The LG G6 boasts a dual-lens rear camera, one an optical zoom lens and the other offering a wide-angle view of the world. For our full LG G6 camera review, we take a close look at the camera app and features as well as the quality of the results.
One of the best bits of last year’s LG G5 was its unique dual-lens camera tech, which offered a very different experience to every other mobile snapper out there. Like the iPhone 7 Plus (which came half a year later), those two lenses work independently. If you want to capture a gorgeous landscape or similar, you can use the nifty wide-angle lens; while the secondary shooter offers a close-up view of whatever’s in front of you.
Thankfully you can find a very similar camera setup on the fresh new LG G6. On the back of this 5.7-inch beast you’ll spot two 13-megapixel lenses. The first is an f/1.8 aperture lens with built-in Optical Image Stabilisation and Phase Detection Autofocus, to quickly snap onto your target and keep them nice and sharp. This offers a fixed optical zoom too, getting you up close to your subject just like the iPhone 7 Plus’ bonus lens.
Alongside the standard lens is a second wide-angle snapper which has a f/2.4 aperture. There’s no kind of focus help here; it’s designed to capture everything in front of you, regardless of distances.
Here’s all you need to know about the LG G6 camera tech, including full specs, photo and video samples, test results and our breakdown of the bonus camera and video modes. And check out our in-depth LG G6 review for everything else you need to know about LG’s new flagship phone.
Check out our round-up of the best mobile cameras and the best budget mobile cameras for our favourite smartphone snappers right now.
LG G6 camera review: Specs
Optical Zoom camera
- 13-megapixel
- f/1.8 aperture
- Optical Image Stabilisation
- Phase Detection Autofocus
- Up to 4K resolution video
Wide-angle camera
- 13-megapixel
- f/2.4 aperture
- No image stabilisation
- No autofocus
Front-facing camera
- 5-megapixel
- f/2.2 aperture
- Up to Full HD video
LG G6 camera review: Camera app and user experience
One of the benefits of that mighty display is that LG can pack a fair few settings and toggles on the main camera interface, without cluttering the view.
So on the left side of the screen you have quick toggles for the flash and filters, as well as a button to swap between the front and rear cameras. You can also dive into the G6’s main camera settings and choose between different camera modes, if auto simply won’t cut it.
Over on the right you have the shutter button and you can quickly switch to video mode too. This immediately starts recording a clip, so you don’t miss any action.
Speaking of which, if you need to take a spontaneous shot or record a quick video, but your G6 is hibernating, LG has added in a handy shortcut to save you time. A quick double-tap of the volume down button loads the camera app in just a second, ready to shoot.
Skipping between the two different lenses is a simple case of tapping the two icons at the top of the main camera screen. Switching only takes a second or so in all. And in LG’s bonus camera modes menu you’ll find a ‘Popout’ option, which uses both lenses at once for a slightly bizarre end effect. In that modes menu you can also shoot slow-mo and timelapse video, capture standard and 360-degree panoramas and even load up a special Food mode for snapping your fry up.
Lastly, there’s the Square Camera mode. This captures perfectly square photos, as you might glean from the name, while also allowing you to preview photos on the other half of the display. You also get the option of shooting four photos (or three-second clips, or a mix of both) and the G6 will form them into a collage.
If you don’t care about any of this stuff and you simply want to keep things as simple as possible, LG has also included its lovely Simple View mode. This strips away all of the clutter and just lets you point and tap to shoot.
LG G6 camera review: Photo tests
In decent lighting conditions, the LG G6’s Phase Detection autofocus does a respectable job of locking onto your subject and keeping them sharp. The choice of two lenses really helps you to frame your photos too, giving you either a zoomed-in result or an all-encompassing wide-angle shot. Perhaps some kind of middle ground would have been good too, but ultimately we didn’t struggle to get the shots we wanted.
Full auto mode does a brilliant job for photo capture. Colours are realistically snapped, while detail levels are high enough for your snaps to look good when blown up on a big screen. Motion is handled perfectly too, as long as lighting conditions aren’t poor. Manic kids appear quite sharp, even with a fair bit of flapping.
Low light shots also come out well, using the standard f/1.8 aperture lens. Flip to the wide-angle snapper and your photos will look more murky, with less fine detail. However, we did notice that the main camera’s autofocus struggled quite a bit when conditions are dark. Occasionally you’ll end up with blurry results if you’re not patient.
If you want more direct control at any time, LG also offers full manual controls. Good news if you’re a pro photographer.
Check out some of our test photos in the LG G6 photo gallery below.
Here’s a comparison between the G6’s standard and wide-angle lenses. Click for an expanded view.
LG G6 camera review: Video tests
The G6 is also just as capable when it comes to shooting video. You have plenty of options, including a choice of 4K resolution right down to standard HD. Our test video came out well no matter the resolution, while image stabilisation levels are pretty impressive even when shooting in Ultra HD. Barring a slight judder with each step, there’s very little unwanted motion.
Changes in lighting conditions and focal distance are also ably handled.
Check out some of our test video samples below.
LG G6 camera review: Selfie camera
Flick your finger across the main camera screen and you’ll switch to the LG G6’s 5-megapixel f/2.2 front-facing camera. This again sports a fairly wide-angle lens, so you can fit lots of friends into one shot – or you also have the option of getting up close and personal.
Particularly useful is the fist-pump shutter gesture, which triggers a brief countdown before taking a shot. All you need to do is raise your hand and make a fist (once for a single photo, twice for a series of four) and the G6 does the rest.
You of course get the usual beauty modes to smooth out your skin, if you’re not looking your best. This is actually quite subtle compared to many beauty features too, making small adjustments rather than giving you a fake plastic sheen.
Sadly in low light you can expect quite grainy results, but at least there’s a screen flash feature to help out. This basically just pumps out a bright white glow from the display, to light up your mug.
Check out our full LG G6 review to see why we love LG’s new flagship phone.
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