Introduction:
Starting off the proceedings of the top five trending phones with one of the top two, the all new LG G5. The new phone whose mask was taken off last week just four days before the official unveiling of Samsung’s Galaxy Duo. While the phone is a totally fresh start from the recent G series on the design point of view, but the specifications are no joke either.
Design of LG G5:
The design is the most surprising aspect of this new LG beast. It is a total revamp from the previous G series that had the volume buttons on the back alongside the power button. Power button is still there but volume rockers are back to the sides. The power/lock button has been exchanged with a fingerprint sensor that also works as a power/lock button providing dual function in one. It makes sense that LG could not keep all the buttons on the back because the new dual camera we will come to later. The thickness of the LG G5 measures 7.5 – 8.0 mm. While I have already mentioned enough about the back, let me come to the actual specialty of this phone which is its modular design.
As you can see in the picture, the phone is divided into two pieces; one piece is the one that holds the LCD, the camera and most of the hardware while the other piece is the interchangeable bottom piece which is called the modular component. Modules means diving a hardware/software into parts for the easiness of its utilization so LG has really implemented on it. The bottom piece can be taken out as shown in the photo and can be interchanged with other add on accessories which LG is calling as “LG Friends”. It really is cool. There is an add on camera accessory which brings 1100 mAh to the table and some hardware buttons i.e shutter key, video key and zoom buttons. This bottom piece is the home to the card slots and the battery. It really is a peach of a thing. A geek’s wet dream coming true. LG has made the phone really clean and it seems like metal is the go to material for the new monster.
Display of LG’s G5:
So the main screen is a 5.3 inch QHD unit with the pixel density resulting in the tacky sharp 554 PPI. The display is very bright and the sunlight legibility is pretty good as well. The contrast is great and overall, you will not have any complains about the display.
The New Hardware of LG:
First of all, the one thing that deserves the first mention here is the new screen LG has used, the always on display. As the name suggests, the display never sleeps but LG has got some smart tricks up its sleeves and this is one of the clever ones. The always on display is basically a secondary controller controlling a secondary always running chip used with the original main chipset. This secondary chip only eats 0.8% of battery per hour which is quite an achievement. This secondary chip is directly connected to the main chip so it never sleeps while the main one can actually rest whenever the screen is off. This always on display shows the time and date as well as some notifications.
“A study conducted by the company discovered that people take out their phones and wake them up to check the time over 150 times a day so it might even balance out.”
Moving on further in the hardware section, the battery is a modest 2800 mAh unit. It is actually a downgrade from last year’s G4 that had 3000 mAh in the tank.
Rest of the specifications includes a top of the line Snapdragon 820 chipset, 4 gigs of RAM to keep things running smoothly. It has 32 GB of on board storage and is expandable through SD card.
Camera of G5:
The last nail in the coffin is the Camera. It is a brand new dual camera unit. The main back camera is a 16 MP + 8 MP unit dual camera. It packs a full house including advanced OIS, Laser Auto-focus, and the color spectrum from the G4. The camera is now capable of shooting 135 degree wide shots because of the two cameras. The 8 MP unit at the back helps the main 16 MP camera in capturing pictures and the software is smart enough to figure out how to use them both at the same time. It helps the user choose different cameras and how much you want to capture with no compromise on detail. The two cameras can also be used simultaneously to produce pictures with different effects. While comparing with the G4, the camera of G5 provides more natural colors, slightly more detail and wide angled shots.
LG Friends:
This is an accessory heading. The modular components or add on you’d like to say are known as LG Friends. These Friends can be attached with the modular component and installed on the phones. While there are only two accessories available as of yet, LG will make sure third party manufacturers don’t waste any time in making more.
The two accessories are the LG Cam plus and a Portable Hifi DAC which is actually a speaker. Because these accessories are attached with the modular add on, the spot is called the magic spot where they are attached. The LG Cam Plus brings a hardware shutter, zoom toggles, flash toggles and a video button, and not to forget, a 1200 mAh battery unit which brings the total battery to 4000 mAh.
Software:
The LG G5 runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Interestingly enough, LG has decided to get rid of the app drawer. The rest of all is still there, but the app drawer is not. It is still accessible through the easy mode found in the interface.
Conclusion:
Overall the LG G5 is a beastly phone which will help LG a lot in building their market and their reputation as one of the best manufacturers there are in the market as of yet. LG G5 is a very exciting new device that holds its own in every field. A new design with new hardware and software has carried the device to the whole new level. Things are buttery smooth and blazing fast. It will surely be a huge hit.