LG G4 (Unlocked)

Science may be on LG's side, but the G4 falls just short of the Samsung Galaxy S6.

The glossy plastic edges look out of place on a phone of this caliber.

There's a ho-hum, textured plastic finish (pictured here) that just barely stands apart from last year's G3. And then there's a stitched-leather option that you'll either love or hate.

I don't care for the leather option—the stitching detail looks a bit grotesque to me, a constant reminder that two pieces of animal skin have been fused together for your enjoyment. Personal preferences aside, leather aficionados will appreciate the buttery texture and promise of a natural patina forming over time.

The 5.5-inch, Quad HD IPS LCD looks spectacular, easily establishing its place in the upper echelon of mobile displays. It's the first smartphone to feature "quantum dot" technology, which basically boils down to more accurate color representation thanks to some high-level physics I can't wrap my head around.

The back pops off to reveal a removable 3,000mAh battery and microSD card slot—two features conspicuously missing from the S6.

There's a slight curvature to the display, but it's almost imperceptible—LG claims it increases drop resistance by 20 percent over the flat G3.

At 5.86 by 3 by 0.39 inches (HWD) and 5.47 ounces, the G4 (left) feels like the lumbering beast of this year's crop of Android flagships. It's about 44 percent thicker and 12 percent heavier than the Galaxy S6 (right), while the extra 0.22-inch width will dissuade one-handed-use diehards.

The G4 (left) can't match the S6 (right) in build quality.

The G4 sports a relatively large 1/2.6-inch, 16-megapixel image sensor, to the S6's 1/3-inch sensor, and features a wider aperture f/1.8 lens, to the S6's f/1.9. This is one-upmanship at its finest.