The G3 is the best LG ­Android phone we’ve seen

IN many ways, they have trounced the opposition.

COULD LG’s new flagship, the G3, be the Android phone of the year?

With LG finally getting its act together on its premium features offering, it could be.

It has a removable battery and internal storage you can boost by adding a microSD card — here by up to 128 Gigabytes more.

Samsung has been offering these two key features at least since the S2 in 2011. It’s better late than never, but LG has addressed this glaring omission at last.

In many ways, this phone trounces the opposition.

Case-wise, it has a faux metallic brushed back and Gorilla Glass 3 at the front. It rivals the HTC One (M8) in quality appearance.

That class extends to its QHD display, which at 5.5 inches (13.9cm) is bigger than the S5 (5.1in) and HTC One (M8) at 5in, yet has a finer resolution than both — 534 pixels per inch. Yet it is just 4g heavier than the S5. It keeps below a phablet feel by having virtually no bezel. It’s a really modern look.

The G3 has a fast 2.5-GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor and a 3000-milliampere-hour battery that in our test ran video for 6 ½ hours before tanking.

It is one-up on Samsung in ­offering optical image stabilisation in its camera, albeit using a smaller sensor — 13 megapixels versus 16mp on the S5.

The G3 lacks some bells and whistles of the S5, such as fingerprint recognition, USB3.0 data transfer and combined WiFi and cellular streams for fast downloading. But it has its own features, one a curious screen unlock option, “Knock Code”, where you can unlock a screen by tapping a pattern on it, even when it is off.

Qslide, via the swipe-down ­notification menu, allows quick- access key features such as calendar, browsing and email, available as a pop-up above any screen you happen to be on.

QuickMemo+ lets you scribble notes with your finger over a screen shot or plain background, but here Samsung’s S Note is a better concept.

The G3 has infra-red, so you can use it as a remote, and a dual window feature, which lets you run two apps side-by-side. You can cut and paste data between them. Frankly, I have never gravitated towards running two apps side by side on any handset that offers them.

LG persists with putting the power button on the back, at the centre of the volume rocker. I’ve never liked this, as you have to feel around with your finger to work out whether you are increasing or decreasing the volume or switching the phone on or off.

One good feature is “smart tips”, which you can access by swiping left to right from home. It links to about a dozen video ­tutorials about the features. Watch these and you can get the most from the phone.

And, yes, the G3, like most other brands’ premium phones, will count your steps and the ­distance you move, but LG’s isn’t such a fully featured health offering.

The G3’s 13mp back-facing camera has laser focus, which uses beams of light to aid the camera in focusing in low light conditions.

This, together with image stabilisation, means sharper photos in lower light.

But the real fun is the front-­facing camera, which must be the best selfie camera around.

You don’t need to poke the screen to take the photo; instead you raise your hand and, when ready, close your fist to trigger a three-second timer while holding the camera at arm’s length — or having positioned it a bit further.

It means you can fit in some ­interesting backgrounds in your selfie shots, as I found. Palm recognition doesn’t work if the camera is held too close.

Like HTC, LG has gone to lengths to provide proprietary covers that are also functional.

The phone displays a clock face through a large cut out circle in the cover. You can also take or reject calls through this hole.

It’s certainly the best LG ­Android phone we’ve seen; whether it’s the best Android phone overall is a matter of personal preference.

It will give the S5 a serious run for its money.

Covers cost $19 or $49. A wireless charger costs $69.

The phone officially sells here from August 4.

Rating: 8.5/10
Price: $799 outright or on contract