Skip to main content

LG G5 review ( show pictures for mor information)

What is the LG G5?

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.

WATCH: LG G5 video review

LG G5 – Design and Modules

Metal body, removable battery, modular system, rear fingerprint sensor, sloped top, 159g

In pictures the LG G5 looks curvy and sleek, but pick up the smartphone and it feels oddly hollow.

LG played up its switch from the plastic body of the LG G4 to a metal one on the G5. However, in the hand the G5 really doesn’t feel like any other metal phone I’ve come across. the handset has an odd finish that feels much more like plastic than the advertised “microdized” metal. I do like the slightly sloping top, though, but it's the only feature that sets it apart.

Related: LG G5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7

The G5's design is very clean too, with only a single volume clicker and SIM-tray present on either side. The volume control suffers from having a very shallow push, but it's usable nonetheless. While LG has ditched the volume keys on the rear, the lock switch remains in the slightly unorthodox position just below the camera sensors.

In my opinion it's far better to have all the buttons in the same spot, be it on the back or sides of a phone. Positioned as they are, I’m forced to move my hands around the G5 more than normal just to reach everything.

Related: LG G5 vs LG G4

The standby switch now also houses a fingerprint scanner – something I consider a must for any 2016 flagship. V10 aside, for which there's been no UK launch, this is the first phone from LG to use a fingerprint scanner.

I'm pleased to report that it does a superb job – it’s fast and accurate. In addition, you don’t even have to press down to unlock the phone; simply glide your digit across and it’ll bypass the lockscreen completely.

As with all back-mounted scanners I’ve tried, it can sometimes go off randomly in my pocket. On more than a few occasions I’d pull it out of my pocket to be met with a message reporting "too many incorrect attempts, fingerprint blocked". But I guess this is a side-effect of it being so sensitive. The scanner itself is also quite small, which might be issue if you have large fingers.

The LG G5’s modular system is its stand-out feature. Now, it isn’t quite at Google Project Ara levels of customisability – so you won’t be switching out the RAM or CPU – but it’s clever and unique nevertheless.

It works like this. Along the side of the handset there sits an almost indistinguishable button set just almost flush to the body. Press this in with the tip of your nail and the bottom chin of the phone will pop out; pull it off and out comes the battery.

The battery comes apart from the bottom unit – which can feel like you’re breaking the device – and then you can attach it to other modules, or "Friends" as LG calls them. At launch, there are two modules available and neither are going to be a draw in themselves to sell the phone.

The camera grip adds a touch more battery, a separate shutter button for both photos and video, and a jog dial for zoom. The second module is a DAC powered by some B&O tech. The DAC gives you 32-bit audio and an extra headphone jack.

Related: 5 modules for the LG G5 we'd love to see

I find myself wishing that LG had started off with slightly more enticing accessories. The DAC is a nice idea –I’m all for ways to improve smartphone audio – but the camera grip doesn’t actually make the camera any better; it just makes the shooting process "easier". I also don’t like the fact it encourages people to use digital zoom – photo tech that universally produces terrible photos on all the smartphones I’ve tested, including the G5.

These two modules are also much pricier than I'd anticipated. The B&O DAC costs £150, while the camera grip will set you back £79. Problems will also likely arise when you’re ready to upgrade to the LG G6 – will the new device support the same modules? I'm not convinced.

LG is encouraging third parties to make their own Friends, so hopefully they’ll be a few more to choose from in the coming months. However, if the LG G5 fails to sell in large enough numbers then maybe there won't be much incentive to build a costly module.

The modular system also hampers the build quality of the device. Both parts of the phone don’t quite fit flush together; there’s an ever-so-slight gap between the two. It’s minimal, but wide enough that I can see light filtering through.

LG G5 – Screen

5.3-inch, IPS LCD, quad-HD display with always-on mode

LG’s past few flagship devices have benefited from impressive displays.

While they can't be described as perfect, they’ve always adopted new tech and utilised it well. LG was one of the first manufacturers to really bring quad-HD, 2,560 x 1,440 panels to the mainstream, for example, and since the G3 it has gone from strength to strength.

I’m happy to say that the display on the LG G5 is the best yet – even though on the surface it appears that not a whole lot has changed.

LG hasn't made the switch to a 4K display; it remains quad-HD. Although in my opinion this isn't a bad thing –quad-HD is the highest resolution a phone needs to be unless it will be used for VR. The display on the G5 remains a IPS LCD panel too, rather than the AMOLED panels favoured by Samsung and Google.

The biggest change here is that the screen is actually marginally smaller than before – 5.3-inches as opposed to 5.5-inches. But the number of pixels remain the same; they're simply crammed into a smaller surface area.

The display is ridiculously sharp, far more true-to-life and softer than the Galaxy S7 display. This isn't necessarily a positive, though – it’s all down to personal taste, with some preferring accurate colours over vibrancy. Viewing angles are on point.

LG has also improved the brightness of the screen, not that the G4 suffered much in this area. At its highest, it's at 900 nits, but there will be few instances in which it will need to be set so high. Around 50% is right, or you can opt for auto-brightness.

I'm not a fan of auto-brightness on Android devices, and it's no different here. It’s too obvious, results in a stuttering motion and is rarely accurate in its judgements.

Related: Android N hands-on

The G5 display's black level – an area in which many IPS displays struggle – is solid. While not as deep as those on the Samsung Galaxy S7, blacks on the LG G5 are suitably inky and deep, and mean the display has a great contrast ratio.

Just like the Samsung Galaxy S7, the LG G5 has an "always-on" display mode, so the time and your notifications remain visible even when the phone is locked.

LG’s implementation is much better than that of Samsung in just about every way. It uses less battery, about 12% a day (8am to midnight) as opposed to the Galaxy S7’s 15%. The LG G5’s always-on screen also displays all your notifications, including those from WhatsApp and Gmail. This makes it far more useful than the S7, which pushes alerts from only a limited selection of apps.

The display on the G5 is less customisable, however, and since it isn’t AMOLED, it lights up every pixel rather than just the clock. This means it’s far more noticeable, and more distracting, in low light.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Huawei P9

Introduction Huawei pulled the wraps off its next flagship in London in early April. London streets and buildings were the perfect backdrop for black-and-white photography and everything looked extra special through the P9's secondary black-and-white lens. But there is more to the P9 than just the duo of cameras. The P9 is a proper high-end device with the premium feel and build quality to go with it so after a short hands-on, we were more than eager to get started working on a full review. Back in the day, the Huawei Ascend P6 was the first real push of Huawei towards the high-end market spectrum. It was notable for its super-slim design, metal frame, and beautiful panels. The Huawei P7 improved on the design and hardware, while the P8 after it offered great night photography and selfie pictures. Today, the P9 makes a big step ahead, opening the door to a new photography genre for mobile photographers and bringing along a bunch of nice shooting modes, faster hardware, and an e

IPhone 6s best review

Apple's tagline for the iPhone 6S is 'the only thing that's changed is everything', highlighting that the brand knows this is a phone that looks an awful lot like 2014's model. It makes sense that Apple would try its hardest to show that, despite the handset looking identical to the iPhone 6, there have been loads of changes under the hood that make this an attractive phone in its own right. The chassis is stronger, the camera sharper – with a new Harry Potter-esque way of capturing your snaps –and there's even a completely new way of interacting with the screen. On paper, it's an impressive upgrade. See the iPhone 6S in action in our video review: Apple iPhone 6S - Thin Apple iPhone 6S - Thin…… But when it looks identical to the iPhone 6, people will be desperate to know if the iPhone 6S is enough of an upgrade to justify the price. While the upgrades seem great, is it worth going all the way up to the iPhone 6S, or would the 6 do? In terms of raw pri

List of devices that are available have updated Android 6.0 Marschmilo