I have had this phone for about a week of testing. Here are my thoughts.
Price: I switched from Verizon to Google Fi. They have a promotion on the phone - USD $550 plus a $200 credit to your bill. That basically makes it a $350 phone.
Background: Coming from a Samsung Galaxy S7 (unlocked Qualcomm Snapdragon version). The dac in the S7 was great for iem's. Nothing to scoff at really. For efficient cans it was ok. The dac was good enough, but the amp was the same old "we must protect the ears of the average ape" output level. I used a Zorloo Zuperdac for iem's or FIIO e18k for cans. Both using Neutron player and a library of mostly FLAC and some 320 kbps MP3's. When listening on my PC I use the same dac/amp setup and Foobar 2000 or Media Monkey.
Tested can's/iem's: I mostly listen through a set of highly modded T50-RP mk III's or another set of mk III's that I gave the full on Open Alpha treatment to. The Open Alpha's are a friggen black hole that sucks all power provided from the e18k. (325 mW I believe). I used both sets to evaluate the G7, as well as V-Moda Crossfade M-100's (very efficient style cans) and some Tin Audio T2's as my choice iem.
Software: I used Neutron player and the LG player. The LG player does take direct control of the dac, but read about the impedance issue below.
Impedance note: I have found out along with many others, that the G7 auto senses impedance and picks high or low gain to match. This is no good for T50's. The moded T50's are listenable, but the Open Alpha's were not in my opinion. I read on another forum that if you trick the phone into going into aux mode it gives you high gain. You can achieve this by plugging in a right angle adapter or similar do-dad before opening the LG player. After the player is open, plug your cans into the adapter and be happy with high gain. This is kinda finicky though. I use Neutron player and it just takes complete control of the dac and always seems to be in high gain mode. This made my Open Alpha's listenable without an amp and the T50's could be really enjoyed without an amp. As a side note, I have found no way to force it into high gain with spotify witch is a major minus. If this thing is targeted at hi-fi users it should have a software slider switch to lock in high or low gain on the pop-up that appears when you plug anything into the headphone jack.
Sound impressions: It's a good dac. It's hard for me to tell the difference in sound between dacs. Definitely on the same level as the Zooperdac or e18k. I actually like it better than either of those. Sounds smooth and distortion free.
Power!: The real reason I wanted this thing, is to do away with do-dads attached to my phone and still be able to listen to good cans. (I know it's a stretch with planars) I do continue to use the e18k as an amp (bypass the dac) because even that amp cannot completely satisfy the Open Alphas. I prefer the G7's dac to the Zuperdac or e18k. It can power the modded mkIII's to a satisfying listening level using Neutron player, but not with spotify. It's great for iem's because no more USB plug used up by the zuperdac. On long flights I can simultaneously charge and listen to music or watch movies. The V-moda's are easily driven to high volume. I want to try it with something like a HD650. So far the conclusion is: It has a good amount of power to release, but figuring out how to release it is tricky at best. No high gain with spotify is a major minus for me.
The display: Coming from the OLED display on the S7 to the IPS on the G7, I was a little concerned that I wouldn't like it. On the contrary, It is a perfectly acceptable display with good contrast. The black isn't pitch black in the dark like the OLED, but in all practicality the only advantage I see in that is if you use the "always on display". It looks cool in the dark and saves a little battery. The plus of the IPS display is that it can go super bright for a few minutes while you are outside in direct sunlight. You can see the display really well. This is awesome when I am skiing and want to pull up a different playlist on the lift.
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