The perfect flagship phone, LG's G3 outshines the competition

I'm Andrew Hoyle for CNET, and I'm here checking out the latest flagship super phone from LG, the G3. This phone has had a significant design overhaul from its predecessor, the G2, although you can spot the various family resemblances. Most obviously, are the volume and power buttons, which are found on the back of the phone, rather than on the edge, like any other phone. LG argues that it's much more comfortable, as this is where your finger will naturally sit when you're holding it. While that's true, it takes a lot of getting used to. And I'm really not sure that button location was a big issue that needed fixing to begin with. It's a 5.5 inch phone, which is bigger than the G2. But it does have narrow bezels, so its body hasn't had to balloon out too much, to accommodate the larger screen. The back panel looks a lot like metal thanks to the brushed effect. In fact, it's plastic with a metallic coating, but it is a convincing effect and arguably a decent compromise between the lightness of plastic and the luxury look of metal. That 5.5 inch display has a whopping 2,560 by 1,440 pixel resolution. Which far outstrips the 1,920 by 1,080 pixel screen on the Galaxy S5, Sony [UNKNOWN] two, or the HTC 1m8. Sounds impressive, well don't get too excited. The fact is, that above a certain point, there's no real benefit in having higher resolution. Your eyes just can't detect it. Indeed, I myself could find no discernible difference in clarity between the G3 and S5, nor could almost anyone I gave it to. It's still pin-sharp though and has great natural color, so I don't have any complaints. Inside it's running a powerful quad core processor with Android 4.4.2 KitKat software. LG has chucked in various interface tweaks, including it's own icons and color schemes, and a reminder tool that gives info about the weather or tips on how to save battery. It's an attractive interface and it's quite easy to use as well. On the back is a 13 megapixel camera, which took some great shots in my tests, and did particularly well in low light situations. More excitingly though is the auto focus, which uses a laser to detect subject and speed up focusing time. I certainly found it was able to focus extremely quickly, which will be handy when you have a sudden burst of photography inspiration. In general, the LG G3 packs everything you'd expect from a top end smartphone, and doesn't look too bad doing it. The 2K display might be more of a marketing boast than a real benefit, but rest assured the screen, the processor, the camera, and the software are all top-notch. I'm Andrew Hoyle for CNET and this is the LG G3. [MUSIC]