The newest flagship phone from the Korean manufacturer is here. In a very bold move LG has completely overhauled the smartphone. The smartphone has a host of new design features which are new to mainstream flagship phones. LG G5 also has the distinction of being the first ‘modular’ smartphone. On paper the LG G5 has very impressive specifications. As expected from a flagship the LG G5 comes with top quality hardware money can buy.
Design
The LG G5 has a full metal body. The phone looks great but it feels bulky in hand. The metal shell and the detachable frame don’t fit in perfectly. While other flagships give a very solid feel the LG G5 may feel a bit odd. The phone has a 5.3 inch screen, the side bevels are curved which make them look thinner.
The power button is clumped with the finger-print sensor at the back of the phone. Unlike many other Android phones with finger-print sensor you don’t have to power up the device first to activate the finger-print sensor. The phone’s front looks great and is gently curved on all sides.
To detach the bottom panel of the phone you will have to push a small button at the left edge of the phone which lies flush with the surface. The bottom panel comes off and you can easily slide it out. The battery is attached with it however; the contacts are at the top.
The standard detachable module has the USB-C port, speaker and microphone. The headphone jack and IR blaster are at the top. The module lock switch and volume controls are on the left side.
Hardware
The LG G5 boats top quality hardware with great specifications. The G5 has the Snapdragon 820 with 4GB RAM and the Adreno 530 GPU. The LG G5 has good benchmark scores due to the very deserving Snapdragon processor. The LG G5 has a 2800 mAh battery which is lower than other high-end Android phones which mostly have over 3000 mAh. However, LG has refined the OS a lot which improves the battery life a lot. The phone runs the LG Optimus UX 5.0 UI.
The LG G5 has dual-SIM capability and the second SIM slot also functions as the micro-USB card reader. The G5 comes with a respectable 32 GB of internal storage. The finger-print sensor works very well and unlocks the phone directly without screen lock button.
Display
The LG G5 surprisingly has a LCD screen. The 5.3 inch screen has a resolution of 2560 x 1440. The LG G5 has a 554 ppi pixel density. The screen is crisp and sharp. The colors look natural without over saturation. The screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 4 which is standard in most high- end phones. LG has introduced Always-On display with G5. However, the Always-On is very dull and nearly impossible to look in sun-light.
Camera
The LG G5 has a dual-camera mount with dual-tone flash at the back. One lens is a 16MP, f/1.8 laser autofocus and the other is an 8MP, f/2.4 lens. The main lens is very good. The camera allows you to take very good images in low depth. The other lens is also a nice addition which complements the main lens very well. The camera app in LG has always been phenomenal and the G5 is no exception. The camera has a whole range of presets for the average user and offers a lot of settings like white balance, ISO and shutter speed.
Final verdict
The LG G5 is a great choice for high-end user. The phone has a removable battery and a micro- SD card slot which is very rare in high-end smartphones. It has very impressive specifications and with things like USB-C port, LG has made the G5 future-proof. Though the additional modules available the Hi-Fi module and the Camera Pro module aren’t very exciting the phone still has the modular functionality which makes it unique.
