By: Rafay Khan

The launch of LG G5 is a major overhaul to its predecessors LG G3 and G4. It is shaping up to be one of the most exciting and the most popular flagship Smartphone of 2016. Long gone is the plastic back finish of the LG G3 and G4, the G5 comes with a new design and new, compact feel. The LG G5 comes with lots of improvements. Even the device has taken an edge over the Samsung Galaxy S7, but, not the mind blasting Galaxy Edge Plus.

So let’s see how these three Smartphones stack up together in comparison with each other;

Design:

Design-wise the LG G3 and LG G4 look similar with both following the same design language. Both come with a 5.5-inch display, with the same slight curves at the top and bottom of the device. But the LG G5 design is really different from its predecessors. It has a full metal body design with no antenna slits, unlike other Smartphones.

Despite the all-around metal finish, LG has managed to keep the removable battery feature intact, thanks to its removable bottom section. The volume and power buttons are still in traditional back position while there is a fingerprint sensor within the power button and the camera module above.

Display:

Back when the LG G3 was launched, it was the first Smartphone which packed a Quad HD resolution display. It was way ahead of its time, so its successor LG G4 and G5 are also packing the same Quad HD display.

LG G3 and G4 have a similar 5.5-inch QHD screen; the display on the G4 is much more bright and vivid. On the other hand, G5 display is 5.3-inch IPS LCD display, which means that while the display size is smaller, the pixel density is slightly higher at 554ppi. G5 also offer an Always-on display that features partial on and off illuminations, showing key information without waking the phone up.

Hardware and Performance:

In terms of performance and specs, the three flagships are jam packed; even 2013 LG G3 has specs that can meet the requirements of the latest flagships and high-end Smartphones. LG G3 features a quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor with 2 GB or 3 GB of RAM depending on the 16/32 GB model.

The LG G4 packs a hexa-core, Snapdragon 808 processor with standard 3 GB of RAM. The internal storage is 32GB, which is expandable. On the LG G5, you will find a significant upgrade to the specs, with the latest Snapdragon 820 processor, backed up by a 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Despite the full metal body, microSD support is still on board. The G5 also has the and also has the latest USB Type-C. With the latest LG G5 we still have the double-tap to wake the screen, but now there is a fingerprint scanner too.

LG G5 is a slight disappointment in terms of battery capacity. It comes with 2800mAh removable battery, which is 200mAh less than its predecessor G3 and G4. But thanks to USB-C 3.0., you will get much faster charging than G3 and G4. But, you will have to ditch all your USB 2.0 cables.

LG G5 comes with modular design, so you can attach different modules on the bottom of the handset, including the LG Cam Plus and LG Hi-Fi Plus.

Software:

In the software department, LG is always keen to keep its flagships up to date with the latest Android version. The LG G3 is running LG’s Optimus UI and can be upgraded up to Android 6.0 marshmallow. LG G4 arrived with the latest version of Android at the launch time, along with LG’s new interface known as UX 4.0. G4’s software is much stable than the G3’s software, with smooth and clean experience.

The software on the LG G5 is dramatically different from the software found on LG G4 and G3. It has a new black text on the white ground theme with green accents. You can also download themes to change the overall look of the software. LG has reduced the amount of pre-installed apps, to make the experience simple and lighter.

The new app LG Friends Manager is pre-stalled to connect all the new LG G5 modules and peripherals with their apps. The LG has also eliminated the App drawer from the interface. LG said that the removal of the app drawer is aimed at “eliminating the confusion caused by uninstall and removing action that exists in the dual structure by providing only one layer.”

Camera:

LG has improved immensely in terms of camera department. The LG G3 has a 13MP sensor, laser Autofocus and enhanced optical image stabilisation (OIS+) which does a great job of producing good quality photos. But on the software side, it is quite streamlined. The selfie camera of the G3 is 2.1 MP, which performs average.

The LG G4 camera is similar to G3 in terms of the technologies, same optical image stabilization and laser auto-focus, but with bigger 16 MP camera with f/1.8 aperture. The front facing camera is 8 MP. LG G4 camera is crowned to be one of the best camera experiences on the Android platform.

The camera on the LG G5 doesn’t sound any different from the above-mentioned spec sheet, but LG claims that the G5 is not about the higher specs, it’s about giving you more functions instead. The main 16 MP camera is coupled with another 135-degree wide-angle sensor with an 8 MP. The main camera is used for the normal shooting. The wide-angle feature will offer a human eye experience. This feature will allow you to take photos and video at the same time, as well as add filters and effects.

BOTTOM LINE:

LG G5 is the start of new era for the LG Electronics flagships. The device had the guts to launch alongside the most powerful duo of the ages; the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. If we compare the new LG flagship to the predecessors it has improved significantly. However, it is due to the LG G3 and LG G4 that the firm has survived the strong competition of the Smartphone world.

LG G5 is no doubt a start of the new era. With years to go, the successors will have more wide space for the innovations and future technologies.