MWC 2016 – The LG G5 was announced Sunday in Barcelona, confirming the modular design, which was rumored about for months.
As a primary feature, users can detach the bottom of the device to remove the battery and to attach other modules, for difference functions, such as enhanced camera features and enhanced audio production.
“The whole phone is grounded on the fact that we’ve seen a lot of sameness on phones for a long time,” LG representative Raul Lopez told iDigital Times.
Users must press an eject button on the side of the LG G5 to open the device. Removing the bottom panel of the LG G5 reveals a 2,800mAh battery, which can be detached with a quick snap, to replace the cell or attach a different module.
Lopez admits there may be a bit of a learning curve involved in opening the LG G5. However, a lot of the education of how to handle the LG G5 modules should be taken care of in store.
The main drive behind creating a new form factor for the LG G5 was customer demand. “Consumers have been asking LG to make a metal smartphone for a while,” Lopez said. “We didn’t want to sacrifice the removable battery, which we’re really known for.”
Lopez also noted that LG was adamant about retaining the removable battery as a feature, now that competitors like Samsung have moved toward unibody designs that sacrifice the removable battery.
To further use cases for the LG G5 modular design, LG has created attachments, including the CAM Plus module and the Hi-Fi Plus module. The CAM Plus module acts as a grip for the LG G5 to function similar to a standalone camera. The module includes power, shutter, record and zoom buttons for easier control of the smartphone’s camera. The CAM Plus module also includes an extra battery, which holds 1,200mAh of power.
The Hi-Fi Plus module a attaches to the LG G5 to bring improved sound quality to the handset speakers. Users can also attach to the module to a desktop or your home entertainment system, to be used independently of the LG G5.
Other notable features on the LG G5 include its fingerprint scanner, which has been moved to the back panel and doubles as a power button. The sensor technology used in the LG G5 is the same as what is found on the Nexus 5X, a device also made by LG.
LG says the G5 will hit markets sometime in April. U.S. carriers including Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular and retailers including Best Buy and B&H have all committed to offering the LG G5; however, no specific price and availability details have been revealed.
Check out our hands on shots and more details about the LG G5 below.
The LG G5 features a 5.3-inch Quad HD display, which also has an always-on display feature, similar to the software feature on the Samsung Galaxy S7. The LG G5 will constantly display the time and date on an otherwise dark screen.
The LG G5 will be availble in pink, silver, titanium and gold, all color options will be available in the U.S.
The LG G5's 2,800mAh battery attaches to the bottom module, which is then inserted into the device.
The LG G5 features a USB Type-C port, similar to the Nexus 5X.
The LG G5 features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 280 chip, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage with memory expandable up to 2TB.
Of course, the handser runs the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Dimensions for th LG G5 are149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7mm. The handset weighs159g.
The LG G5 features a 16-megapixel main camera, with a 87-edgree lens. However, a second 8-megapixel wide-angle lens expands the camera to 135-degress. With the wide-angle lens, users can use a continuous zoom feature, switches the zoom from the standard camera to the wide angle camera as users continue to zoom. The G5 also includes an 8-megapixel front facing camera.
The LG G5 features a simplified interface, which works more like vanilla Android. LG removed the app drawer on the G5 to further simplify how users access their device. However, the cleaner UI won't necessarily mean faster Android updates. U.S. carriers will continue to dictate Android update cycles for the LG G5, according to Lope.
“[Companies] in the last couple years have been criticized for having too much of a UI. It’s more of an effort to streamline the user experience,” he said.
The CAM Pus module packs an additional 1,200mAh of juice and additional functionality buttons separate from the LG G5 handset.
