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Report: LG G4 to forgo metal in favor of plastic

According to a new report out of South Korea, LG's supply chain logistics aren't likely to produce a metal casing for the LG G4. The rumored G4 Note might be another story, however.

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Published onMarch 23, 2015

These days were a seeing a great number of Android OEMs adopt more ‘premium’ designs, forgoing the simple plastic builds of yesteryear. Samsung was the latest manufacturer to jump on the premium bandwagon, starting with the Galaxy Alpha and Note 4, and most recently with the glass and metal bodied Galaxy S6. With most of the major players out of the way, all eyes have shifted to LG, especially now leaks of the G4 have been making rounds.

The alleged early G4 renders showcase a back cover that is clearly removable. While this doesn’t mean anything concrete (the Japanese HTCOne M7 had a removable back cover for reference), given the company’s history of metal-esque plastics, as well as the G Flex 2 sporting such, hope for an all-metal make has dwindled. Now a new report unofficially confirms that LG will likely not be shifting away from a plastic build with the LG G4.

While this early mock-up shows a metal-like design, odds are we are still looking a plastic

According to ZDNET Korea, the logistics aren’t in place yet that would allow for such a construction and thus the G4 will definitely be of a disappointingly plastic premise. The report does offer some hope, however, in that the upcoming (rumored) G4 Note may, in fact, use metal. Given LG’s claims of a new product that exists above the G series, it seems fairly likely that LG would consider adopting a more premium metal design in order to help justify such a high-end status … and price tag.

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Assuming this report is true, it might also follow that the G4 features a removable battery, something that ironically could help LG out this year, given that Samsung has opted to forgo such a feature. There have been a small but significant minority of smartphone enthusiasts who have expressed outrage at the Galaxy S6’s lack of removable power supply and storage, and thus theoretically it’s possible they could jump ship to LG, especially given the G4 will inevitably be no slouch when it comes to specs.

Assuming this report is true, will this affect your decision to purchase the G4? Will you hold off for the G4 Note instead, or perhaps shift to Samsung?