Spent a couple days with my new G3. Here are my first impressions:
1) Seriously, I dont know why everyone was upset about lag, because on my handset, there isnt much to speak of! No stuttering, no skipping, no slowness...nothing. Oh, sure, the Smart Notice/clock widget will load slowly, but really, a LOT of widgets will do that. It's NOT catastrophic by any means!
2) Brightness. Another thing people were upset about initially. My question is: why? Again, not a huge deal. I didn't notice any substantial dimness on my handset. If auto brightness isn't your thing, untick it in settings. Do that, and the display gets pretty bright at 60%, where I have it set. I can only imagine cranking it to 100%. Yikes! But anyway, it's not worth all the upset, really. It's fine. At least to me.
3) Special features. This phone has quite a bit. Knock code is my favorite, and it works well. Just don't knock on the screen too hard: the phone will not register the knocks properly. Tapping the screen will do. As far as Smart Notice, well, it's not bad. It's not always 100% accurate, however. For instance on a day it was downpouring, it told me it was merely cloudy. No suggestion to get an umbrella, to say the least! So it needs work. But it does get it right I'd say about 80% of the time.
4) Taking pictures. Okay, I haven't taken many. The ones I HAVE taken showed depth and quality that my former iPhone 5s did not have. I personally cannot wait to take some videos with this one.
5) Battery life. Nothing earth shattering. I'd say it's pretty average, actually. The Note 3 honestly had a better battery lifespan, if only a couple hours difference. But I must emphasize thay the battery life is NOT HORRIBLE. It's average compared to other Android phones. Certainly not as bad as the iPhone 5s! Not by a long shot!
So there you have it! If I've missed anything, please feel free to ask.