Skip to main content

The 6 best LG smartphones of all time, ranked

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you somehow aren’t already aware, LG is officially exiting the mobile world. In our business, news like this is never worth celebrating. Competition breeds innovation, and LG’s mobile forays were nothing if not innovative. And so, what better way to honor its decadeslong contributions than by waxing nostalgia over its best devices of all time? Or perhaps you grieve differently, preferring instead to examine the uglier side of the LG’s legacy? I’ve got that covered, too.

No. 6: LG V20

LG V20
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

While its older sibling, the V10, had a lot of bark and little bite, the V20 offered some truly unrivaled features. Though not the first phone with a focus on audio quality, it brought to the table LG’s very first Quad DAC as well as three microphones that together enabled high-fidelity audio recording and playback as well as support for FLAC files. All of that might sound buzzy and confusing for the uninitiated, but for audiophiles, this is what has made LG the only manufacturer worth supporting for much of its later years.

Related Videos

The largely useless “second screen” still adorns the top of the face, but here it’s much easier to love as a footnote as opposed to a flagship feature. For some time, the V-series set the standard in video and audio recording for smartphones.

No. 5: LG G2

LG G2 Phone back comparison old model

In 2013, LG found its stride with the G2. Prior to this LG was riding the wave of Android’s growing popularity, but its phones were very much “old school” and lacking polish or focus. With the G2, LG put its foot down with a gorgeous design, excellent ergonomics, big screen, and novel rear-mounted buttons.

Sure by today’s standards the bezels look huge and the design’s nothing special, but the LG G2 was a real stunner in its day. The smooth curves were great in the hand, and it just looked great. It also had a 13MP camera that put LG on the radar of smartphone camera enthusiasts, very good battery life, and finally had software that felt like it was with the times.

It’s tough to focus on just one phone from the early G series, considering the importance of the original Optimus G for LG’s entry into the high-end smartphone world, and the subsequent advancements in design on offer from the G3 and G4. But if you’re going to pick a phone from early in LG’s smartphone legacy that marked a turning point to lead to LG’s eventual future, it’s the G2.

No. 4: LG G8X ThinQ

Andy Boxall/DigitalTrends

Foldable phones are still a marvel to most of us, and since their early days, there’s been a race to get them to market. With the G8X ThinQ, LG cheated the system, offering an accessory you could pop the device into in order to affix a second display and clamshell functionality.

This phone packed in just about everything that symbolizes LG’s best, from wireless charging to expandable storage to a rare headphone jack, all at a humble price of around $700. Was the software experience perfect? Certainly not. Was it extremely unwieldy? Like an overstuffed wallet! But it sure turned some heads and left a positive impression at the thought of a possible foldable future. And it is one of the most “well, LG gonna LG” features it’s released.

No. 3: Google Nexus 5

nexus 5 smartphone
bloomua/123RF

In its prime, the Nexus name carried a lot of weight. These were Google-released unlocked devices beloved for their clean, bloat-free experiences and years of promised support straight from the source. The Nexus 5 was no exception, checking many of the same boxes as the almost universally praised Nexus 4 (stay tuned), with the added benefit of LTE across more carriers, the improved KitKat operating system, a higher-resolution screen, and performance that contended with the absolute best in class. Unfortunately, unlike the Nexus 4, it had an incredibly cheap build, and kept the disappointing battery life.

Still, it was a good time to be an Android fan when you had a Nexus 5. You didn’t care about the plastic build, because the performance was excellent, the camera was Google’s first standout offering, and it was still inexpensive.

No. 2: Google Nexus 4

Google Nexus 4 Review front android phone

Admittedly, the Nexus 4 walked so the 5 could run. In 2012, it was a shining beacon — literally — among the enthusiast crowd, truly competing with the big dogs for perhaps the first time. It offered wireless charging, NFC, and a super-premium design and feel, all for a meager $250. Sure there was the whole LTE debacle … but that’s a small detail. And can we please bring back that color-changing pulse LED light?

No. 1: LG G6

LG G6 review
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Tall phones weren’t always a standard. It wasn’t until LG released the G6, pushing the screen height to a then-alarming 2:1 aspect ratio that then started to catch on, and it’s this that is perhaps the single most important and long-lasting contribution LG will have ever made for smartphones. Anything shorter today would feel uncomfortably wide and spacious except when gaming or watching video, and much of that, especially on YouTube, have since largely caught up and been optimized.

The G6 had its shortcomings, no doubt — at the time, a nonremovable battery was weird. And for all of LG’s innovative (and weird) features throughout the years, the G6 was rather … boring by comparison. But it’s difficult to attribute too many negatives when talking about the impact this change alone helped make to future phones from all companies. It was LG’s best overall phone.

Editors' Recommendations

Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 is big news for cheap phones
Hand holding up a smartphone against a city background with Qualcomm Snapdragon7+ Gen 2 logo.

Qualcomm has taken the wraps off its Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2, the next generation of its midrange mobile platform. The new chip is designed to deliver powerful entertainment experiences and performance gains to a broader range of smartphones.

The new platform is an evolution of last year’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, which was already a leap beyond the older Snapdragon 700 series it replaced. It began closing the gap with the premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 — a trend that continues with this year’s Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2.

Read more
I love the Galaxy S23 — here are 5 things the iPhone still does better
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple iPhone 14 Pro

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 has arrived to the masses, and it’s one of the best Android phones you can get right now, especially the S23 Ultra. However, for those who don’t need all of the fancy bells and whistles, like the S Pen and 200MP main camera, the regular S23 is also plenty powerful for the average person, especially if you prefer smaller devices.

I’ve been using the Galaxy S23 for the past few weeks, and so far, my experience has been delightful. I know that it’s still early on in the year, but for me, the S23’s small size is perfect and comfortable. Android also does a lot of things better than iOS, like individual volume controls and notifications, for example. But I am still primarily using my iPhone 14 Pro — despite Apple having some big flaws, such as overprocessing images after you capture them.

Read more
Google Pixel Fold: release date and price rumors, leaked specs, and more
Alleged schematic of Google's Pixel foldable in silver.

Folding smartphones are a staple of the Android smartphone world in 2023. And this year, we expect Google to join the foldable ranks with the long-awaited Google Pixel Fold.

Rumors of the Pixel Fold have existed for a long time, but all signs are pointing to 2023 finally being the year it makes its grand debut. And what a debut it's shaping up to be. From all of the latest renders, hands-on images, specs, and more, here's everything you need to know about the Google Pixel Fold.
Google Pixel Fold: design

Read more