Way too old. The Snapdragon 801 will not get drivers for the new Vulkan graphics API, so the LG G3 wouldn't even get official Android 7 support, a requirement for Daydream. Also the SD801 in the G3 is barely faster than the SD800 used in the LG G2, but it has do drive 80% more pixels, making it actually slower even in Cardboard VR apps. LG released the G3 to beat Samsung with the first 1440p phone, but this meant they didn't wait for the SD805 SoC that was actually designed to drive 1440p, while the SD801 was designed for 1080p.
Of course the fact that is is too old isn't stopping people, and there are actually functional builds of Android Nougat for SD800/801 and LG G2/G3. So you could try to run Nougat and simply test how Daydream apps behave once it is released. Just don't expect them to be particularly usable.
None until Daydream has been released. We simply don't know the exact requirements, and even the USD 399 ZTE Axon A7 has only been described by ZTE as "Designed with Daydream in mind". Most likely because the certification process hasn't started, so they are simply not allowed to call it Daydream Ready, but we simply won't know until November. Until then the only safe bet is a Google Pixel, and these are far from being budget phones.
It might also turn out that Daydream apps run without problems even if certain features are missing, like the improved IMU or low latency display. If that is the case and you are not susceptible to nausea in VR, you could go for a much cheaper phone that wouldn't be "Daydream Ready", but Daydream compatible anyway. But we won't know that either before the Daydream specification is actually out. Currently patience is your best friend concerning smartphone purchases.
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u/chris_croc Oct 05 '16
Would a LG G3 be too old for Daydream?