 has outmatched its rival in no less than four rounds. It managed to score 4 points after winning the Dimensions (it’s more compact and lighter), Display (it has a higher-resolution screen), Camera (higher-quality camera sensor), and Design (it looks better than Note 3) rounds.

We believe that the LG G3 is the better phone, but your opinion could be completely different. Maybe we have wronged one smartphone or the other. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.