This decade-old LG phone sparked my love for photography — then it died

It was a balmy September evening in 2016, and my friends and I thought it the perfect evening for a night-time hike up Cape Town’s popular Lion’s Head. Placed right in the city’s center, the panoramic views from the peak would no doubt be spectacular, and we had our bags packed full of liquid nourishment for when we reached the top. Two hours later, we got to the summit, and with the city’s sprawling lights glimmering through the still air below us, I spied the perfect photo opportunity. So, I grabbed my little Joby tripod, mounted my phone to it, set the exposure to 15 seconds, its ISO to its lowest possible value, and waited. The resultant shot remains one of my favorites I’ve ever captured. That phone was the LG G4.

I’m no doubt looking back at this phone through rose-tinted glasses. After all, nostalgia is one hell of a drug. The best Android phones have come a long way since then, improving almost every facet. I could (probably) capture that same shot with modern devices without too much fuss. However, looking past its problems, the LG G4 was the phone that sparked my interest in photography.

On the specs front, the G4 wasn’t really anything special. Sure, it’s 16MP sensor and 28mm lens, OIS system, and laser autofocus made it incredibly reliable and versatile. I remember snapping portraits, landscapes, macros, and street scenes without any issue. But the camera phone’s real strength was its manual mode.

The shot I mentioned in the intro was captured manually. In fact, I had a real contempt for the LG G4’s automatic mode. It regularly selected the wrong settings and focused on the wrong subject. With manual mode, I could finely adjust focus, choose my exposure and ISO, getting me the shot I wanted. Looking back, I realize this phone helped me get to grips with DSLR photography years later. And it wasn’t just this shot that stands out in my mind. Manual focus made it easy to capture the tiniest subjects, from bees to the flowers they visited, to bokeh of raindrops on a pane of glass.

Beyond its software, part of my love for this phone lies in its smart ergonomic design. Yes, while it was pretty utilitarian with those customary 2016-era bezels, the 5.5-inch QHD screen was deep and vivid, making it the perfect viewfinder and canvas for my shots. While stylish, the phone’s curved leather back also made the phone grippy and inspired confidence when framing a shot. It was never at risk of simply slipping out of my hand like my caseless Pixel 8 is prone to do. And, not to mention the other facets of this phone that I loved: the removable battery, its 3.5mm headphone jack with great bundled earbuds, its rear volume and power buttons, and its microSD card slot.

But, just as we had to eventually make our way down the mountain, all good things come to an end. For the LG G4, this was for me at an airport just before a long flight home. Mere months after I started it up for the first time, the phone’s tendency to overheat eventually morphed into a flat-out bootloop. Struggling to bring it back to life, I’d wait a few minutes, reboot it, desperately use it for a few moments until it overheated, then repeat the cycle. Thankfully, I printed out my boarding passes back then; otherwise, I’m unsure how I would’ve navigated that situation.

When I landed (and calling my lift was made complicated thanks to my ailing LG), I got to the drawing board and tried almost everything to revive it. Screwing it apart and separating the phone from its motherboard, I trained a hairdryer on the chipset, tossed it in the freezer, and even considered baking it in the oven. I chickened out of the latter, but there was little hope regardless. My LG G4 was dead and so was one of the most enjoyable and memorable smartphones I’ve ever used.

To me, the G4’s issues perfectly encapsulate the Korean brand’s smartphone tenure. Its quirky devices were remarkably affable, filled with personality, and supported by capable, if not impressive, hardware and refined software. But look a little bit deeper and use them for an extended period, and their similarly quirky flaws will rise to the surface — dramatic highs and depressing lows.

The bootloop problem persisted across several LG-branded and manufactured smartphones, including the G4’s cousin, the V10, the Nexus 5X, the V20, and even the LG G5. All of these smartphones experienced similar hitches to one degree or another. While LG would go on to launch several newer phones that would skirt this issue, the damage was done.

While LG hasn’t been a smartphone company since 2011, it will finally turn off its update servers at the end of this month, rendering all its devices marooned on older Android versions. This was bound to happen at some point. After all, its most recent phones were launched five years ago now. It’s still a sad eventuality.

As for my LG G4, I haven’t seen it in years. It’s sitting in a box somewhere in my parents’ home, functionally dead and likely to stay that way. However, my enjoyment of photography has grown to include other devices. My old but trusty Kodak KB10 film camera, my humble Nikon D3400, and even the Nokia 9 PureView that I’ve written about before continue building my love for capturing moments. I have the LG G4 to thank for that.