LG introduced its much awaited LG G5 for 2016 with a number of interesting things on board including the interesting modular approach, innovative design language, and extra features. With all the trending features, the LG G5 is made to be an extended package which offers much more than a usual flagship in the market. We will take a brief LG G5 review here to understand what is in the box for us.
As LG used to describe it, besides the powerful specs and features which can further be improved, the LG G5 is going to be a phone that you will love for fun. The main point that truly makes the LG G5 a fun phone are the modules that break the barriers of any other flagship that you can have. Thus, LG G5 has become one of the very first phones which follow the modular approach.
There have been speculations about an expected modular phone following the developments with Google Project Ara. But as the Google Project Ara is delayed, LG comes forward and comes with its multiple modules supported G5 flagship. Though you will still not be able to alter the processor, screen, and other complex parts but there is much more to play with using different modules.
In this in-depth LG G5 review, we will go through the impressive specs and competitive features of the LG G5 with its useful modules. First let’s start with the impressive and unique LG G5 design.
LG G5 Design
LG G5 modular approach makes it unique in design
In the first look, you will find the LG G5 sleek with all metal that feels quite different from the metallic outlook on other flagships. LG has used its own way of designing the LG G5 with metal which includes no antenna slits which you can find on any other all-metal phone. LG has claimed that the G5’s all metal design is the result of the microdizing process.
Though we don’t have enough information about the microdizing process but its resultant LG G5 feels quite different and looks good. The LG G5 does contain curves on the top of the screen but they don’t make it as pretty as Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge which comes with a completely curved design language.
LG has rearranged the placement of buttons with volume rockers, now moved from rear face to left side. But with volume rockers on the sides, the design still remains almost flush so you will not find anything looking bad. Still the rear face has its stuff in their place where the power button is evident with the upgraded fingerprint sensor.
On its back, just above the power button and sensors you can locate the dual camera. There is a little protruding but it is softened to make it easily slip in and out of your pocket. Finally comes the key area, the bottom of the phone which holds the main surprise. On the side, there is a small button which pops the bottom of LG G5 out. Here you can place different modules to customize your device for different functions.
LG G5 Modules
Though eyes have been set on Google who has promised the tech enthusiasts a modular phone with its Project Ara but it came out to be LG, not Google, to step in first. LG has so far announced two modules or ‘Friends’ as they are dubbed by LG. These modules include the LG CAM Plus and LG Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play which you can use at the lower end of the G5 after detaching its battery.
The first LG G5 friend the LG Cam Plus is a powerful pack that adds up features and battery powers to your G5 at the same time. Heaving your LG G5’s 2,800mAh battery upgraded to 4,000mAh is a great support for extended features. Other than the additional battery powers the LG Cam Plus adds more grip and width to the G5. There are also dedicated buttons for power, camera, and video recording.
Second on the list of G5 friends, the LG Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play adds a portable Hi-Fi audio player. Besides being an additional module for the LG G5, it also works with PCs and other smartphones. With the additional module, you can make use of the aptX-HD codec which is used on LG flagship for the first time. For an improved audio experience, the B&O supported module takes up the 24-bit audio quality on the LG G5 to 32-bit.
It, however, sounds a little annoying that you have to pull out the battery each time for changing modules which require turning off the device. But after replacing the module you will get back your phone fully operational.
LG G5 Screen and Display
Among the flagships fighting on the size of the display, the LG G5 comes with a 5.3-inch screen which is a little smaller than the preceding models, i.e. 5.5-inch on LG G4. But with reduced display panel size, there is no reason to worry about the results which are much improved. The 5.3-inch LG G5 display is AMOLED type with the quad-HD resolution which makes its results pin-sharp.
Going through its other display features, we can find the brightest screen around on the LG G5 with 900 nits. Also to mention the best part, the LG G5 comes with the always-on display which makes it displaying time and notifications without waking the screen up which makes the display less battery consuming. As per the LG claims if you don’t turn on your display for just checking time and notifications, with the always-on screen it takes just 0.8% of battery.
With an improved display, the rest goes on with the powerful specs and impressive software and UI elements which make the looks on the LG G5 display magnificent. You will enjoy playing movies and enjoying heavy games on your LG G5 with an impressive display and smooth performance.
LG G5 Interface and Software
When LG G4 was announced it was the Lollipop time and now making its new flagship the updated Android device, LG brings the G5 with the Android 6.0 Marshmallow with its own UI touch. LG’s own user interface the UX 5.1 is colored well with Marshmallow and carries some customized tweaks.
The new UX 5.1 with Marshmallow brings the Material Design back to LG flagship with the common Marshmallow features. The dedicated Doze feature of Android 6.0 Marshmallow improves the battery timing of your LG G5 while the new app permissions and Google Now gives you a completely new experience.
There is no app drawer as it was recently reported to be dropped out from the Android OS with the upcoming Android N. Also the dual-window mode of the UX 5.0 is missing from the new UX 5.1 which is again close to the reports of Android N.
LG G5 Performance
Beneath the all-metal body of the LG G5 the upgraded Qualcomm chipset, the Snapdragon 820 with the octa-core processor is present for the exceptionally high performance. The highly optimized Snapdragon 820 chipset is upgraded to remove concerns of users with the preceding version. With the Octa-core processor, the LG G5 carries 4GB RAM which makes it up to the mark with recently announced flagships.
Also like the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, there is a microSD slot for external storage besides the 32GB native storage on LG G5. With the powerful specs, LG G5 can give you a strong performance with multitasking and heavy games. This impressive performance was noticed on the first experience, further performance tests are yet to prove its real capacities.
LG G5 Camera
LG G5 has dual Camera on Back
LG has mastered in camera with multiple features on the G4, among these we have the top features including the laser auto-focus tech transferred to LG G5. The 16-megapixel LG G5 camera is accompanied by 8-megapixel wide-angle camera. The wide angle set up gives LG G5 a 135-degree field of view against the 75-degrees of other phones.
The much-praised laser auto-focus and optical image stabilization make the LG G5 the fastest-focusing phone with best low-light shots. The front facing camera on LG G5 is also kept the same 8-megapixel of the G4 which has been nice for its selfies. The LG G4 camera has already been popular enough and now with the additional powers on the G5 camera you will get the best of camera phones.
LG G5 Battery
LG G5 has a removable battery with a slot for other modules
The battery on the LG G5 is among the areas that you can extend to your own choice with additional modules. Besides the expandable options that you have with its modules, the removable battery on the LG G5 is itself just 2,800 mAh which is 200 mAh smaller than its predecessor.
But LG gives you enough options to have the G5 without battery issues. With an additional battery power option, the device is optimized to consume less juice with its always on display and the Doze mode of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Besides the Doze mode, LG also has its own energy-saving modes which you can set up in the settings menu. Also, the trending quick charge feature is supported which allows users to charge their device in lesser time when they are in a rush.
Conclusion
Finally in the shape of LG G5, we have a gorgeous flagship phone with impressive display and it’s ‘Friends’ to extend the powers beyond the limits. The LG G5 is announced when other flagships including Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are out there to show off their strengths. Thus keeping the tough competition in the mind, LG G5 is expected to grab its potential users with unique features and also the reasonable prices, which are yet to be announced.
