LG Announces the Versatile LG G5

That’s it for our hands-on with the LG G5.

When looking at the LG G5 for the first time, what you will notice is the unique camera setup that is available with the device.

The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge add a similar feature, and it’s as ho-hum here as it is with those phones, especially in light of the other changes LG has introduced.

“Until now, consumers have been forced to choose between an elegant design and the convenience of a removable battery”, LG Electronics president and CEO Juno Cho said as he took the wraps of the G5.

Expect the LG G5 to receive rave reviews, but don’t expect many people to shell out for gimmicky accessories.

LG’s upped the power quite significantly with the G5, packing in a Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM into its metal frame. One is a 16-megapixel camera while the other one is an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera. That’s a slight drop in size from the 5.5-inch LG G4, but the same resolution, giving it a pixel density of 554 pixels per inch. It has no fingerprint sensor, but does have the on/off and volume switches on the back of the device – these were moved on the new LG G5. LG has unveiled a wide range of very cool companion devices that will stretch the G5’s feature set beyond what it can achieve with the modular expansion slot. I can’t help but wish LG packed a tiny, secondary battery inside the G5 to keep things running while we swap modules. It’s pretty cool, and none other than what we’ve seen on other phones out there in the market (well, nostalgic Nokia phones doesn’t count, right?). It also has 32GB of internal storage, along with a microSD card slot in case you store a lot of photos and videos on your phone. These attachments are easy to use and replace, which makes them so compelling to buy into – even if LG wasn’t ready to talk about how much they cost.

The slightly smaller battery is a concern: the G5 will be faster than the G4 but may not last as long between charges. However, the LG G5’s strong points definitely make it an attractive upgrade proposition over the LG G3 and the LG G4.

What’s most interesting about all this, though, is that LG has opened up the modular aspect of the G5 to third party developers. The bottom of the G5 comes away to allow for accessories to be interchanged into the phone itself. Just like Microsoft with the Surface Book, LG is basking in the warm glow of widespread approval from a jaded audience in search of fewer gimmicks and more functional innovation.

On the G5, it has a 16Mp rear camera like the G4. You can then slide in additional accessories such as the LG CAM Plus camera modular or the LG Hi-Fi Plus module which provides a DAC audio player. It also uses the newer Type-C reversible USB connector for charging and data transfer. Moreover, LG chose to cut side-by-side apps multi-tasking, which won’t be a deal breaker for casual users, but those fond of Dual Window functionality will certainly miss it. At least the QSlide mini-apps are still here, which means the G5 has some of its predecessors’ productivity still left in it.