LG G5

Introduction

The LG G5 isn’t a great modular phone – it’s biggest feature – but it’s still a worthy rival to the HTC 10, OnePlus 3 and Samsung Galaxy S7 thanks to a sharp screen and equally impressive camera. It might not quite match those illustrious competitors, but LG once again shows it can think outside of the box when it comes to building a phone.

Actually, the G5 has us very excited for the possible LG G6 that we’ll no doubt see next year. The groundwork has been laid here, but there’s improvements that need to be made; notably the poor build quality.

Still, it's a nice improvement over the LG G4.

LG G5:Key features

5.3" IPS LCD display, Quad HD resolution (554ppi); Always-On option

Snapdragon 820 chip: quad-core Kryo processor (up to 2.15GHz), Adreno 530 GPU, 4GB of RAM

16MP (f/1.8) + 8 MP (f/2.4) main camera setup; 3-axis OIS; laser autofocus; LED flash, 2160p video capture, 8MP selfie camera

Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Optimus UI 5.0

32GB built-in storage plus microSD card slot

Fingerprint sensor

Cat. 9 LTE (450Mbps); Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2; GPS/GLONASS; NFC; USB Type-C port; FM radio; IR blaster

Removable 2,800mAh battery; Quick Charge 3.0

Innovative Magic Slot for add-on modules

Main disadvantages

No water proofing

No wireless charging

No 1080p video recording at 60fps

Latin America gets the LG G5 with a Snapdragon 652 and not the top-of-the-line S820 chipset

Connectivity & Features & Networks

NETWORK	Technology	GSM / CDMA / HSPA / LTE

LAUNCH	Announced	2016, February
LAUNCH	Status	Available. Released 2016, April

BODY	Dimensions	149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm (5.88 x 2.91 x 0.30 in)
	Weight	159 g (5.61 oz)
	SIM	Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

DISPLAY	Type	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	5.3 inches (~70.1% screen-to-body ratio)
	Resolution	1440 x 2560 pixels (~554 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 4
		- Always-on display - LG Optimus UX 5.0 UI

PLATFORM	OS	Android OS, v6.0.1 (Marshmallow)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820
	CPU	Dual-core 2.15 GHz Kryo & dual-core 1.6 GHz Kryo
	GPU	Adreno 530

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 256 GB (dedicated slot)
	Internal	32 GB, 4 GB RAM

CAMERA	Primary	16 MP (f/1.8) + 8 MP (f/2.4), laser autofocus, OIS (3-axis), LED flash, check quality
	Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, panorama, HDR
	Video	2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps, HDR, stereo sound rec., check quality
	Secondary	8 MP, f/2.0, 1080p@30fps

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes
		- 24-bit/192kHz audio - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic

COMMS	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot
	Bluetooth	v4.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
	NFC	Yes
	Infrared port	Yes
	Radio	FM radio
	USB	v3.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go

FEATURES	Sensors	Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, color spectrum
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM
	Browser	HTML5
	Java	No
		- Fast battery charging: 83% in 30 min (Quick Charge 3.0) - MP4/DviX/XviD/H.264/WMV player - MP3/WAV/FLAC/eAAC+/WMA player - Photo/video editor - Document editor

BATTERY		Removable Li-Ion 2800 mAh battery
	Stand-by	Up to 400 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 20 h (3G)

MISC	Colors	Silver, Titan, Gold, Pink
	SAR EU	0.52 W/kg (head) 1.24 W/kg (body)
	Price group	9/10

TESTS	Performance	Basemark OS II: 2425 / Basemark OS II 2.0: 2314 Basemark X: 27577
	Display	Contrast ratio: 1855:1 (nominal), 2.905 (sunlight)
	Camera	Photo / Video
	Loudspeaker	Voice 68dB / Noise 70dB / Ring 73dB
	Audio quality	Noise -92.6dB / Crosstalk -93.3dB
	Battery life	Endurance rating 60h

THE GOOD

The LG G5's unique modular design lets you swap in fun accessories. It has (two!) great rear cameras, expandable storage and a replaceable battery -- a rarity in high-end phones.

1.Lovely screen

2.Great wide-angle camera

3.USB-C fast charging

THE BAD

Although you can swap out some parts, there aren't enough to make this feature compelling. You can only access the phone's app drawer in a specialized theme.

1.Dodgy build quality

2.Software is on the ugly side

3.Expensive modules

THE BOTTOM LINE

This is the phone to get if you want a removable battery, but it fails to live up to its world-changing Swiss Army Knife potential.