LG’s 2016 flagship is a radical departure from previous years, with a smaller size, the latest Qualcomm processor and modular attachments.
As expected, and widely teased in the past couple of weeks, LG has today officially unveiled the latest in its high-end G series of smartphones, the LG G5. It’s a drastic departure from previous LG flagships, with a metal-backed design, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and the move to a more traditional volume key placement, eschewing the firm’s traditional back-mounted buttons. What’s more, the G5 introduces new modular attachments bringing more functionality to the device, with the lower portion of the phone being detachable.
LG G5
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First things first — the G5 packs a 5.3-inch display, down from the 5.5 inches of the G4, but at the same 2560×1440 resolution, and using the same IPS Quantum technology. For its latest smartphone, LG has adapted the dual display technology of the V10 into an “Always-On” display, allowing a portion of the screen to be lit-up to show the time and notification icons even when the device is asleep.
The plastic (and leather) chassis of the G4 has given way to a new metal-framed body, and there are plenty of other changes elsewhere in the hardware. LG’s traditional back-mounted buttons have kind-of gone away, with only the rear-mounted power key (with built-in fingerprint scanner) remaining. (The volume keys have been relocated around to the right side.)
MORE: LG G5 specs
On the inside, it’s powered by a Snapdragon 820 processor — the first such phone to be announced at MWC — along with a hefty 4 gigabytes of RAM and 32GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 2 terabytes.
LG has also re-tooled its camera setup, with a 8-megapixel front-facer and a dual-camera setup around the back. There’s a regular 16-megapixel camera, like the G4, along with an 8-megapixel wide-angle (135-degree) camera, backed up by LG’s laser autofocus magic for focusing in the dark.
LG’s latest phone packs dual rear cameras and a modular accessory slot.
The G5 packs a removable 2,800mAh battery — a small reduction from the G4, though it’s also powering a somewhat smaller display. An the battery now slots in through the bottom of the device, which clips away when a release button is pressed. Through this mechanism, you can swap out the bottom of the G5, adding in new replaceable modules to expand the phone’s functionality. These include a camera grip with an additional 1,200mAh of battery capacity, and an audio attachment tuned and co-developed by Bang & Olufsen, outputting 32-bit sound.
There’s also a robot.
Along with these new modules, LG has also announced a line of “friends” for its latest phones, starting with the G5. These are accessories that can be easily paired with the phone, and managed through a preloaded app. Early “friends” for the G5 include the LG Roller Bot, a small, remote-controlled, ball-shaped ‘bot with built-in speakers, laser pointer, camera and mic. There’s also the LG 360 CAM, a 360-degree remote-controlled camera, and LG 360 VR, a virtual reality headset with its own built-in display, which connects to the G5 over its USB-C port.
For more on the LG G5, check out our hands-on preview, as well as the full spec listing.
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